The Korea Times

Toastmasters contest seeks to enhance communication skills

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff reporter Communication and leadership skills are becoming more and more important and there are people who voluntarily gather to hone these at the Toastmasters Club. Some 220 Toastmasters across the nation joined the national conference and speech contest at the Dragon Hill Lodge in Yongsan Garrison in Seoul, Saturday. Toastmasters International is an educational organization to develop communication and leadership skills. Each club has meetings once a week and members follow a manual to address table-topics and make prepared speeches, and see them evaluated. Twelve contestants vied for the best speaker among Toastmasters in Korea. Themes varied from use of books to the speaker's experience. Bae Keun-ho, 27, winner of the competition, prepared his speech for about two months. He gave a speech on the "worst" moment of his life and how he overcame it. "I focused on how to inspire other people from my experience, the worst one," he said. Bae is a doctoral student and has been a member of Toastmasters for more than three years. He was first inte

Jun 20, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

SKY graduates cite schools as factor for employment

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff reporter Kim Mi-sook, 26, entered one of the largest financial companies in late 2008 when Korea was grappling with the worldwide economic downturn. Despite the record-high unemployment rate, she was offered a job by two firms and had a hard time in choosing one. At the time, she was a senior of Seoul National University (SNU) and most other successful candidates either graduated from or were enrolled in the so-called "SKY" universities ― Seoul National, Korea and Yonsei universities ― the nation's so-called top three. "I heard that the ratio of SKY graduates among new recruits here was higher in late 2008 and early 2009 when the economy was in bad shape, as employers preferred to hire new workers with better academic backgrounds," Kim said, adding that this was an advantage in getting the job. Like Kim, more than 60 percent of SKY graduates think their educational background helped them find a job in one way or another. In a joint survey of 108 office workers graduating from the three universities conducted by Incruit, an online job portal, and

Jun 20, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Bibimbap made for 2,010 fans

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff reporter Thousands of fans ate "bibimbap," a popular Korean dish and rooted for the Korean squad at a park by the Han River near Yeouido, Thursday. The cheering event started at 5 p.m. and was hosted by the 2009 Miss Korea Kim Joo-ri. Citizens in red gathered to watch musicians Storyseller, Dr. Core 911 and Swimming Fish. Jazz harmonist Jun Je-duk also joined in the festive mood and the waterfront saw fireworks and a fountain light show. Before the game, the fans took part in an event to make an enormous amount of bibimbap, rice mixed with assorted vegetables. Bibimbap is a popular Korean dish and freelance Korean publicist Seo Kyoung-duk and popular television show "Infinite Challenge" team placed a full-page promotion for it in the New York Times last December. Football fans, children, married immigrants and political and business leaders held a large rice paddle to mix the huge bowl full of rice and vegetables topped with pepper paste. The bibimbap bore the message "Advance to the Round of 16," which was soon mixed into the bowl. They made eno

Jun 17, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Toastmasters speech contest at Dragon Hill Lodge Saturday

The Toastmasters Korea will hold its annual national conference, including a number of workshops and a speech contest at the Dragon Hill Lodge in Yongsan South Post, Saturday. The Toastmasters Club is an international non-profit organization aimed to improve communication skills and leadership abilities through seminars and speech contests. Established in Santa Ana, California, in 1924, the club now has nearly 250,000 members in 106 countries, including 18 clubs in Korea. Any adult can join and the members vary from university students to office workers and even retirees. Seven Koreans and five foreigners will show their oratory talents in the 2010 speech contest. Before the competition, three workshops will focus on how to improve speech skills. "The Toastmasters members try to cultivate skills to express what they know in a clear and effective way," an official from Toastmasters Korea said. During regular training seminars, each member alternates playing the role of host, speaker and evaluator. "Public speaking is very important as everyone has to express their tal

Jun 16, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Seoul waits for honorary citizen recommendations

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff reporter You don’t have to be Brian Orser or Guus Hiddink to become an honorary citizen of Seoul ― the city also wants international residents who make contributions to the city in their daily life. Last year, 16 foreigners were awarded honorary citizenship of Seoul. Eric Swanson, general manager of the Millennium Seoul Hilton, is one of them. He is the son of Cho Chang-su, a Korean folklorist and curator of the Smithsonian who held a Korean exhibition there. Swanson served as a judge at the Seoul Tourism Awards in June 2009 and among other activities helps the unprivileged through the Korea Welfare Foundation. “Being an honorary citizen of Seoul was quite meaningful for Swanson, as he obtained the citizenship of his mother’s country in a symbolic way,” We Sang-bok of Seoul City said. Krishna Prasad Sitoula, who served as the chief of the Nepal tourism office in Korea for eight years, also became an honorary citizen of Seoul last year. He is known for assisting migrant workers from Nepal to settle in Seoul smoothly and has participated in t

Jun 15, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

N. Korean teens exposed to South Korean dramas

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff reporter More than half of North Korean teen defectors watched South Korean films and dramas when they were in the world's most reclusive nation, a recent survey showed Monday. Yoon Sun-hee, a professor of journalism and mass communication at Hanyang University, questioned 144 students at Hangyeore Middle and High School, a special education facility set up in 2006 for young boys and girls who have defected, and found that 79 or 56 percent of them had seen South Korean movies and TV programs while in the North. Pyongyang strictly bans its people from viewing South Korean entertainment to keep them from being "corrupted" by Western or capitalist culture. The latest survey also confirmed that many North Koreans are exposed to the South's pop culture, known as "hallyu." The professor admitted that though it was hard to generalize the result to a nationwide level, the outcome was surprising. "I could conjecture that the North is more open than expected," Yoon said. She added that teenagers in North Korea have a defiant aspect and they tend to liv

Jun 14, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Prosecution to introduce US-style grand jury

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff reporter The prosecution said Friday that it will introduce a package of reform measures, highlighted by a U.S.-style grand jury system, which it says will dilute its exclusive authority to indict suspects. The package also includes expanding internal affairs investigations and outside supervision of crimes involving prosecutors. The reform measures were announced amid growing public discontent over wanton behavior as divulged in the "sponsored prosecutors" scandal, where a large number of prosecutors allegedly had been wined and dined by a construction businessman. Civic groups were up in arms that the scandal showed a sense of elitist privilege within the prosecution, attributed to their exclusive right to make criminal indictments. Prosecutor General Kim Joon-gyu and some 1,700 prosecutors participated in the teleconference to finalize the package. "The prosecution has disappointed the people. I am sorry about having failed to meet people's expectations, and caused trouble and concern," Kim said. "The behavior of the prosecution will be re

Jun 11, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Gangwon Province governor-elect faces suspension

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff reporter Gangwon Province Governor-elect Lee Kwang-jae will be unable to take up his post on July 1 after a court ruling Friday resulted in his suspension from duty. The Seoul High Court upheld the conviction of Lee for taking bribes, but reduced his punishment to a six-month prison sentence suspended for one year and a 114 million won fine. The lower court handed out sentence of eight months in jail suspended for two years and 148 million won in fines. Lee, who was elected in the June 2 local election, immediately said he would appeal to the Supreme Court. He insisted that he did not accept any illicit money. Under the Local Autonomy Law, if a governor is sentenced to imprisonment or a fine of over one million won, they are suspended until the Supreme Court rules on the case, and the vice governor assumes their duties. If the highest court rules against Lee, he will lose his post and Gangwon will have to hold a by-election to choose a new governor. Lee, one of the close aides to the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, was indicted for accept

Jun 11, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Do daycare centers need observation camera?

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff reporter Observation cameras installed in daycare centers certified by the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) are causing a stir with some civic groups who complain they were set up without prior endorsement from parents. Hundreds of day care centers in the capital have installed the equipment to broadcast scenes on the Internet, allowing parents to check up on their children and how they are being taught. However, some parents and civic groups oppose it saying it "infringes upon human rights." About 500 of 2,300 nurseries under the SMG had set up the cameras as of June to ease parents' anxiety by broadcasting what was happening in daycare centers. Parents pay 5,000 won per month to access real-time footage from the nursery their child attends. However, the progressive civic groups are calling for the cameras to be removed, claiming they violate privacy. Jinbo Net and the Seoul branch of the New Progressive Party held a press conference Wednesday, calling for the removal of all monitoring equipment at day care facilities in Seoul. T

Jun 10, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Wanted: honorary citizen recommendations

Seoul City plans to accept recommendations for candidates to become honorary citizens through the end of the month as part of its efforts to boost its image as a foreigner-friendly metropolis. The city has bestowed the honor on foreigners who have either contributed to the development of the city, or a head of state, a premier or a diplomatic delegation visiting the city. So far, a total of 608 foreigners from 90 countries have been designated honorary citizens of Seoul, including 168 Americans, 40 Japanese, 29 Chinese and 29 Germans. The most recent recipient was Brian Orser, coach of celebrated figure skater Kim Yu-na, on April 14. Others include Guus Hiddink, the head coach of the Korean national football team during the 2002 World Cup; Christopher Hill, former U.S. ambassador to Korea; Hines Ward, the Korean-American football star; and actor Jackie Chan. Benefits of being an honorary Seoulite include free admission to municipal facilities such as the Seoul Museum of Art and invitation to city events. “Being named an honorary citizen of Seoul is a recognition of th

Jun 8, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

Kwon Mee-yoo

Read more

Toastmasters contest seeks to enhance communication skills

SKY graduates cite schools as factor for employment

Bibimbap made for 2,010 fans

Toastmasters speech contest at Dragon Hill Lodge Saturday

Seoul waits for honorary citizen recommendations

N. Korean teens exposed to South Korean dramas

Prosecution to introduce US-style grand jury

Gangwon Province governor-elect faces suspension

Do daycare centers need observation camera?

Wanted: honorary citizen recommendations

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