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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KRA exploits jockeys, drives them to suicide
Oh Joon-sik, the father-in-law of Moon Joong-won, a jockey who committed a suicide last November, weeps as he marches toward Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Tuesday./ Yonhap Activists says racing authority has too much powerBy Kim Se-jeongOn Nov. 29, Moon Joong-won, a 40-year-old jockey working at the BusanGyeongnam horse racetrack, committed suicide. He was the seventh person from the same racetrack to kill themselves over the last decade. In his suicide note, Moon criticized the Korea Racing Authority (KRA) for abuse and corruption, and preventing him from becoming a trainer.Ko Kwang-yong, a horse groom and former friend and colleague who is now an advocate for Moon, said the KRA's “excessive power” created an exploitative system which killed his friend. “The KRA's exploitation is pushing jockeys to death. We first need a sincere apology from the KRA,” Ko said during a recent interview with The Korea Times. As a jockey, Moon, a husband and father of two children, never ea
Court sides with Kopino activist in defamation case
A screen capture of the bad fathers blog By Kim Se-jeong A local court in Suwon ruled in favor of an activist for “Kopinos,” Tuesday, who revealed the faces of people failing to pay child support in a defamation suit, a decision likely to add support to those who do not receive overdue payments. In a seven-juror-led ruling, the court acquitted Koo Bon-chang, 57, an activist and the manager of the blog (https://badfather540837381.wordpress.com/blog/) which revealed parents ― mostly fathers ― who don't pay child support for their children. Koo was previously known for his activism for the Kopino, abandoned children born between Filipino mothers and Korean fathers. He fought for the Filipina mothers to find the Korean fathers and receive child support by revealing the fathers' personal information online. The scope of his work expanded to cover cases in Korea and he was sued for defamation last year by five people whose faces were disclosed on the blog.In the verdict,
Singer undergoes questioning on sexual assault allegation
Singer Kim Gun-mo arrives at the Gangnam Police Office in southern Seoul for an interrogation session, Wednesday./ YonhapBy Kim Se-jeongSouthern Seoul Police questioned singer Kim Gun-mo, Wednesday, over an allegation that he sexually assaulted a hostess bar employee in August 2016.The 52-year-old singer showed up at the Gangnam Police Office, refusing to answer any questions from journalists.The alleged victim filed a criminal complaint against him. “Kim has neither admitted to nor apologized for the offense, and the victim is still suffering,” the plaintiff's lawyer Kang Yong-suk said on her behalf at the Seoul Central District Prosecutor' Office, Dec. 9.On another occasion, the lawyer described how the assault happened. “Kim came to a hostess bar in Gangnam by himself, wearing a Batman T-shirt. After drinking with eight hostesses in a room, Kim made them all leave except the alleged victim and forced himself on her.”Kim denied the accusation and claimed the alleged victim was making a false statement against him. He filed a countersuit for defamation.
New PET bottle recycling rule effective on Feb. 1
PET bottles are processed at a local recycling center in Gyeonggi Province. Seoul's new recycling rules will force residents to collect transparent PET bottles for recycling from Feb. 1./ Korea Times fileBy Kim Se-jeongIn 2018, a waste crisis occurred in Seoul after private waste collectors refused to pick up plastic, leading to the central government banning the use of plastic bags and cups in big supermarkets and coffee shops nationwide.Starting from Feb. 1, residents of the capital will face another consequence. The city will collect plastic bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate ― simply known as PET ― separatelyResidents will have to put PET bottles in separate bags for collectors to pick them up. The new rule will only be applied to transparent water PET bottles ― colored beer and soda bottles and transparent milk bottles will be excluded. The new PET collections will be on Thursday only.Residents should remove labels from the bottles, but not the caps ― recycling centers can do that job with robots. If you're an apartment resident, you will only be asked to separate the bo
Moon vows to speed up prosecution reform
Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae arrives at her office in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday morning./ YonhapBy Kim Se-jeongPresident Moon Jae-in indicated he will speed up efforts to complete the much-touted reform of the prosecution. Moon sided with Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae, Tuesday, who has been engaged in a high-profile dispute with Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, showing his determination to accelerate prosecutorial reform.Speaking at a nationally televised press conference, Moon said, “The prosecution has the right to investigate, but the justice minister and president have the right to appoint the people to carry out the investigation. Just as the chief prosecutor's right should be respected, so should the president's and minister's rights.”Moon's open support for Choo is expected to widen the gap between the prosecution and Cheong Wa Dae over investigations into Moon's close aides.Also commenting on a recent rift between Yoon and Choo over the prosecutorial reassignment, Moon again supported Choo. “The minister gave the chief prosecutor the opportunity to
Retired para ice hockey player becomes YouTuber
Han Min-soo plays para ice hockey at the Tancheon ice rink in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, on Dec. 14. /Korea Times Photo by Choi Won-sukBy Kim Se-jeongHan Min-soo, a retired national ice hockey player whose team won the bronze medal at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, has become a YouTuber promoting the sport“I hope through this I can promote para ice hockey in Korea,” Han, 50, said in a recent interview with The Korea Times. Still, it is in the early stages, with only a couple of posted videos, but he is excited about the new endeavor. Han retired after the 2018 Winter Olympics. Unlike his initial plan to become a coach for young para ice hockey players, his fate took him to the Korea Paralympic Committee where he is working to assist in the development and promotion of all para sports. His new job doesn't allow him to spend much time on the ice rink ― twice a month at the maximum with private club players. “I am trying to help young-generation para ice hockey players when I can,” Han said.He lost his left leg in 2000, aged 30, and now walks on an artif
Political tit for tat continues between Cheon Wa Dae and Prosecution
Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, left, and his colleague are on their way to have lunch in the Supreme Prosecutor's Office in southern Seoul, Friday./ Yonhap By Kim Se-jeongThe Ministry of Justice ordered the Supreme Prosecutors Office, Friday, to seek its endorsement when launching a special investigation unit, the latest in a political tit for tat between Cheong Wa Dae and Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol.In an announcement, the ministry said, “Minister Choo Mi-ae told the Supreme Prosecutors Office that it could only create a special investigation team when it was really necessary and it needs an approval from the minister.”Earlier Friday, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office conducted a search and seizure operation at Cheong Wa Dae as part of its investigation into election-meddling allegations that benefited the current Ulsan mayor, a close confidant of President Moon Jae-in. The prosecution said the raid was on the unit of an office that administe
Justice minister's top priority: making prosecutors powerless
Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae, left and Prosecutor-General Yoon Seok-youl arrive at the Ministry of Justice building in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province for a meeting, Tuesday. The two are at odds over Choo's plan to reassign prosecutors./ YonhapBy Kim Se-jeong Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae replaced senior prosecutors, Wednesday, who were leading investigations into major corruption scandals involving President Moon Jae-in's aides.Han Dong-hoon, the head of the anti-corruption department, who was looking into alleged illegal actions by former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, was assigned to the No. 2 post in the High Prosecutors Office in Busan, 500 kilometers southeast of Seoul. Cho was also suspected of playing a role in ending an inspection into bribery allegations involving a former Busan vice mayor.Park Chan-ho, who was investigating the allegation that the presidential office helped Moon's friend win the 2018 mayoral election in the industrial city of Ulsan, 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul, was sent to the prosecutors' office on Jeju Island. The reaction from prosecutors to the moves, which
'Milk decreases breast cancer risk by 42%'
Drinking milk everyday can reduce the risk for breast cancer up to 42 percent, a recent study found./ gettyimagesbankBy Kim Se-jeongDrinking milk everyday can reduce the risk for breast cancer by up to 42 percent, a recent study found.According to the epidemiologic study done by the team of Seoul National University's School of Medicine researchers, women who drank milk every day ― 200 milliliters each time ― were found to have 42 percent less probability of getting the cancer compared to those who drank less than once a week or didn't drink at all.The team of the preventive medicine department sampled a group of 93,306 Korean women between the ages of 40 and 69 in a cohort study, following them for a period of 10 years and analyzing the data. The study results were published in the journal Nutrients recently.The results showed that the age the women were when they drank the milk matters ― the younger they started to drink it, the less vulnerable they were to the cancer. Those who drank milk consistently in their 40s had a 10 percent lower risk than those who started to drink m