The Korea Times

2 consecutive hole-in-ones on par 4

Two consecutive hole-in-ones were made on a par-4 at Mungyeong Golf Club, North Gyeongsang Province, Wednesday, the golf club announced Thursday. A 57-year-old man teed off at the 290-meter sixth at around 1:30 p.m. His ball found the cup for an albatross. A 50-year-old man in the next group also had a hole-in-one on the same hole. The golf club said hole-in-ones are normally made on par-3s and that it is quite rare, particularly for amateur golfers, to make a hole-in-one albatross, and especially two in a row.

Apr 14, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Neighbors to be notified of sex offenders information

By Lee Hyo-sik The name, photo, address, age and other personal information of sex offenders will be provided to nearby residents via the Internet or mail for a maximum of 10 years, beginning Saturday. The provision of such data came as part of government efforts to better alert people living close to offenders and reduce the number of sex crimes, the Ministry of Justice said Thursday. It said a revised anti-sex crime law will go into effect on April 16, mandating the disclosure of extensive private information on sex criminals. Under the revision, the government will notify nearby households with children under 19 via mail of the personal information of those who have been convicted for committing sex crimes against minors. Additionally, more extensive private information of sex criminals, who committed crimes against both minors and adults, will be available at an “online sex offender alter system” (www.sexoffender.go.kr), operated by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. The website provides a photo, height, weight and brief explanation of the offender’s c

Apr 14, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Transport of royal documents sticky job for airlines

By Lee Hyo-sik Bringing stolen Korean royal documents back here from France, 145 years after they were taken by French troops, may seem easy and trouble-free. But those responsible for transporting the first batch of the “Oegyujanggak” from the National Library of France to the National Museum of Korea, Thursday, had to plan it for months and pay a great deal of attention in order not to cause any damage to the documents during transit. Asiana Airlines’ flight OZ502 departed from France at 3:10 a.m. Thursday and arrived at Incheon International Airport at 1:50 p.m. the same day. The airplane was carrying 75 volumes of the Oegyujanggak, which recorded and illustrated all rituals, formalities and daily routines of the royal court during the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910). The remaining 222 books are slated to return on three separate occasions through the end of May. Before being loaded onto the airplane, the 75 books were first wrapped in acid-free paper multiple times. The books were then put into five wooden crates, specially manufactured for transporting historical arti

Apr 14, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

Travel & Food

Hilton Namhae Resort; where the tee meets the sea

By Lee Hyo-sik If you would like to golf with your friends at a seaside course that offers a great ocean-view while feeling not guilty about what your family’s doing, you may want to check out the Hilton Namhae Golf and Spa Resort, one of Korea’s most family-friendly leisure facilities. There, women are pampered by professional massage therapists at a luxurious spa, while children are completely absorbed in a range of educational but fun activities. So, golfers have nothing to worry about apart from making as many birdies as they can. The Hilton Namhae Golf and Spa Resort is situated on more than 830,000 square meters of land along the coast of Namhae Island, South Gyeongsang Province, 390 kilometers southeast of Seoul. It normally takes 4 hours from Seoul and 2 hours from Busan by car. It also can be reached within an hour from Yeosu and Jinjoo airports. ``The Hilton Namhae is famous for luxurious accommodation, a fantastic ocean-view golf course, spa facilities, business meeting rooms and fine places for the family. What we provide helps our customers relieve stres

Apr 14, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

Society

Inequality in Korean education

By Shin Young-jun For the past half century, the Korean education industry has grown markedly. However, despite the growth, there still exist major inequalities. Let me highlight two examples of the problem. Firstly, educational expenses differ depending on districts schools are located in. Schools in richer areas get higher budgets. For example, in 2010, the Gangnam District in southern Seoul, the relatively richer area, had a $25 million budget; while the district Eunpyung, which is relatively a poorer area, had only $3 million. With its ample budget, Gangnam provides a greater budget to schools for the residents of that area. Whereas in the poorer area of Eunpyung, the quality of schools gets much lower. Of course, this example shows the two extremes, yet it is still an interesting statistic which points out the widespread extent of the problem. The problem is also made clearer by the fact that many parents in the affluent areas also send their children to expensive private institutes or private tutoring. This means a disadvantage for those living in poor areas

Apr 13, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

Society

Insight Party: a good opportunity for bright, young minds

By James Trotta On Nov. 13, 2010, I headed to Platoon Kunsthalle in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul where I listened to lectures from several prominent Korean artists. Called an ``Insight Party,’’ the event was designed by a lecture company “micimpact” to bring open-minded people together and inspire them with the artists’ stories and ideas. The event did succeed in sharing the artists’ ``insight.’’ One of the most interesting speeches was the final one, delivered by photographer, Kim Joong-man. Of his ideas, I appreciate that since anyone can buy a camera and start taking pictures, what separated Kim from less successful photographers was that he spent more time than others taking pictures. The message here is an important one for today’s youth; everyone is born with the talent to do great things and hard work will develop skill. The speaker that elicited the most laughs from the audience was probably chef Edward Kwon. Kwon was the most charismatic public speaker of the night and his main message was that chefs deserve more respect in Korean culture. Evidence for this can be found

Apr 13, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Is Airbus 380 too big to maneuver on ground?

By Lee Hyo-sik The Airbus 380, the world’s biggest passenger jet, is once again making headlines across the globe, five months after the airplane operated by Australia’s Qantas Airways was forced to make an emergency landing due to engine failure. This time, an A380 operated by Air France clipped the tail of a smaller regional jet on the ground at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, Monday night. Following the incident, the pilot stopped the aircraft, which was about to take off for Paris. The A380 had 485 passengers and 25 crew members aboard when the incident took place, with the smaller jet carrying 62 passengers and four crew members. No one was injured. Aviation experts here say that human error was the probable cause of the collision. Air France Korea and a Korean representative of Airbus both declined to comment on what might have caused the accident, saying that they have not received any instructions from headquarters. The incident came at a time when Korean Air, the nation’s largest flagship carrier, is about to put its first A380 aircraft into operation in

Apr 13, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

Society

Set a clear goal when learning, teaching English

By Han Sang-hee English is considered extremely important in Korea and thousands upon thousands of hours and won are spent learning it, but how about in other countries? How well are other non-English speaking countries learning English? Do they too invest as much time and effort as Koreans? What’s the secret? The answers can be found in an interesting index conducted by English education institute Education First (EF). The English Proficiency Index (EPI) ranks countries depending on their English proficiency level, as well as considering cultural, social, financial and historical backgrounds regarding the results. As for Korea, 13th place is not bad among 44 countries. Malaysia topped Asian countries in ninth. The second highest Asian nation was Hong Kong, while Japan was 14th. The country with the highest English proficiency was Norway. So how does this translate? ``It means we’re not that bad,’’ Yerrie Kim, special project manager at EF, said in an interview in Samseong-dong. EF was introduced to Korea in 1988 as the official language partner for the 1988 S

Apr 13, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Elderly foreigners upset by discrimination in free subway use

By Lee Hyo-sik Mariehelene Brasseur whose Korean name is Bae Hyun-jung has been living in Korea since 1972 when she came here from Belgium as a member of a Catholic medical volunteer group. Brasseur, 66, is a nurse and has been running a hospice in southwestern Seoul for terminally-ill patients. She is fluent in Korean and considers herself almost a native. But there is one thing that makes her and other permanent residency cardholders rethink their status here — a free subway pass for seniors. “I think I have lived here long enough to earn the right to take the subway free of charge as Korean senior citizens do. I have also cast votes and paid taxes. I think it is unfair for me and other foreign permanent residents to be denied such a benefit. It is not much but still hurts,” Brasseur said. Under Korean law, only Korean nationals aged over 65 are entitled to free subway travel. Yushan Wang whose parents came here from China was born here in 1943. Wang, 68, has not given up his Chinese nationality as part of a family tradition. But Wang considers himself Ko

Apr 12, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

14% of men subjected to sexual abuse as children

By Lee Hyo-sik Nearly 14 out of every 100 Korean men were found to have been sexually abused as children, a survey showed Monday. After questioning a total of 1,043 males aged 19 to 54 across the country, an Ewha Womans University team, led by professor Han In-young, said that 141, or 13.5 percent, suffered from various forms of sexual abuse at least once when they were minors. Seventy-three respondents said they were forced to watch pornographic material or were subject to sexually-explicit jokes, while 37 were coerced to show their genitals. Twenty-eight said their genitals were exposed or touched against their will, with 23 forced to kiss. The survey found that nearly 67 percent of those who either compelled underage boys to expose their genitals or touched them were adult males, while 83 percent of those who forcedly kissed young boys were adult women. About 86 percent of assailants were acquaintances, including family members and relatives. Only one victim was found to have received professional legal and medical counseling after suffering from sexual abuse, with

Apr 11, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

Lee Hyo-sik

Read more

2 consecutive hole-in-ones on par 4

Neighbors to be notified of sex offenders information

Transport of royal documents sticky job for airlines

Hilton Namhae Resort; where the tee meets the sea

Inequality in Korean education

Insight Party: a good opportunity for bright, young minds

Is Airbus 380 too big to maneuver on ground?

Set a clear goal when learning, teaching English

Elderly foreigners upset by discrimination in free subway use

14% of men subjected to sexual abuse as children

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