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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

Schools ordered to move online amid COVID-19 resurgence

An elementary student walks to school with her mother in Mapo-gu, western Seoul, Tuesday. Schools in the Seoul metropolitan area must shift to online classes for two weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak. / YonhapDoctors to push for full-scale strike todayBy Bahk Eun-jiThe Ministry of Education ordered all elementary, middle and high schools and kindergartens in the Seoul metropolitan area, Tuesday, to move classes online, beginning today, amid the soaring number of COVID-19 infections among students and teachers.The ministry announced the plan in a joint briefing with the education offices of Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province. The measure was in response to the recent surge in the number of students, teachers as well as faculty members becoming infected amid the full-fledged opening of schools. “About 193 students and faculty members tested positive for COVID-19 in the Seoul metropolitan area alone between Aug. 11 and 23, and 76 percent of these infections occurred in the past two weeks since starting classes in schools,” Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae said during an

Aug 25, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Schools ordered to move online amid COVID-19 resurgence
Society

Typhoon Bavi set to batter capital area Thursday

Strong winds and high waves hit the coast of Korea's southern Jeju Island, Tuesday, as Typhoon Bavi approaches. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiTyphoon Bavi is approaching the Korean Peninsula rapidly, with Jeju Island already feeling the influence of the season's eighth typhoon Tuesday. The powerful typhoon, bringing strong winds and heavy rain, is expected to batter the capital area, Thursday.The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said Bavi's intensity was expected to grow to “very strong” and would likely have direct impact on the country. Bavi was moving northward at 12 kilometers per hour 400 kilometers northwest of Seogwipo, Jeju Island, as of 3 p.m. Tuesday. The central pressure was reported to be 955 hectopascals, with a maximum wind speed of 144 kilometers per hour near its center, and a wind and storm radius of a respective 370 kilometers and 120 kilometers. The maximum wind speed is expected to be 140 kilometers per hour, or 39 meters per second.The wind will be stronger than the maximum 162 kilometers per hour near the center, becoming “very strong” in

Aug 25, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Typhoon Bavi set to batter capital area Thursday
  • PHOTOS Typhoon Bavi is coming
  • Typhoon advisory issued in Jeju, South Jeolla as Bavi approaches Korea
Society

Incheon City, Ongjin County team up for future mobility

Incheon Metropolitan City Mayor Park Nam-chun speaks during an event for a joint agreement on the personal air vehicles business at the Ongjin County building in Incheon, west of Seoul. Courtesy of Incheon Metropolitan GovernmentBy Bahk Eun-jiThe Incheon Metropolitan Government said Monday it will join forces with related agencies to create a demonstration center for future personal air vehicles (PAVs) and designate a special liberalization zone for PAVs.The city government signed a business agreement with Ongjin County, Incheon Port Authority and the Central Regional Coast Guard of Ongjin County at the county office to foster the urban mobility business in an effort to strengthen its vision for future mobility. Under the agreement, the organizations plan to join forces to allow Incheon to be designated as a special zone for drones and other aerial vehicles in November.Incheon Metropolitan Government previously applied for Jawol Island in Ongjin County as a target area for the special zone.If Jawol Island is selected by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport as a special

Aug 24, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Incheon City, Ongjin County team up for future mobility
Health

Cafes feared to become virus hotbeds

A Starbucks in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, closed due to virus infections, in this Aug. 18 photo. The cafe reopened Monday after a two-week suspension. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiStarbucks and other coffee chains here have emerged as a blind spot in the country's ongoing struggle to contain the coronavirus, according to health experts Monday. They said the authorities should force those operating coffee shops to take more aggressive measures to prevent COVID-19 infections among customers, and if new infections continue to occur, cafes should be closed, just as PC rooms and buffet restaurants have been shut down. Early last week, the government enforced Level 2 social distancing measures including the closure of facilities in which the virus could spread most easily, such as PC rooms, nightclubs, karaoke rooms and buffet restaurants. However, cafes and restaurants are not included on the list of high-risk facilities even though outbreaks tied to such places have been reported in the capital area. Experts warn that people need to be cautious when they visit coffee shops, otherwise the government

Aug 24, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Cafes feared to become virus hotbeds
Society

Seoul Tech leading academia-industry cooperation

Lee Dong-hoon, president of Seoul National University of Science and Technology (Seoul Tech) speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the university campus in Nowon, Seoul, Aug. 18. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulBy Bahk Eun-jiMany universities are changing their roles by strengthening the links between industry and academia, breaking away from their traditionally isolated positions. Seoul National University of Science and Technology (Seoul Tech) has been leading these new changes. Lee Dong-hoon, president of Seoul Tech, is an industry-academic cooperation expert who has held posts related to educational-industrial cooperation for about a decade.Lee, who took the office last November, served as the university's vice president of research, was a member of the industry-academic cooperation committee and served as the head of the Leaders Industry-University Cooperation (LINC), a project of colleges and universities here funded by the government to facilitate practical training for students. He said cultivating the optimal human resources necessary for industry through edu

Aug 23, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Seoul Tech leading academia-industry cooperation
Health

Couples in dilemma again over wedding ceremony amid virus resurgence

Quarantine officials disinfect wedding hall in Seoul, in this file photo. / Korea Times file By Bahk Eun-jiCouples wanting to get married are again facing a dilemma over wedding ceremonies after the government reintroduced strict social distancing measure amid a recent resurgence of COVID-19 infections.With the heightened guidelines imposed in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province last week ― which will continue to next week ― large gatherings such as local festivals, trade fares and wedding ceremonies, with estimated attendees of more than 50 people indoors and 100 outdoors have either been banned or postponed. Although in placed for only two weeks, the stricter social distancing guidelines for the Seoul metropolitan area will be extended for another two weeks unless there are signs of a fall in the number of infections. Lee Jee-ahn, a 34-year-old office worker living in Incheon, who has already postponed her wedding ceremony from March to this month due to the virus said sh

Aug 21, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Couples in dilemma again over wedding ceremony amid virus resurgence
Health

Calls growing to tighten social distancing rules, curb virus spread

People sit far apart at a food court in Seoul Station, Thursday, in line with the government's social distancing measures amid the spread of COVID-19. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiThe government is facing growing calls to place stricter social distancing guidelines on the greater Seoul area, as daily new COVID-19 infections in the country soared by triple digits for the seventh consecutive day Thursday. Some even worry that the situation is worse than the mass infections linked with the Shincheonji religious sect or Itaewon nightclubs in the early stages of the pandemic.The recent resurgence of new cases is more serious due to a high risk of the virus spreading at a faster rate due to the likelihood of a large number of asymptomatic carriers or those showing only mild symptoms who are going about their daily lives in the densely populated capital while unaware that they have infected. Epidemiologists warned that if the number of cases keeps increasing, it is highly unlikely that the government's quarantine measures will remain effective.“The virus spread in the Seoul metropolitan area i

Aug 20, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Calls growing to tighten social distancing rules, curb virus spread
Society

Parents frightened again ahead of fall semester opening

Students maintain a distance from one another upon arriving at Jeil Middle School on Jeju Island, in this June 8 file photo. Yonhap By Bahk Eun-jiMany parents are becoming increasingly concerned over whether they should send their children back to school as scheduled for the upcoming fall semester, after the number of daily new COVID-19 infections hit three digits for the fifth straight day, Tuesday.The recent rise in coronavirus cases, especially in the Seoul metropolitan area, has already signaled a rise in the risk to safety in schools, leading those considering larger onsite instruction in the fall semester to hurriedly adjust their opening schedules. But some parents are complaining that they have not been informed about scheduling changes at their children's schools. The Ministry of Education announced, Sunday, a restriction on classroom capacity following a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in the capital area. The number of students attending kindergarte

Aug 18, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Parents frightened again ahead of fall semester opening
Health

Gov't to take tougher restrictions amid fears of virus resurgence

A visitor gets tested for the coronavirus at a makeshift testing center set up in Seongbuk-gu, the northeastern Seoul, Monday, amid growing fears over the resurgence of the virus in the greater Seoul area. YonhapSeoul church under fire for mass infections, uncooperative response to virus testsBy Bahk Eun-jiThe health authorities said Monday that the recent resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the Seoul and metropolitan areas is the early stages of a massive outbreak, and stressed that they will take tougher quarantine measures if it does not subside by the end of this week.The statement came as infections linked specifically to a church in northern Seoul have kept surging, raising public concern over the coronavirus spreading quickly across the country. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 197 new infections, including 188 domestic cases, for Sunday, taking the nation's total caseload to 15,515. The figure came a day after the nation reported 279 new daily cases, marking the first time since early March that the new daily infections surpassed 200.Of the new

Aug 17, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Gov't to take tougher restrictions amid fears of virus resurgence
Society

Cleanup after flooding

A woman hangs clothes that were soaked by heavy rain and flooding at a traditional market in a village in Gurye, South Jeolla Province, 300 kilometers south of Seoul, Monday. Many blamed the damage on a dam in Seomjin River that was opened during the heavy rain, causing parts of the river bank to burst. The Ministry of Environment promised Sunday to overhaul the nation's dam operations so that the same tragedy won't happen again. Yonhap

Aug 17, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Cleanup after flooding
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