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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

Parents with mental illness pose higher risk to children

Children of parents suffering from mental illness have a higher risk of suffering physical abuse than other children, according to a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. gettyimagesbankBy Bahk Eun-jiWhen a woman found a nine-year-old girl at around 6:20 p.m. on the street in Changnyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, May 29, the girl had severe wounds such as bruises around her eyes and blisters on her fingers. Some of her fingernails were missing, and there were cuts on her head.It was also reported that the girl was wearing thin pajamas and large slippers that adults would wear. The woman immediately contacted the police when the girl showed her burned hand to the woman, saying “My father put my hands on a frying pan to remove my fingerprints so that police cannot bring me back when I run away from home.” “It was because my daughter didn't listen to me,” the stepfather said during a police investigation, admitting to some of the abuse, but denying habitual violence.The girl has been hospitalized and treated at a hospital in the province and

Jun 14, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Parents with mental illness pose higher risk to children
Society

HUFS alumni members awarded

By Bahk Eun-jiCho Kwang-Han, Namyangju MayorHankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) Alumni Association named two graduates ― Namyangju Mayor Cho Kwang-han and honorary professor Choi Wan-jin ― as the winners of its “2020 Proud Alumni Award,” Thursday.Cho has been serving as mayor since 2018 after earning a bachelor's degree in Chinese Language from HUFS. He served as a chief spokesman for former President Roh Moo-hyun. The award ceremony was held at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul, Friday, with alumni association head Min Dong-seok and many other dignitaries in attendance. Choi Wan-jin, professor emeritus of HUFSDuring the ceremony, the association also awarded “Special Achievement Award” to graduates. The list included Han Il-lang, special advisor of Korean Red Cross; Lee Young-do, president of Gaon Networks; Hong Yung-pyo, president of the Korea Industrial, Academic and Technological Information Services; and Shin Myung-Hyuk, vice president of Woori Financial Group.The association awards alumni every year in recognition of their contribution to the enhance

Jun 12, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
HUFS alumni members awarded
Health

QR code scanning to be mandatory at cram schools

Government employees try quick response (QR) code-based entry logs at the government complex in Sejong, in this June 2 photo. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiPeople will be required to carry quick response (QR) codes on their mobile phones if they want to attend cram schools or use PC rooms in the Seoul metropolitan area the health authorities said Friday, as a measure to stem the spread of COVID-19. The QR scanning move is part of the tougher infection disease prevention measures in densely populated areas including the capital and Incheon, and adjacent cities in Gyeonggi Province. “Extended social distancing measures will also be enforced until the number of new daily cases in the areas falls to single digits. We have come up with these measures to minimize disruptions in school classrooms and damage to the livelihoods of businesses that could be caused if we go back to full social distancing. They are needed to block the chain of infections concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area,” said Health Minister Park Neung-hoo during a press briefing at the Government Complex in Seoul.I

Jun 12, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
QR code scanning to be mandatory at cram schools
  • S. Korea reports 56 new cases of coronavirus infection
  • South Korea to extend tough distancing around Seoul
Law & Crime

Panel to conduct external review into prosecution's case against Samsung heir Lee

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong leaves the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, south of Seoul, after a court denied the issuance of an arrest warrant for him, Tuesday. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiAn outside experts group will review the validity of an ongoing investigation by the prosecution into Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, involving a controversial merger and alleged accounting fraud, it was announced Thursday.Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol accepted a request for this made earlier by South Korea's largest conglomerate after a panel made up of ordinary citizens ― including a taxi driver, homemaker, retired civil servant and a teacher ― overseeing operations by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office voted in favor of an independent examination into the case. The prosecutor-general must organize an experts group such a decision is made. The citizens' panel said it reviewed 120 pages of written opinions ― 30 from the prosecution and 90 from Lee and Samsung's lawyers ― before reaching its decision within a day. It said it was necessary to give an exper

Jun 11, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Panel to conduct external review into prosecution's case against Samsung heir Lee
Society

Parents protest closure of 2 elite middle schools

Students walk through a front gate of Younghoon International Middle School, Seoul, Wednesday. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiSeoul education office's decision to revoke two elite middle schools' licenses has been drawing backlash from parents and students who argue it deprives them of the freedom of choice guaranteed in the Constitution.Although the decision is not final yet, the two schools ― Daewon International Middle School and Younghoon International Middle School ― are subject to the approval of the Ministry of Education (MOE), which will notify the schools of its decision within 50 days. In the wake of the announcement from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE), Wednesday, many parents and students claimed the education authorities were removing the opportunity for middle-class students to climb the social ladder. Controversy over education reform has been ongoing nationwide because it is one of the Moon Jae-in administration's top education policy goals.“I'm worried that it might be an ostensible evaluation for the abolition of the schools, just like when the educatio

Jun 11, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Parents protest closure of 2 elite middle schools
Society

Online learning deepens education inequality between haves, have-nots

An elementary school student prepares for online classes with his mother at home in Yongsan, Seoul, in this April 20 photo. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiMore than 60 percent of parents feel the ongoing shift toward online-based learning during the coronavirus pandemic has deepened inequality in education between haves and have-nots, a survey showed Tuesday.The parents also said that online learning prompted by school closures exposed the technology divide.A civic group, called World Without Worries About Private Education, conducted an online survey on 1,000 adults aged 18 or older nationwide and released the results on Tuesday. According to the survey, 62 percent of respondents said they agreed with the claim that full access to online learning is far from universal and that students who are poor are less likely to have access to the key tools and experiences they need to attend school online.The figure is nearly twice as high as the 32.4 percent who answered that they disagree. In particular, 63.8 percent of those in their 40s and 66.5 percent of those in their 50s agreed that online learni

Jun 9, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Online learning deepens education inequality between haves, have-nots
Society

Parents skeptical about effectiveness of school reopening

Students wearing masks attend a class while keeping distance from each other at Chuncheon Middle School in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, Monday. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiMany parents are questioning the effectiveness of sending their children to school as most students are only required to attend once or twice a week, a measure taken by schools to avoid overcrowding in classrooms amid lingering fears of the COVID-19 pandemic.The system in which students go to school in shifts in order to maintain social distancing was suggested by the education ministry and health authorities. The only exception is high school and middle school seniors, who attend school daily.Criticism is growing among parents who are questioning whether it is worth sending their children to school when they are at risk of coronavirus infection. “For the first day, I sent my son to school to get familiar with his friends and teachers. Now he has to go to school once a week, and I'm not sure if it's worth it for him,” said a 39-year-old father of a first grade elementary school student in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, i

Jun 9, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Parents skeptical about effectiveness of school reopening
Health

As temperature rises, race for cool masks heats up

By Bahk Eun-jiConsumers are once again complaining about a shortage of face masks ― this time a new type that is cheaper and allegedly easier to breathe in than ones already available, and is primarily designed to block exhaled water vapor.Mask manufacturer Welkeeps began sales of “saliva droplet prevention” masks Monday at 9 a.m., but its inventory was sold out in less than 20 minutes. A new type of “saliva droplet prevention mask.” YonhapConsumers who had been accessing the website even before the sales time quickly pressed the purchase button at 9 a.m., but the payment process did not proceed smoothly as the server was overloaded.“Access Delay and Error messages keep popping up on the Welkeeps website, and while repeating this process, the masks have been sold out,” said Park Kyung-hwan, a customer who tried to buy one. Welkeeps expanded its sales channel to Naver Store, as a countermeasure after its online mall shut down Friday, but this was no different. On the first day the manufacturer began selling the masks, 7.8 million people logged into

Jun 8, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
As temperature rises, race for cool masks heats up
  • Seoul faces season's first heat wave advisory
Politics

Schools back to normal amid COVID-19 fears

A student has his temperature checked at Dosol Elementary School in Daejeon, Monday, when the country implemented the fourth phase of school reopening for middle school first graders and elementary school fifth and sixth graders. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiElementary, middle and high school students all returned to their classrooms Monday, but many parents and teachers remain skeptical about whether or not the schools are free of the coronavirus. They are concerned about whether students will wear masks properly and adequately practice social distancing rules and other measures while in school.According to the Ministry of Education (MOE), an estimated 1.35 million middle school first grade students and fifth and sixth graders of elementary school began in-person classes on the day, bringing the total number brought back to school in four phases to 5.97 million. The schools appear back to normal operation 99 days after the initial delay of the spring semester.Although the reopening plan began May 20 as the spread of COVID-19 appeared to be under control in early May, further unexpected infec

Jun 8, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Schools back to normal amid COVID-19 fears
  • S. Korea reports 38 new cases of coronavirus infection
Health

Last group of students back to school today

Students attend physical education class while wearing masks at Gwacheon High School in Gwacheon, south of Seoul, June 3, 2020. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiMiddle school freshmen and fifth and sixth grades of elementary school students are going back to school in the final phase of the government's planned reopening, Monday, even as the country has seen a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in recent days.According to the Ministry of Education, an estimated 1.35 million students begin their on-site classes today, 99 days after the delaying of their spring semester. After a long closure imposed due to the new coronavirus, Korea allowed the phase-wise opening of schools when the virus spread appeared to come under control in early May. High school seniors returned on May 20, as they face a hectic academic schedule up until they sit for the country's college entrance exam, which is now scheduled to commence on Dec. 3. With the fourth and last group of students returning to school, a total of 5.95 million pupils are now attending regular classes.According to the data from the education ministr

Jun 7, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Last group of students back to school today
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