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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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Travel & Food

Lotte opens new hotels in Guam and Hanoi

Lotte Hotel Guam’s outdoor lounge / Courtesy of Lotte Hotels & ResortsBy Kim Se-jeong Lotte Hotels & Resorts has had an eventful year.The two most significant events were the opening of the Lotte Hotel Guam and Lotte Hotel Hanoi, making it the No.1 local hotel chain with the largest network of properties outside Korea. Besides Guam and Hanoi, Lotte also has properties in Moscow, Ho Chi Minh and Tashkent. The chain is aiming to own 40 hotels by 2018 both in and outside Korea.Here are the features of the Lotte Hotel Guam and Lotte Hotel Hanoi. Lotte Hotel GuamLocated near Tumon Bay, the Lotte Hotel Guam has 222 guest room, three food and beverage outlets and four banquet halls. It also has a swimming pool, spa, chapel, tennis court and a fitness center. The building is divided into two: the Tower Wing, which houses 150 rooms, and the Island Wing with 72 rooms overlooking Tumon Bay. Opened in June, it is making its name among honeymooners from Korea and travelers from all over the world.Lotte Hotel Guam’s swimming pool.The hotel has La Seine, the flagship b

Dec 25, 2014By Kim Se-jeong
Lotte opens new hotels in Guam and Hanoi
South Korea

Hite-Jinro workers probed for spreading malicious rumors about rival beer firm

By Kim Se-jeong Six employees of Hite-Jinro are being questioned over allegedly spreading malicious rumors about Cass, the country’s bestselling beer brand produced by its rival Oriental Brewery (OB), police said Thursday.Suseo Police in southern Seoul said the six workers were booked Wednesday evening. Seven others who are not working for Hite-Jinro are also under investigation for allegedly posting false online messages about the flavor and quality of Cass. All the 13 suspects know each other, according to the police.Officers said they are now looking into whether the firm’s management played any role in producing and spreading the rumors.“We have not yet found any evidence showing management involvement,” one said.In early September, investigators raided the offices of Hite-Jinro and seized computers and documents.Cass is the top beer brand of OB, with more than half of market share in Korea.The sale of Cass beer plummeted in summer this year as rumors circulated that the beer smelt of disinfectant, and vicious comments were posted online.One mess

Dec 25, 2014By Kim Se-jeong
South Korea

English-teaching Kindergarten wins suit

By Kim Se-jeongA court ordered a district education office Wednesday to lift restrictions that it placed on a private kindergarten in Seoul this year for hiring native speakers to teach English.In March, Seongbuk District Education Office, under the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, ordered Uchon Kindergarten to close two of its classes and cut its number of students by 60. The kindergarten had been investigated for allegedly hiring native speakers to teach English as part of its official curriculum, which violated the Education Law.Under the law, English education should not be part of official school curriculum until third grade. For kindergartens, including English as the part of the official daily curriculum is illegal, but they are allowed to teach it as an extra-curricular activity.In defiance of the administrative order, the kindergarten filed a suit against the district education office with the Seoul Administrative Court.Ruling in favor of the kindergarten, Judge Lee Seung-taek said the punishment was illegal because there was no evidence proving that the native t

Dec 24, 2014By Kim Se-jeong
South Korea

Experts discredit gov't inspection on 4-river project

Gov’t investigation team concludes no clear dangerBy Kim Se-jeong Environmental experts said Tuesday that a government-led investigation failed to deliver a fair assessment on the four-river restoration project that took place under former President Lee Myung-bak.Their opinions come after a 13-member committee concluded that the four-river restoration project was an overall success despite some side-effects.Among these, the committee said it found six dams that had been leaking and some work that had damaged water ecosystems.“But in the long run, the ecosystems will restore themselves,” a committee member said during a press conference in Seoul. The committee also dismissed the possibility of a dam collapse.However, Kim Jung-wuk, honorary president of Seoul National University who specializes in civil engineering and the environment, disagreed with the findings.“The committee didn’t state that all the dams' foundations were partly sand-based, and water can leak through these. From a civil engineer’s point of view, this is a serious defect

Dec 23, 2014By Kim Se-jeong
South Korea

NK refugees unwelcome by half of South Koreans

By Kim Se-jeongAlmost half of South Koreans would prefer that the government be more selective on whether to accept refugees from North Korea if the reclusive state collapses, according to a survey released Monday.A survey of 1,000 people by the Korea Research Center and the Database for North Korea Human Rights (NKDB), found that 38.9 percent of respondents want the government to only allow in selected refugees if there was a massive influx of North Koreans.These respondents said they feared a full acceptance of all refugees would place too much of a financial burden on South Koreans, and the South would not have facilities to shelter them all.Another 8.7 percent said the refugees should be banned completely.Forty-eight percent said they would welcome the refugees unconditionally because the refugees were Koreans.“This indicates that many people are worried by the financial burden they may have to bear if the two Koreas are unified,” NKDB President Yoon Yeo-sang said. “I am not surprised by this.”The survey also showed that most South Kore

Dec 22, 2014By Kim Se-jeong
South Korea

Court disbands pro-N. Korea party

Nine Constitutional Court justices are seated during a verdict on the United Progressive Party, Friday. From left are Seo Ki-seog, Ahn Chang-ho, Lee Jin-sung, Lee Jung-mi, Park Han-chul, the chief justice, Kim Yi-su, Kim Chang-jong, Kang Il-won and Cho Yong-ho. Only judge Kim Yi-su voted in favor of the UPP. / YonhapUnprecedented ruling on UPP met with hurrahs, fears of McCarthyismBy Kim Se-jeongThe Constitutional Court has dissolved the pro-North Korean Unified Progressive Party (UPP) in the first judiciary move to outlaw a political party since the nation’s Constitution was first drawn up in 1948.The nine-person justice panel voted on Friday with an overwhelming 8-1 majority in favor of disbanding the UPP, which was created in 2011.“The UPP had a hidden agenda to adopt North Korea’s socialism, organizing meetings to plot a rebellion, in violation of the basic democratic order of the Constitution,” the court’s President Park Han-chul read out in the ruling.Park added that, “The activities that the party organized, with a hidden goal of creati

Dec 19, 2014By Kim Se-jeong
Court disbands pro-N. Korea party
South Korea

Ex-KB head faces questioning

By Kim Se-jeongLim Young-rokProsecutors will summon Lim Young-rok, former KB Financial Group chairman, for questioning over his alleged involvement in giving preference to certain companies in business deals.Lim is also suspected of having accepted bribes worth 100 million won ($90,000) from a software development company in exchange for exerting his influence to get the firm a contract in KB’s computer system upgrade project.On Thursday, the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office also requested an arrest warrant for Kim Jae-yeol, KB’s former chief information officer, for allegedly taking a 60 million won bribe from an IT company last year.Under Lim, KB Financial Group sought upgrade its internal computer system, replacing its old IBM-based mainframe system with a Unix one. The project would cost the company 130 billion won ($123 million).KT was the primary contractor for the project, with smaller companies mentioned in connection with the bribery as subcontractors.There are two other KB executives suspected of receiving money from potential subc

Dec 18, 2014By Kim Se-jeong
Ex-KB head faces questioning
South Korea

Korean Air executives questioned

By Kim Se-jeong Some Korean Air executives are being questioned for allegedly destroying and manipulating evidence regarding the “nut rage” incident involving the daughter of the airlines owner, prosecutors said Thursday.The prosecution added that it will soon request an arrest warrant for Heather Cho, 40, the former Korean Air Senior Vice President and the daughter of Korean Air Chairman Cho Yang-ho.The prosecution acquired access to emails and telephone messages belonged to Cho and other Korean Air executives, Wednesday, and to check if Cho ordered the executives to destroy evidence.Park Chang-jin, the chief flight attendant who was removed from the plane, renewed allegations on Wednesday that he was coerced into making false statements on what happened in the plane during an investigation by the transport ministry.“The company ordered me to delete the first email report I wrote about the incident,” Park said during a television interview on Wednesday. “The order wasn’t given just to me but to all who were involved,”The former vice pre

Dec 18, 2014By Kim Se-jeong
Travel & Food

HOTEL LOBBY

 The Conrad Seoul is offering Purply Christmas Eve and Countdown Together 2015 parties at 37 Grill & Bar, its flagship restaurant on the 37th floor.The Purply Christmas Eve party will start at 10:30 p.m. Dec. 24 running through 2 a.m. Dec. 25. It will be peppered with music by DJ Equinoxe and a tap dance performance by Ground Jam. A photo zone will be set up with a picture of Frank Sinatra. Snow Angel Cocktails will be served for the evening. The hotel has gifts for guests. Those who upload their photos with Sinatra on the hotel’s Facebook page will receive a room voucher. It will also award a best dresser, with a gift of a champagne brunch voucher and a Conrad bear. A Special Christmas Eve dinner is also available from 6 p.m. at the same venue. The price is 180,000 per person, including tax.37 Grill also caters for men who are planning to make marriage proposals on Christmas Eve. The proposal package includes a chef’s special dinner with house champagne, cocktails, a flower bouquet, a cake, candles and an aromatherapy gift set. The package costs 1.1 million won,

Dec 18, 2014By Kim Se-jeong
HOTEL LOBBY
South Korea

Ritz-Carlton donates to fight against Ebola

The Ritz-Carlton’ General Manager Radu Cernia, right, poses with Emmanuel Goue, executive director of Doctors Without Borders Korea, during a visit to the international non-profit organization on Dec. 5 to donate 2.6 million won to fight the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. / Courtesy of The Ritz-CarltonBy Kim Se-jeongEmployees at The Ritz-Carlton in Seoul have recently united in the global fight against the Ebola outbreak, which has so far killed more than 7,000 people in West Africa.On Dec. 5, the hotel’s General Ganager, Radu Cernia, visited the Doctors Without Borders Seoul, a French non-profit organization, to donate 2.6 million won ($2,396) on behalf of the hotel.“We’re delighted to be able to make the contribution. The Ritz-Carlton has been working to share what we have earned with communities. This will continue,” Cernia said.The Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which experts believe begun in Guinea in December last year, has killed 7,188 people as of Dec. 13, mainly in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria.Among its victims were doctor

Dec 18, 2014By Kim Se-jeong
Ritz-Carlton donates to fight against Ebola
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