The Korea Times

Migrants help KEB in marketing

Four naturalized immigrants, hired for the retail market development division of the Korea Exchange Bank, have a meeting at their office in Jung-gu, Seoul. From left are Suresh Limbu, Choe Ahrip, Ajima Chaphu, and Liang Zhixi, who came from Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand and China, respectively. / Courtesy of KEBBy Park Jin-haiA lean figure with a friendly smile and greetings. Then he excuses the absence of a member of the special corps of five that he belongs to at the bank.Sitting around a meeting table, they talk about the sales figures with soft but confident voices. They are the first naturalized Korean bankers hired by the Korea Exchange Bank (KEB). They currently work in the retail market development division at the bank’s headquarter office in Jung-gu, Seoul.In an age when the number of expats residing in Korea nears 1.5 million, businesses targeting them are booming. The financial industry is not an exception.Many banks set up special kiosks called “Sunday bank” at the crowded streets of Ansan or Guro-gu and hire interpreters to attend to foreign customer

Aug 2, 2013By Park Jin-hai

Shows & Dramas

Young Latin leaders learning K-pop

Amaury Hechavarria Nistal, left, vice president of Jose Marti Cultural Center in Cuba, and Antonio Angel Soliz Tapia, third from left, anchor of radio station Batallon Colorados and head of Asian fan club AWy from Bolivia, pose along with other visiting Latin American leaders of SM Entertainment in Apgujeong-dong, southern Seoul, on Friday.By Park Jin-haiYoung leaders from Latin American countries, mostly in their 20’s and 30’s, said that K-pop is huge in their region and its popularity is spinning off interest in other things Korean.“I am impressed by the size of Korean entertainment agency’s global business model and its advanced star-churning system,” said Amaury Hechavarria Nistal, 37, vice president of the Jose Marti Cultural Center in Cuba.He and seven others, including a head of Asian music fan club and government officials from Latin American countries such as Bolivia, Cuba, and Ecuador, toured the SM entertainment on Friday.Over the past decade, K-pop has grown steadily in the minds of Latin American fans, accompanied by the popularity

Jul 29, 2013By Park Jin-hai

Shows & Dramas

Korean foods clad in local costumes

“Goldfish Waffle” brings Korean street food to Londoners’ dining table. / Courtesy of CJ FoodvilleRed-bean dessert, ginseng go globalSteak bibimbap, launched by CJ’s bibigo, in the United States, caters to the meat-lovingAmerican taste./ Courtesy of CJ FoodvilleKGC’s product combines ginseng and chicken essence / Courtesy of KGCOrion’s Choco Pie with the Chinese name “Horyeowoo” has “in” or benevolence on its package, since it is one of Chinese’s supreme values./ Courtesy of OrionBy Park Jin-haiSpurred by the global popularity of Korean culture, hot dogs sprinkled with “kimchi” toppings are sold on the streets of New York and Londoners have “bung a bbang” or goldfish waffles made Korean-style for dessert.After over a decade of trial and error, the food and confectionary makers finally prove that they can create new markets with smart ideas that intertwine their foods with the culture of target markets.The latest example is the goldfish waffles.  Based

Jul 29, 2013By Park Jin-hai

Shows & Dramas

'I want to flip ideas'

Actors of a new reality show “Halbae (Grandfathers) Over Flowers” pose at the launching ceremony at Patio9, Nonhyeon-dong, southern Seoul, in thisJune 28 file photo. From left are actors Lee Suh-jin, Baek Il-sup, Park Geun-hyung, Shin Gu and Lee Sun-jae. / Korea TimesStar producer speaks of variety show on old gentsProducer Nah Yung-sukBy Park Jin-haiProducers making variety shows in the past have eyed overseas content markets to benchmark or to import.“Korea’s Got Talent” originated from “Britain’s Got Talent,” while “Project Runway Korea” and “Master Chef Korea” are foreign iimports.Now the tables have turned. Following the singing competition program “I Am a Singer” and “Hidden Singer,” Korea has been exporting entertainment program formats to China including the “Running Man” and “2 Days and 1 Night.” Foreign buyers mainly from Asian countries hail the format and the content as fresh and new.A reality program “Halbae(Grandfathers) Over Flowers”

Jul 23, 2013By Park Jin-hai

Shows & Dramas

Teenage Chinese students learn more about Dokdo

Some 10 middle and high school students from Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, in China, listen to the museum guide at the Dokdo Museum in Seodaemun, Seoul, Tuesday. / Korea TimesBy Park Jin-haiA group of Chinese middle and high school students were excited to tour a museum for Dokdo in Seoul, Tuesday.“Even though I knew of the name Dokdo, I hardly knew anything about it until I visited here,” said Qu Yuan, a 14-year-old middle school student from Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, China.He was among the 10 middle and high-school students that the Northeast Asian History Foundation (NAHF) invited to Korea and visited the Dokdo Museum in Seodaemun, Seoul Tuesday.“I already knew about Dokdo from TV and newspapers. Korea is not far from China. I am interested in everything about Korea,” said Wang zekua, 13, a fellow student who is on his first visit to Korea.The cultural exchange program, supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Zhenjiang Municipal Education Bureau, brought the sixth batch Monday.The NAHF has been organizing the annual event since 2008, to give

Jul 16, 2013By Park Jin-hai

Teenage Chinese students learn more about Dokdo

Shows & Dramas

Working with Jasmine

Boris Ondo, left, from Gabon, and Evan Trotzuk, from the United States, are working as interns for Rep. Jasmine Lee. / Korea TimesBy Park Jin-hai Rep. Jasmine LeeRep. Jasmine Lee of the ruling Saenuri Party is the first lawmaker among naturalized immigrants.Lee has now hired two foreign interns.Evan Trotzuk, 16, is an American high school student from Manhattan, New York. Boris Ondo, 24, is a Gabonese graduate student at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.They come in addition to a naturalized Mongolian secretary.  Ondo, who is on a Korean government's five-year scholarship, studies political science and diplomacy. He has been on an internship from June 27 and will stay through Aug. 30.Ondo and Trotzuk help out researching on other countries' immigration and domestic violence-related laws through research and policy papers and news reports on the Web.“For interracial marriages, the paper works and mandatory educational programs each government requires are different. For instance, some governments ask for fees for interracial marriages, while others don’t. I s

Jul 15, 2013By Park Jin-hai

Shows & Dramas

'We Koreans need to change'

Street signs and boards in different languages grace districts in the “Borderless Village” in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province. Korea Times photos by Park Jin-haiLeading advocate says migrants are 'not tools'By Park Jin-haiThe “godfather” of migrants says that the country's multiculturalism policies so far have been misguided, and it’s time to change the mindset of the majority."If there exists prejudice and discrimination against minorities, policies should give more attention to the majority to educate them and change their perception toward ethnic minorities. Because, minorities will anyhow try their best to adapt to the society,” said Park Chun-ung, 52, who is leading the Ansan Multicultural Center (AMC) in Gyeonggi Province.Park, a pastor and activist, will work with fellow experts on analyzing how the media portrays ethnic minorities. He and 49 other critics who have either studied multiculturalism or have worked in relevant professions at least three years in May launched a multicultural critics association to that end. “The government ha

Jul 11, 2013By Park Jin-hai

Shows & Dramas

Korean class offered to Singaporean tourism professionals

Participants of “Korean Language Training Course,” pose after the opening ceremony on Tuesday at the Singapore Tourism Board (STB)’s headquarters. Chung Hae-moon, eighth from left in the first row, secretary general of ASEAN-Korea Center, Leong Yue Kheong, seventh from left, assistant chief executive of STB, and Kim Wan-joong, ninth from left, minister of KoreanEmbassy to Singapore. /  Courtesy of ASEAN-Korea CenterBy Park Jin-haiThe ASEAN-Korea Centre has announced that it will provide Korean language program to Singaporeans in the hospitality and tourism businesses.The center, together with the Singapore Tourism Board, has organized a “Korean Language Training Course” program between July 9 and Sept. 17 at the Board’s Training Centre in Singapore.“ASEAN is the most visited region by Koreans. We hope that the program will further invigorate people-to-people exchange, an important pillar in building connectivity,” Chung Hae-moon, Secretary General of the Center, said at the opening ceremony, at the Singapore Tourism Board

Jul 11, 2013By Park Jin-hai

Korean class offered to Singaporean tourism professionals

Shows & Dramas

More K-pop stars looking overseas

Fans of girl group KARA are more likely to see the performance on a Japanese stage as the five members have focused largely on the Japanese stage, wherein lies the bigger profit in music.  / Korea Times fileForeign markets emerging as bigger sources of incomeBy Park Jin-haiAs more K-pop stars surf the commercial success of the “hallyu” or Korean wave, the money they are making from sales abroad is rising significantly too. Two-member boy band TVXQ’s Japan Tour in the former half of this year sold tickets worth 100 billion won, gathering 880,000 fans throughout 26 performances. Also, Big Bang's world tour in the United States, Europe and Asia, has been seen by over 800,000 fans.One thing that is common from those stars is that they all ventured into overseas market on the firm foundation of domestic popularity. Girls’ Generation and 2NE1 are no exceptions.However, the new generation K-pop stars take another route. They   either start their careers away from home or expand their overseas fan base without a matching domestic rise in popul

Jul 8, 2013By Park Jin-hai

Shows & Dramas

Detailed, fluent content key to Hallyu

The manga section in a French book store is shown in this file photo. Japanese manga are popular among youngsters and many manga fans have transformed into K-pop fans, after they stumbled onto K-dramas that portray the same values as the original manga.Professor calls for incubation effort in bookProfessor Hong Seok-kyeong of Seoul National UniversityThe cover of Hong’s book “Hallyu in Globalization and Digital Culture Era.” The image features such names of K-pop stars asSHINee on a school bench at Magendie High school in Bordeaux, France./ Courtesy of Hong Seok-kyeongBy Park Jin-haiThe “unexpected” has the power to lure and that is the interesting part of the success of “hallyu” or the Korean wave.That’s how Hong Seok-kyeong, 50, a professor at the Department of Communication of Seoul National University (SNU), starts her book on the popularity of the genre. She says that nobody really expected it to be popular as its content was produced for the local market, unlike the Hong Kong popular culture that had a vast Chinese-speaking audien

Jul 4, 2013By Park Jin-hai

Park Jin-hai

Read more

Migrants help KEB in marketing

Young Latin leaders learning K-pop

Korean foods clad in local costumes

'I want to flip ideas'

Teenage Chinese students learn more about Dokdo

Working with Jasmine

'We Koreans need to change'

Korean class offered to Singaporean tourism professionals

More K-pop stars looking overseas

Detailed, fluent content key to Hallyu

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