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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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Travel & Food

Seoul launches Iris tour project

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff Reporter Seoul City has started a tour program featuring the attractions that were used as backdrops on the KBS hit TV drama 'Iris' to help boost "hallyu," or the Korean wave. The program sponsored by the city aims to draw more international tourists interested in Korean TV dramas, actors and actresses. The thriller depicting a spy conspiracy between South and North Korea started airing in Japan from April 21 through TBS and marked a viewing rate of over 10 percent. Seoul supported the drama by allowing filming to take place throughout the city. For instance, Gwanghwamun Plaza was even closed down for a day to shoot several action scenes ― the gunfight and explosion scene was chosen as one of the most blockbuster aspects of the series. Seoul City said the areas used in the filming became much more popular after the broadcasting of "Iris." "The number of visitors to the observatory in Dream Forest, northern Seoul, has doubled from 700 to 1,500 after the airing of the drama," a city official said. The observatory was the backdrop for the scene

May 6, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo
South Korea

No honking in residential areas

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff Reporter From next year, drivers who cause accidents involving pedestrians by honking their car horns on the streets in residential areas will face punishment as will those who put up signs obstructing those on foot. The Ministry of Public Administration and Safety said Wednesday that it will initiate a bill, including these and other measures, to improve the safety and convenience of pedestrians. The ministry plans to consult with related government agencies this month and issue the proposed measures to the public. It will then submit the bill to the National Assembly for approval in September. If passed, it will likely go into effect next year. The bill stipulates that if a driver hits his horn and startles pedestrians, resulting in the latter's injury, the driver will be subject to up to one year in jail or a fine of 2 million won. Those responsible for setting up signboards or storefront signs on the sidewalks could face the same punishment if pedestrians get hurt as a result. The proposed steps came as 36 percent of traffic accident victims

May 5, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo
South Korea

T-money enhances passenger convenience

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff Reporter Introduced in 2004, T-money was a transportation card enabling transfer discounts. More than 30 million cards have been issued so far, and they are used 35 million times a day in Seoul on average. It is one of the most successful transportation pass systems in the world ― effectively applied in the Seoul metropolis. Korea Smart Card, the operator of T-money is seeking further use of the card, breaking the convention of looking at ``T'' as transportation to ``touch'' and ``trust.'' ``T-money is known for its use in public transportation, but we are also popular for micropayments,'' Park Gye-hyun, president and CEO of Korea Smart Card, told The Korea Times. There are some 15,000 T-money readers installed at convenience stores, coffee shops, universities, government offices, movie theaters and even at pay phone booths. ``We want to create an atmosphere where everyone can use the card easily without hesitation,'' Park said. ``The best part of the T-money payment system is that it is fast and convenient.'' The T-money card is useful for `

May 5, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo
South Korea

1 in 5 senior citizens live alone in Seoul

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff reporter The number of senior citizens living alone here has been on the rise over the past years, with one out of every five Koreans aged over 65 living on their own in Seoul in 2009. After an overview of its 25 districts, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said there were 927,560 Seoulites aged over 65 last year, up 26.8 percent from 731,350 in 2005. Of the 927,560 surveyed, 203,100 elderly were found to be living alone in 2009, up 63 percent from 124,900 in 2005. The figure accounts for 22 percent of Seoul's total elderly population. A higher proportion of senior citizens in Seoul live alone, compared to other parts of the country. Statistics Korea estimates that about 18.8 percent of the elderly lived on their own in 2009 across the nation, up from 17.8 percent in 2005. The statistics office attributed the growing senior citizen population living alone to Korea's prolonged life expectancy. Also, more elderly seek an independent life from their grown-up children. According to the Seoul Survey 2009, only 27.9 percent of elderly citizens wante

May 5, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo
South Korea

Students campaign for global etiquette

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff Reporter Koreans have a long way to go before reaching global etiquette norms, prompting a group of students to launch a campaign to be more polite and considerate toward others in their everyday life. "We will make video clips campaigning people to wait until everyone gets off the subway or elevator before entering," Kang Min-ho, sophomore in the Department of International Trade, said during his Global Etiquette Campaign presentation, Tuesday. "We are targeting the younger generation and are taking a chance at UCC (user created content)." Seventy-three students taking professor Min Byoung-chul's Business English course at Konkuk University presented their ideas on how to campaign for global etiquette in preparation for the G-20 summit in November. Min is more widely recognized as an English educator appearing on many television programs. Other examples of behavior targeted were no spitting in public, holding the door for the person entering behind you, not speaking too loud in public and saying "excuse me," "I'm sorry" and "thank you." The eti

May 4, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo
South Korea

Children’s Day full of events

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff Reporter A lot of events for families are being planned by Seoul Metropolitan Government for Children's Day that falls on May 5. The Children's Grand Park eastern Seoul reopening its zoo after renovation is among the most anticipated, as its predator and herbivore sections have been upgraded. The park reopened after renovation last year and has attracted a total of 560,000 visitors since then. It has introduced five new wild animals, including a maned wolf, an African hunting dog and a black-backed jackal. They are additions to the existing lions and tigers on view at the zoo. A large glass wall around their enclosure presents a more realistic experience for children. At Neung-dong Forest Open-air Stage, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra led by maestro Chung Myung-whun will offer a concert with the World Vision Korea Children's Choir from 7 p.m. The concert is free and entry starts at 6 p.m. Seoul Zoo in Gwacheon has scheduled exotic exhibitions featuring African and marine animals. The ``African Festival'' combines an animal display, special nat

May 3, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo
South Korea

Ban on political ads on bus causes stir

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff Reporter Seoul City’s ban on political advertisements on buses is drawing protest from opposition parties that call the prohibition “intervention” in upcoming June-2 mayoral and local elections. Rep. Jong Bum-goo of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) had a press conference Thursday and said they would take legal action against the city’s measures, claiming that the city is attempting to manipulate the election. “Seoul City sent official documents banning policy advertisement on buses to bus companies and ad agencies, Monday,” Jong said. According to the document revealed by the DP, Seoul City excluded advertisements on four guidelines’ advertisements promoting political parties, those with political slogans slandering the government and those promoting the election and candidates. The DP originally planned to put up advertisements criticizing the four-river restoration project and free meal plan at school on some 80 Seoul buses, but was forced to cancel it due to the measure. “Party advertisements on buses were used last April¡&ma

May 2, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo
South Korea

Korail excludes unionists children from scholarship

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff Reporter Korail and its subsidiary railway scholarship foundation have decided to disqualify the children of employees who have been slapped with internal disciplinary action from receiving scholarships, drawing protest from the workers' union. Korea' railway operator said its scholarship foundation held a board of directors' meeting last December and decided children of those who had received disciplinary punishment over the past five years would be ineligible for the scholarship program. There used to be a provision that excluded the children of workers who were reprimanded in the last three years from being eligible for the company scholarship, but it was abolished in April 2009. "We removed the qualification rule last year but decided to reinstate it this year," a scholarship committee official said. The directors of the railway scholarship foundation are mostly executives at the railway operator. Korail Vice President Sim Hyeog-yun serves as the board chairman. The Korea Railway Workers' Union (KRWU) said the children of employees, who pa

Apr 30, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo
South Korea

Twitter user booked for election law violation

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff Reporter A Korean Twitter user was charged with violating the election law, the first time since the nation's election watchdog said last month that it would crack down on unlawful political activities carried out through the poplar online social media. The cyber crime investigation department of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Friday that they booked Kim, 43, nicknamed "doa" on Twitter, without physical detention for conducting an illegal poll and making the result public. This is the first time for the police to charge a Tweeter for violating election law. Twitter is a social network service using short messages under 140 characters and the National Election Commission (NEC) introduced the same guidelines for the service as emails. According to the police, Kim conducted a survey on support for parties and a Gyeonggi Province Governor candidate from Jan. 19 to March 26 through Twitter and Twitpol, a Twitter-related online poll site. He also made the survey results public, breaking the Election Law. The law stipulates that poll tak

Apr 30, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo
South Korea

Tearful Tribute Across Nation

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff Reporter From Baengnyeong Island to Seoul and Jeju, people paid their last, tearful tribute to the 46 sailors who lost their lives in the sinking of the warship Cheonan. At 10 a.m. Thursday, a siren sounded across the nation as mourners visited memorial altars set up in Seoul Plaza and across the country to observe a moment of silence for the victims. More than 40,000 people have visited the memorial alter in the plaza as of late Thursday. Though the funeral ceremony was held in the morning the downtown altar remained open until the evening. Gang Jung-sik, 65, came to the altar with his five-year-old granddaughter. "The sailors of the Cheonan frigate made a noble sacrifice for their country. I thought it would be good to have my granddaughter participate in a moment in history. I'll tell her more about the sunken Cheonan when she is older," he said. Gang also mentioned the Coastguard which bravely saved the 58 sailors. "They are the real heroes, rescuing 58 of them out on the dark sea. They are worth being promoted by one rank," he said. Ente

Apr 29, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo
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