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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

Korea to delay declaring itself MERS-free

By Kim Se-jeong The health authorities said Thursday they would need more time before declaring the official end of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak that killed 37 people.The decision comes after one patient, who had been believed to have fully recovered, has tested positive again. After the earlier negative result, the Ministry of Health and Welfare was set to announce the official end on Thursday, 28 days ― double the incubation period ― after the patient tested negative.“We decided to put it off to make sure that there’s absolutely no MERS patients left,” a ministry official said. “However, the chance of the patient’s spreading the virus is extremely low, so we believe there is no concern of infection.”A new date for the MERS-free declaration will be set after the last patient tests negative again, according to the ministry.The last patient, a 35-year-old man, was discharged from quarantine on Oct. 1 as he tested negative for the deadly virus twice. But he returned to the hospital with a high fever and tested p

Oct 29, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
North Korea

'Renewable energy not uncommon in NK'

By Kim Se-jeongBaerbel HoehnA photo taken on Oct. 21 shows many small solar panels installed at balconies of an apartment building in Pyongyang./ Courtesy of Baerbel HoehnMany households in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, have solar panels installed, according to a member of the Green Party in Germany who visited the reclusive state last week.“It was great to see solar panels on balconies of homes,” Baerbel Hoehn, a member of the Bundestag, the German parliament, said during a meeting with Korea’s Green Party members in Seoul, Tuesday.She visited North Korea with fellow politicians and German business representatives, and flew to the South earlier this week.Acknowledging that the situation is worse in rural areas, Hoehn said, “I want to help people in rural areas and that must be the target. If we can start such sustainable projects in rural areas, people will be interested because I see daily problems.”It has long been reported that North Korea’s energy situation is deplorable ― and is much worse outside Pyongyang. There’s almos

Oct 28, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
'Renewable energy not uncommon in NK'
South Korea

Dispute on childcare budget gets working parents in trouble

By Kim Se-jeong Working parents with young children are preparing for the temporary shutdown of 7,000 private daycare centers across the country later this week in protest of the government’s inaction to expand the childcare budget.According to the Korea Edu-care Association, a group of some 14,000 private daycare centers nationwide, 50 percent of its members will allow all of their workers to take a leave between Oct. 28 and 30, which will result in a massive shutdown of facilities.The collective action comes as the government is moving to freeze next year’s childcare budget for children aged two or under at such centers, after it earlier promised a 3 percent raise. The government has not set any budget for pre-school programs for children aged between three and five as well, passing the buck to regional educational offices.A working mother wrote on one of a childcare website, “News like this scares parents like us who work.” Another mother with a 24-month baby wrote, “My daycare center has not notified it would shut down, but I already applied for

Oct 25, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
South Korea

Special police team to handle crimes involving Vietnamese

By Kim Se-jeong The National Policy Agency (NPA) said Sunday that it will open a Vietnamese Desk dedicated to handling crimes involving Vietnamese nationals in Korea.This is the first time for police to set up a team exclusively for specific nationals.Two officers will be tasked with overseeing all crimes involving Vietnamese people, both as victims and culprits.“When a crime occurs involving Vietnamese nationals, police officers in the region will investigate the case while the Vietnamese Desk will manage the investigation, also cooperating and sharing information with the Vietnamese authorities,” an NPA official said.The move was reciprocal. Vietnam made the request in response to one made by Seoul for a Korean Desk at the Vietnamese Police Agency to protect Koreans in the Southeast Asian country. That desk opened in July.It is in line with the increasing number of Vietnamese people in Korea. According to the Ministry of Justice, the number of Vietnamese residents in 2014 was 129,793. Half of them were between 20 and 29 years old. Marriage migrants accounted for al

Oct 25, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
South Korea

City-run hospital criticized for discriminating against HIV patients

By Kim Se-jeongLocal rights groups claim that a city-run hospital in Seoul has discriminated against people infected with HIV.The civic groups HIV/AIDS Human Rights Nanuri and the Korean Network of People Living With HIV/AIDS Plus filed a petition with the National Human Rights Commission, Thursday, demanding that it investigate SMG-SNU Boramae Medical Center which allegedly rejected HIV carriers or made them feel humiliated while being treated.The center is a public hospital jointly run by the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) and Seoul National University (SNU).The petition was filed after two separate incidents involving Boramae’s dental clinic.The first HIV carrier visited the clinic in May for scaling of her teeth but the hospital refused to treat the woman despite her having a reservation, according to the civic groups.The dental clinic’s excuse was that the equipment to be used in scaling would be exposed to the HIV virus.After the first incident, the rights groups filed complaints with Boramae and the SMG demanding the hospital stop discriminating against such p

Oct 22, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
South Korea

SNU to require payments from professors with side jobs

By Kim Se-jeong Seoul National University (SNU) is considering making it mandatory for professors who have positions outside the university as directors of private companies to give part of their income to the university.The move is likely to draw a backlash from the 96 professors who have such side jobs. SNU has almost 2,100 professors.According to the university Wednesday, it plans to have professors working as outside directors pay part of their annual income from the companies to the university.The amount will be 15 percent of the anything in excess of 20 million won. For example, those who earn 50 million won per year from a company will have to give 4.5 million won to the university.The plan was discussed during a faculty meeting on Tuesday. The university estimates it will be able to collect 430 million won per year through this plan, which will be added to the pool for student scholarships.While professors need to obtain approval from the university to take a position as an outside director, the university has not disciplined any of those who have not sought approval. It

Oct 21, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
South Korea

Prosecution clears ex-lawmaker of rape allegations.

By Kim Se-jeongSim Hag-bongProsecutors announced Tuesday that they will not indict former Saenuri Party lawmaker Sim Hag-bong on allegations that he raped a woman.The decision by the Daegu District Prosecutors’ Office has drawn criticism for leniency on the former ruling party member, even though it found Sim offered money to her during an earlier police investigation.  After the scandal emerged in August, Sim left his party amid mounting public criticism, and also resigned from his elected position earlier this month.The prosecution said Tuesday that they found no suspicion of him, as the woman involved recanted her initial allegation and testified in favor of Sim.“She is now consistently saying that the relationship was not forced,” a prosecutor said.  Sim was suspected of raping the 48-year-old woman in a Daegu hotel room in July. She told police that he used force to have sex with her, and then gave her 300,000 won in cash. But she changed her story during further questioning, saying there was no coercion and she did not want him to be punished. She an

Oct 20, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
Prosecution clears ex-lawmaker of rape allegations.
South Korea

Disputes rise over changes in scholarship criteria

By Kim Se-jeong More and more universities are planning to offer scholarships to needy students rather than those with a high academic performance.While some say the new standard will help underprivileged students, others argue it is reverse discrimination against hard-working students.The change from a merit-based scholarship to a need-based one is driven by universities, which say it is important to help students’ with financially difficulties and it is also the schools’ role.On Oct. 14, Korea University President Yeom Jae-ho announced a plan to abolish all performance-based scholarships from 2017.“The purpose of giving scholarships is more than rewarding students with good scores,” Yeom said. “As an educator, I believe the goal of education is to find ways to nurture all talented students, especially those in need of help.“In the long run, awarding a scholarship to those with good scores will disappear, and we view that as the right thing to do.”Under the same goal, the school also plans to provide impoverished students with monthly l

Oct 19, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
South Korea

Prosecution raids makers of humidifier sterilizers

By Kim Se-jeong Prosecutors have raided the offices of Reckitt Benckiser’s Korea unit as part of their investigation into hazardous humidifier sterilizers.Investigators from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said Friday that they recently raided six places including the office in Yeouido, central Seoul, and Reckitt Benckiser’s lab in Songdo, Incheon.They also raided Lotte Mart headquarters in southern Seoul, which sold privately branded sterilizers. They confiscated documents and computer files to prove their alleged negligence.The companies are suspected of having produced and sold the sterilizers containing harmful chemicals from April 2006 to February 2011.It is believed that 142 people, many of whom were children and pregnant women, were killed using the products. Prosecutors are looking into whether the firms conduct proper safety tests for the sterilizers and if they let the products be sold knowing that the chemicals used were deadly.It took three years for the prosecution to begin the investigation. Some victims and their families filed complain

Oct 16, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
South Korea

Elementary school students fight to keep school

Students of Yeodo Elementary School in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, protest against the city’s decision to close an affiliated middle school they are supposed to move to, Thursday. / YonhapBy Kim Se-jeong A group of fifth graders in the southern coastal city of Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, joined their parents and teachers in a fight to save their school, Thursday.Fourteen students of Yeodo Elementary School in Yeosu held a rally in front of the school to protest the city government’s plan to shut down the affiliated middle school and instead build a foreign language high school.They held posters that read: “Please save us.” “We are against a private foreign language high school,” and “Do not ignore our plea. We have the right to speak up about the fate of our school.” Later that day, the students held another protest in front of city hall.Yeodo elementary and middle schools were established by the Yeodo Education Foundation, a private organization set up 35 years ago jointly by 20 chemical companies there for children of their e

Oct 15, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
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