The Korea Times

IOC leaders praise PyeongChang's progress

Gunilla Lindberg, center, member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board and chairwoman of the PyeongChang Coordination Commission, listens during a news conference in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, joined by IOC executive director Gilbert Felli, left, and Kim Jin-sun, head of the organizing committee for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games. The IOC members were at PyeongChang for a meeting of the Olympic body’s coordination commission, evaluating the preparation for the 2018 Games. / YonhapBy Jung Min-hoPYEONGCHANG – The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Coordination Commission for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games on Wednesday praised the organizing committee’s progress and preparation efforts after completing a second two-day inspection.“We’ve once again seen good progress from PyeongChang 2018 and excellent team effort from the organizing committee, at all levels of governments and the Korean Olympic Committee,” IOC Executive Board Member Gunilla Lindberg said at a press conference.“Deli

Jun 19, 2013By Jung Min-ho

Films

Movie tells of biracial kid here

By Jung Min-ho Jacobi HollingshedKorea has long presented itself as an ethnically homogenous society. It was only a few years ago when school textbooks removed phrases that taught students to take pride in being part of a nation of “homogenous people.”According to Jacobi Hollingshed, a co-director of an upcoming movie project called “KIN,” dismissing the “pride” from people’s minds should be Korea’s next multiculturalism goal, and that is what he is trying to achieve through the film.“We wanted to portray the message of the inherent human-likeness,” Hollingshed said in an interview. “What separate us are our races, backgrounds and cultures. But, ultimately we are all human-beings. That should be what connects us.”“KIN” tells the story of 21-year-old Afro-Korean-American Jake, who struggles with his identity and relationship with his Korean father, even after living in Korea for five years.The title, which means relatives, also has a meaning that expresses disregard and indifference when it is wri

Jun 18, 2013By Jung Min-ho

Sports

20th century baseball farce

Cho Jong-kyu, the Korea Baseball Organization’s umpire-in-chief, apologizes to the Nexen Heroes manager Yeom Kyung-yup, after an umpire’s incorrect call hurt the Heroes in a critical loss on Saturday against the LG Twins, at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, Sunday. There are growing calls to expand instant video review by umpires to minimize wrong decisions. / YonhapUmpire’s bad call stirs up debate over whether KBO needs video review By Jung Min-hoThere are growing calls in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) to expand instant video review by umpires after one wrong decision turned Saturday’s critical rival match between the Nexen Heroes and the LG Twins into a farce.At Seoul’s Jamsil Stadium, the first and second runners-up ran a 0-0 neck-and-neck race until the bottom of the fifth inning. With the bases loaded, when the Heroes’ Seo Geon-chang caught the ball on the second base apparently before Oh Ji-hwan arrived, umpire Park Geun-young gave an obviously incorrect “safe” call to leave 23,812 fans there dumbfounded.Cameras repeatedly s

Jun 17, 2013By Jung Min-ho

Sports

Son headed to Leverkusen

Son Heung-min celebrates after Korea won the World Cup qualifier against Uzbekistan 1-0 at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, Tuesday. The 20-year-old Hamburg forward is on the verge of signing with Bayer Leverkusen. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulBy Jung Min-hoHamburg forward Son Heung-min is set to sign with Bayer Leverkusen, where legendary striker Cha Bum-kun still remains an idol to many fans after scoring 52 goals in 185 games before retiring 20 years ago.Hamburg's new director of sport Oliver Kreuzer revealed that Son is close to agreeing on terms with Leverkusen.“We think the transfer will go through in the next few days,” Kreuzer told Sky Deutschland.“I expect Son to join Leverkusen.”Since he arrived at the Bundesliga club at the age of 16, Son’s talent has been manifest with him scoring 20 goals in 78 appearances. His combination of pace, skills, vision and finishing ability has made him the most highly touted football prospect since English Premiership veteran Park Ji-sung.His 12 goals and two assists in 33 matches last season sparked a b

Jun 12, 2013By Jung Min-ho

Sports

Korea scrape through on Uzbek's own goal

 Korean players celebrate after Uzbekistan defender Akmal Shorakhmedov's own goal in the first half of their World Cup qualifier at the Sangam World Cup Stadium in Seoul, Tuesday. Korea won 1-0./ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulBy Jung Min-hoUzbekistan defender Akmal Shorakhmedov’s own goal just before the end of the first half gave Korea three points in a critical match in its World Cup qualifying campaign at the Sangam World Cup Stadium in Seoul, Tuesday.With the win, the Taeguk Warriors cemented their position at the top of Group A with 14 points, leaving Uzbekistan further adrift in second place with 11.Barring a loss by a jaw-dropping-goal margin in the game against Iran on June 18, Korea will likely compete at the world’s biggest football competition in Brazil next year, as the top two teams of each group will earn an automatic berth. If Iran loses to Lebanon, Korea will automatically advance to the World Cup regardless of the result of its last qualifier.Newly added Son Heung-min was obviously the biggest threat to Uzbekistan. Along with two other jet-foote

Jun 11, 2013By Jung Min-ho

Korea scrape through on Uzbek's own goal

Sports

Seo's redemption

Seo Doo-wonFrom school bully to combat sports iconBy Jung Min-hoA defiant high school boy thought he had nothing to lose; so he had no fear. His teenage years were tainted by numerous fights and two expulsions from school.Veteran Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter Seo Doo-won, now 31, said he had no dreams until he found one in the ring in his mid-20s.“Then I realized that I actually had everything to lose,” Seo said in an interview with The Korea Times.Nowadays he is busy telling high school students violence and bullying will cost not just their school memories ― it could destroy their future.“The further you go away from the right path, the harder it becomes for you to come back to where you were,” Seo said.“For example, when I decided to become an MMA athlete, I had to quit smoking, which I had indulged in since the first year of middle school. It was painful. I’m not just talking about cigarettes. The pain for my return could have been much worse.”Last month, Seo was appointed as an honorary ambassador of school violence prevention by

Jun 5, 2013By Jung Min-ho

People & Events

'Thoughtful approach needed on prior learning bans'

Choi Jin-kiBy Jung Min-hoA bill to ban private institutes from teaching subjects that are not yet on school curricula was submitted to the National Assembly April 16. It was authored by lawmakers of the governing Saenuri Party, following up on President Park Geun-hye’s audacious pledge to abate Korea’s internationally-known private education fervor, which continues to eat into the finances of families.Choi Jin-ki, an economics pundit and one of the country’s famous college exam experts, agreed that widespread attendance at cram schools, called ``hagwon,’’ is the root of many problems. But the real question, he says, lies in how to separate it from special education for the gifted."It is clearly the worst way to teach students,’’ Choi said in an interview with The Korea Times. "Students do not have an option but to study everything in advance because everyone does it, feeling they will end up lagging behind if they don’t follow the trend. It is a game that no one can stop first.’’From a short-sighted view, studying at hagwon

Jun 4, 2013By Jung Min-ho

'Thoughtful approach needed on prior learning bans'

Sports

Time to say adios

We have already seen best of Park Chu-young By Jung Min-hoCelta Vigo might survive relegation from La Liga in Spain. As for Park Chu-young, who could be the club’s worst investment in years, his career in the league looks all but over and his chances of remaining in top-flight European football are very slim.The 28-year-old forward has achieved only four goals and one assist in 26 games this season, not the sort of record Celta Vigo expected from its most expensive player. Park didn’t even manage to get off the bench in the past five games. In the club’s most recent game against Real Valladolid Monday, manager Abel Resino did not even want him on the bench. It’s anyone’s guess where Park watched his team defeat Real Valladolid 2-0, if he did watch at all.The win pulled Celta Vigo to a tie with Real Zaragoza in the league with standings of 34 points apiece and shoved 33-point Mallorca to the bottom of the table. If the team wins against Espanyol and Deportivo, currently one point above the relegation zone, loses to Real Sociedad, Celta Vigo gets to s

May 30, 2013By Jung Min-ho

South Korea

'I am Korean, too'

9-year-old Zambian mother talks about school bullyingThis is the third part in a year-long series, “Multiculturalism: The Great Experiment.” ㅡ ED.Kim Ye-ryu, a nine-year-old Kumchon Elementary School student who was born to a Zambian mother and a Korean father, plays a recorder at his house in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Monday. Discrimination issues against multiethnic children have come to the fore as the number of such children has reached nearly 170,000. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulBy Jung Min-hoKim Ye-ryu attends Kumchon Elementary School in Paju, northwest of Seoul. The fourth grader, born to a Zambian mother and a Korean father, was called “monkey” on his first day in school and his hair was ridiculed as “a scouring pad.”Although he speaks Korean fluently and prefers K-pop star Lee Seung-gi to Justin Timberlake, Kim is often asked, “Where are you from?” or “Are you familiar with kimchi?”The nine-year-old was dismissed as “poor, troublesome and stupid” until he proved himself otherwise. Even his te

May 15, 2013By Jung Min-ho

Lifestyle

Discrimination in beauty

Models Choi Yu-jeong, above, and Lee Ji-hoo, below, pose next to automobiles during the 2013 Seoul Motor Show which was held from March 29 through April 7. “Racing models” are still looked at with prejudice and treated differently from fashion models, although a growing number of the latter are taking on the job.                                        / Courtesy of Wise Entertainment‘Racing girls’ modeling for cars seen with prejudiceBy Jung Min-hoFashion models pose in front of cameras to display clothing. The beautiful women at motor shows, called "racing models” here in a clumsy spin of English, do the same for automobiles.But expect different treatment if it’s cars that you represent. Fashion models are constantly put on a pedestal and the most high-profile of them often are respected as artistic and creative minds. Models posing beside the wheels, on the other hand, will be called ``booth babes,’’ ``bimbos’&rsquo

May 5, 2013By Jung Min-ho

Jung Min-ho

Read more

IOC leaders praise PyeongChang's progress

Movie tells of biracial kid here

20th century baseball farce

Son headed to Leverkusen

Korea scrape through on Uzbek's own goal

Seo's redemption

'Thoughtful approach needed on prior learning bans'

Time to say adios

'I am Korean, too'

Discrimination in beauty

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