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Choi Won-suk

Korea Times Photo Reporter

Choi Won-suk is a photojournalist at The Korea Times. Before joining the newspaper, he also worked as a photojournalist with AFP and St. Joseph News-Press in Missouri. He spent 13 years in the United States, graduating with a Bachelor of Journalism degree (Cum Laude) from the University of Missouri - Columbia and a Master of Arts in Photography from Ohio University - Athens. Over the past 11 years, Choi covered various news events such as presidential elections, the 2019 North Korea-United States Hanoi Summit and 2022 Qatar World Cup. But above all, Choi believes in local journalism and finds a lot of joy telling life stories of ordinary citizens in small neighborhoods.

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Japan's 2020 Olympic medals are made from recycled electronics

Japan is preparing for next year's Olympics by asking the public to donate electronic devices they no longer use, according to New Atlas.Japan's Organizing Committee for the 2020 Olympics has been collecting used smartphones, digital cameras and laptops since April 2018 to convert the devices' metals into medals.Recycle centers were set up across the country, resulting in more than 47,000 tons of electronic devices being collected, according to New Atlas.Information from the official Tokyo 2020 website notes that the committee has already met its target goal for bronze medals — 2,700 kg. Around 28.4 kg of the targeted 30.3 kg has been extracted for the gold medal. While 3,500 kg of the targeted 4,100 kg of silver has been extracted from the recycled waste.The committee expects to meet the targets next month. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic medal designs will be unveiled this summer. (Next Animation via Reuters)

Feb 13, 2019By Choi Won-suk
Japan's 2020 Olympic medals are made from recycled electronics
News

South Korea signs deal to pay more for U.S. troops

Officials have signed a short-term agreement to boost South Korea’s contribution toward the upkeep of U.S. troops on the peninsula, after a previous deal lapsed amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for the South to pay more.Having U.S. troops on the ground just became more expensive for South Korea.On Sunday (February 10), it signed a new short-term agreement with Washington which boosts Seoul's contribution towards the upkeep of American troops.SOUTH KOREAN FOREIGN MINISTER, KANG KYUNG-WHA, SAYING:"I think at this point, we will be able to close the gap on the total amount of the number."Since his Singapore meeting with Kim Jong Un in June, U.S. President Donald Trump has been pressuring Seoul to pay more for American soldiers.In the aftermath of the summit, he even announced he'd stop joint military exercises with South Korea, saying they're much too expensive.U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:"We will be saving a tremendous amount of money, plus I think it's very provocative."That sparked tension between Seoul and Washington.Since their previous dea

Feb 12, 2019By Choi Won-suk
South Korea signs deal to pay more for U.S. troops
Darkroom

61st Grammy Awards

South Korean band BTS presents the award for Best R&B Album during the 61st Annual Grammy Awards on February 10, 2019, in Los Angeles. AFP 61st Grammy Awards - Show - Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 10, 2019 - H.E.R. performs "Hard Place". Reuters 61st Grammy Awards - Show - Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 10, 2019 - Jennifer Lopez performs. Reuters St. Vincent, left, and Dua Lipa perform a medley at the 61st annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019, in Los Angeles. AFP 61st Grammy Awards - Show - Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 10, 2019 - Chloe X Halle perform. Reuters Travis Scott, center, climbs a cage during a performance at the 61st annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019, in Los Angeles. AP US singer-songwriter Lady Gaga performs onstage during the 61st Annual Grammy Awards on February 10, 2019, in Los Angeles. AFP Host Alicia Keys performs a medley at the 61st annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019, in Los Angeles. AP (L-R) Host US singer-songwriter Alicia Keys, former US First Lady Michelle

Feb 11, 2019By Choi Won-suk
61st Grammy Awards
  • BTS at Grammys: 'It's a Dream Come True Moment'
News

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un celebrates army anniversary

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un celebrated the founding anniversary of the state's army with military meeting and concert, the North's state media reported on Saturday (February 9).In the video aired by North Korea's state-run television KRT, Kim was seen visiting Ministry of People's Armed Forces and making speech marking the 71st anniversary of Korean People's Army, which falls on Friday (February 8).At his speech, KRT quoted Kim as saying that the determination and will to shape a new roadmap of building a powerful socialist country is firm. The footage also showed Kim watching concert of the State Merited Chorus with his wife Ri Sol Ju and attending banquet with high-profile officials.Earlier in the day, U.S. President Donald Trump said his meeting with Kim later this month will be held in Hanoi. Just weeks ahead of the summit, the two sides have appeared far from narrowing differences over U.S. demands for North Korea to give up a nuclear weapons program that threatens the United States. (Reuters)

Feb 11, 2019By Choi Won-suk
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un celebrates army anniversary
News

South Korea investigates tonnes of illegal trash sent back from Philippines

South Korea on Thursday (February 7) launched an investigation into containers of rubbish which were unlawfully exported to the Philippines and recently returned.According to South Korea's Environment Ministry, 51 containers carrying 1,200 tonnes of trash were illegally exported to Cagayan de Oro port in Mindanao of the Philippines last year and returned to Pyeongtaek port on Sunday (February 3).Philippine media reported that the shipments were declared as plastic synthetic flakes when they had instead contained wood, glass and electronic waste, as well as plastic.Director of the government-affiliated Han River Basin Environmental Office, Lee Jong-Min, said authorities had investigated the waste exporting company and will work towards preventing such an incident from happening again. A remaining 5,100 tonnes of wrongfully exported waste, which is still in Mindanao, will also be ship back to South Korea, the ministry added. (Reuters)

Feb 8, 2019By Choi Won-suk
South Korea investigates tonnes of illegal trash sent back from Philippines
  • Returned to sender: 1,200 tons of Korean garbage back from Philippines
News

Trump says he will meet Kim Jong Un in Vietnam

U.S. President Donald Trump plans to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam on Feb. 27 and 28. Trump confirmed the meeting during the State of the Union address on Tuesday (February 5).Trump first met Kim on June 12 in Singapore and has been eager to hold a second summit in spite of a lack of concrete progress in persuading North Korea to give up a nuclear weapons program that threatens the United States.Communist-ruled Vietnam, which has good relations with both the United States and North Korea, had been widely touted as the most likely venue for the meeting.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Vietnam in July and urged North Korea to follow its example, saying Trump believed Pyongyang could replicate Hanoi's path to normal relations with Washington and prosperity after its own war with the United States. (Reuters)

Feb 7, 2019By Choi Won-suk
Trump says he will meet Kim Jong Un in Vietnam
Darkroom

Polar vortex brings deadly cold

Frost covers part of the face of University of Minnesota student Daniel Dylla during a morning jog along Mississippi River Parkway Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019, In Minneapolis. AP Ice and water flows over the brink of the Horseshoe Falls in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019. AP  A view of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls as steam rises from the falls in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada on January 31, 2019. AFP Ice and snow builds up along Lake Michigan in Chicago, Illinois, USA, 30 January 2019. The US Midwest is gripped by a coldspell as a polar vortex sent temperatures far below zero degrees Celsius. According to meteorologists temperatures in Chicago area could drop to minus 31 degrees Celsius. EPA Steam rises from the city and Lake Michigan as the sun comes up in Chicago, Illinois USA, 30 January 2019. EPA Ice covers Lake Michigan's shoreline as temperatures dropped to -20 degrees F (-29C) on January 30, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. AFP A harbor light is covered by snow and ice on the Lake Michigan at 39th Street Harbor, Wednesday, Jan. 3

Feb 7, 2019By Choi Won-suk
Polar vortex brings deadly cold
News

Jihwa: paper flowers, Monk brings hanji flowers to life

Venerable Sukyong holds a paper flower in Songdeok Temple in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. Korea Times photos by Choi Won-sukMonk brings hanji flowers to lifeBy Chung Ah-young, video and photos by Choi Won-sukPYEONGTAEK, Gyeonggi Province — Venerable Sukyong seems every bit a solemn Buddhist monk when he beats the drum and sounds the "moktak," a wooden percussion instrument. But when he grabs a piece of "hanji," or traditional Korean mulberry paper, he becomes like a skilled florist who turns the paper into life-like flowers."Jihwa" are flowers made from hanji and are a traditional Korean craftwork usually made for Buddhist rituals and shamanistic or private events in ancient times."The tradition of making hanji flowers was believed to have begun from the Buddhist belief that picking a flower is an act of taking a life," the monk said in an interview with The Korea Times.He said in ancient times, flowers were not available off season, so Buddhist rituals used paper flowers, which can be made at any time."This tradition is a legacy of our ancestors, who respected life regardles

Feb 3, 2019By Choi Won-suk
Jihwa: paper flowers, Monk brings hanji flowers to life
News

Dyeing with safflowers

Kim Kyung-yeol shows the dyeing process with safflowers in his workshop in Danyang, North Chungcheong Province. The safflower pigment produces different shades of red according to the fabric. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-sukBy Chung Ah-young, video and photos by Choi Won-sukDANYANG, North Chungcheong Province — There are various shades of red, including pink, maroon, burgundy, scarlet, vermilion, crimson and bloodred. These vibrant colors can be created through the delicate processing of safflowers, a long-standing tradition in Korea.Red pigments extracted from safflowers were special in ancient Korea, used mainly for the royal court and the upper class. The colors were used to dye the fabric for the king's robe in the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910), a process that is well documented in the royal records.For more than 30 years, artisan Kim Kyung-yeol has been dyeing fabrics and reproducing historical clothing, such armors and "gasa" or the Buddhist monks' red robes. He began dyeing fabrics in the early 1980s, moving from Seoul to Danyang, North Chungcheong Province, in 1989 to cul

Feb 2, 2019By Choi Won-suk
Dyeing with safflowers
Darkroom

Temple reveals timeless devotion to Buddhism

In Seonam Temple located in the foothills of Mount Jogye in South Jeolla Province, every small thing seems to form a bigger picture that Mother Nature has created, from rolling small cobbles on the unpaved road to a little stream, a tree trunk scorched by lightning strike and walls revealing clay and straw that has been standing for over a thousand years. Unlike bigger temples that overwhelm visitors, Seonam Temple, the head temple of the Taego Order, boasts of modest and time-honored beauty. The historic temple, constructed by Doseon in 875, has no vivid decorations or majestic Four Heavenly Kings statues guarding devotees. The temple is one of seven traditional Korea mountain temples, which were inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage list last June, along with Tongdo Temple in Yangsan, Beopju Temple in Boeun and other mountain monasteries, in recognition of their "outstanding universal value" for their persistence since the seventh century along with the long, deep-rooted history of Buddhism in Korea. "These mountain monasteries are sacred places, which have survived as liv

Jan 28, 2019By Choi Won-suk
Temple reveals timeless devotion to Buddhism
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