The Korea Times

Gangnam Station, Myeong-dong most crowded

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff reporter Last year, Kyobo Tower in Seocho District near Gangnam Station on subway line No. 2 was the most crowded area in Seoul with a floating population of 113,600 people a day. Seoul City studied its floating population at 10,000 spots on major streets and facilities from August to November 2009 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day with 2,200 public workers. The CGV cinema in Myeong-dong ranked second most crowded with 66,000 pedestrians walking past.Seven spots in Myeong-dong were included in the top 10 floating population areas. Third of the list was Teenie Weenie store in Myeong-dong (58,300 people) followed by Lotte Department Store in Sogong-dong (49,200) and M Plaza (48,000). Overall, Myeong-dong was the most crowded and busiest area in Seoul. Dohansa near Insa-dong and Yeongdeungpo Station also made the list. "We will use the data as base material to update the design of the city and improve the pedestrian environment," Song Jeong-hui of Seoul City said. By days of the week, Friday evening from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. was the most crowded with 3

Jul 15, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Seoul City, council clash over opening plazas to public

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff reporter The Seoul Metropolitan Council (SMC), now dominated by liberal members from the opposition Democratic Party (DP), is moving to open up plazas in downtown Seoul to rallies, igniting conflict with the city government led by Mayor Oh Se-hoon. The use of Seoul Plaza and other plazas in central Seoul requires prior approval from the authorities. But the council is reviving a move to change the process to parties simply having to inform the authorities of their intentions, without having to obtain this approval. The move came after the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) submitted a petition signed by 85,000 people earlier this year to change to the more lenient format. The bill also includes allowing lawful assemblies at the plaza. Currently, permission is only granted for leisure and cultural activities. The bill failed to pass at the last council meeting then dominated by ruling Grand National Party (GNP) councilors. The new municipal council, which started its term on July 1, brought up the bill

Jul 14, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Lack of crematorium causes problem

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff reporter More Koreans are seeking cremation upon the death of their loved ones, and for themselves, but the number of crematoriums has fallen far behind the growing demand. Worse, the chances for the imbalance to be corrected in the near future are low given the prevalent not-in-my-backyard or Nimby neighbors. A Korea Gallup survey in 2009 showed that more than 70 percent of Koreans want to be cremated when they die, but there are only 49 crematoriums nationwide. According to Seoul City, the cremation rate of Seoulites is on the increase ― from 31 percent in 1997 to 48 percent in 2000 and 65 percent in 2005. The city expects the rate to exceed to 80 percent this year. However, there is only one municipal crematory for Seoul residents ― Byeokje Crematorium in Gyeonggi Province and a second one being built in Wonji-dong, southern Seoul, in February, only some 10 years after fierce protests from local residents subsided. The Byeokje Crematorium can handle some 77 bodies a day, but since the Gyeonggi Province residents also rely on it, the facil

Jul 13, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

232 suicide attempts in Han River in 1st half

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff reporter A total of 232 people attempted suicide in Seoul's Han River in the first half of the year, but preventative measures are still pending due to budget issues. According to Seoul City Monday, 166 people jumped from bridges over the Han River and 66 people entered the water from its banks in the six months up to June. Of them, 47 were found dead. There have been more than 1,300 suicide attempts in the Han River since 2007 and 254 were fatal. Last September, the city's Fire and Disaster Headquarters pledged to reinforce safety measures along the river to prevent people from attempting suicide on the bridges with a 13 billion won budget by the end of the year. But the plan has been suspended as it has not received a green light from the city government. Other measures included installing nearly 100 surveillance cameras on eight bridges and raising the balustrades to 2 meters. Establishing a rescue team near Banpo Bridge has also been put on hold. The plan went through major reappraisal at the city's investment deliberation committee earli

Jul 12, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Males more positive about finding dates through Twitter

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff reporter The match-making company Duo surveyed 257 people earlier this month on people's attitudes toward finding dates through a social network service (SNS) such as Twitter, me2DAY and Facebook and it found that males are more in favor of meeting new dates in this manner. According to the survey, 88 percent of men said they were positive about establishing a new relationship with the opposite sex through an SNS, while 62 percent of women were negative. The 64 percent that responded positively about a meeting person through SNSs said they were effective for understanding the other's emotional side and personal relationships and 10 percent said the profile information was trustworthy. The remaining 36 percent, who were negative toward "Twitter dating" said they did not have confidence in the profile found on any SNS and felt uncomfortable about meeting someone online. Kim Ji-won, 27, an office worker, said she might make new friends through Twitter, but was reluctant to meet those who obviously want to "find dates" through an SNS. "SNS such

Jul 12, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Leftover food reuse busts becomes nominal

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff reporter One year has passed after the law banning the reuse of leftover side dishes took effect, but the authority's inspections have already became nominal, exposing only 59 restaurants for violations. According to a report released by Seoul City on Wednesday, the restaurants were caught serving food left by one customer to another despite the revision of the Food Sanitation Law in July 2009. Among those exposed, 54 were caught during a crackdown from last October to December and only five were caught during random inspections in nine months following. This is only 2 percent of the total eateries caught and 0.1 percent of those inspected. Other violations included not completing health checks, storing expired food and poor sanitation. However, Seoul City does not plan to reinforce the crackdown on the reuse of leftover food this year. "It is difficult to disclose the actual instance of serving leftover food again unless we watch them closely during busy hours which might interfere with their business," a city official said. "We are thinki

Jul 9, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Vietnamese woman killed by husband after 8 days in Korea

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff reporter A 20-year-old Vietnamese woman was killed by her mentally-unstable husband just eight days after arriving in Korea. The Busan Saha Police Station said the woman was found dead at her house, Wednesday, and that officers were questioning her husband identified as Jang, 47, for beating and stabbing her to death. Police requested an arrest warrant for Jang on charges of murder, Friday. Officers quoted the husband as saying, "I committed the murder after hearing the voice of a ghost telling me to kill my wife." The couple was introduced on Feb. 7 through an interracial match-making company, and the woman decided to marry the man the next day, hoping for "the Korean Dream" despite the age difference. She stayed in Vietnam to make arrangements for the marriage and arrived in Korea July 1. She did not know any Korean and her husband was her only contact here. However, she did not know of his history of mental problems. He was hospitalized for five days before returning to Vietnam to bring her to Korea and assaulted his parents five years ago aft

Jul 9, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Seoul brings in 2 Cambodian elephants

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff reporter A pair of elephants donated by the Cambodian government arrived in Seoul on Thursday evening, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said. Currently, there are 11 elephants in six zoos in Korea, but they are in their 30s and the females are no longer reproductive. The city government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade made joint efforts to arrange the donation of the two elephants. Elephants are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and banned from being bought or sold between countries. Seoul sent an official letter asking for a donation of elephants to the Cambodian Forest Service through MOFAT and they got the nod in May to transport two of them. The 20-year-old male elephant is 2.4 meters tall and weighs 2.5 tons, while the 27-year-old female is 2.5 meters tall and weighs 3 tons. The two new elephants will be transferred to Children's Grand Park in eastern Seoul. They will go through an inspection and period of adjusting to their new environment and climate, before being present

Jul 8, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Olle, hanok among top tour picks

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff reporter The Jeju "Olle" trail walking paths, Jeonju Hanok (traditional Korean house) village, and eight other top tourist sites and figures won Korea Tourism Awards (KTA), Thursday, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sports said. The Olle trails in Jeju Island are a big hit ― more than 250,000 people have visited the walking courses bringing in 19 billion won. Opened in September 2007, there are now 20 Olle routes spanning 329 kilometers on the island. Olle is the old Jeju dialect word for narrow paths inaccessible by cars. "Olle give people a chance to walk, feel and enjoy the island," a Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) official said. "They also present a new paradigm for tourism by relying on visitors to protect the environment and clean up after them." The KTO and culture ministry jointly organized the awards for the first time this year. To select the winners, they conducted online polls, with 14,127 participating in the voting over three months until mid-June. The Jeonju Hanok village has more than 700 houses, the largest urban hanok comm

Jul 8, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Rep. You in fight against actress-related rumors

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff reporter TV host-turned-lawmaker You Jung-hyun of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) filed a complaint with the Yeongdeungpo Police Station, asking officers to find who was spreading "malicious rumors" linking him to a popular actress. Rep. You submitted a copy of a leaflet containing the rumor, which had been circulated around the offices of the Korea Exchange, to police asking them to find the source. "You felt victimized by the rumor," one of his aides said. "Since it was groundless, it won't affect his work, but it could harm his family and so we decided to request an investigation." The actress' agency said she did not even know You. "The rumor is totally groundless. We will not take any action against it, but hope a police investigation will right the wrong," an agency representative said. The leaflet You handed over to police is frequently distributed among stock traders and includes information on the business and entertainment world. It has been a major source of many rumors involving entertainers. In 2008, it was cited as one of t

Jul 7, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

Kwon Mee-yoo

Read more

Gangnam Station, Myeong-dong most crowded

Seoul City, council clash over opening plazas to public

Lack of crematorium causes problem

232 suicide attempts in Han River in 1st half

Males more positive about finding dates through Twitter

Leftover food reuse busts becomes nominal

Vietnamese woman killed by husband after 8 days in Korea

Seoul brings in 2 Cambodian elephants

Olle, hanok among top tour picks

Rep. You in fight against actress-related rumors

Top 5 stories