The Korea Times

Quiz on 10 Queen songs

The movie "Bohemian Rhapsody" is shown in a theater in Seoul.By Oh Young-jinKoreans have saved Queen. They love him. Even more of them will likely, if they have not already, watch the movie "Bohemian Rhapsody" ― about its late lead singer Freddie Mercury ― than people of any other country, including Mercury's adopted home, Britain. It is an open question why Koreans have fallen for the singer whose super talent was only surpassed by the tragedy of his life. I asked some of those who have seen the movie why and found that it was more than nostalgia, since a significant portion of them were born well after the band's heyday. Two women colleagues in their 20s said they wanted to check out the songs and the singer, whom they listened to. They said they liked the sing-along events, at which moviegoers were encouraged to sing Queen songs while watching the movie. A fleeting thought: By watching the movie, I thought Koreans showed their compassion for Brits who are about to be thrown into the wild and could be left a pariah through the implementation of Brexit. Or for the singer whose songs

Dec 7, 2018By Oh Young-jin

North Korea

PHOTOS Kim Jong-un's democracy test

A progressive group recently held a news conference at the National Assembly with mockups of President Moon Jae-in and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un. They called for the lifting of sanctions imposed on the North for its nuclear and missile programs to enable Kim's visit to Seoul. YonhapBy Oh Young-jinBy all indications, North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un will likely visit Seoul before the end of this year. He promised this during President Moon Jae-in's visit to Pyongyang in September. The media has been speculating on the dates but they have so far been denied. Moon, on his way to New Zealand aboard Air Force One during his recent overseas tour, revealed U.S. President Donald Trump had cleared Kim's visit before the second Kim-Trump summit. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is all smiles during a recent visit to a shoe factory. YonhapThere is no reason to block Kim's visit to the South. It is better to welcome him, because there is a chance the trip will help ease inter-Korean tensions, push the two countries further along a reconciliation path and disarm Kim of his nuclear weapons a

Dec 5, 2018By Oh Young-jin

Opinion

INTERVIEW 'We need to incentivize corporations, banks in tackling social issues'

Chung-Ang University Prof. James D. Jung speaks during a recent interview with The Korea Times about ways to incentivize corporations and banks to get more involved in tackling important social issues. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukBy Oh Young-jin Corporations and banks should get more involved in solving the problems facing the communities they belong to in order to gain more of the public's acceptance and therefore grow on a sustainable basis. One way to encourage them to do that is to describe their social contributions in dollar terms to help the investors decide which firm they will put their money into, a scholar argues. “If the businesses are scored for their social value-improving work, it would be a great incentive for them to make bigger contributions,” Chung-Ang University Prof. James D. Jung told The Korea Times during a recent interview. “For that, a standardized system for calculation should be made to give consumers and investors additional criteria by which to make purchasing and investing decisions. Prof. Chung, an accounting specialist, has been

Dec 3, 2018By Oh Young-jin

[INTERVIEW] 'We need to incentivize corporations, banks in tackling social issues'

Opinion

President Moon Jae-in makes irreversible 'all-in' bet

President Moon Jae-in prays at St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, Czech Republic, during his recent visit on the way to Argentina for the G20 summit. At his side is first lady Kim Jung-sook. YonhapBy Oh Young-jin Will President Moon Jae-in make a U-turn on his key policies that are alienating the public in order to recover his sagging approval? His approval rating has dipped below 50 percent for the first time since he took office 18 months ago.You would be wrong to think President Moon would reverse the minimum wage rises, revoke the exit from nuclear power in the nation's energy mix and slow the rapprochement with North Korea. The progressive president could not even if he wanted to.You may call Moon's lack of flexibility many things.It may be the curse of a single-term presidency. Because presidents have no re-election to worry about, they neither have a chance nor need to change the course of their actions, let alone reverse them. One may say the presidential system has outlived its usefulness as a state governing formula. Look at many president-led countries and one would, with few

Nov 30, 2018By Oh Young-jin

President Moon Jae-in makes irreversible 'all-in' bet

Politics

President's approval rating barely holds on to majority

By Oh Young-jinApproval ratings for President Moon Jae-in have dropped for eight consecutive weeks to a record 52.2 percent low. Pollster Realmeter conducted the survey of 1,505 adults on Nov. 19-21 for the second week of the month, which showed President Moon's support rating down 1.2 percentage points from the week before to 52.5 percent. It marked the eighth consecutive weekly drop since Moon received 65.3 percent approval following the inter-Korean summit in September. Moon's approval ratings have precipitated so fast that it is worth a look at which constituents are most disillusioned by Moon.In the Lee Young-ja, the same as the name of a celebrity comedian, Lee is pronounced like two words in Korean representing those in their 20s facing the brunt of economic hardship; Young for the conservative Yongnam or Gyeongsang Provinces suspecting Moon's liberal agenda and ja for the self-employed, who feel deserted by their supposed guardian government. The Lee Young-ja phenomenon appeared right on the money. The Realmeter poll showed that in Daegu and North Geyongsang Province, which f

Nov 23, 2018By Oh Young-jin

President's approval rating barely holds on to majority

Politics

Social value investing is new growth engine

Bob Caruso, head of Intentional Media that owns SOCAP, the big tent for social value investment, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times in San Francisco in October. Korea Times photo by Oh Young-jinBy Oh Young-jin October's SOCAP 2018 in San Francisco showing key members of Korean society _ consumers, corporations, banks, communities and nonprofits _ a direction to go to address the widening income gap and spread responsibilities among its members. Bob Caruso, former head of Select Equity Group, a hedge fund that manages $25 billion, leads the Intentional Media Group that owns SOCAP (Social Capital Markets), an annual big-tent event for nonprofits, asset managers and government officials. During the event, The Korea Times talked with Caruso. The following is some of what he had to say. More aware consumers, investorsWhen we had a chance to buy SOCAP two years ago, this whole social impact space was growing. Almost everywhere you could hear about it. Now over 80 percent of consumers say they want companies to be more impactful and sustainable in how they build their businesse

Nov 21, 2018By Oh Young-jin

Social value investing is new growth engine

Tech & Science

INTERVIEW Salesforce's example of working with communities

Jamie Olsen, senior director at saleforce.org, speaks on how the world's top customer relationship system provider provides an example of collaboration with communities, during a recent interview at its headquarters in San Francisco with The Korea Times. Korea Times photo by Oh Young-jinSalesforce is the world's leading customer relationship management system provider in San Francisco, founded by Marc Benioff, a former Oracle executive in 1999. It is composed of salesforce.com and salseforce.org. The first, a very successful commercial entity, proves Benioff's business acumen, but the latter shows his extraordinary large heart for giving with its own self-sustainable model. The Korea Times visited its headquarters and spoke with Jamie Olsen, senior director of employee engagement, at saleforce.org. ― ED. By Oh Young-jin Question: What is salesforce.org's primary mission?Answer: We have always provided products to nonprofit and education areas since the beginning. The core belief is that nonprofits should take advantage of world-class technologies just like any for-profit co

Nov 12, 2018By Oh Young-jin

[INTERVIEW] Salesforce's example of working with communities

North Korea

Historic handshakes between leaders of two Koreas

President Moon Jae-in, right, shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, after Kim crossed Military Demarcation Line (MDL) for the April 27 inter-Korean summit on the South Korean side of the Panunjeom truce village. YonhapBy Oh Young-jin, Jung Da-minSimple handshakes tell a tale of hope and disappointment. The first was between President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in June 2000. It was supposed to be a new start between the two antagonistic brother nations. In hindsight, it came too early to come to fruition. It took nearly 10 years to have the second ― between Kim and President Roh Moo-hyun in October 2007. It was too late in Roh's presidency, only two months before the presidential election in which the conservative Lee Myung-bak was elected. The third one took another 10 years ― between President Moon Jae-in, chief of staff of the late former President Roh, and Kim Jong-un, son of the late Kim, in April 2018. But it took only a short time before the two met again the following month.Now the third Moon-Kim summit is taking place. Three summits in five

Sep 18, 2018By Oh Young-jin

Historic handshakes between leaders of two Koreas

South Korea

Globalization not by digitization

The front page of the May 8 edition of The Korea Times is shown on the bulletin board in front of a UCLA library in this photo taken two days later. The photos were taken and sent by a Korean student studying there.Copy of Korea Times ends up on a US College bulletin boardBy Oh Young-jin  Globalization is supposed to be about digitization. Here is a small twist that defies this generalization.The May 8 edition of The Korea Times has the main article on its front page titled “Let’s have an English first name,” written by guest writer Kim In-chul, the presidentially-commissioned ombudsman who plays the role of troubleshooter for foreign investors.Kim’s contribution was about his announcement of adopting the name Jeffrey to make a case for Korea’s need to integrate more with the rest of the world.It could have been easily dismissed, if the article had electronically appeared on the website of foreign newspapers or scholarly publications.But only two days after its publication, a copy of the newspaper in mint condition was posted on a bulletin board in

May 13, 2015By Oh Young-jin

Shows & Dramas

Playing hide and seek with her

By Oh Young-jinIt turned out to be a game of hide and seek.A group of three reporters asked all kinds of questions to force her to reveal her true color.   She avoided few questions but didn’t really give herself away either.In hindsight, I felt I fell for her and became an “accomplice” sabotaging our own mission.I betrayed my two other colleagues. I wasn’t sure they didn’t do the same.At the end of an interview with singer-cum-actress Lee Jung-hyun, I came to know little more than I already knew about her.When I arrived at the newsroom at a bit past 1 p.m. Wednesday, the interview was already under way in our small studio. Besides the two reporters, a video cameraman and a still photographer were also at work. I stepped inside and thrust my hand to her for a handshake.She took it with a soft grasp. It didn’t match the level of strength I had expected from the power dancer she is known to be.Momentarily I suspected she didn’t give it her full strength because she feared it would surprise me, if she did.Or she may have chosen to play

Aug 1, 2013By Oh Young-jin

'Be different' (Interview with Lee Jung-hyun)

Oh Young-jin

Read more