The Korea Times

Married immigrants make happy songpyeon

By Kwon Mee-yoo Some 20 married immigrants from China, Vietnam, Philippines and other countries gathered to make “songpyeon,” half moon shaped rice cake with fillings for Chuseok. In a hall of the Yangcheon District Office last Thursday, the immigrant wives, invited by the Saemaul Women's Club, learned how to make traditional rice cakes and arranged dishes for ancestral rites held during the holiday. “Seal the folds of the rice cake tightly so the filling won’t burst out during the steaming,” a club member shouted. After a mock ritual, Thach Thi Thanh Thuy, 25, a married immigrant from Vietnam, focused intently on making songpyeon while wearing a hanbok, traditional Korean costume. She took a little bit of dough and kneaded it with her hands before spreading it in a flat round shape to hold the sweet filling. Then she folded it in half and pressed the edges together to form a half moon. “I really like songpyeon, but I am not very good at making it,” she said. She came to Korea three years ago and settled in the western part of Seoul. Her two-year-old daughter goe

Sep 20, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

HS Seoul Design Fair raises curtains

By Kwon Mee-yoo The Seoul Design Fair (SDF), formerly titled the Seoul Design Olympiad, started off 21 days of events Friday, at the Jamsil Sports Complex and four design clusters in the capital city until Oct. 7. “Design will make Seoulites and visitors happier through the SDF,” Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said at the opening ceremony. Under the theme of “Design for All,” the third design fair is part of the World Design Capital Seoul 2010 initiative. The fair aims to promote design as a factor of urban competitiveness and allow diverse people to experience effective design in daily life. All events are free except for the Design Seoul International Conference. “The SDF will be a place where a mother and her child, a great designer and a rookie designer, a producer and a consumer as well as a designer and a businessperson can interact through the means of design,” said Choi Kyung-ran, director general of SDF 2010 and a professor of Interior Design at Kookmin University. “It will play an important role in providing a growth engine for the city by promoting design.” At the m

Sep 17, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

Travel & Food

Hotel lobby

JW Marriott Seoul JW Marriott Seoul offers a three-tiered Chuseok Package available from Sept. 19 to 26. The first option includes a night in a superior room along with free access to the fitness club and swimming pool at 135,000 won. Another package includes breakfast at the renovated buffet restaurant opening on Sept. 20 including all the same benefits as the first one at 175,000 won. The last one offers an 80,000 won credit for meals at the hotels restaurants ㅡ steakhouse or Italian, Chinese or Japanese ㅡ and bars with a night's stay and free access to hotel facilities. For reservations, call 02-6282-6282.

Sep 16, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

Travel & Food

Promoting California Dreaming

CTTC President Beteta beckons young professional Koreans By Kwon Mee-yoo The sparkling eyes of Caroline Beteta, president and CEO of the California Travel and Tourism Commission (CTTC), shine with ideas and passion to promote California and the United States. As a native Californian, she was eager to share her favorite places with future visitors to the state.

Sep 16, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Another tragic death of immigrant wife

Mongolian woman killed by friend’s husband By Kwon Mee-yoo A married Mongolian immigrant named Kang was murdered on Sept. 12 by the husband of her friend who she was trying to protect. The man, identified as Yang, 34, beat up his wife who fled to Kang’s house. In search of his spouse, a drunken Yang came to Kang and her husband Ha’s house, and demanded his wife return with him. Kang prevented him from taking his wife, telling him to sober up before he could talk to her. Outraged Yang stabbed her and wounded Ha before fleeing. She was immediately taken to a hospital, but died of excessive blood loss. Kang, 25, married Ha in Naju, South Jeolla Province in March 2009, after being introduced to him by an acquaintance who had moved to Korea earlier. Her husband Ha, 40, and his parents cared for her and helped her adapt to Korean life. According to neighbors, the family was happy and in June this year the couple had a baby boy. Last December, she discovered that a 21-year-old friend had also married a Korean man and lived in Yeongam, South Jeolla Province. Kang reco

Sep 16, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Sookmyung picked to run first female ROTC program

By Kwon Mee-yoo Sookmyung Women’s University was chosen as the first women’s university to operate the ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) program, Tuesday, after some 40 days of competition with other women’s universities. The first group of female ROTC cadets will complete their degree at Sookmyung in 2013. The Ministry of National Defense announced the plan to recruit 60 female cadets and establish an ROTC at a women’s university in August and all seven female-only universities in Korea entered the race. Professors, members of staff and even graduates were mobilized to win the competition to attract the ROTC, according to school officials. One university emphasized its president was an ROTC graduate, while graduates from another university used their husbands’ personal connections in the military to peddle influence. “Sookmyung submitted a plan satisfying all facility requirements from the ministry, topping the three-stage evaluation,” a ministry official said. “They also prepared an honorary junior ROTC system for high school students to urge more students

Sep 15, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

HS Seoul, UNESCO in deal on design

By Kwon Mee-yoo Seoul City can use the logo of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in domestic and overseas promotion of the city after being designated as a Creative City for Design. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon signed an MOU with Chun Taeck-soo, secretary-general of the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, Tuesday to cooperate on consolidating the city’s competitiveness through design. The capital was designated as the eighth Creative City for Design by UNESCO in July. Other cities in the network include Berlin, Buenos Aires, Kobe, Montreal, Nagoya, Shenzhen and Shanghai. The municipal government can now apply the UNESCO logo to its public facilities, projects and promotional materials. “Seoul has been reborn as a global brand with recognition from UNESCO,” Seoul Mayor Oh said. “The credible UNESCO logo on Seoul’s promotional materials will give confidence to potential international visitors.” The city estimates that being a UNESCO City of Design will help it jump in the city brand value rankings to 20th from the current 33r

Sep 14, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Women breaking through glass ceiling

Women breaking through glass ceiling By Kwon Mee-yoo Korean women still face various hurdles and subtle discrimination in their ambition to climb to higher posts despite a marked improvement in gender equality. A global women’s equality promotion group says building international networks and learning foreign languages will provide greater leverage for Korean women to further advance their career. In an interview with The Korea Times, Elizabeth Benham, president of the International Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPW International), said, “The BPW has a long history of empowering women.” Established in 1930, the BPW International is a non-governmental, non-profit organization in consultative status with the United Nations. More than 30,000 members from 96 countries on five continents develop professional leadership and business potential through networking and advocacy of the BPW. The BPW Korea held a seminar with the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family to discuss women’s position in corporations, Tuesday. “I wanted to network with other women and

Sep 14, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Seouls Opera House project hits snag

By Kwon Mee-yoo The Seoul Metropolitan Council, dominated by members from the main opposition Democratic Party, is putting the brakes on major projects of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, raising questions about funding and the viability of each. The latest target the council aims to shoot down is Seoul City’s ambitious plan to build Nodeul Island Opera House as part of its Han River Art Island project. The municipal council last week passed an ordinance to abolish the planned establishment of a foundation to run the project. City councilor Park Jin-hyung of the Democratic Party proposed the bill to scrap the plan, claiming that the ground for setting up the foundation without securing stable financial sources was untenable. The Art Island project was to build a state-of-the-art cultural complex on the 60,800-square-meter site of Nodeul Island in Yongsan. The city government planned to put 586 billion won ($504 million) into the ambitious project. The main structure was to be a 10-story Opera House — eight above and two underground — with a 2,100-seat concert

Sep 13, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Entertainers draw fire with lies

MC Mong booked for having teeth extracted to dodge draft By Kwon Mee-yoo Singer MC Mong, 31, has been booked without physical detention on suspicion that he plucked out healthy teeth as a means to dodge the mandatory military service. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said the singer, whose real name is Shin Dong-hyun, had postponed entering the military service seven times from 1999 to 2006 by providing various excuses. “He put off joining the army with reasons such as applying for the civil service examination, job training and traveling overseas. However, he filmed a movie and released albums during the period when he delayed the service,” a police officer said. At the same time, MC Mong has been suspected of having healthy teeth extracted to dodge the draft. According to the police, the singer and TV-show host was rated healthy enough for active-duty as a soldier at his first checkup in August 1998. In 2008, he had 12 teeth pulled and was able to get an exemption from military duty. “The singer is claiming that he had those teeth removed because of cavit

Sep 12, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

Shin disappears after caught lying about gambling in Cebu

Kwon Mee-yoo

Read more

Married immigrants make happy songpyeon

HS Seoul Design Fair raises curtains

Hotel lobby

Promoting California Dreaming

Another tragic death of immigrant wife

Sookmyung picked to run first female ROTC program

HS Seoul, UNESCO in deal on design

Women breaking through glass ceiling

Seouls Opera House project hits snag

Entertainers draw fire with lies

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