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Lee Hyo-jin

Korea Times Finance Reporter

Lee Hyo-jin covers the Bank of Korea, the banking industry and broader financial news. Her previous beats include foreign affairs, North Korea and general reporting on Korean society.

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Health

Koreans move out of pandemic's shadow after nearly 3 years of battling COVID-19

Yoo Seo-yun gives a high-five to her father Sang-ryong at their home in Seoul, Oct. 21. The 10-month-old baby was born on Dec. 20, 2021, few weeks before the Omicron variant took over as the dominant strain in Korea, leading to the worst COVID-19 wave the country has experienced throughout the pandemic. A world of masks and social distancing is all the toddler knows. But as the country prepares to return to normalcy, the baby will now have more exposure to the outside world. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulPeople learn to live COVID-19 as country enters endemic phaseBy Lee Hyo-jin When Korea confirmed its first case of the coronavirus on Jan. 20, 2020, few expected the respiratory virus to be around for this long, or to disrupt people's daily lives this severely. At the peak of social distancing restrictions, private gatherings of more than two people were prohibited in the evenings, while restaurants and bars were forced to close at 9 p.m.As of Oct. 28, which marks 1,013 days since the identification of the first virus case, nearly half of the country's 52 million population has

Nov 4, 2022By Lee Hyo-jin
Koreans move out of pandemic's shadow after nearly 3 years of battling COVID-19
Health

Gov't strengthens CPR training to teenagers

Paramedics and police officers prepare to transfer victims of the Itaewon crowd crush tragedy to a hospital, Oct. 30. YonhapBy Lee Hyo-jin In the wake of the deadly large-scale crowd crush in Itaewon, which has highlighted the importance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid skills, the government is expanding CPR training to teenagers and workers at youth-related facilities.During the crowd crush disaster that occurred on the night of Oct. 29, the paramedics, police officers and ordinary people on the streets were seen desperately performing CPR on dozens of people suffering from cardiac arrest after they were trapped and crushed in the area's narrow alleys. CPR is an emergency lifesaving procedure involving chest compressions and rescue breathing, performed when a person's heart stops beating. Immediate CPR can double or triple the chances of survival after cardiac arrest.The Itaewon disaster has raised public interest on the lifesaving technique. Online users are sharing on social media video clips on how to perform CPR, while many people are signing up for free tra

Nov 3, 2022By Lee Hyo-jin
Gov't strengthens CPR training to teenagers
Society

Promised aid slow to arrive for families of foreign victims in Itaewon tragedy

A memorial altar is set up near Seoul City Hall, Monday, for victims of the crowd crush in Itaewon, Seoul. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-hoGov't offers foreigners same financial aid as Koreans, but process is taking timeBy Lee Hyo-jin Gulieva Giunai, a Russian student at Kwangwoon University, was devastated when she learned that her friend Kristina was among the 26 foreign nationals killed in the crowd crush in Itaewon on the night of Oct. 29.Although they were from different cities of Russia, the two had known each other since 2020 when they attended Korean language classes together at a university in North Gyeongsang Province.Despite her grief over the sudden loss, the 19-year-old knew what she had to do. “Kristina didn't have any family here. And it would take a few days for her older sister in Russia to arrive in Korea,” Giunai said. Together with her friends, she organized an online fundraiser to hold a funeral for the victim. Giunai had never been to a funeral in her life, let alone arranged one. “But I know how everything in Korea is pretty much expensive, so

Nov 2, 2022By Lee Hyo-jin
Promised aid slow to arrive for families of foreign victims in Itaewon tragedy
Society

Crowded subways trigger anxiety after Itaewon disaster

A platform at Gimpo Airport Station on Seoul Metro Line 9 is crowded with morning commuters, Feb. 4, 2021. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hunBy Lee Hyo-jin A 30-year-old office worker surnamed Lee, who travels on Seoul Metro Line 9 in her morning commute from Dangsan Station to Sinnonhyeon Station, got off the train midway on Monday morning, feeling shortness of breath.“I couldn't breathe. It's not the first time I felt like I was suffocating during my morning subway ride, but it was so serious, like a panic attack,” she said. Lee rides the express train on Line 9 which is infamous for its overcrowding during rush hour.As people kept cramming into the already-packed train, Lee couldn't stop imagining what it would have been like during the deadly crowd surge at Itaewon two days earlier.“Even though I wasn't there that night, I felt something dreadful like that could happen on the subway, too.”On the night of Oct. 29, disaster struck people crowded into a narrow, sloped alley in central Seoul's Itaewon, resulting in at least 156 deaths and 151 injuries, as of Tue

Nov 2, 2022By Lee Hyo-jin
Crowded subways trigger anxiety after Itaewon disaster
Society

What went wrong in Itaewon on Halloween weekend?

A memorial altar is set up near Itaewon Subway Station in Seoul, Monday, to mourn the victims of a deadly crowd crush that occurred there two days earlier. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulExperts point to absence of crowd management plans as major reason for deadly incidentBy Lee Hyo-jin While the nation is in grief over the deadliest crowd crush that occurred in Seoul's Itaewon entertainment district on Saturday night, it remains unclear exactly what led to the horrific incident.The unexpected tragedy occurred after a mass of people were crammed in a narrow, sloped alley, killing at least 156 people and injuring 151 ― mostly in their 20s ― who were celebrating the first mask-free Halloween in three years. The government has launched an investigation to get to the bottom of the incident amid growing questions over what went wrong.Around 100,000 people gathered in Itaewon on Saturday, about three times more than usual, but it was not the most densely packed night the vibrant district has seen so far. In 2017, an estimated 200,000 people had gathered there to celebrate Halloween fes

Nov 1, 2022By Lee Hyo-jin
What went wrong in Itaewon on Halloween weekend?
  • VIDEO S. Korea mourns loss of young souls in Itaewon crowd crush
  • Itaewon crowd crush death toll rises to 156
  • Korea criticized for poor crowd control over Halloween tragedy
Health

Korea faces 7th wave of COVID-19 pandemic

People wait to get tested for COVID-19 at a testing center in eastern Seoul on Sept. 15. YonhapBy Lee Hyo-jin Korea is facing a fresh wave of COVID-19 infections, but it may be less severe than previous ones due to the build-up of immunity from prior infections and vaccinations, according to medical experts. The experts anticipate the newly emerging Omicron variants BQ.1 and offspring BQ 1.1 ― also known as Typhon and Cerberus respectively ― to lead the upcoming seventh wave, replacing parent variant BA.5.Early studies suggest the two Omicron descendants evade immunity attained from previous infections or vaccines on a greater scale than other variants. The variants, which appear to have first emerged in Nigeria in July, are spreading quickly across European countries including France, Belgium and Spain as well as the United States and Japan, leading to a spike in infections.Korea has also seen an uptick in BQ cases. The variants accounted for an estimated 0.9 percent of the total infections across the country in the second week of October, but the figure jumped to 3.7 percent the fo

Oct 28, 2022By Lee Hyo-jin
Korea faces 7th wave of COVID-19 pandemic
Society

1 in 5 1st graders struggles with math

gettyimagesbankBy Lee Hyo-jin Mathematics is often considered one the most challenging subjects for students, and many tend to give up learning it in their high school years as the subject gets more advanced.But an increasing number of students are struggling with math from a basic level, according to a recent study conducted by the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE). It which found that nearly one in five first grade students at elementary school struggle with math, and don't find it interesting at all.According to the study results obtained by Rep. Kang Deuk-gu of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), 19 percent of the first graders surveyed were not interested in math class or related activities, while 25.8 percent didn't even try to solve math problems that they got stuck on. For the study, 54 homeroom teachers across the country conducted the assessment on 1,801 students between April and June this year. In another survey conducted among 3,936 elementary school teachers by Rep. Kang and civic group World Without Worries About Private Education, 70 percent of the

Oct 28, 2022By Lee Hyo-jin
1 in 5 1st graders struggles with math
Health

INTERVIEW Korea is outlier on face masks: Australian health expert

Sharon Lewin, director of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, speaks during a session at the 2022 World Bio Summit held in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Ministry of Health and WelfareCOVID-19 pandemic will persist in 2023, but with less severe waves: LewinBy Lee Hyo-jin Korea is an outlier when it comes to the mask mandate and people's tendency to wear face masks, says Sharon Lewin, director of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity. “I've been travelling to a lot of countries and Korea is an outlier on masks. I'd be very interested to know if it is making a big difference to your numbers (of infections),” the Australian infectious disease specialist said in an interview with The Korea Times, Wednesday, during the 2022 World Bio Summit held in Seoul. Lewin is the inaugural director of the Melbourne-based Doherty Institute, which was the first facility to isolate and share the SARS-CoV-2 virus outside of China in January 2020, and has played a major role in the global response to the pandemic.She further said that she was quite fascinate

Oct 27, 2022By Lee Hyo-jin
[INTERVIEW] Korea is outlier on face masks: Australian health expert
Health

Korea hosts 2022 World Bio Summit

The Korean government and the World Health Organization (WHO) will jointly host the 2022 World Bio Summit at Grand Walkerhill Seoul from Oct. 25 to 26. Screenshot from the World Bio Summit websiteBy Lee Hyo-jin The Korean government and the World Health Organization (WHO) will jointly host the 2022 World Bio Summit in Seoul from Oct. 25 to 26, gathering various health experts, the heads of international organizations and the leaders of top biopharmaceutical firms.The inaugural event will take place at Grand Walkerhill Seoul, bringing together over 300 participants from around the world, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will deliver his opening remarks online, while President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Masatsugu Asakawa, former Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) Richard Hatchett and Director General of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), Jerome Kim, will give speeches in person.Under the theme, “the future of vaccine and bio-hea

Oct 24, 2022By Lee Hyo-jin
Korea hosts 2022 World Bio Summit
Global Community

INTERVIEW Migration offers solution to Korea's shrinking workforce: IOM deputy chief

Amy Pope, deputy director general for management and reform at the International Organization for Migration (IOM), speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the IOM Seoul office in downtown Seoul, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul UN migration agency calls for action on climate change-induced displacementsBy Lee Hyo-jinInclusive immigration policies could be a major solution to address Korea's aging population and shrinking labor force, says Amy Pope, deputy director of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), who stressed that the country should establish fair labor practices to protect migrant workers' rights. “Immigration is one of the best tools that we have out there in terms of responding to the demographic challenges of the moment. It helps fulfill critical labor shortages here in Korea, which, frankly, we are seeing around the world,” Pope said during an interview with The Korea Times during her visit to Seoul, Wednesday. “Lo

Oct 14, 2022By Lee Hyo-jin
[INTERVIEW] Migration offers solution to Korea's shrinking workforce: IOM deputy chief
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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.