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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

Korea backpedals in e-scooter regulations

Two people ride on an electric scooter in Gangnam District, Seoul, in this Nov. 3 photo. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-hoBy Bahk Eun-jiThe popularity of electric scooters is rapidly growing as a means of fast transportation in congested traffic or for short distances such as between buildings on college campuses. An increasing number of companies are also offering shared personal mobility services by providing e-scooters.Such a hike in the use of e-scooters has consequently brought a large number of accidents involving their users. However, the government is moving to apply less regulations, thereby raising safety concerns.Last month, two high school students in Incheon were riding on a single e-scooter together when they crashed into a taxi at an intersection, killing one of them. According to the police investigation, they were unlicensed and not wearing any safety equipment.A student at Myongji University was also found injured on the roadside inside the school campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, last month, after riding an e-scooter. He was transferred to hospital but later died.

Nov 17, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Korea backpedals in e-scooter regulations
Health

Social distancing level raised to 1.5 in greater Seoul

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun speaks during a meeting on the COVID-19 response at the government complex in Seoul, Tuesday. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiPrime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Tuesday that the government will raise the current Level 1 social distancing guidelines to Level 1.5 in the greater Seoul area, effective Thursday, as the COVID-19 situation here has been showing signs of deteriorating.“The health authorities' efforts to contain the coronavirus are facing a crisis. In particular, the situation in the Seoul metropolitan area, where more than half of the country's people are concentrated, is very serious,” the prime minister said in a regular COVID-19 response meeting.The government also considered raising the level in Gangwon Province, but decided to allow the local government to decide on this according to infection rates in the region. Under Level 1.5 guidelines, nonessential gatherings and the operation of multiuse facilities are restricted ― such as restaurants and bars being subject to stricter distancing rules, and schools limiting their attendance cap to tw

Nov 17, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Social distancing level raised to 1.5 in greater Seoul
  • Baseball crowd to be reduced under tighter social distancing rules
Society

Seoul's top chefs host online cooking classes for hallyu fans

Chef Kang Min-goo, right, hosts a cooking class for hallyu fans abroad at a kitchen studio in Gangnam, Seoul, Saturday, with Italian TV personality Alberto Mondi helping him as a translator. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan GovernmentBy Bahk Eun-jiDozens of Italians paid keen attention to how beef and fish was cut and seasoned, as Korean chef Kang Min-goo was making “yukhoe” (A Korean-style beef tartare) and fish dumplings, asking the chef to show the ingredients more closely. They were participating in an online cooking class for hallyu fans abroad, which was organized as a part of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's contactless culinary events, “Taste of Seoul,” which ran last week.Kang, who runs Mingles restaurant here, and another top chef, Cho Hee-sook who runs the Korean Cooking Studio, provided recipes for Korean food using traditional sauce to epicures, social media influencers and hallyu fans in Brussels on Friday and in Rome on Saturday. In Saturday's class offered by Kang, he chose yukhoe with soy sauce, and fish dumplings with red pepper paste sauce

Nov 15, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Health

100,000 won fine to be imposed for not wearing face masks at public facilities

An official from local public health center puts posters explaining that mask wearing is mandatory in public facilities, on the wall of a cafe in Gwangju, Thursday. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiPeople not wearing face masks in public facilities will face fines of 100,000 won ($89) starting Friday, following toughened anti-COVID-19 measures. The health authorities said Thursday that a one month grace period for the regulation has now ended and the fine will be imposed on all violators.Public places subject to the rule will depend on the country's five levels for social distancing.Under the current Level 1 guidelines, the mandatory rules are applied to public transportation, demonstration sites, medical institutions and pharmacies, nursing facilities, religious facilities, indoor sports stadiums, call centers, distribution and logistics centers, and meetings and events with more than 500 people.Also 23 public facilities require people to wear masks, including bars, karaoke rooms, cafes and restaurants larger than 50 square meters, private academies, arcades, wedding halls, concert halls, theate

Nov 12, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
100,000 won fine to be imposed for not wearing face masks at public facilities
  • New virus cases spike to near 200, tougher restrictions under review
Society

Cable car accident drill

A rescue worker climbs up a rope to reach a cable car over Mount Nam in Seoul, Thursday, as a part of an exercise to prepare for a possible abrupt halt in the operation of the cable car system. Yonhap

Nov 12, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Politics

Learning Korea's election system

Diplomats stationed in Korea from 12 countries listen to explanations about Korea's election management system during their visit to the National Election Commission in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. They were given information on how Korea managed the April 15 general election amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Yonhap

Nov 12, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Learning Korea's election system
Society

Seoul test flies 'drone taxi'

The EH216 drone made by Chinese company Ehang flies over Yeouido, Seoul, during a test run of the air taxi service, Wednesday. The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the transport ministry aim to commercialize urban air mobility services by 2025. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiSeoul City and the transport ministry carried out a test flight of a “drone taxi,” Wednesday, which is emerging as a means of future urban transportation. This is the first time for a drone developed for use as a taxi to fly above the capital area.During a demonstration flight hosted jointly by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, an EH216 drone taxi, made by Chinese company Ehang, successfully flew for seven minutes at an altitude of 50 meters over a 3.6-kilometer flight path over the Han River, passing above Yeouido, Seogang Bridge, Bamseom islet and Mapo Bridge. The air taxi model is designed to carry a pilot and a passenger, but during the test flight, it carried four 20-kilogram sacks of rice instead of actual people due to safety concerns.The drone has

Nov 11, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Society

Seoul hosts 'contactless' culinary event this week

A poster promoting the Taste of Seoul culinary event that will be held across the capital from Nov. 11 to 15. /Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan GovernmentBy Bahk Eun-jiSeoul residents can enjoy gourmet meals from 10 famous restaurants and two hotels through delivery or drive-thru services, as part of the city government’s “contactless” culinary events that will run from Nov. 11 to 15.The city government said, Monday, it is launching “Taste of Seoul” with a large number of famous restaurants as well as small-sized local restaurants and star chefs participating.Taste of Seoul will comprise of two categories: “Restaurant Week” celebrating Seoul’s gourmet food, and “Comfort Food Week” dedicated to Koreans’ favorite foods to lift their spirits.One notable program is “Seoul Restaurant@Home,” in which people can select special dishes from a choice of 10 restaurants and two hotels and have them delivered to their home. Those making reservations the day before the desired date can get the food at any time and any plac

Nov 9, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Seoul hosts 'contactless' culinary event this week
Health

Allergic to sunlight: rare but extremely painful

A hospital display shows where the memorial altar for popular comedian Park Ji-sun is located at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital in Seoul, Nov. 2. Park was found dead alongside her mother at her residence earlier in the day. Yonhap By Bahk Eun-jiThe late comedian Park Ji-sun reportedly had a problems due to a worsening sunlight allergy. A final note, which is believed to have been left by Park's mother, who was found dead by her daughter's side, said, “My daughter suffered from skin diseases, and recently, she suffered more in the process of treating other diseases.”Park said in an interview in 2014 that she suffered from skin allergies and could not even wear makeup. In particular, people suffering from these have to always avoid sunlight, which increases their likelihood of developing depression.The comedian, who was said to have had the allergy throughout her life, usually wore a mass-producer to avoid the sun. When filming, she minimized makeup for her s

Nov 8, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Allergic to sunlight: rare but extremely painful
Society

Working parents' woes deepen over school workers' strike

After-school childcare workers hold a rally outside the building of the Ministry of Education in Sejong, Nov. 6. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiWorking parents of elementary school students are scrambling to find suitable childcare options as more school workers, including cafeteria workers, warned of a bigger and more disruptive strike if the government and the National Assembly fail to heed their calls for better working conditions.According to the Ministry of Education, 4,902 out of 11,895, or 41.3 percent of care workers participated in the strike on Friday. Out of 5,998 elementary schools that run such after-school programs across the country, 2,697 or 44.9 percent of them took part in the strike. Of 12,211 after-school classes nationwide, 4,231 were shut down on the day.The number of closed after-school classes was lower than initially expected as education authorities mobilized non-striking workers and asked school officials to volunteer their services to maintain childcare services during the strike. However, parents affected by the strike were scrambling for alternatives for their chil

Nov 8, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Working parents' woes deepen over school workers' strike
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