my timesThe Korea Times
jhoo

Jhoo Dong-chan

Korea Times AI content 2 team Reporter

Do not go gentle into that good night, old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light, though wise men at their end know dark is right, because their words had forked no lightning they, do not go gentle into that good night.

Go to Email

Read more

People & Events

Seocho District to host Korea-France youth festival marking 140 years of ties

Seocho District will hold its third annual youth festival this Saturday, combining Korea's National Youth Day with celebrations marking 140 years of diplomatic relations between Korea and France. "2026 Seocho Youth FESTA x Bonjour, Fete!" runs from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday at the picnic grounds of Banpo Han River Park and the outdoor stage at Yebitseom, a cluster of artificial islands on the Han River in southern Seoul. Now in its third year, the festival is designed and run largely by young residents of the district. This year's event, produced with the cultural organization Aim Arts & Culture, blends Korean and French programming from midday into the evening. Starting at noon, visitors can explore 18 themed booths split into French and Korean culture zones. The French side offers perfume-making, madeleine decorating, Parisian-style photos, caricature drawing and tarot readings. The Korean zone includes K-pop-style beauty makeovers and workshops to make keyrings inlaid with mother-of-pearl, plus a traditional fried rice-cracker snack called "oranda." A youth volunteer group known as the S

Sep 9, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Seocho District to host Korea-France youth festival marking 140 years of ties
South Korea

Seoul marks 1898 women's rights declaration with awards lauding workplace equity

In 1898, a coalition of Korean women released the Yeogwontongmun, an early public appeal demanding equal access to education, employment and public life. That historic milestone provided the backdrop for the 2026 Seoul Women’s Convention at City Hall Tuesday, where Mayor Oh Se-hoon and representatives from 55 women’s organizations gathered to mark Gender Equality Week and examine municipal social policy. The annual convention featured the 23rd Seoul Gender Equality Awards, which have recognized contributions to workplace equity, work-life balance and demographic resilience since 2004. This year's top honor went to the digital content team of KBS’s Low Birthrate Crisis Response Broadcasting Unit for a web series exploring the economic pressures on young adults, active caregiving fathers and evolving family structures. Runner-up honors were shared by the Seoul International Women’s Film Festival for expanding career opportunities for female filmmakers and Kyunghyang Daily’s women's narrative archive project for documenting female social histories. Additional awards recognized a t

Sep 8, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Seoul marks 1898 women's rights declaration with awards lauding workplace equity
Companies

Almonty Korea Tungsten expands Sangdong mine staff to 133 ahead of planned full operation

Almonty Korea Tungsten said Tuesday it hired 51 new employees this year as the reopening of the Sangdong tungsten mine moves toward full operation, bringing its workforce to 133 as of the end of August, with plans to add about 70 more positions by year-end. Sangdong, in Yeongwol County, Gangwon Province, was once one of the world's largest tungsten mines before it shut down in the early 1990s amid a prolonged price downturn. Almonty, a Canada-based mining company, restarted operations after 32 years, and the mine is expected to eventually supply a significant share of global tungsten demand outside China. Tungsten is a hard, heat-resistant metal used in items ranging from semiconductor manufacturing to defense applications. The company's headcount has more than tripled over the past three years, rising from 39 employees in 2023 to 65 in 2024, 82 in 2025 and 133 as of this August. About half of the current workforce — 65 employees — comes from Gangwon Province, including 28 from Sangdong and 12 from Yeongwol, aided by a partnership with the local Yeongwol Employment Center that help

Sep 8, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Almonty Korea Tungsten expands Sangdong mine staff to 133 ahead of planned full operation
Health

Seoul district trains subway workers to protect seniors with dementia

Inside one station in Seoul’s sprawling underground transit system, station workers and retail clerks are being trained to spot and assist disoriented elderly passengers, part of a new municipal initiative to address Korea's rapidly expanding dementia population. Songpa District in southeastern Seoul has transformed its busiest subway hubs into a localized safety net for elderly commuters with dementia. The district launched the Songpa Metro-Care program, marking the first time a municipal district in the capital has integrated public transportation hubs into its official dementia care network. The initiative addresses a growing urban safety challenge. As Korea accelerates into a super-aged society, public health authorities estimate that the national dementia population among those 65 and older will exceed 1 million for the first time this year. With wandering episodes posing life-threatening risks in high-density urban corridors, officials are recognizing that medical centers alone are no longer enough. "To ensure that dementia patients and their families can live with peace of mind,

Sep 8, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Seoul district trains subway workers to protect seniors with dementia
Travel & Food

Seoul honors outstanding community gardens, urban landscapes in annual awards

In a city better known for sleek skyscrapers than green canopies, Seoul celebrated a new wave of urban design this week, awarding five major landscape architecture projects and 23 neighborhood gardening groups that are bringing nature back to the capital's streets. Seoul's deputy mayor for administrative affairs and the chair of the city council's environment and water resources committee attended the ceremony at City Hall, along with about 280 guests from the landscaping and gardening fields. The Landscape Architecture Award, now in its fifth year, went to Namsan Sky Forest Trail, a 1.65-kilometer accessible walking path built on the southern slope of Mount Nam, Seoul's central mountain, that connects previously disconnected pedestrian routes while preserving the forest's ecology. The project also won a new citizens' choice prize, drawing the most votes — 2,889 of 9,654 cast — in a two-week public poll in June. A water garden built into a neighborhood park's aging concrete channel took the top runner-up prize, while three other projects, including a children's forest playground and

Sep 8, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Seoul honors outstanding community gardens, urban landscapes in annual awards
South Korea

Seoul's lifelong learning portal tops 2 mil. members, launches free kids' English program

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday that membership on its Seoul Lifelong Learning Portal, an online platform offering courses ranging from professional certifications to hobbies, surpassed 2 million as of Friday. The portal launched in 2012 with about 40,000 members and has added an average of 350,000 new members annually over the past five years, drawing users from across the country. The site offers courses in fields such as digital skills and artificial intelligence, the humanities, arts and culture, alongside expert-led lectures and a subscription service linking users to content from private Korean education platforms including Class101, Willa and CreativeTV. This year, the city redesigned the portal's interface and added a homepage feature allowing users to find courses tailored to their age group. To mark the milestone, the city will run a public online event from Sept. 11 to Oct. 31, offering prize drawings to members who submit congratulatory messages or complete one of the portal's five most popular courses. Separately, the city will launch Seoul Learn Kids English

Sep 8, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Seoul's lifelong learning portal tops 2 mil. members, launches free kids' English program
Others

Korea's space agency eyes deeper role in $2 bil. global telescope network

The Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute met Tuesday with domestic researchers to discuss ways to support Korea's growing involvement in the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), a multinational project to build the world's largest radio telescope network. The meeting, held at the astronomy institute's Chang Yung-sil Hall, brought together researchers from the institute along with Yonsei University, the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Kyung Hee University and Chosun University — all involved in developing low-frequency radio observation technology tied to the SKA and preparing for long-wavelength astronomy research ahead of Korea's participation. Led by the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO), an international body with 16 member countries including Britain, Germany and France, the SKA project will build radio telescopes across Western Australia and South Africa with a combined collecting area of one square kilometer, at a cost of roughly 3 trillion won ($2.8 billion). The telescopes are designed to detect faint ra

Sep 8, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Korea's space agency eyes deeper role in $2 bil. global telescope network
Companies

Hyundai Rotem unveils customized K2PL battle tank built for Polish forces

Hyundai Rotem will showcase, for the first time, a K2PL — the Poland-specific variant of its K2 tank — fitted with locally made mission equipment, marking a milestone in the localization of the program, the company said Tuesday. The rollout comes as Hyundai Rotem takes part in the 34th International Defence Industry Exhibition (MSPO) in Kielce, Poland, running Tuesday to Friday (local time). Now in its fifth consecutive year at MSPO, the largest defense trade fair in Central and Eastern Europe, Hyundai Rotem will operate the largest booth among Korean defense exhibitors. Last year's edition drew 811 companies from 35 countries. At a dedicated "K2PL Zone," the company will display the Poland-tailored tank alongside its variants — a bridge-laying tank, a combat engineering vehicle and a recovery vehicle. The K2PL is being developed with an active protection system to counter anti-tank missiles and drones, a drone jammer and a remote weapon control system. For the first time, the tank will feature a Mobile Camouflage System made by Polish firm Miranda — a wearable camouflage cover

Sep 8, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Hyundai Rotem unveils customized K2PL battle tank built for Polish forces
Companies

Hyundai Rotem targets aerospace specialists in major hiring push

Hyundai Rotem said Tuesday it is hiring new and experienced professionals across 14 aerospace positions, marking the first time the defense and rail manufacturer has run a recruitment drive dedicated solely to its aerospace business. Applications opened Aug. 24 and will be accepted through the company's careers website until Sept. 20, followed by aptitude tests and interviews before final selections are made. Openings span propulsion technologies including ducted ramjet engines and hypersonic engines — both used in guided missile systems — as well as methane engines and test facilities for propulsion systems. Job details are available on Hyundai Rotem's recruitment website. The company plans to pair the hiring push with outreach to prospective candidates, including recruitment briefings this month at research labs at major universities and graduate schools. The roles align with programs Hyundai Rotem is already running with state-run defense research bodies. It is advancing ducted ramjet and hypersonic engine technology for guided weapons under projects with the Agency for Defense Dev

Sep 8, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Hyundai Rotem targets aerospace specialists in major hiring push
Korean Heritage

Turning historic houses into boutique hotels

Korea is looking to breathe new life into its historic estates, transforming centuries-old architecture into boutique accommodations to drive regional tourism and revitalize struggling local economies. The National Heritage Service announced Tuesday a pair of ambitious initiatives to turn quiet historical sites into vibrant cultural hubs: “National Heritage Stay” and “Heritage-Based Destination Regeneration.” Under the lodging proposal, government authorities will select roughly 10 historic residences to undergo modern renovations. These noble family estates, often tied to aristocratic families of the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty, will be outfitted with essential amenities, such as heating, air conditioning and modern plumbing, without altering their foundational woodwork or architectural integrity. The strategy draws inspiration from Spain’s Paradores, a network of state-run luxury hotels established in 1928 that converted historic castles, monasteries and fortresses into revenue-generating destinations. Korea aims to build a cohesive national hospitality brand around its heritag

Sep 8, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan
Turning historic houses into boutique hotels
previous page
56789
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.