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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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Immigrant wives need tailored support programs

Immigrant wives from Buyeo, South Chungcheong Province, make rice cake during a workshop organized by a local Nonghyup office. Workshops like this are common but experts say they are not well-organized. / Korea Times fileBy Kim Se-jeong There are some 300,000 immigrant wives in Korea. These women, who become Korean residents through marriage, suffer from the inability to speak the Korean language and the lack of knowledge on Korean culture and the society.Government assistance has been available since 2006, including free Korean language workshops and cultural orientations, to help facilitate their transition.However, these programs are not well received.Many complain that these programs are identical in every center and are not tailored according to the learners’ level of need.At a recent workshop on policies on interracial families, they also complained that the policies are way too nationalistic.“The government policies boil down to this: bear babies and provide labor needed in Korea,” said Kim Hyun-mee, a cultural anthropology professor at Yonsei University

Apr 2, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
  • Boosting consumption key for economic turnaround
South Korea

Police to check SNS messages for prompt response to traffic accidents

By Kim Se-jeong The National Police Agency (NPA) said Thursday it will check messages posted by Twitter and Facebook users to respond to traffic accidents more quickly.“We are working to develop a new system that will collect information about traffic accidents from social networking users,” an NPA official, surnamed Ji, said, adding that the new system will be in place as early as in the second half of this year.Policemen can be dispatched to the site if accidents are serious, and the police agency will tweet back that information through its Twitter account (@poltraffic).The plan is part of the police agency’s annual traffic safety plan to maintain public safety and reduce traffic accidents and road deaths.According to the police agency, 4,762 people were killed in car accidents last year. In 2012, 5,392 were killed.Currently, traffic information is collected through surveillance cameras, policemen and citizens’ calls. The NPA distributes the collected information to the public via portal websites Naver or Daum, media outlets and a police agency’s

Apr 2, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
South Korea

3 new trolley-like buses to run in Seoul from today

By Kim Se-jeong Three new “trolley-like” buses will run in Seoul from today, the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) said Wednesday.  The city government said the buses, nicknamed the Seoul Tiger Bus, will drive through the city’s most popular sites, starting from Gwangwhamun through Cheonggye Stream, Myeongdong, Mount Nam, 63 Square, Hongdae and Sinchon. Currently, two double-decker buses are used on that route.Trolleys are popular in San Francisco and other major tourist cities. Expectations are high that these look-alike vehicles will attract tourists visiting Seoul.The three vehicles will run on gasoline, while traditional trolleys run on rails and get power from overhead electrical wires.The buses were built by Ford Motor Company, and the wooden interior design was done by craftsmen.Honeymoon Tour, a private tour company operating the city bus tour, is responsible for their operation.The buses will leave Gwanghwamun in front of Dongwha Duty Free Shop every 30 minutes. The ticket costs 15,000 won for adults and 10,000 won for children, and tour guides

Apr 1, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
South Korea

'15,000 Koreans drafted by Soviets during World War II'

By Kim Se-jeongAlmost 15,000 ethnic Koreans who lived in Central Asia were conscripted by the Soviet Union during World War II (1941-1945), a new study claims.Shim Heon-yong, a researcher from the Institute for Military History, said 372 of them volunteered to join the Soviet military; of that number, 195 were killed or disappeared during the war, 50 were undocumented and 127 returned home. Shim will discuss these findings at an academic symposium on Thursday.“They decided to join the war to survive in a country they had newly settled in,” Shim said. Ethnic Koreans were viewed with skepticism by the Soviet Union and many wanted to fight to show allegiance to their new country. The author said he wrote his study using statistics, documents and news coverage from Central Asian states and Russia, as well as testimonies from those who participated in the war.A majority of the 372 people were soldiers in the ground war, but there was also a pilot and a spy. Women were among the volunteers. One ballet dancer testified her dancing group traveled from one region to another to ent

Apr 1, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
South Korea

USFK fires civilian worker accused of hit-and-run

By Kim Se-jeong U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) has fired a civilian employee who is under investigation by Korean police for his alleged involvement in a hit-and-run case last month, police said Friday.The man, whose identity was withheld, allegedly drove away in his Chevrolet Corvette after hitting a police officer who was running a check for drunk drivers on a road in Itaewon, Seoul.Police said they had detained him because chances were high that the suspect would escape while being investigated.“The U.S. 8th Army recently terminated its contract with the suspect, so we took him into custody,” a police officer said.According to police, the man drove past the police officer, surnamed Seo, who was conducting a breathalyzer test. Seo attempted to stop the car, but the vehicle struck him as the driver fled, police said. The policeman sustained minor injuries to his arms and legs.The suspect initially denied the allegations, saying he did not remember anything because of “pain in my heart.”But police said they had secured testimony from a female passenger sit

Mar 27, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
South Korea

Lee Myung-bak aide under corruption probe

By Kim Se-jeongPark Bum-hoonPark Bum-hoon, former senior presidential secretary for education, is being investigated for allegedly pressing education officials to give favors to Chung-Ang University, where he served as a president.Prosecutors said Friday they searched Park’s home and the offices of the Ministry of Education and the university and confiscated computer hard disks and documents.Park is also expected to be summoned for questioning as early as next week, according to the prosecution.Park worked as the university’s president for six years, from 2005-2011, before being named as a senior presidential secretary for then-President Lee Myung-bak. He served in the post until 2013. Park was a key campaigner for Lee during the presidential election in 2007.The prosecution is focusing on various allegations surrounding Park.He is suspected of pressing the education ministry to approve Chung-Ang’s plan to merge the university’s two campuses in Seoul and Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, in 2012.At the time, the ministry raised a conditional objection to the merger

Mar 27, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
Lee Myung-bak aide under corruption probe
Travel & Food

HOTEL LOBBY

Hotels to join Earth HourTwenty hotels in Korea are participating in Earth Hour, a global environmental movement to turn off lights for an hour, Saturday.The movement is organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature, also known as WWF.The list of participating hotels are Conrad Seoul, W Seoul-Walkerhill, Grand Hyatt Seoul, Novotel Ambassador Gangnam, The Westin Chosun Seoul, Grand Hilton Seoul, Millennium Hilton Seoul, THE PLAZA, Lotte Hotel Seoul, The Ritz-Carlton, Seoul, The Palace Hotel Seoul, Ibis Ambassador Seoul Insadong, JW Marriott Dongdaemun Square Seoul, Sheraton Seoul D Cube City Hotel, Sheraton Grand Walkerhill, Courtyard by Marriott Seoul Pangyo, Grand Hyatt Incheon, Grand Ambassador Seoul, Holiday Inn Incheon Songdo and Hyatt Regency Jeju.Launched in 2007, Earth Hour encourages individuals, communities and businesses around the world to turn off non-essential lights between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on the last Saturday in March.Some hotels offer Earth Hour events — check out their websites for details.    Hanwha Hotels & Resorts has appointed

Mar 26, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
HOTEL LOBBY
Travel & Food

Hyatt presents lobster special

Lobster claw tortellini / Courtesy of Grand Hyatt SeoulBy Kim Se-jeong The rise of lobsters as food is remarkable.Until they became popular among New Yorkers and Bostonians in the mid-19th century, lobsters were a symbol of poverty. They were food for the working classes. They were also served to prison inmates and used as fish bait.Right now, lobsters enjoy their reputation as one of the most coveted dishes in Europe and North America. Cooking is diverse, ranging from steamed lobsters to lobster roll. Lobster roll was chosen by the Huffington Post, an online news blog based in the United States, as one of 25 dishes you should eat in your life time last year.For those who love lobsters in Korea, the Grand Hyatt Seoul’s Paris Grill is presenting a lobster special.The special began Wednesday and will run until April 4. A renowned chef, Marco Mehr, from Switzerland was invited for the occasion.Chef Mehr presents three course meals which include Atlantic lobster tartar, herb sauteed lobster tail, baked lobster gratin, cognac scented lobster bisque and lobster claw tortellini,

Mar 26, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
Hyatt presents lobster special
Travel & Food

Soothe your tired muscle at hotel spas

Pevonia Spa at The Ritz-Carlton, Seoul opened in February last year. / Courtesy of The Ritz-Carlton, SeoulBy Kim Se-jeong Looking for a place in the city where you can get a quick massage to relax your stiff muscles and rejuvenate your skin, which is covered with the seasonal yellow dust?Spas in Seoul hotels offer just what you are looking for. Spas have become a must facility for many hotels, especially so for luxury hotels.Hotels often contract with a spa management company. The spas are open to hotel clientele and walk-in customers.Being located in a well-known hotel can boost a spa’s reputation and vice versa. A reputable spa brand can be a plus for a hotel. Spas are trying to lure customers with effective body treatments and skin care programs, massage oil ingredients and other skin care products.Lotte Hotel Seoul’s Sulwhasoo Spa Pevonia Spa at The Ritz-Carlton, Seoul is one of the most coveted ones in the city.Since it first opened in February last year, Pevonia has made a name among customers of all ages and genders. Pevonia is an international skin care

Mar 26, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
Soothe your tired muscle at hotel spas
South Korea

Mentally ill Kyrgyz sent back with no due care

By Kim Se-jeong The National Human Rights Commission is looking into allegations that a mentally ill Kyrgyz woman was deported without receiving proper care care from immigration officials.The inquiry came after a group of local NGOs filed a petition with the commission on March 20 to examine the case, calling for measures to provide adequate assistance for foreign workers here.According to the Advocates for Public Interest Law (APIL), the Kyrgyz woman, identified as Tatiana, arrived in Korea in 2001 and worked illegally at a factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, until May of last year when she began showing symptoms of mental illness, which included abnormal behavior in public.Tatiana was taken to a nearby mental hospital by her employer and police in June before being sent to the Hwaseong Immigration Process Center for deportation.This center is where illegal immigrants stay before being sent home. She never saw a doctor or a counselor during her stay at the center.Tatiana was deported on July 3 with $7,000 in hand. In Moscow where she was supposed to take a transfer fligh

Mar 25, 2015By Kim Se-jeong
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