Korea Times K-Culture Reporter
I am covering trend, food and fashion. Previously, I covered diplomacy, city, environment and unification.
Korean Red Cross employees organize mask boxes donated by Jack Ma, CEO of Alibaba Group, a Chinese multinational technology company, at the Hanjin warehouse in Incheon. Ma donated 1 million masks to Korea./ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Volunteers look at a stitched mask in the Nowon District building in Seoul, where they gathered to make masks, Wednesday. /Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulBy Kim Se-jeong More than 30 volunteers from Nowon District in Seoul kicked off a mask project in the district office building Wednesday morning to donate to needy people amid the coronavirus outbreak.Those who knew how to operate a sewing machine began stitching, while others cut pieces of cotton, added pieces of elastic or ironed the masks. The completed masks were taken away by district officials for distribution. “Healthy people can get masks without a problem, but old people and the sick can't go out to get masks. We wanted to do something for them,” district chief Oh Seung-rok said describing their motivation. Originally, the district office thought they would have 100 volunteers. “But the project went bigger because more than 300 people offered to help. I was totally surprised,” the district mayor said. “So we had to set up additional working stations at other locations in the district.&rdquo
The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced plans to offer financial support to building owners wishing to incorporate building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) systems into their facades this year. The city already has BIPV system incorporated buildings thanks to recent construction rules that require all buildings occupying more than 1,000 square meters of total ground area to generate renewable energy. Above is Four Points by Sheraton Seoul, Gangnam. /Courtesy of ALU EnCBy Kim Se-jeongThe city offers subsidies for Building Integrated Photovoltaic.Solar energy evokes for many an image of solar panels covering up an empty, vast area of land. Solar panels, professionally called photovoltaics, concentrate light and convert that light into electric currents. Thousands of panels are laid tilted, instead of flat, toward the sun to maximize the amount of rays reaching the panels. Another popular method, such as the Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV), is used in building construction.BIPV's photovoltaic modules are incorporated into the construction of new buildings, usually in the fac
People outside Korea Building, where group transmissions were reported on Monday, in Guro District, Seoul, line up to have the coronavirus test, Tuesday./ YonhapBy Kim Se-jeongAn insurance company call center in southwestern Seoul is now a hotbed for COVID-19 infections in the Seoul metropolitan area, with 64 employees, their family members and acquaintances confirmed to have contracted the virus.According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, this was the largest case of group transmission in the city and the number of cases is expected to rise.Of 64, it's unclear how many are employees of Metanet Mplanform call center in Guro District, outsourced by Ace Insurance. The company's Korea Building has been closed and quarantine officials are conducting tests on everyone who visited it. ACE Insurance is part of the Chubb global insurance group. The quarantine authorities are tracking down the itinerary of the first confirmed infected employee, a woman in her 50s living in Nowon District, who has not visited China or Daegu and is not a member of the Shincheonji Church. The confi
Chinese students leave the building where they were quarantined for the last two weeks at Danguk University's campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday./ YonhapBy Kim Se-jeong The number of new coronavirus cases declined for the fourth straight day, Monday, with the daily total only rising by 131, according to government officials, Tuesday.The total number of COVID-19 patients in Korea on Monday was 7,513, with 60 fatalities. During a daily press conference, an official from the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced the COVID-19 spread has entered a “stagnation” phase.“Given that the number of confirmed cases is decreasing every day, it can be said that the virus spread has stagnated. This only means that there are fewer new cases. There are still 100 new cases and quarantine authorities will discover more. It's still far from saying we're safe,” said the official, Yoon Tae-ho. The last time the daily tally of new cases was lower than 200 was Feb. 25.The ministry official also warned of the possibility of group transmission. “We still see reports o
By Kim Se-jeongNorwegian Ambassador Frode SolbergWomen in Norway comprise an average of 45.2 percent of the board members of all listed companies in the country.This is thanks to Ansgar Gabrielsen, a former trade minister and politician, who introduced the female board member quota system in 2005.“He was absolutely convinced that the quota system to increase the number of women on boards was necessary. Since it was passed, there's a rule that all listed companies in Norway must have 40 percent gender equality. The number before (2005) was 15 percent, now we're up to 42.5 percent of women on boards,” Norwegian Ambassador to Korea Frode Solberg said during an interview Wednesday prior to the International Women's Day on March. 8. “By changing the legislation, we were able to change minds, hearts and culture,” the ambassador said. “So nowadays, it would be impossible for a company in Norway to have an all-male board. It wouldn't be natural.”The female board member quota system is one of many measures that made Norway an example of gender equality. In
People line up to buy masks at a pharmacy in Jongno District, Seoul, Friday. /YonhapBy Kim Se-jeongOn Friday morning, people outside a pharmacy in Mapo District, Seoul, had their identity cards ready as they waited in line to buy masks. The use of identity cards for the purchase of masks is part of the government's new restrictions. According to the government, on Fridays, only people who were born on a year ending in a zero or five can buy masks. Mondays are for those whose birth year ends with the number one or six; Tuesday for those with a two or seven; Wednesday for people with a three or eight; and Thursday with a four or nine. On weekends, anyone who did not purchase masks during the week may buy them.The new system is the latest measure taken by the government in an attempt to ensure the fair distribution of limited masks. A skyrocketing number of COVID-19 cases and the resulting public alarm led to a shortage of masks nationally, and the government is now intervening in production and distribution.People in cities can buy them at pharmacies, while those who live in Daegu, Che
Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae attends a cabinet meeting in Seoul, Thursday. She ordered the prosecution to issue a search warrant for the Shincheonji Church of Jesus. / YonhapBy Kim Se-jeongJustice Minister Choo Mi-ae and chief prosecutor Yoon Seok-youl are at odds over an investigation into the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, which is viewed as the “culprit” for the exponential increase of coronavirus cases in Korea.While Minister Choo is pushing Yoon to request a search warrant for the sect's offices, Yoon is taking his time. On Wednesday, the Daegu District Prosecution's Office refused to ask a court for a search warrant filed for by the local police, for the second time following a similar filing Monday. Last month, the Daegu Metropolitan Government filed a criminal investigation request against the sect. “It's yet unclear whether the sect deliberately didn't submit a full list of its members. We need more time to decide if a search is really necessary,” the prosecution was quoted as to why it didn't request the warrant.On Monday, Choo ordered the prosecution t
Incheon City Government officials organize boxes of masks donated by the Chinese city of Weihai in eastern Shandong Province, Wednesday/ Courtesy of Incheon Metropolitan CityBy Kim Se-jeongMany Koreans are reacting cynically to a series of face mask donations from China, blaming the Moon Jae-in administration for allowing a situation to develop where the country now needs to receive help from the very place the coronavirus originated. Korea has been grappling with a mask shortage as the number of infections has soared over the past two weeks.In early February, the government donated masks to China to help it fight the coronavirus outbreak, but Korea now needs masks more than China does.“China thinks I would feel thankful? Quite the contrary! If the Korean government blocked the Chinese at the airport when the outbreak was still new, we would not need this help,” a Naver user with the ID g3x3**** wrote. “Still, it's not too late. The government should consider shutting down the border against the Chinese.”Others raised an issue with the quality of the donated p
Members of the Capital Defense Command spray disinfectant from a decontamination truck near Yeokchon Station in Eunpyeong District, western Seoul, Wednesday. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk By Kim Se-jeongThe Moon Jae-in administration has failed to improve the ongoing shortage of face masks due to its “inaccurate” estimates of supply and demand amid the rapid spread of the coronavirus, according to experts, Wednesday.“The government drew a mask supply plan based on a production capacity and a demand estimate. The government failed to forecast a sharp demand increase fueled by fear. The government should have considered this more carefully during its planning,” said Myongji University Prof. Kim Hyun-joon.Amid the worsening mask shortage, the government began to intervene in production and distribution Feb. 26. It promised to get enough masks by channeling them through public organizations ― post offices and the NongHyup Bank's Hanaro Mart stores ― and pharmacies