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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

Conflicts over noise in apartments on the rise amid pandemic

GettyimagesbankBy Lee Hyo-jin For language tutor Lee Yoon-ji, 30, working from home in Seoul ― because classes have been moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic ― has been a nightmare over the past several months. Lee's lessons frequently get disturbed by loud noises coming from her upstairs neighbors ― a family of four with two young children and a dog.The children, who are usually at home as schools are closed, seem to spend most of their time running, jumping and shouting and the dog barks non-stop. “I've asked them politely to keep the noise down several times, at least during my working hours in the morning, but nothing has changed,” she said. Lee is seriously considering filing a complaint with the state-run mediation service under the Korea Environment Center (KEC) ― she is among thousands of people sharing the same problem. With the year-long coronavirus pandemic keeping people stuck at home, the number of complaints over noise in apartment buildings has risen sharply, according to recent data from the KEC.A total of 42,250 noise-related complaints were reported

Jan 19, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Conflicts over noise in apartments on the rise amid pandemic
Politics

Ex-minister's daughter's acquisition of medical license provokes controversy

Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk speaks during a confirmation hearing at the National Assembly, Sept. 6, 2019. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulBy Lee Hyo-jin Controversy is rising after former Justice Minister Cho Kuk's daughter, who has been embroiled in academic fraud scandals including having documents fabricated that were used to gain her admission to medical school, recently obtained a medical license.Cho Min, 29, a senior at the medical school of Pusan National University (PNU), acquired the license after passing the written test of the state medical license exam conducted on Jan. 7 and 8. She had already passed the practical skills test last September. With the medical license, Cho will be able start her career as a doctor starting with internships at general hospitals. The news provoked a backlash from doctors' groups, who viewed that the license was inappropriately issued to an unqualified person who had entered medical college using forged documents and certificates. Lim Hyun-taek, head of the Korean Pediatric Society, expressed discontent citing a recent court ruling w

Jan 17, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Ex-minister's daughter's acquisition of medical license provokes controversy
Health

Eating and drinking in cafes allowed

A staff member at a cafe in Seoul organizes tables and chairs Sunday, after the government slightly eased social distancing restrictions on several indoor facilities including cafes. Starting Monday people are allowed to eat and drink inside coffee shops until 9 p.m./ Yonhap

Jan 17, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Eating and drinking in cafes allowed
Law & Crime

Woman arrested for allegedly abandoning newborn baby

GettyimagesbankBy Lee Hyo-jin A woman in her 20s in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, has been detained for allegedly abandoning her newborn baby, resulting in death, according to police, Sunday. Ilsan Seobu Police Station said the woman, whose identity has not been revealed, faces arrested on the charge of infanticide. After giving birth in the bathroom of her home in Goyang, Saturday, she allegedly threw the baby out of the window into a narrow alley.The naked baby with the umbilical cord still attached was found dead by neighbors at around 1 p.m. the same day. Witnesses said the body was frozen from the cold weather. A cold wave warning had been issued in the area. After two hours of examining surveillance footage, police tracked the suspect down near her home. After conducting an initial investigation and questioning, officers transferred her to a hospital due to a medical condition. Police will soon resume questioning the woman to figure out the exact timeline of the crime. The baby's body will be transferred to the National Forensic Service, Monday, for an autopsy to look into the exa

Jan 17, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Woman arrested for allegedly abandoning newborn baby
Law & Crime

Calls mounting to punish deepfake porn distributors

A petition filed Wednesday on the Cheong Wa Dae website urging strong punishment for deepfake porn producers and distributors has garnered more than 330,000 signatures over a single day. / Screen captured from Cheong Wa Dae official websiteBy Lee Hyo-jin Calls are mounting for the punishment of producers and distributors of deepfake porn, manipulated pornographic videos and photos, involving female celebrities without their consent.Deepfake content refers to images, videos or audio that have been manipulated using machine learning and artificial intelligence. A growing number of digital sex crimes have been committed using this technology by portraying the victim's face in pornographic content. A public petition filed Wednesday on Cheong Wa Dae's official website demanding thorough investigation and strong punishment on the issue has garnered over 330,000 signatures over a single day. The presidential office gives an official response to petitions that gather more than 200,000 endorsements in 30 days. The petitioner wrote that pornographic content falsely portraying female celebritie

Jan 15, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Calls mounting to punish deepfake porn distributors
Entertainment

Entertainers in hot seat over apartment noise

Comedian Lee Hwi-jae and his wife Moon Jung-won / Courtesy of KBSBy Lee Hyo-jin Entertainers have come under fire for causing noise disturbances after their neighbors publically raised complaints on social media.An internet user claiming to be the downstairs neighbor of comedian Lee Hwi-jae left a comment, Monday, on his wife Moon Jung-won's Instagram account, complaining about Moon's carelessness regarding the noise issue. The couple are well-known by the public as the parents of twin sons after the family appeared in the variety TV show “The Return of Superman.”“If you are going to leave your kids running around at home all day, you should at least install soundproof mats. I've asked more than five times and it's becoming unbearable,” read the comment. Moon replied with an apology, saying that although she is doing her best to keep the children quiet, her two sons sometimes get out of control. But her apology stirred controversy among internet users who criticized her lack of effort to solve the matter, sharing a previous photo where Lee was playing catch wi

Jan 14, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Entertainers in hot seat over apartment noise
Society

Office workers uninterested in promotion

GettyimagesbankBy Lee Hyo-jin Chances for promotion have been regarded as one of the biggest factors motivating employees in the past, but results of a recent survey show that this is changing.According to a survey of 1,129 office workers conducted by recruiting platform Saramin and published Wednesday, 46 percent of respondents said they were not interested in getting a promotion. As for specific reasons, when multiple replies were allowed, 51.5 percent said their current work may not be their lifelong job, 46.2 percent replied that promotion simply does not motivate them, and 7.8 percent viewed that there were other ways to increase their income.The survey also found that many young office workers are seeking various ways to make money on top of their salaries such as investing in real estate and stocks, or other sideline activities.When asked how important work was in their lives, only 5 percent replied that it was their top priority; 39 percent replied that work was second, 30 percent said third, while 12 percent said it was not even on the list. More than half of respondents had

Jan 13, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Office workers uninterested in promotion
Tech & Science

Controversial chatbot leaves lessons on AI use ethics

AI-driven chatbot Lee Luda / Screen captured from Scatter Lab's official websiteBy Lee Hyo-jin Developers of an artificial intelligence (AI) based chatbot have suspended the service after unfiltered inflammatory remarks it delivered sparked controversy, leaving both developers and users to reflect on the ethics of AI use.The chatbot, named Lee Luda, was an AI-driven service available on Facebook messenger launched in December by Scatter Lab, a startup based in Seoul. Characterized as a female college student, Lee was designed to mimic the language patterns of a 20-year-old woman, based on an analysis of some 100 billion KakaoTalk messages between couples, according to its developers. The chance to engage in casual and playful small talk with a human-like AI attracted more than 750,000 users in just three weeks, over 80 percent of whom were teenagers. But the playful conversations did not last long as the chatbot began to make vulgar remarks and spew out hate speech toward minorities, pregnant women, the disabled, and the LGBTQ community. When asked about its opinion on lesbians, the

Jan 13, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Controversial chatbot leaves lessons on AI use ethics
  • AI developer to discard data used in controversial 'female' chatbot
Health

Concerns rise over Back to Jerusalem center infection cluster

Sangju Mayor Kang Young-seok attaches a written order of a facility shutdown at the entrance of BTJ's center in Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province, Jan. 7. / Courtesy of Sangju City GovernmentBy Lee Hyo-jinConcerns are rising over an infection cluster among followers of an evangelistic religious sect showing an uncooperative attitude to the government's antivirus efforts. The situation is reminding many of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus which was at the center of public criticism for not following state orders during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic last year. The infection cluster is at the Back to Jerusalem (BTJ) center located in Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province. The center is the headquarters of InterCP International, a sect with some 1,400 missionaries dispatched to several countries. The facility is used to hold missionary training camps offering lessons on biblical and spiritual studies, according to its official website. The missionary group was found to have conducted several training camps at the center from November to December last year, even when indoor

Jan 12, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Concerns rise over Back to Jerusalem center infection cluster
  • Cafe, gym owners file lawsuits against government over COVID-19 losses
Politics

Meeting with business leaders

Rep. Joo Ho-young, center, floor leader of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP), poses with representatives of business lobbies including Korea Enterprises Foundation (KEF) Chairman Sohn Kyung-sik, third from right, at a meeting at the National Assembly, Monday. The business lobby groups asked for a revision to the recently passed bill calling for stronger punishment for heads of companies responsible for fatal industrial accidents. / Yonhap

Jan 11, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Meeting with business leaders
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