Society
Concert for residents
Children wearing masks enjoy a performance at a park located in an apartment complex in Gwangju, 250 kilometers south of Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap
Nov 8, 2020
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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Society
Education ministry prepares for post-COVID era
Yoo Eun-hae, deputy prime minister and minister of education, checks an online class system in this April 7 photo, after the ministry announced plans to start the new school year in stages that month due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Korea Times fileBy Bahk Eun-jiThe COVID-19 pandemic has given the country an opportunity to refocus on education, and the consequences of the outbreak will help the government plan for the future with the massive shift away from learning and teaching in traditional settings with physical interactions as well as classroom organization, according to the Ministry of Education.The ministry announced a policy package with 10 priorities to shape education for the post-coronavirus world. The 10 include facilitating innovation in teaching and learning, revising the national curriculum by incorporating the values of decentralized and autonomous education at the local level, a new teacher management system and a stronger safety net.In addition, the ministry will also prepare for the full-scale implementation of online classes by sharing growth between universities and
Nov 3, 2020
Health
Government to focus on reducing COVID-19 mortality rates
An ambulance leaves a nursing hospital for the elderly in Gyeonggi Province, in this Oct. 25 photo. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiThe government has shifted the focus of its COVID-19 quarantine policies from preventing new cases to lowering death rates, the health authorities said Monday. As the country has changed tack toward coexisting with the coronavirus, government officials are looking at management of the epidemic rather than fighting to defeat the virus outright.Experts generally evaluated this critical patient-centered response positively, but also pointed out that there are a lack of detailed measures for vulnerable facilities, such as nursing homes for senior citizens, where infection clusters have continued to emerge.The reasoning behind the easing of social distancing measures by one notch to the lowest level, Oct. 12, which was explained by the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, Sunday, was sustainability, with the goal of reducing the number of deaths rather than minimizing infections.In this regard, the capacity to handle patients in a critical condition
Nov 2, 2020
Health
Fears growing over mass outbreak of COVID-19 ahead of Halloween
A street in Itaewon, a popular nightlife district in Seoul, remains quiet, Wednesday, three days before Halloween. Popular clubs in the district have decided to close over the weekend to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiWith Halloween falling on Saturday, the authorities and experts reminded the public of their concerns that gathering in large groups for celebrations over the weekend could trigger another mass COVID-19 outbreak.“Again, we advise people to stay home and not to have any big gatherings for their safety,” Sohn Young-rae, an official from the Central Disease Control Headquarters, said during a daily briefing Friday. “The situation in the Seoul metropolitan area is rapidly reaching a flashpoint,” said Kim Woo-joo, an infectious disease professor at Korea University's Guro Hospital, said during a YouTube broadcast the previous day. Large-scale popular nightclubs in Itaewon, Gangnam and Hongdae in Seoul have closed in cooperation with the government's infection control measures, but there is still a possibility of crowds flocki
Oct 30, 2020
Health
People turn to imported flu vaccine, local companies criticize gov't
Fewer people than ever wait in line at a hospital in Seoul, to get flu shots amid concerns about their safety, Wednesday. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiPublic fear surrounding the seasonal flu vaccine is prompting more consumers look for imported flu shots in anticipation that these would be safer than ones produced by local pharmaceutical companies. As a result, local news outlets are reporting that there is now a shortage of imported vaccines. Seventy deaths have been reported among those getting free influenza vaccinations, but despite the government announcing that there was no proof that these were caused by the flu shots, public concern about the safety of the vaccines hasn't subsided. Out of 12 flu vaccines available in Korea, 10 are made by Korean companies and two by foreign ones. Those used in the government's free shot program were from LG Chemical, Boryung Biopharma, GC Pharma, Korea Vaccine, SK Bioscience and Sanofi Pasteur.These companies have joined the free vaccination program despite an anticipated loss ― although the government is paying 60 percent of the market price. On the
Oct 30, 2020
Society
Multicultural music radio celebrates 12th anniv.
Hosts of the Multicultural Family Music Broadcasting Service pose for a photo with Woongjin Foundation Chairman Shin Hyun-woong, fifth from left, and cable network Digital Skynet President Kim Choong-hyun, sixth from left, for the service's 12th anniversary event at the broadcasting studio in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of Woongjin Foundation
Oct 29, 2020
Health
Will doctors strike again amid unsolved license issue?
Choi Dae-zip, right, head of the Korean Medical Association (KMA) which represents local doctors, speaks during a press conference held in Seoul, in this Oct. 25 photo. Yonhap By Bahk Eun-jiThe Korea Medical Association (KMA) urged the government, Thursday, to come up with measures to give medical students another opportunity to take the state medical licensing exam, warning that they are poised to launch another strike. Doctors and the government are still at odds over whether to give fourth-year medical students another opportunity to take the state medical licensing exam after they boycotted this year's test. The KMA has set a deadline for resolving the issue. However, the government has been sticking to its position that there is little need to discuss the possibility of an additional exam unless there is a “society-wide consensus.”“If the government does not come up with measures for the issue by Oct. 28, we will take special measures on Oct. 29," KMA President
Oct 29, 2020
Health
ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL COVID-19 pandemic facilitates hospitals' digitization
By Bahk Eun-jiFor patients with an infectious disease such as COVID-19, receiving proper, timely treatment is of the utmost importance. Amid the prolonged pandemic, people around the country are becoming anxious about the national healthcare system as various problems have come to light.In fact, during the pandemic, the existing medical system revealed limitations such as insufficient number of hospital beds and shortage of medical personnel. When the country's new virus cases were increasing at alarming rates, with patients in critical condition on an upward path in August, voices calling for improvements to the medical system have been gaining momentum.In this regard, digital transformation is rapidly being introduced throughout society. Hospitals, one of the important parts of social infrastructure, cannot be left out. While working with tech companies to improve work efficiency, digitization of medical technology is also being promoted towards a vision for “smart hospitals”.Smart hospitals have emerged as an alternative to the medical system. They are hospitals where
Oct 28, 2020
Society
Kimchi-making for charity
Volunteers make kimchi for impoverished local residents at a charity event in Gwangju, 330 kilometers southwest of Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
Oct 28, 2020
Health
Family of teenager who died after flu shot demands full investigation
A screenshot from the Cheong Wa Dae petition site shows a petition posted on Tuesday requesting a thorough investigation into the death of a 17-year-old high school senior that occurred shortly after he received a flu vaccine. Screen captured from https://www1.president.go.kr/ siteBy Bahk Eun-jiThe family of a 17-year-old who died two days after receiving a flu shot urged the government, Tuesday, to conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of his death, in an online petition posted on the presidential website.The high school senior was found dead in the morning of Oct. 16 in his home in Incheon. His family claims he had been healthy until he received the vaccine in the early afternoon on Oct. 14, and the vaccine he was given was distributed by a company accused of mishandling containers of the flu vaccine.A health worker at a medical institution in Seoul reaches for a syringe to vaccinate a patient during the seasonal influenza vaccination campaign in this Oct. 21 photo. YonhapForensic investigators ruled out the possibility that the vaccine was the cause of death, reporting t
Oct 28, 2020