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Kwon Mee-yoo

Korea Times Politics & City Reporter

Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.

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South Korea

Local election winners’ average wealth at W880 mil.

By Kwon Mee-yoo Mayors, governors, council members and education superintendents newly elected in the June 2 election reported an average of 880 million won ($704,000) in personal wealth as of July, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security said Tuesday. It said the eight new metropolitan government chiefs reported assets worth 800 million won on average, while eight new education superintendents posted an average 570 million won. Among mayors and governors, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon topped the list with 5.6 billion won followed by Daejeon Mayor Yum Hong-chul with 2.2 billion won. Incheon Mayor Song Young-gil registered as being 78 million won in debt as he borrowed some 340 million won for the election campaign. Among superintendents, Kwak No-hyun, the top educator in Seoul, reported 846 million won in debts, also as a result of loans he tapped to finance his election campaign. The elected officials reported diverse assets. Kim Gil-yong, a regional education board member in Busan, registered intellectual property rights of songs written by his composer son,

Aug 31, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo
South Korea

HS Seoul to lead e-government organization

By Kwon Mee-yoo Seoul City leads in the development of electronic government based on state-of-the-art technologies and an organization of e-governments will be founded in the city next month. The inaugural assembly of World e-Governments Organization of Cities and Local Governments (WEGO) will be held at Grand Hyatt Seoul from Sept. 6 to 8. The meeting is sponsored by the United Nations Project Office on Governance (UNPOG) under the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Mayors and IT experts from some 50 cities will take part in the conference. WEGO is based on the Seoul e-Government Declaration adopted at the World e-Government Mayors Forum in 2008. The declaration suggested forming a consultative body to exchange e-government information and narrow the information gap among cities. Seoul City will chair WEGO for the first time. Seven cities, including Barcelona, Berlin and Frankfurt, will present cases of successful e-government under the theme of “e-Sharing for All.” “WEGO will be a chance for Seoul to promote its IT technology, policy and companie

Aug 31, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo
South Korea

Seoul population up 4.3 times over 50 years

By Kwon Mee-yoo The population of Seoul increased 4.3 times and the size of the capital has doubled over the last half a century, the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) said in a report Wednesday. Seoul City, which has released an annual statistical report since 1961, published the 2010 edition, covering the last 50 years of development in the capital. According to the report, the size of Seoul has doubled to 605 square kilometers last year from 268 square kilometers in 1960, while the population rose to 10.4 million in 2009 from 2.4 million in 1960. The number of international residents jumped more than 24 times since 1970 when records on them were started ― from 10,463 to 255,749 at the end of last year. In the past 50 years, the size of Korea’s economy has expanded and consumer prices have also surged. Overall consumer prices grew 8.8 times during this period. The net average income increased 15 times ― from 229,000 won to 3.5 million won. As private cars and the Internet became popular, the ratio of transportation and communication in household expenses jumped

Aug 18, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo
South Korea

Number of malaria patients jumps in Seoul

By Kwon Mee-yoo The number of patients infected with malaria jumped nearly 60 percent from a year earlier to 165 in the first seven months of the year. It is also nearly 50 percent higher than the three-year average of 111. Over the last few years the number of malaria patients has fluctuated ― 494 in 2000, 136 in 2004, 313 in 2007 and 178 in 2009. In Korea, most patients are diagnosed with Plasmodium vivax malaria, which spreads via the female Anopheles mosquito. The incubation period of the disease ranges from a week to 12 months. The symptoms of Plasmodium vivax malaria include a fever and chills, accompanied by headaches and diarrhea. The Anopheles mosquitoes inhabit stagnant water in rice paddies or thickets and were found in 22 places spanning Incheon City, Gyeonggi and Gangwon Province. "We are reinforcing quarantine regulations against malaria in Eunpyeong, Yangcheon, Gangseo and Guro Districts close to the malaria danger zones," a city official said. "Watch out for mosquitoes when visiting those areas."

Aug 18, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo
South Korea

HS Seoul offers diverse performances

By Kwon Mee-yoo Seoul City is inviting people from mixed nationalities and disadvantaged backgrounds to various view performances such as concerts and musicals as a part of a cultural welfare program. Seoul Center for Culture and Tourism, located on the 5th floor of the M-Plaza building in Myeong-dong, invited 160 multicultural families to the musical “Welcome to My World” performed at Haechi Hall located in the center. “We received applications from multicultural families through the Seoul Global Center. Some 60 people have watched the show so far and most of them enjoyed the fun-packed musical,” a center official said. About 100 more people will come see the show until September. “We plan to invite more multicultural families to our next show,” he said. Meanwhile, Seoul City also signed an MOU with national and public theaters to provide seats especially for women who may feel alienated as a part of “Women-Friendly Seoul” project. The city aims to provide around 10,000 seats at a 50 percent discount throughout the year, including 2,400 seats for the Noon Co

Aug 17, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo
South Korea

Revealing clothing unsightly in office

By Kwon Mee-yoo While hot summer weather is impeding work efficiency, companies are relaxing dress codes to promote better working conditions. However, it often leads to revealing attire, making other colleagues uncomfortable, a survey showed. Saramin, an online job portal site, surveyed 578 recruitment officials on “ugly” business attire during summer and clothes exposing too much of the body, such as miniskirts and low-cut dresses, topped the list. As the heat is unusually sweltering this summer and miniskirts and shorts have become popular among females, while males wear V-neck shirts, showing their chests. But wearing such revealing clothes to work might be offensive to other colleagues. “I understand it is hot, but wearing very short skirts to work doesn’t seem proper,” office worker Kim Ji-won, 27 said. “My office recommended against wearing miniskirts and shorts, but the warning only worked for a few days.” Second on the list was see-through clothes. As the see-through look has come into vogue for ordinary people as well as entertainers, more people are wea

Aug 17, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo
South Korea

Legislation needed to ban watching DMB while driving

By Kwon Mee-yoo Imposing fines on taxi drivers watching television or Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) has been ruled illegal, but traffic experts continue to call for legislation to restrict viewing programs while in motion. The Seoul High Court has handed down a ruling in favor of a taxi driver who was fined 600,000 won for watching DMB by the local government, claiming the penalty was unfair because of the lack of laws banning it. The driver filed the suit when he was caught watching DMB while driving in September 2008 and slapped with the penalty. At the first trial, the court also ruled in favor of the driver as the mayor did not have the right to issue a corrective order. The Passenger Transport Business Act, legislated in 1961, allows municipal governments to give a business improvement order and Seoul City announced the ordinance banning television or DMB watching while driving in March 2008. But the court ruled that the city’s ordinance cannot be legal grounds to overturn the spirit of the Act. "The Seoul Mayor does not have the right to impose the penalt

Aug 16, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo
South Korea

Mt. Seongmi residents oppose campus construction by Hongik

By Kwon Mee-yoo The construction of a campus in Mt. Seongmi, located in western Seoul, by a private education foundation is embroiling relations between developers and environment protectionists. The Hongik Foundation has been aiming to build schools by clearing woods and leveling an area of the mountain, but nearby residents are strongly opposing the plans, saying the construction will destroy the only natural forest in the Mapo district. A group of residents have been holding a series of protests near the construction site, urging the foundation to stop the ongoing work. Kim Yeon-gyung, a representative of the Residents’ Committee for Protecting Mt. Seongmi, said the constructions workers are using abusive language and behaving rudely toward the inhabitants more frequently. The residents set up tents in protest of the construction and to protect the trees, but construction crews tried to tear them down. Last Thursday, a woman was taken to hospital for minor injuries after an altercation with the workers. “The district office deferred the constructor’s use of the ro

Aug 15, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo
South Korea

Is Cheonggye Stream ecosystem healthy enough for sweetfish?

By Kwon Mee-yoo An ayu, or sweetfish, found in the Cheonggye Stream in central Seoul has ignited a dispute between the city government and environmental civic groups. Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) boasted that the finding of the sweetfish, which returns from the sea to spawn in fresh streams in clean water, reflects the sound ecosystem of the manmade stream. But environmental organizations are skeptical, claiming that it might have been purposely released there. The municipal government said there are 468 kinds of flora and fauna living in or alongside the Cheonggye Stream, after monitoring the ecological system from March to July. The Korea Society for Environmental Restoration and Revegetation Technology carried out the research on behalf of the city and found the sweetfish. However, environmental activists are raising questions about the find. In May, the city said dark chub had been found in the stream ㅡ another claim doubted by activists who called for a joint survey. The Korea Federation for Environmental Movements (KFEM) said SMG should conduct an ecolog

Aug 13, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo
South Korea

Ordinance passed for opening of Seoul Plaza

By Kwon Mee-yoo Seoul Metropolitan Council (SMC) passed an ordinance to allow assemblies and rallies at Seoul Plaza, Friday, but the city government immediately decided to take steps to reverse the decision. The city council held a special session and voted for a bill permitting rallies without receiving prior approval from the authorities in Seoul Plaza. The plaza was previously open only for cultural events, but now it can be used for assemblies and protests. Those who want to hold events at the plaza need to report it the city, unlike the former system of receiving permission from the city government. However, the municipal government will request reconsideration of the ordinance, since it might inconvenience the majority of citizens. The revised bill will be sent to the Seoul Mayor in five days who can ask for a review. The city council can confirm the bill with attendance of the majority of councilors and approval from two thirds of them.

Aug 13, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo
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