my timesThe Korea Times
ejb

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.

Go to Email

Read more

Politics

Concerns grow over extending police powers

By Bahk Eun-jiConcerns are growing over police having too much power in the nation's criminal justice system, according to legal analysts Friday, as the government introduced a plan to shift more investigative powers to the police force from the prosecution and the intelligence agency.The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the presidential office discussed reforms of the law enforcement authorities, Thursday. As a part of pushing ahead of the long overhaul plan to reform the country's institutions of power, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) will be renamed the “Foreign Security Intelligence Agency” to strictly block the NIS' involvement in domestic politics. Accordingly, the spy agency's counter-espionage operations will also be shut down. National Police Agency headquarters /Korea Times file In addition, the DPK leaders and other participants agreed on a plan to limit the scope of direct investigative authority by the prosecution, and police will be giv

Jul 31, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Concerns grow over extending police powers
Society

Foreign students urged to take online classes

An international student arrives at a dormitory building of Kyung Hee University in Seoul, for 14 days of self-quarantine upon arrival, in this Feb. 24 file photo. Korea Times fileBy Bahk Eun-jiThe Ministry of Education is encouraging foreign students enrolled in colleges here for the fall semester to take online classes from their home countries, as part of efforts to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, according to ministry officials Thursday.Currently, foreign students entering the country have to go through special entry procedures pertaining to flight schedules and self-quarantine on arrival. But the education ministry in now planning to actively encourage foreign students to take classes online without leaving their home countries. To this end, the ministry will introduce operating standards for improving the quality of online classes.“The education ministry is in talks with universities to advise them to improve the credit system for lectures requiring face-to-face lessons in the first semester of next year,” said Ahn Woong-hwan, a deputy head of the ministry'

Jul 30, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Foreign students urged to take online classes
Society

Gyeonggi governor urges senior officials to sell houses

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung speaks during a press briefing at the provincial government building in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiGyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung said Tuesday that civil servants of grade 4 or higher in the provincial government who own more than one home are strongly advised to sell any properties that are not their place of residence.Starting next year, the real estate holdings of high-ranking government officials of the Gyeonggi provincial government will be reflected in their personal evaluations. It is the first time for a local government to take such a measure for high-ranking public officials who own multiple homes, which is stronger than the government's recommendation to officials of grade 2 or higher. “We won't allow any public servants in the Gyeonggi provincial government to make money from speculative investments in real estate,” Lee said during a press conference at the government office in Suwon. If public officials own multiple properties due to “unavoidable” reasons, they must reso

Jul 28, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Gyeonggi governor urges senior officials to sell houses
Society

Regional education offices scrutinized over hidden camera problem in schools

A woman checks for hidden cameras in a restroom at a community center in Yongsan, Seoul, in this March 8, 2017 photo. Korea Times photo by Hong In-kiBy Bahk Eun-jiConcerns are rising over regional education offices' alleged negligence in identifying the possible existence of hidden cameras in elementary, middle and high schools nationwide, according to data submitted to Rep. Bae Jun-young of the main opposition United Future Party by the Ministry of Education, Tuesday.According to the data submitted, 170 cases of illegal recording using hidden cameras have been reported in schools across the country since 2017. Among them, five cases were reported between January and July this year, 65 in 2019, 55 in 2018 and 53 in 2017.By region, 88 cases were reported in Seoul, 26 in Busan, 22 in North Gyeongsang Province, 15 in South Jeolla, 13 in Incheon, 10 in South Chungcheong, and two in Gwangju and South Gyeongsang Province, respectively.Recently, the education ministry said it had begun to conduct a “full-scale” inspection of elementary, middle and high schools across the country

Jul 28, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Regional education offices scrutinized over hidden camera problem in schools
Health

Gov't hit for belated move to charge foreign COVID-19 patients from abroad

Health Minister Park Neung-hoo speaks during a meeting of the central disaster and safety countermeasures headquarters at the government complex in Sejong, Monday, to discuss measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Yonhap By Bahk Eun-jiThe government has been drawing criticism for its belated move to charge incoming foreign COVID-19 patients amid soaring number of new infections have been detected among them over the last six weeks.On Sunday, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters decided to revise the current law that mandates the government cover treatment and in-hospital care costs for non-residents testing positive for the virus on arrival or during their two-week quarantine period, regardless of their nationality. As critics pointed out that the surge in incoming patients has put pressure on the nation's medical system, the government made the decision to stop paying medical expenses for the non-citizen patients. But the critics said

Jul 27, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Gov't hit for belated move to charge foreign COVID-19 patients from abroad
Politics

Committee recommends to reduce top prosecutor's authority

By Bahk Eun-jiThe Justice and Public Prosecutors Reform Committee under the Ministry of Justice said Monday that it has drawn up a recommendation to decentralize, and reduce the prosecutor general's authority to subordinate agencies. It is effectively reducing or abolishing the prosecutor general's authority to direct investigations into district prosecutors across the country, sparking concerns of “infringement of the prosecution's independence.”During a press briefing at the ministry, the committee announced the recommendations, which include dispersion of the prosecutor general's specific investigation command authority, improvement of the prosecution personnel's statement procedure, and diversification of the appointment of the prosecutor general. Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae /Korea Times file If Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae accepts the recommendations, the prosecutor general's specific investigation command will be largely delegated to regional offices and diminish

Jul 27, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Committee recommends to reduce top prosecutor's authority
Health

KU Medicine seeks new models for post-pandemic healthcare

Kim Young-hoon, executive vice president for medical affairs at KU, speaks during the “Next Normal Conference 2020” hosted by the school at the College of Medicine building in Anam, Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of KU MedicineKU held “Next Normal Conference” with world-renowned scholars By Bahk Eun-jiKorea University (KU) Medicine held a conference to seek a sustainable direction for the “next normal” for human society after COVID-19 pandemic, including health care, leadership, economic growth and development.With the title of “Next-normal Conference 2020,” KU Medicine co-hosted the conference with Johns Hopkins University, the University of Manchester and Freie Universitat Berlin at the KU college of Medicine building in Anam, Seoul, Thursday. The event started with a video greeting from Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, and a number of world-renowned scholars such as Jim Dator, professor emeritus at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Martin McKee, professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and

Jul 26, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
KU Medicine seeks new models for post-pandemic healthcare
Law & Crime

Second son of Sewol ferry owner seized in NY

Yoo Hyuk-kee /Yonhap By Bahk Eun-jiYoo Hyuk-kee, the second son of Semo Group's late former chairman Yoo Byung-eun, was arrested on an extradition warrant at his home in the United States, the New York Times reported Friday.Korean prosecutors had requested the warrant for Yoo who has been charged with embezzlement here. A U.S. Justice Department spokeswoman said the arrest came in response to the extradition request. Yoo was the only child among the senior Yoo Byung-eun's two sons and two daughters whose whereabouts the prosecution here had failed to ascertain. He is considered to be one of the key people in the scandal surrounding the sinking of the Sewol ferry in 2014 that killed more than 300 people, most of whom were high school students. Yoo Hyuk-kee was also reportedly the de facto heir to the Semo Group and its subsidiaries under the late Chairman Yoo, who was the controlling shareholder of Chonghajin Marine, the “paper” operator of the Sewol. Yoo and other f

Jul 24, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Second son of Sewol ferry owner seized in NY
Society

Heavy rainfall kills five across Korea

A road is flooded in Busan, 450 kilometers south of Seoul, Thursday, in this photo provided by the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency, as heavy rain pounded most parts of the country. Yonhap By Bahk Eun-jiHeavy rains accompanied by strong winds nationwide left five people dead and four injured, according to the Central Disaster Management Headquarters, Friday. Among them, three were found dead in their cars, submerged in floodwater in Busan, one was in Ulsan and the other was in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province.As of 12 p.m., Friday, 217 people had been evacuated from their homes and 51 rescued, as 289 cases of flooded houses were reported. By region, 162 houses were flooded in Busan, the highest in the country, followed by 70 in North Gyeongsang Province, 27 in Incheon, 21 in Ulsan and nine in Gyeonggi Province. Busan, the country's second-biggest city, saw 81 millimeters of rain per hour, the 10th highest hourly precipitation since 1920, according to the Korea Meteorologica

Jul 24, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Heavy rainfall kills five across Korea
Health

Nurse receives Sungcheon Award for work in Malawi

Baek Young-sim Courtesy of JW GroupBy Bahk Eun-jiBaek Young-sim, a nurse who devoted herself to providing medical services in Malawi, East Africa, for 30 years has been chosen as the recipient of the 8th Sungcheon Award, according to the JW Foundation.The JW Foundation, a public-benefit corporation founded in 2011 by JW Holdings honorary Chairman Lee Jong-ho, announced that it presented the award to Baek from Daeyang Luke Hospital in Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi. It is the first time a nurse has been the winner of the prize, the foundation said. “I have only been thinking of nursing as everything in my life,” Baek said. “I think it's an award on behalf of nurses and medical workers in Korea as well as Malawi which has been battling at the forefront of the coronavirus pandemic.”The Sungcheon Award was established to honor Lee Gi-seok, the founder of JW Pharmaceutical, also known as Sungcheon. Medical volunteers contributed to promote medical welfare and became social models are eligible for the award.Baek graduated from Halla University on Jeju Island i

Jul 24, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Nurse receives Sungcheon Award for work in Malawi
previous page
9091929394
next page

Top 5 stories

Korea Times
About Us
Introduction
History
Contact Us
Products & Services
Subscribe
E-paper
RSS Service
Content Sales
Site Map
Policy
Code of Ethics
Ombudsman
Privacy Policy
Youth Protection Policy
Terms of Service
Copyright Policy
Family Site
Hankookilbo
Dongwha Group
FacebookXYoutubeInstagram
CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.