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Kim Se-jeong

Korea Times K-Culture Reporter

I am covering trend, food and fashion. Previously, I covered diplomacy, city, environment and unification.

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Society

Garbage collector mistakes sex doll for corpse

This combination of photo shows sex doll and a street cleaner. /Yonhap, Korea Times fileBy Kim Se-jeongWhile the increasing imports of sex dolls serve to comfort lonely men in Korea, they're also frightening some men, particularly garbage collectors. According to the Kookmin Ilbo, a Korean-language daily newspaper, a garbage collector recalled his frightening encounter with a sex doll at work.“I saw a bit of hair in the trash pile and pulled at it assuming it to be a wig,” the newspaper quoted him as saying in an online post. “What I got was a beheaded woman. Can you imagine how much that frightened me at first (assuming it was a real dead body)?”He went on to say that instead of throwing away the doll as a whole, “the owner dismembered the doll and wrapped the parts separately. The head wasn't wrapped tight enough. When I saw the decapitated head, my heart stopped. My hands are still shivering. Those wishing to buy sex dolls, please think also about how to properly dispose of them.”It's not the first such incident, according to the newspaper. A ma

Feb 1, 2023By Kim Se-jeong
Garbage collector mistakes sex doll for corpse
Society

Popular travel YouTuber recalls painful memories of being bullied at school

Kwak Joon-bin talks about his experiences being bullied on "You Quiz On The Block." Screencaptured from tvNBy Kim Se-jeongAs the hit Netflix series “The Glory” brings the issue of school bullying back into the spotlight, a famous travel YouTuber recently came forward to share his experiences of being bullied when he was in school.Kwak Joon-bin, 30, is a travel YouTuber with more than 1.31 million subscribers who goes by the name KwakTube. He shared his experiences with bullying on the popular tvN talk show “You Quiz On The Block.” Kwak said that he was always skinny as a child and that his peers never respected him. “We were in the same classroom but I always felt inferior.”He was forced to buy snacks for his peers with his own money and often made to give up his physical education kit so that he could not take part in physical activities. “Once the bullies stabbed me in my back with a math drawing compass and laughed a lot at my suffering. I still remember their laughing faces.” His parents never knew what their son was going through u

Jan 31, 2023By Kim Se-jeong
Popular travel YouTuber recalls painful memories of being bullied at school
Foreign Affairs

Remembering Homer Hulbert

Hulbert Memorial Society Chairman Kim Dong-jin, second from right, pays tribute to Homer Hulbert (1863-1949), an American missionary and educator who supported Korea's independence from Japan, during an event to commemorate the 73th anniversary of his death, Seoul, Wednesday. Hulbert first came to the Korean Peninsula in 1886 and died in 1949 in Seoul. He is buried at Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery in western Seoul. From left are Association of Independence Patriot's Descendants Chairman Samuel Kim, Bishop Lee Kwang-ho of the Korean Methodist Church's Seoul chapter, Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Seoul Regional Office Director General Lee Seung-woo, Kim and Korean Language and Culture Institute Chairman Lee Dae-ro. Courtesy of Hulbert Memorial Society

Aug 31, 2022By Kim Se-jeong
Remembering Homer Hulbert
Global Community

Remembering Homer Hulbert

Kim Dong-jin, left, chairman of the Hulbert Memorial Society, shows a new book full of writings by Homer Hulbert, an American educator who supported Korea's independence from Japan, during an event in Seoul, Tuesday, to commemorate the 72th anniversary of his death. Hulbert first came to the Korean Peninsula in 1886 and died in 1949 in Seoul. He was buried at Yanghwajin Foreign Missionary Cemetery. The book, titled “Korea As Seen From The Saddle,” is a collection of Hulbert's essays about his 1890 trip to Pyongyang, which have been translated into Korean recently. Next to Kim are Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Seoul Regional Office Director General Lee Seong-choon, Mapo District head Yoo Dong-gyun and the Association of Independence Patriot's Descendants Chairman Kim Sam-yeol. Courtesy of Hulbert Memorial Society

Aug 31, 2021By Kim Se-jeong
Remembering Homer Hulbert
Global Community

Hulbert Society discloses NY Times articles on 1905 Eulsa Treaty

By Kim Se-jeongKim Dong-jin, chairman of Hulbert Memorial SocietyOn Nov. 17, 1905, the Japan-Korea Protectorate Treaty, also known as Eulsa Treaty, was made between the Japanese Empire and the Korean Empire. As is known, the treaty which enabled Japan's annexation was forced on the Korean Empire “at the point of the sword” and Emperor Gojong along with others, fought unsuccessfully to nullify it.Homer Hulbert (1863-1949), an American teacher in Korea and a close acquaintance of Gojong, resisted along with the Emperor, who had declared himself Emperor Gwangmu in 1897 with the foundation of the short-lived Korean Empire. Hulbert was on a secret mission to deliver the Emperor's letter of protest to then U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt who refused to meet with him.During his stay in Washington, D.C., though, Hulbert had an interview with the New York Times in which he criticized the U.S. government for turning a blind eye on the Korean Empire and appealing to the American public to shore up support for Korea.In remembrance of the treaty's 115th anniversary this year, Kim Do

Nov 16, 2020By Kim Se-jeong
Hulbert Society discloses NY Times articles on 1905 Eulsa Treaty
Health

COVID-19 fears lingering

A restaurant in Seoul has anti-COVID-19 guidelines posted on its door, Sunday. / YonhapNew virus cases rebound to over 100 againBy Kim Se-jeongOn the second day of a new social distancing scheme in place, Korea's daily COVID-19 cases bounced back to over 100, rekindling fears of another wave of infections. According to Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Korea reported 143 new COVID-19 cases, Saturday, pushing up the total number of cases to 27,427. The death toll was 478. Saturday's total was a big jump from the previous day's 89, and a return to the triple-digit increases after two days with double-digit increases. Quarantine authorities voiced concerns over the fact that the 143 were reported when the number of virus tests is lower than usual ― testing centers close early during weekends.The authorities also said if the total number stays above 100 for several days, they will consider imposing the Level 1.5 social distancing scheme. Currently, the entire country, except for Cheonan and Asan in South Chungcheong Province, is under Level 1, which means businesses can

Nov 8, 2020By Kim Se-jeong
COVID-19 fears lingering
Politics

Korea sees rising hatred against women

Women commemorate a woman killed by a man in a hate crime near Gangnam Station in Seoul in 2016. Korea Times fileBy Kim Se-jeong On Oct. 21, a young woman sent a tweet warning women they could be randomly spread with something near Gangnam Station in Seoul. “A group of men are gathering in the street behind CGV near Gangnam Station and they're spraying an unidentified substance on young women who are walking alone. Please be careful and retweet this.” The tweet was retweeted more than 1,000 times, with replies like “It's certainly tough to be a woman.”According to the police which looked into the case, the group of men were salespersons engaging in a marketing event on the street and the tweet misinterpreted the situation.Although it turned out not to be anything nefarious, the incident revealed women's constant fear of attack amid prevalent misogyny in Korean society. There are plenty of examples of hate crimes against women in Korea. One of the most remembered examples happened near Gangnam Station in 2016.On May 17, 2016, a 23-year-old woman was murdered in

Nov 8, 2020By Kim Se-jeong
Korea sees rising hatred against women
Law & Crime

Census questions raise eyebrows over privacy

A census interviewer asks questions in this file photo from 2010. Yonhap By Kim Se-jeongPeople are raising concerns over questions in the ongoing 2020 Korea census, which many see as a violation of their privacy, as the government tries to gather as much personal information as possible. The census is conducted every five years and about 20 percent of the population is randomly selected for face-to-face interviews ― this year allows an online survey because of COVID-19 ― on their finances, employment and other topics.“I expected to be asked about basic things, but the questions ranged from my academic background to wealth and my social activities, which can possibly reveal my political views,” one person wrote in a mothers' group on Naver.Speaking with a local newspaper, a 29-year-old woman in Seoul said she had also been put off by the types of questions asked. “The interviewer asked if I am planning to get pregnant, if I own my own home, how many rooms I have in m

Nov 5, 2020By Kim Se-jeong
Census questions raise eyebrows over privacy
Health

Police investigate after infant found dead in Seoul

Police are looking for the mother of an infant found dead Tuesday near a 'baby box' in Gwanak District, Seoul. /Korea Times fileBy Kim Se-jeongPolice in Seoul said Wednesday that they were looking for the mother of an infant who was found dead Tuesday morning near a “baby box” facility in Gwanak District where people leave unwanted babies.The baby box is run by a Christian pastor and his family. According to police, the infant was found around 5:30 a.m. on a steel drum across from the baby box. The baby was wrapped in a pink towel, with its umbilical cord and placenta still attached. A nearby surveillance camera caught the woman arriving at the site at 10:10 p.m. Monday and leaving the infant on the steel drum. The police said they are currently operating under the assumption the woman is the mother. Officers believe the infant was alive initially but froze to death during the night.“She may not have left the baby in the cold intentionally. It might have been a mistake. But still we need to find the woman, who could be the mother, captured in the CCTV footage and qu

Nov 4, 2020By Kim Se-jeong
Police investigate after infant found dead in Seoul
Companies

Suspended airmail service amid pandemic draws consumer complaints

Korea Post staff sort out airmail packages at a local post office in Seoul in this 2007 photo. Korea Times photoBy Kim Se-jeongKorea Post's suspension of its standard airmail services due to the COVID-19 pandemic has been drawing complaints from an increasing number of consumers who have to pay more to send mails or parcels abroad.In April, Brother Anthony, the president of Royal Asiatic Society Korea, had to pay 33,000 won to send a small book to a friend in England. Before the coronavirus outbreak, it cost him only about 6,000 won. The only explanation he had heard from the post office he use was: “Because no planes are leaving Korea because of the virus.” Six months afterwards, the situation hasn't changed much. “For London, there are three direct flights leaving every day. But the clerk still repeats, 'because no planes were leaving Korea because of the virus,” he told The Korea Times. In March when countries closed their borders to prevent the spread of the virus, Korea Post halted standard airmail services without any explanation; but its expensive EMS d

Nov 3, 2020By Kim Se-jeong
Suspended airmail service amid pandemic draws consumer complaints
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