Korea Times K-Culture Reporter
Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Tourists enjoy a water jet boat ride in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, Sunday, as Korea issued the first heat wave advisory of the year in 13 regions across the country, including Seoul and surrounding eastern Gyeonggi Province. The scorching heat is expected to continue this week with the maximum temperature on Monday forecast to hit 35 degrees Celsius. Yonhap
Participants of the 15th Daegu Queer Culture Festival carry banners and flags while marching on the street in Daegu, Saturday. Korea Times photo by Cho Hye-yoonConservative mayor-led city government attempts to prevent march, clashes with policeBy Lee Hae-rinDAEGU ― Korea's southern conservative stronghold of Daegu saw an unwavering will to celebrate the identity and integrity of sexual minorities, Saturday, despite strong opposition from the city mayor and conservative Christian protesters.The 15th Daegu Queer Culture Festival (DQCF), held in the city's central area of Banwol Intersection on Dongseong-ro, was the first of eight local Pride festivals to be held across the country under the theme of “We, Already.”This year's festival began with an unusual face-off between the local government and the police.Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo, a longtime member of the main conservative People Power Party (PPP), argued that the festival promoted an "inappropriate sexual culture" among younger generations, thereby compromising the rights of the “sexual majority.”His commen
Gettyimagesbank By Lee Hae-rinSeoul National University Hospital (SNUH), one of Korea's most advanced medical centers, is seeing a doctor shortage in 'unpopular' medical departments like surgery and emergency medicine, according to data released Wednesday.Doctors are found to prefer medical specialties such as plastic surgery and dermatology which offer better pay and working conditions. According to SNUH's recruitment statistics for medical specialists by departments between 2021 and May 2023, submitted to Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Rep. Kang Min-jung, the hospital's surgery department went through 11 recruitment drives to hire 47 specialists last year.The surgery department was the only medical department at SNUH that went through more than 10 recruitment drives to hire enough specialists.In 2021, the same department hired only 24 surgeons in four recruitment drives, although it initially sought to hire 34.The hospital's other medical departments known to be
Fans of K-pop giant BTS pose in front of Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), the capital's iconic landmark in its fashion district, Monday. Many iconic locations around Seoul, including the DDP, have been illuminated in purple in celebration of BTS' 10th anniversary which fell on Tuesday. YonhapBy Lee Hae-rinQuan Luu, 44, flew to Seoul from Australia last Friday on a seven-day trip to celebrate K-pop giant BTS' 10th anniversary, which fell on Tuesday. Dressed in purple, the signature color of the group and its fans, she posed for a photo in front of the giant graffiti portrait of the seven members still in progress at HYBE's headquarters in Seoul's Yongsan District. She plans to visit some locations where the group filmed episodes of variety shows in the capital and join other Australian ARMY groups for a BTS tour. ARMY is the loyal global fan base of the world-famous boy band. Jialing Wang, 39, from Los Angeles handed out self-made BTS stickers to other fans gathered around the painted wall, as many K-pop fans do with each other at concerts and events. “It's an easy way to start a
The escalator in Sunae Station that ran reverse for several seconds and left 14 injured on Thursday is sealed with off-limit tapes and fences in Bundang, a planned residential community in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. YonhapBy Lee Hae-rinResidents of Bundang, a planned community in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, are raising concerns over the safety of aging public infrastructure, following a serious accident when a subway station escalator reversed direction, only two months after a bridge over a stream collapsed, killing one pedestrian.On Thursday around 8:20 a.m., an escalator leading upward to exit 2 of Sunae Station on the Bundang Line reversed direction abruptly, causing passengers to fall and pile up at the bottom, resulting in 14 people sustaining injuries to their backs and legs, according to the subway operator KORAIL. None of them were killed but three were taken to the hospital for treatment. Connected to a department store, shopping district and apartment complexes, Sunae Station is one of the major subway stations in Bundang, a relatively newly developed resident
A group of 31 licensed tourist guides speaking seven foreign languages pose in front of Cheong Wa Dae in central Seoul, Friday, during training on the former presidential office compound's history provided by the Korea Tourism Guide Association. Courtesy of Korea Tourist Guide AssociationBy Lee Hae-rinMore multilingual guided tours of the historic former presidential compound, Cheong Wa Dae, will be offered for international travelers visiting Seoul.The Korea Tourist Guide Association (KOTGA) has launched a training program tailored for Cheong Wa Dae tour guides, aiming to enhance the experience of foreign tourists in Korea in commemoration of the first anniversary of the landmark's public opening.The first session of the four-part training program took place on Friday, focusing on enhancing the trainees' understanding of the compound's history, cultural heritage and arboreal assets, as well as the narratives of former presidents. Most of the participants in the training were freelancers and they are expected to provide tours in multiple foreign languages, enhancing the experience fo
Members of the Korean Association of Edible Dog who work in the dog meat industry hold a rally to protest a proposed ban on their livelihood in front of the presidential office in Seoul's Yongsan District, Thursday. NewsisBy Lee Hae-rinKorea's dog meat traders condemned the first lady and animal rights groups' push to ban dog meat consumption, Thursday, urging the government to protect their livelihoods and people's freedom to choose what they eat.Around 300 members of the Korean Association of Edible Dog from across the country assembled and held a rally in front of the presidential office in Seoul's Yongsan District.“Over 10 million Koreans still consume dog meat and that's why we ― the dog farmers ― create and provide over 70,000 tons of dog meat every year. Oppressing these people's right to choose what they eat cannot be acceptable in a democratic society,” the group said in a released statement.Kim Byeong-guk, 30, the president of the group, told The Korea Times during the rally that animal advocacy groups, which he believes take advantage of animals to earn donatio
A giant rainbow flag is carried by participants at the Seoul Queer Culture Festival at Seoul Plaza, June 1, 2019. Courtesy of organizing committee of Seoul Queer Culture FestivalBy Lee Hae-rinThis year's Seoul Queer Culture Festival (SQCF) will be held as scheduled on July 1 in downtown Seoul's Euljiro area due to the Seoul Metropolitan Government's disapproval of its event taking place at Seoul Plaza, according to the festival organizer, Wednesday.“The (festival's) use of Seoul Plaza was disapproved by the discriminatory administration of the Seoul Metropolitan Government,” Yang Sun-woo, chairperson of the SQCF organizing committee, said during a press conference in Seoul, Wednesday. “The 24th SQCF and parade will be held in the Euljiro 2-ga area.”The SQCF, which was launched in 2000 with around 50 participants in the capital's northeastern Daehangno area, grew in size over the years, eventually settling in Seoul Plaza in 2015, one of the biggest public squares in the capital. This will be the first edition of the event to not be held there since 2015 except
Italian cuisine served at Yido Cheongdam, plated on handcrafted dishes from Yido / Courtesy of Yido CheongdamBy Lee Hae-rinKorean ceramics manufacturer Yido plans to present a fusion of Korean traditional handicraft and western cuisine at its newly opened contemporary dining space in the upscale Cheongdam-dong area of southern Seoul.Named after King Sejong, the inventor of the Korean alphabet, Yido has until recently focused on porcelain tableware. However, in response to the rising global popularity of Korean culture, the brand has decided to showcase Korean handicrafts by opening Yido Cheongdam, a contemporary complex cultural space also featuring a restaurant.“'Yido is a Korean handicraft brand, so wouldn't Korean cuisine be more suitable?' people often ask me,” Yido CEO Kim Young-geun told The Korea Times in a recent phone interview. “However, we wanted to show that Korean handicraft pottery can have a place in the western culinary world as well, where flat plates are often used unlike in Korea, where bowl-shaped dishes for rice and soup are more common.”I
Seen is the cookie that was in the possession of an Egyptian national who was arrested on May 22 after being pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province. Captured from Korean National Police Agency's YouTubeBy Lee Hae-rinPolice arrested an Egyptian national who was pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving and then found to be in possession of a single cannabis cookie. The Namyangju Police Station in Gyeonggi Province said, Monday, that a report was filed on an Egyptian national in his 30s in Namyangju's Dasan-dong, northeast of Seoul, around midnight on May 22.He was reportedly swerving between lanes showing signs of drowsiness. Another driver, who reported the incident, noted that when he honked to alert the erratic driver, it caused him to speed up abruptly to 170 kilometers per hour, seemingly trying to escape. This unusual behavior led the reporting driver to call the police, suspecting the man was driving under the influence. Police officers pulled over the driver in question and measured his blood alcohol level, which indicated he had not been dri