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Lee Hae-rin

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.

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Society

Prosecution's 'harassment' of news outlets draws concern internationally

Prosecutors confront workers of online news outlet Newstapa at its office in central Seoul, Thursday, as the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office attempted to enter the office in order to seize materials in connection with an allegation of reporting misinformation via an interview conducted in 2021 to discredit then opposition presidential candidate Yoon Suk Yeol. Yonhap By Lee Hae-rinThe International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemned on Thursday Korea's prosecution and the ruling party's intimidation and harassment of news media organizations for allegedly reporting misinformation in an interview which the government claims discredited then-presidential candidate Yoon Suk Yeol in 2022.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office dispatched prosecutors and investigators to online news outlet Newstapa and cable channel JTBC, both of which are headquartered in Seoul, Thursday, to seize materials related to their coverage of the interview.Prosecutors also searched the homes of a Newstapa reporter whose surname is Han and a former JTBC reporter whose surname is Bong.&ldqu

Sep 16, 2023By Lee Hae-rin
Prosecution's 'harassment' of news outlets draws concern internationally
Society

Korea criticized for backpedaling on foreign workforce policy

Foreign workers receive free medical checkups at the Korea Support Center for Foreign Workers in southwestern Seoul, Sunday. Courtesy of Korea Support Center for Foreign WorkersBy Lee Hae-rinKorea is set to shut down support centers that help foreign workers settle in the country as part of a broader belt-tightening fiscal policy. However, the decision is in stark contrast to its intention to attract immigrant workers to tackle the country's workforce shortage amid a demographic crisis.According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor Thursday, the government has decided not to appropriate a budget for foreign worker support centers across the country next year.Since the opening of the first center in 2004, 44 more centers have been opened and operated with an annual budget of around 7 billion won ($5.3 million) to help foreign workers with labor issues and social integration, as well as to provide them shelter, Korean language lessons and education.The centers received excellent performance reviews in the Ministry of Economy and Finance's latest report on projects, which assessed th

Sep 15, 2023By Lee Hae-rin
Korea criticized for backpedaling on foreign workforce policy
Politics

Naming of bill after first lady draws condemnation

First lady Kim Keon Hee speaks during a press conference held by animal advocacy groups at the Press Center in Seoul, Aug. 30. The press conference was held to call for a legislative ban on dog meat trade and consumption. Korea Times photo by Yun Seo-youngBy Lee Hae-rinAmid ongoing legislative pushes from the two main parties to ban the trade and consumption of dog meat, some ruling lawmakers have named the bill after the first lady, but are now facing a backlash ―- even from fellow party lawmakers.Rep. Park Dae-chul of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), wrote on social media, Wednesday, “Now is the time to ban the dog meat trade … The PPP's position to push for the legislative ban on the dog meat trade remains unchanged,” with the hashtags #KimKeonHeebill and #bandogmeat added in Korean.Park, who is also the party's chief policymaker, also used the term “Kim Keon Hee's bill” earlier this month to refer to seven pending bill proposals during the National Assembly's general meeting, calling for lawmakers to support the cause.The use of terminology is a

Sep 14, 2023By Lee Hae-rin
Naming of bill after first lady draws condemnation
Travel & Food

How Daegu became mecca of Korean-style fried chicken

Fried chicken and beer served at this year's Daegu Chimac Festival / Courtesy of Daegu Chimac Festival Organizing CommitteeKorea's poultry industry hub became birthplace of fried chickenBy Lee Hae-rin “Chimaek,” a portmanteau of chicken and “maekju,” the Korean word for beer, is among Korean people's favorite foods. It is also a fun way of socializing. Koreans consume a yearly average of 14 kilograms of poultry, equivalent to around 20 chickens, according to the Korean Broiler Council. Nearly 30,000 fried chicken restaurants affiliated with over 700 franchise brands are in business nationwide as of 2021, according to the Fair Trade Commission. The figure is the highest since records began being kept in 2012 and the second-highest after Korean cuisine categories. At the heart of the country's ongoing chicken craze is the southern city of Daegu, home to dozens of franchises and the host city of the annual Daegu Chimac Festival.Visitors enjoy fried chicken and beer at Duryu Park during the 11th edition of the Daegu Chimac Festival in Daegu, Sept. 1. Korea Times p

Sep 14, 2023By Lee Hae-rin
How Daegu became mecca of Korean-style fried chicken
Travel & Food

Four Seasons Hotel Seoul celebrates Korea-Thailand relations with food

Pupahtpong curry, or red curry with crab, is served at Four Seasons Hotel Seoul's buffet restaurant The Market Kitchen during a promotion to celebrate Korea-Thailand relations. / Courtesy of Four Seasons Hotel SeoulBy Lee Hae-rinFour Seasons Hotel Seoul presents a special culinary and cultural experience to celebrate the 65th anniversary of Korea-Thailand relations, in collaboration with the Thai Embassy in Seoul and Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok at Chao Phraya River.The hotel offers an authentic Thai dining experience at its international buffet restaurant The Market Kitchen from Sept. 8 to 17. Guests can explore Thai cuisine made by chefs from Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok, from the fresh Som Tam (green papaya salad) crafted before their eyes at the restaurant's live station to Tod Mun Goong (deep-fried shrimp), Tom Yum Goong (spicy and sour soup) and sweet mango sticky rice dessert.To elevate the dining experience, the restaurant plays traditional and modern Thai music in the background, while its staff dress in Thai national costume and offer Thai dance performances on weekdays, dinner

Sep 14, 2023By Lee Hae-rin
Four Seasons Hotel Seoul celebrates Korea-Thailand relations with food
People & Events

Jeonju Sori Festival chief seeks 'renaissance of Korean traditional music'

Jeonju International Sori Festival Organizing Committee Chairman Lee Wang-jun / Courtesy of Jeonju International Sori Festival Organizing CommitteeBy Lee Hae-rinLee Wang-jun, the chairman of the Jeonju International Sori Festival Organizing Committee, aims to usher in a “renaissance of Korean traditional music” via an annual event that kicks off, Friday.“Amid the mounting global interest in Korean culture in the wake of the K-pop boom, it is the right time for the 'renaissance of Korean traditional music,'” Lee said during an interview with The Korea Times, Wednesday. “And the Jeonju International Sori Festival is the platform and engine that can drive the globalization of Korean traditional music.” Born and raised in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, Lee, who also chairs the Myongji Medical Foundation, has been a lifelong lover of both Korean and Western classic music. He started his three-year term as the festival's organizing committee chairman in March, with the goal of making the event more global. Since launching in 2001, the festival centering

Sep 14, 2023By Lee Hae-rin
Jeonju Sori Festival chief seeks 'renaissance of Korean traditional music'
Travel & Food

Incheon airport seeks to bring back Chinese air travelers

A Chinese tour group arrives at Incheon International Airport, Aug. 24, two weeks after China lifted its ban on group tours to Korea last month and after more than six years of economic sanctions in retaliation against the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system in Korea. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukBy Lee Hae-rinIncheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC), the operator of Incheon International Airport, seeks to recover the rate of Chinese air passengers to 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels by 2024.“The airport is seeing a continuous recovery in travel demands, reaching a total of 35 million international passengers by August, which is a 73.3-percent recovery from the pre-COVID levels … With China's lifting of group tour bans in August, we expect to see further recovery in inbound tourism,” Kim Chang-kyu, executive director of IIAC's Public Relations Group, said during a media briefing in Incheon.The outlook comes as the airport saw a mere 23-percent post-pandemic recovery in the number of passengers from China, whic

Sep 13, 2023By Lee Hae-rin
Incheon airport seeks to bring back Chinese air travelers
Travel & Food

Cosmos flowers blossom at Incheon airport

An aircraft flies over Incheon International Airport's Haneul Garden, which is filled with cosmos flowers, Tuesday. Incheon International Airport Corp., the operator of the nation's largest air hub, opens the 36,000-square-meter garden to the public to Oct. 9. Admission is free. Courtesy of Incheon International Airport Corp.

Sep 12, 2023By Lee Hae-rin
Cosmos flowers blossom at Incheon airport
Society

Save the Children faces fallout from teacher's death

White flowers of condolence are placed on the desk of the teacher who recently took her own life after suffering from malicious parental complaints at her elementary school in Daejeon, Saturday. YonhapBy Lee Hae-rinSave the Children, an international non-governmental organization (NGO), is facing fallout from the recent death of a teacher as it was found to have given an opinion favoring parents, who are now coming under heavy criticism for allegedly causing the teacher to kill herself by placing insurmountable pressure on her. The teacher, a woman in her 40s, died at a Daejeon hospital, Thursday, after being found unconscious following an apparent suicide attempt at her home in Daejeon two days earlier. Parents accused the teacher of child abuse in 2019 but an investigation under the local office of education cleared her of the charges. Some parents filed a further complaint to the police claiming the teacher had abused their children. Save the Children investigated the case and described it as emotional abuse.As a result, the teacher went through 10 months of police and prosecution

Sep 11, 2023By Lee Hae-rin
Save the Children faces fallout from teacher's death
Law & Crime

National Forensic Service to create new division dedicated to narcotics crimes

Investigators examine drug samples confiscated from narcotics offenders at Suwon District Prosecutors Office in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, April 7. NewsisBy Lee Hae-rinThe National Forensic Service (NFS) will form a new division to tackle the growing number of narcotics rimes in Korea. The government already allocated a portion of next year's budget to form such a division, according to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, Sunday.The new division, which will be composed of about 10 officials, will be established next year if the National Assembly passes the budget by the end of this year.On top of the establishment of the division, the budget will be used to purchase new drug testing equipment and develop a drug monitoring platform.Currently, the NFS has no separate division dedicated to drugs. The forensic toxicology division has carried out assessments and studies on drugs, along with six institutes across the country. The creation of the new division is expected to make drug investigations more efficient and enable more related research, the NFS said.The budget allocated for the ne

Sep 11, 2023By Lee Hae-rin
National Forensic Service to create new division dedicated to narcotics crimes
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