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Bahk Eun-ji

Korea Times Politics & City Reporter

Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.

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Health

Seoul orders all foreign workers to take COVID-19 tests

Foreigners and citizens wait to take coronavirus tests at a temporary screening center in Guri, Seoul, Tuesday. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiSeoul City has issued an administrative order for all foreign workers in the capital to undergo mandatory COVID-19 testing, similar to a measure announced last week by the Gyeonggi provincial government. The city said, Tuesday, all foreign workers and their employers will have to get tested for the coronavirus from Wednesday to March 31.The measure, drawn up together by the central government's antivirus headquarters, has come as sporadic infection clusters have emerged at some companies employing foreign workers in other parts of the country, including Gyeonggi Province.Testing and receiving treatment are free of charge, and the city government plans to increase capacity at makeshift testing sites to 3,600 tests per day. Employers may face fines if they or their workers do not abide by the order. “Whether documented or undocumented, we plan to make the order for all foreign employees,” Park Yoo-mi, the disease control official of the city go

Mar 16, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Seoul orders all foreign workers to take COVID-19 tests
  • Foreign residents left behind in COVID-19 information: study
Health

Foreign residents left behind in COVID-19 information: study

Migrants and Korean activists protest near Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, urging local governments to pay COVID-19 relief funds to foreign residents, in this May 7 photo. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiAlthough the number of COVID-19 infections among foreign residents here has been rising nationwide, a study shows that they have had difficulty accessing virus tests due to a lack of information on testing and quarantine measures as well as difficulty communicating in Korean. The research, conducted at the request of the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) by Solidarity with Migrants, a human rights group for migrant workers, revealed foreigners have been more vulnerable to the pandemic than locals.According to the survey of 1,055 foreign residents, 10.7 percent, or 113 said they did not know that they could receive free treatment if infected with COVID-19 regardless of their nationality or status of residence. This showed that although the government has said even unregistered foreigners can get COVID-19 tests and treatment without having their visa status checked, relevant policies have

Mar 16, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Foreign residents left behind in COVID-19 information: study
  • Greater Seoul area to expand testing on foreign workers at industrial complexes
  • Seoul orders all foreign workers to take COVID-19 tests
Health

Greater than 1:1 patient transmission: gov't warns of another mass outbreak

Citizens wait in line to enter Seoulland amusement park in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Sunday, as the weather warmed up. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiHealth authorities called on the public to be vigilant against COVID-19, as the number of infections is resurging while people are engaging in more outdoor activities amid mild spring weather.They have asked the public to adhere to social distancing measures and personal hygiene, adding the third wave of the pandemic is still ongoing.According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Monday, last week's reproduction rate was 1.07, meaning one person spread the virus to 1.07 people on average. This was up from 0.94 recorded a week earlier.The rate is an index that indicates to how many people a single COVID-19 patient will infect on average. If this index is 1 or higher, it means the virus is spreading, and if it is less than 1, it means the spread of the virus is suppressed. Other data has also indicated negative results for the quarantine efforts.The average number of daily local infections was 428.3 last week, 56.6 higher th

Mar 15, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Greater than 1:1 patient transmission: gov't warns of another mass outbreak
  • New infection cases at 1-week low on fewer tests
  • Korea to begin inoculating over-75s next month
Law & Crime

Appeals court acquits man who bought drugs to help police

By Bahk Eun-jiAn appellate court has acquitted a man of buying narcotics for the purpose of collecting evidence to report drug trade to the police.The Seoul High Court said, Friday, it overturned a lower court ruling that had sentenced the Korean Kazakhstani, 40, to two and a half years in prison suspended for three years for violating the Act on the Control of Narcotics.The man was indicted in March 2019 on charges of buying a new type of drug, a synthetic cannabinoid known as “spice,” in October 2018.Korea Times fileThe man, who hardly spoke Korean, reported to the police, through an interpreter, that foreigners were selling and buying drugs near his residence. But the police, through the interpreter, asked him to secure evidence such as photos of criminal activity, saying they could not launch an investigation with the verbal report only.He messaged the interpreter to say he would try to buy drugs as evidence if this would make the police take action.A few hours later, he bought the drug, took a photo of it, sent the photo to the police, and flushed the drug down a toi

Mar 12, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Appeals court acquits man who bought drugs to help police
Politics

LH scandal reignites move for bill to prevent conflicts of interest

Police investigators carry boxes containing confiscated items during their search of a regional office of the state-run Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, March 9. Yonhap By Bahk Eun-jiThe alleged speculative land purchases by employees at the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) have reignited talks on the need for a law preventing public officials from being tasked with projects where there could be a conflict of interest. While legislative moves for such a regulation have not progressed in nearly a decade, the chances for the passage of a bill about such a ban seem high this time, as public anger has reached a peak regarding one of the most sensitive issues in the country ― real estate.Calls for the law have come after it was alleged last week that several LH employees purchased land in Gyeonggi provincial areas before a major urban development project was announced. The leadership of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (D

Mar 12, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
LH scandal reignites move for bill to prevent conflicts of interest
  • Land minister offers to resign over LH land speculation scandal
  • Second LH official found dead amid land speculation scandal
Law & Crime

'Grandmother' was real mother of 3-year-old found dead in empty house

A 49-year-old woman, who turned out to be the biological mother of a three-year-old girl who was found dead at an empty house in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, last month, is taken to Daegu District Court, Thursday, for a court review of the prosecution's request to issue an arrest warrant for her. Korea Times photo by Jung Gwang-jinBy Bahk Eun-jiA case involving a 22-year-old woman who was arrested in the death of her three-year-old daughter who she abandoned after moving out of her home in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, took a bizarre twist Thursday when it was discovered that her mother, who lived on a lower floor of the building, was the actual biological mother of the girl.Police suspect the woman and her mother each gave birth to babies around the same time, and the elder woman switched the babies so her baby would be raised by her adult daughter. Earlier on Feb. 10, the 49-year-old, who is the biological mother of the jailed 22-year-old and the three-year-old ― despite being listed as the latter's grandmother according to the family registry ― reported finding the three-ye

Mar 11, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
'Grandmother' was real mother of 3-year-old found dead in empty house
Society

Sunfull Foundation chief appointed chair professor of Chung-Ang Univ.

By Bahk Eun-jiMin Byoung-chul, chairman of the Sunfull Foundation, has been appointed as a chair professor of the Business School at Chung-Ang University.Min Byoung-chul / Korea Times fileThe university said Min, who has been teaching courses including “creatively opening business in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution” at Konkuk University and Hanyang University in Seoul, has started to give lectures on “promoting small businesses through digital tools” at the university in the first semester this year.Min established the Sunfull Foundation, a nonprofit anti-cyberbulling organization, in 2007 after a famous celebrity committed suicide after seeing malicious comments on internet communities. Since then, he has been leading the campaign to fight against such malicious comments by initiating moves to create a healthy online culture here. The efforts have paid off to some extent. In one of the campaigns which his foundation had carried out in cooperation with the Ulsan Metropolitan Office of Education in 2012, school violence in the city decreased 64 perc

Mar 11, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Sunfull Foundation chief appointed chair professor of Chung-Ang Univ.
Society

Seoul losing attractiveness as global city

Seoul has lost competitiveness as a global city, according to global reports, Wednesday. Korea Times fileBy Bahk Eun-jiSeoul Metropolitan City has been losing competitiveness in terms of its business and residential environments, according to reports, Wednesday. The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) analyzed the Global Cities Report issued by the U.S. consulting firm A.T. Kearney and the Global Power City Index (GPCI) by Japan's Institute for Urban Strategies at the Mori Memorial Foundation, and found that Seoul's urban competitiveness has been on a continuous decline since 2015.A.T. Kearney said Seoul's ranking on its Global Cities Index (GCI), which shows urban competitiveness, sank from 11th in 2015 to 17th in 2020, among the 150 cities studied for its report. Compared to this, the rankings of San Francisco and Shanghai rose significantly from 22nd to 13th and from 21st to 12th, respectively. In the ranking of the Global Urban Outlook (GCO), which assesses a city's growth potential with regards to its business-friendly environment, administrative capacity and private sector in

Mar 10, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Seoul losing attractiveness as global city
Society

Traffic snarls downtown as city starts renovating Gwanghwamun Square

The six-lane road on the left side of Gwanghwamun Square in downtown Seoul is closed, Monday, after Seoul City started a project to expand the square. YonhapTraffic chaos inevitable for time beingBy Bahk Eun-jiSeoul City has started construction to widen Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul by turning part of an adjacent thoroughfare into a pedestrian-only space.The capital's most ambitious renovation project began on March 6, aiming to expand the square, which has been criticized for being pedestrian-unfriendly by sitting in the middle of the busy Sejong-daero thoroughfare.The six-lane road in front of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts will become a pedestrian-only space by being linked to the existing square in the middle of Sejong-daero. As a result, that section of the thoroughfare has been closed since March 6. The six-lane road on the other side of the square, in front of the U.S. Embassy and the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, will be expanded by two lanes to allow north and southbound traffic to flow smoothly.Traffic congestion has increased in the area

Mar 10, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Traffic snarls downtown as city starts renovating Gwanghwamun Square
Health

Infection outbreaks in schools raise fears of 4th virus wave

A front gate of Gwangmun High School in Gangdong District, Seoul, where group infection among soccer team players took place, is closed, Tuesday. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiCoronavirus infection outbreaks in schools have put the health authorities on alert as they occurred less than a week after in-person classes were started for the new school year. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE), 16 students at Gwangmun High School in Gangdong District in Seoul were confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19 as of Tuesday.Fifteen of them belong to a soccer team, which is operated for the school by a private sports institute, and officials presume that the mass infection occurred during the team's recent camp training, where the students stayed and dined together, the SMOE said. Additionally, however, there have been a series of new cases detected among teachers and students nationwide. On Jeju Island, a teacher at a middle school and students at a senior high school were confirmed to have contracted the virus, March 7. The schools have been temporarily closed and have re

Mar 9, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Infection outbreaks in schools raise fears of 4th virus wave
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