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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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South Korea

Court acquits LG official of damaging Samsung's washers

By Kim Se-jeong A district court in Seoul has acquitted Jo Seong-jin, president of LG Electronics’ home appliance division, of vandalizing Samsung’s premium washing machines at retail stores in Berlin last year ahead of an international electronics exhibition. According to the Seoul Central District Court, evidence was insufficient to prove that Jo had intentionally damaged three Samsung washers on display at two stores. “The prosecution failed to prove that Jo damaged the washers and he had the intent to do it,” the court said.Jo was indicted in February, about four months after the incident took place in the German capital. The legal fight began after Samsung filed a suit against Jo, saying he and other LG officials pressed down hard on three of its washing machines during their visits to the Samsung booths of the stores.The court recognized that the washers’ doors had problems closing after Jo pressed them. But watching Jo’s posture recorded by surveillance cameras at the scene, the court said Jo was unable to press them hard enough to break the

Dec 11, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
People & Events

Ex-lawmaker named person of year by George Washington alumni

Kim Jung-sookBy Kim Se-jeong Kim Jung-sook, 69, a former lawmaker and the president of International Council of Women (ICW), has been selected as person of the year by the George Washington University Alumni Association in Korea.The association chose Kim based on her contribution to building women’s capacities as decision-makers in Korea and her leadership at the ICW.The award ceremony and the association’s year-end party will take place at the Millennium Seoul Hilton on Monday.Kim was elected to lead the ICW in May this year. Apart from that, she is running the Korean Institute for Women and Politics, which she founded in 1989.She was a National Assembly member between 1996 and 2004, representing the ruling conservative party which is now the Saenuri Party.As a lawmaker, she led efforts to revise the law on equal employment between genders in 2000, as well as another law on punishing sex crime offenders and protecting victims of sex trafficking.She also spearheaded the effort for political parties to have the same number of male and female candidates for the Assembl

Dec 11, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
Ex-lawmaker named person of year by George Washington alumni
South Korea

Maldives calls on developed nations to help fight climate change

By Kim Se-jeongThoriq Ibrahim, Maldivian minister of the environment and energyIn 2009 at the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen, former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed said climate change “can wipe our country off the map.”He said it could happen in a matter of years, calling for urgency in fighting global warming.Jump to six years later in Paris today, and Thoriq Ibrahim, Maldivian Minister of the Environment and Energy, is calling for aid from developed countries.“If developed countries save small islands, they can save the world,” Ibrahim said during a meeting with Korean journalists in Paris on Dec. 3. At the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21) in Paris, Ibrahim represents a group of small island countries in the Pacific. As a country barely rising above sea level, Maldives sees about 200 of its islands continue to become submerged gradually and the country suffers from other consequences.The minister called for a legally binding international agreement through which all countries will be required to reduce greenh

Dec 9, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
Maldives calls on developed nations to help fight climate change
South Korea

Death with dignity to be allowed

By Kim Se-jeong Gravely ill patients with no hope of recovery will be allowed to die, either by choice or with consent from a member of their family, if a legal ruling is passed almost 20 years since a debate on “death with dignity” began in the country.The National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee voted for the bill, Wednesday, that would permit medical service providers to stop treatment of patients who are close to dying.The bill is now waiting for a vote at the Assembly’s extraordinary session early next year. If passed, it will be implemented by early 2018.“I believe the bill will be passed without much debate,” said Rep. Lee Myoung-su of the ruling Saenuri Party, who is one of the sponsors of the bill. “This is because it’s not about politics but about people dying with dignity, and many people seem to agree about passive euthanasia.”The bill addresses the needs of dying patients. Life-sustaining treatment, such as CPR, artificial respiration and cancer-fighting drugs, will be withheld from such patients.Such tre

Dec 9, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
South Korea

Education key to multicultural society

Kim Mee-sook, left, and Lue Hea-sook, recipients of the awards for best cultural diversity lecturers for 2015 / Courtesy of Korean Institute for Healthy FamilyBy Kim Se-jeong “We are not always in need of help. Please stop looking at us like we are poor.”This comment, which immigrants who move to Korea after marriage often express, is a prime example of Korean prejudice toward almost 800,000 marriage immigrants and their families.Experts point out that prejudice can be a major obstacle to a country becoming truly multicultural.While almost 1 million people in Korea are expected to have multicultural backgrounds by 2020, Korean society is not very open and flexible toward them.To address this issue, since 2012 the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has offered a training program to nurture lecturers who teach cultural diversity to the public, especially children.So far, the ministry has trained almost 300 people, who have given lectures about tolerance and understanding to about 44,000 people on more than 700 occasions this year alone, mostly at schools, chil

Dec 7, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
South Korea

All eyes on labor union chief's next move

Police guard the front gate of Jogye Temple in central Seoul where Korean Confederation of Trade Unions head Han Sang-gyun has been taking refuge, Sunday. He promised to leave the temple by Sunday if Saturday’s anti-government rally was peaceful. / YonhapAnti-government demonstration ends without major clashBy Kim Se-jeongA second mass rally protesting against a number of government policies ended peacefully Saturday. Attention is now focused on whether Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) head Han Sang-gyun will leave Jogye Temple in Seoul, where he has taken refuge, as he promised.Han vowed last week that he would leave the sanctuary voluntarily by Sunday if police did not crack down violently on protesters on Saturday.The head of the nation’s second-largest umbrella union had been on the police’s wanted list for refusing to appear in court on charges of previously organizing illegal demonstrations.He also appeared at the first anti-government rally on Nov. 14 when violence erupted between police and protesters, and has taken refuge in the temple since

Dec 6, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
All eyes on labor union chief's next move
South Korea

Gov't reaffirms stern action toward anti-government ralliers

By Kim Se-jeong The government has again pledged a stern response to illegal acts during protests, especially violence conducted by protesters wearing masks.The warning has come while farmers, labor and civic groups plan to hold another massive rally in Seoul on Dec. 5, following the previous one on Nov. 14 when protesters and police exchanged hostilities amid crackdowns, with police water cannons leaving one farmer in a coma.On Friday, Justice Minister Kim Hyun-woong said the police force will crack down on unlawful protesters, saying there will be no compromise with those crossing the line.“I warn you. No matter how much sacrifice is required, the authorities will uproot illegal and violent actions by protesters,” Kim said in a statement. “Those who disregard the law and ignore authorities’ instructions will have to pay the price.”The minister also condemned Han Sang-gyun, the head of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) who is seeking sanctuary at Jogye Temple in downtown Seoul. An arrest warrant has been issued for Han, but he has bee

Nov 27, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
People & Events

Activist encourages IT firms to cut emissions

Gary Cook, a Greenpeace International activistBy Kim Se-jeong Energy companies have been the target globally of campaigns to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.Gary Cook, a Greenpeace International activist, 47, has a different target: IT companies.In the United States and Europe, Cook has been pushing IT companies like Facebook, Apple and Google to use renewable energy for their data centers.After five years of successful campaigns, he is moving his target to IT companies in Asia.He was in Korea in June for the campaign. He returned home with a commitment from Naver, Korea’s most-visited web portal, to use renewable energy for its data center in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. Naver became Asia’s first IT company to make such a commitment.This week, he was back in Korea to launch the second phase of the campaign. He made a policy proposal to the Korean government, asking it to give IT companies more room to play when it comes to supplying power for the data centers.In the U.S., Facebook made the commitment in 2011 and pushed the government of North Carolina to change the

Nov 27, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
Activist encourages IT firms to cut emissions
South Korea

Bonuses should be included in ordinary wages: court

By Kim Se-jeong Bonuses should be included in ordinary wages if they are given on a regular basis, although the amount of the bonus may differ from employee to employee, the nation’s top court said, Thursday.The Supreme Court upheld most parts of a lower court ruling that ordered GM Korea to reassess overtime pay and allowances for its 1,025 workers by including bonuses.But it said transportation fees for holidays, vacation allowances and some other payments should not be included, sending the case back to the Seoul High Court.“The amount may be different from one employee to another; but what is not changing is that the pay is given every month. For this reason, we recognize the bonus as a part of the ordinary wage,” the court said.A full-time employee’s monthly paycheck consists of their base pay and a combination of extra payments. These vary, ranging from a bonus to a transportation allowance. What to include in the ordinary wage is important because some other payments, such as overtime and retirement allowances, are decided based on ordinary wages,

Nov 26, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
South Korea

New policy on multiracial families to focus on openness

‘More openness toward multiracial people is next policy target’By Kim Se-jeongKim Hee-jung, minister ofgender equality and familyThe government will put a greater focus on correcting prejudiced views of multiracial families and boosting the public’s receptivity of them, said Minister of Gender Equality and Family Kim Hee-jung in a recent interview.Her remarks show the ministry’s policy focus shifting from the current policy of helping marriage migrants adapt to life here over the last decade.“The policy has come a long way, but what’s more important now is for Korean society to embrace these multicultural families more heartily,” Kim said. “We will make greater efforts to raise public awareness that these families bring openness and flexibility to Korean society.”One such effort was the revision of the Multicultural Families Support Act passed earlier this month. The new law stipulates that services for multiracial families would no longer always be free.A majority of immigrant wives in Korea are from other Asian countries such as

Nov 25, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
New policy on multiracial families to focus on openness
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