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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

Seoul city to bring local musicians to residents

B-boy team Jinjo Crew / Korea Times fileBy Kim Se-jeong With social distancing due to the COVVID-19 pandemic making it difficult to enjoy live music, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced a plan Wednesday to bring performers to residential or other areas where people can gather safely.According to city officials, residents can file concert requests via culture.seoul.go.kr with the name of the groups they want to see and the city will try to arrange a concert.Not all groups will be available though.“We would not be able to bring BTS to residents, for example. But, we have a pool of musicians that the city works closely with and we're hoping to connect them with the residents,” one official said, adding the local government has a list of almost 1,200 musicians and artists.Two concerts have already been scheduled, one at Seonam Hospital in Yangcheon-gu and the other at Seoul Narae School in Seocho District where local classical musicians and a b-boy dance team will perform, respectively. In addition, the city is preparing to stage concerts on moving trucks. “The

Aug 5, 2020By Kim Se-jeong
Seoul city to bring local musicians to residents
Law & Crime

Top prosecutor scrambling to tighten grip on office

Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl addresses new prosecutors during a welcoming ceremony at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seoul, Monday./ Yonhap By Kim Se-jeong Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl broke a long silence Monday, with a message that many viewed as an expression of his intention to tighten his grip on the nearly 2,300 prosecutors who have seen their standing increasingly falter amid the ongoing prosecutorial reform drive backed by the Moon Jae-in administration.“The core value of liberal democracy is to shun dictatorships and totalitarianism in the appearance of democracy… Liberal democracy can be realized only through the rule of law,” Yoon said at an event to welcome new prosecutors, Monday. “Prosecutors should not turn away from corruption cases and graft involving people with power. Instead, you have to face them.”Earlier that day, Choo addressed to the same crowd insisting prosecutors should stop abusing their powers. “The prosecution office was b

Aug 4, 2020By Kim Se-jeong
Top prosecutor scrambling to tighten grip on office
Society

New housing laws at center of criticism

A group of landlords protest the revision of the housing lease laws on Yeouido in Seoul, Saturday, one day after the new law went into effect./ YonhapLaw students ask court constitutionality of revised lawBy Kim Se-jeong The revised housing lease laws which went into effect on Friday are drawing huge criticism from both landlords and tenants. On Saturday, a group of law school students asked the Constitutional Court to review the constitutionality of the revision. “The move is expected to create a shortage of jeonse flats in the housing market, which will mean a higher prices of jeonse properties in general,” the group said. “That will infringe rights to equality. It's unfair that citizens should pay the price for the government's failed policy. We see the move as unconstitutional and we view the court will agree with us.” Two main pillars of the new laws are to prevent landlords from evicting tenants after two years by granting tenants the rights to stay on for another two years and to keep jeonse increases below 5 percent of the amount written on the leasing

Aug 2, 2020By Kim Se-jeong
New housing laws at center of criticism
  • S. Korea launches tax probe targeting foreigners who own multiple homes
  • Senior presidential aides offer to resign
Politics

Warming climate puts Korea under insect invasions

Stick insects on a bench on a mountain in western Seoul/ Courtesy of SBSBy Kim Se-jeong Korea is experiencing an insect population boom, which is in part an effect of climate change, environment experts said Wednesday.A mountain area in Eunpyeong District, western Seoul, has been hit with hordes of stick insects; a species found in abundance in tropical and subtropical climates. The huge number of green and brown insects can be seen over the entire mountain area.While local volunteers and officials from the local government have come together to solve the problem, news of the growing number of insects has concerned many local hikers who are “bug phobic.” Insect researcher Kim Tae-woo from the National Institute of Biological Resources said stick insects were not seen here until the 1990s. In 2014, a similar infestation was reported in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province but this is the first case in Seoul. However, the gypsy moth problem seems bigger.The Gangwon and North Chungcheong provinces, and Seoul are currently experiencing a massive number of gypsy moths whose eggs and larv

Jul 29, 2020By Kim Se-jeong
Warming climate puts Korea under insect invasions
  • Global climate change: time is running out
  • Warm waters, moving fish, typhoons: spotting climate change in Korea
  • More 'Korean bananas' to be harvested this year amid climate change
Health

Calls mounting for toughening entry rules for foreigners

New arrivals approach quarantine officials in Incheon International Airport, Tuesday./ YonhapBy Kim Se-jeong The government is facing growing calls to toughen its entry rules for non-citizens in order to protect the country from COVID-19 infections being “imported” from overseas.The calls stem from a steadily increase in the number of people testing positive for the coronavirus ― double-digit daily counts for more than a month ― coming here from other countries. Also, the government is finding more foreign nationals who are violating quarantine rules. On Tuesday, the police said they were searching for three Vietnamese nationals who had escaped a designated facility during self-quarantine. “We believe they did it using an emergency escape rope,” said Yoon Tae-ho, a high-ranking official with the quarantine authorities, adding the government is considering dispatching more police officers and military personnel to the facility, and adding more surveillance cameras.The three arrived in Korea on tourist visas but had employment contracts with a local shipping com

Jul 28, 2020By Kim Se-jeong
Calls mounting for toughening entry rules for foreigners
  • S. Korea reports 28 new more cases of coronavirus infection
  • Moderna, Pfizer start decisive COVID-19 vaccine trials, eye year-end launches
  • Up to $40 a shot? Price negotiation for COVID-19 vaccine kicks off
Politics

Long way to go for Yongsan Park

Black Hawk Village, a residential compound for U.S. military officers at the southeastern tip of Yongsan Garrison, will be open to the public from Aug. 1. /YonhapFuture of national park hinges on Korea-US negotiations on soil contamination: expertsBy Kim Se-jeongMany are wondering how long it will take for Yongsan Park, which will become Korea's largest urban park, to be completed as negotiations on the return of U.S. military bases to the government have been moving at a snail's pace.When completed, the envisioned park on a site roughly 3 square kilometers is expected to cover an area equivalent to 340 football fields combined.The future of the proposed urban park to be built on land previously occupied by the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) is gaining attention, after a joint panel of government and civilian experts unveiled a revised plan July 21 to expand the size of the park.The idea of building Yongsan Park dates back to 2005 when the USFK agreed to relocate the base to Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, and to return the Seoul site back to Korea. Almost 15 years on, very little seemed to

Jul 28, 2020By Kim Se-jeong
Long way to go for Yongsan Park
Health

Infection clusters grow amid eased quarantine rules

Korean evacuees from Iraq arrive at Incheon International Airport, Friday. Those who tested negative for COVID-19 will spend the next two weeks in self-quarantine. / Korea Times Photo by Shim Hyun-chulDaily COVID-19 cases likely to exceed 100 today: authoritiesBy Kim Se-jeong There are increasing concerns about the resurgence of COVID-19 here as a growing number of infection clusters involving fishing boats and churches have been reported amid the government's move to ease quarantine rules and social distancing. Thirty-two sailors on a Russia-flagged fishing vessel in Busan tested positive for the coronavirus, the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said Friday, marking the second such outbreak on a vessel docking in Korea.Later that day, a quarantine team confirmed five additional cases involving Korean engineers who had worked on the ship after it arrived, July 8. Ninety-four sailors were aboard the 7,733-ton vessel. Sixty-two have tested negative for the virus, but the number of associated cases is expected to rise because the crewmembers had interactions with l

Jul 24, 2020By Kim Se-jeong
Infection clusters grow amid eased quarantine rules
  • S. Korea reports 41 new coronavirus infections
  • 32 Russian sailors test positive for virus, total cases swell to 78
  • Two military planes return with some 290 people from coronavirus-hit Iraq
Politics

Key rule in public health crisis: communication

A healthcare worker takes a specimen from a passenger at a drive-thru COVID-19 testing facility at Kyungpook National University Chilgok Hospital compound in Daegu, Feb. 27. /Korea Times file This is the fourth in a five-part series on Korea's response to COVID-19, produced in collaboration with the Korea Foundation _ ED. By Kim Se-jeong Late in the night of Feb. 18, directors of big hospitals in Daegu including the Kyungpook National University, Keimyung University Daegu Dongsan were all active in a Kakao group chat with the city's mayor and other officials. Earlier in the day, the city's first COVID-19 case had been confirmed, followed by 10 additional cases through the night. Medical doctors, including Min Pok-kee, a dermatologist and the vice president of Daegu Medical Association, stressed the priority would be getting enough beds and shared ideas. The next morning, Min called Cho Chi-heu

Jul 22, 2020By Kim Se-jeong
Key rule in public health crisis: communication
Law & Crime

Ex-mayor's accuser rejects investigation by city gov't

Kim Jae-ryun, a lawyer representing a government employee who was allegedly harassed by former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon when she was his secretary, speaks during a press conference in Seoul, Wednesday./ Yonhap By Kim Se-jeongA lawyer representing a former secretary of the late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, who filed a sexual harassment complaint against him with police, rejected taking part in the Seoul Metropolitan Government's planned investigation into the allegations, Wednesday, instead asking the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) to look into the case.“It is inappropriate for the city to investigate the case. Instead it should be held accountable for its failures,” Kim Jae-ryun said at a press conference in Seoul, the second press such following one July 13. “The victim reached out to almost 20 officials in the government for help over more than four years. But, the system within the administration made her stay silent,” added Lee Mi-kyoung, direc

Jul 22, 2020By Kim Se-jeong
Ex-mayor's accuser rejects investigation by city gov't
Health

Gov't designates Aug. 17 one-off holiday

President Moon Jae-in talks during a cabinet meeting in Seoul, Tuesday./ YonhapBy Kim Se-jeongThe government decided Tuesday to designate Aug. 17 a one-off holiday in an attempt to encourage citizens to travel and spend more, while granting healthcare workers time to rest amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. The decision was made during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning, to make a three-day weekend starting from Aug. 15, Liberation Day, which falls on a Saturday this year. Tuesday's decision followed up Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun's proposal made on Sunday. “I hope this could bring comfort to citizens who are tired of the lingering pandemic,” President Moon Jae-in said during the meeting.The government is also hoping to see a boost in consumer spending which nosedived since the outbreak started. On Monday, Hyundai Research Institute projected the extra holiday will increase production by 4.2 trillion won and create 36,000 jobs. Some welcomed the move but others express concern that it may push up virus cases as seen in early May. On Monday, Korea reported 45 new cas

Jul 21, 2020By Kim Se-jeong
Gov't designates Aug. 17 one-off holiday
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