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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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2018 US midterm elections

Jack Gavin, of West Caldwell, New Jersey, poses with some of the buttons he gave away during a get-out-the-vote rally with Democratic congressional candidate Mikie Sherrill, who is running to represent New Jersey's 11th district, in Livingston, New Jersey, USA, 04 November 2018. Sherrill, one of a record number of women running for office this year, is facing Republican congressional candidate Jay Webber in the11th district, a traditionally Republican district, in the midterm election on 06 November 2018.  EPA People stand in line for President Donald Trump's campaign rally at the Hertz Arena on October 31, 2018 in Estero, Florida. AFP A  girl takes a candy break as her mother listens to Stacey Abrams, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Georgia, in Riverdale, Georgia, October 27, 2018 ahead of the midterm elections. Photo taken October 27, 2018. Reuters Voters wait in a line to cast their ballots on the last day of early voting at the Green Hills Library in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, 01 November 2018. More than one million voters went to the polls during

Nov 5, 2018By Choi Won-suk
2018 US midterm elections
  • Dems take House control, but GOP retains Senate
News

Thousands prepare 40 tons of kimchi for Seoul's poor

Thousands of people in the South Korean capital on Friday (November 2) cooked up a 40-ton feast of traditional spicy cabbage known as kimchi, at a charity event for the city's poor.Sporting red hats and pink gloves, more than 2,000 people gathered around long tables set up in Seoul City Hall Square to make the strong smelling dish of fermented cabbage, spice paste, garlic, ginger, and fish sauce.Organisers said 3,000 people will make kimchi for a Guiness World Record on Sunday (November 4) and they are aiming to make a total 165 tonnes of kimchi for three days to distribute to the poor in Seoul.Per capita consumption of Kimchi in South Korea is 36.1kg per year, according to the World Institute of Kimchi. (Reuters)A girl makes Kimchi to donate to needy neighbors in preparation for the winter season during the Seoul Kimchi Festival at Seoul Plaza in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 2, 2018. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulThousands of participants make kimchi to donate to needy neighbors in preparation for the winter season during the Seoul Kimchi Festival at Seoul Plaza i

Nov 4, 2018By Choi Won-suk
Thousands prepare 40 tons of kimchi for Seoul's poor
News

Sex abuse 'routine' in North Korea - report

Sexual abuse by officials in positions of authority in North Korea appears to be widespread, according to Human Rights Watch Executive Director, Kenneth Roth. Sexual violence - so common that it's become an ordinary part of life. That's what more than sixty North Koreans told human rights investigators about the wide spread sex abuse by officials in the country.U.S.-based Human Rights Watch say the isolated state's human rights record is being intentionally ignored in an international effort to improve relations.They presented their findings on Thursday (November 1), and while the survey's limited in numbers, they said some of the women interviewed didn't understand that coercive sex shouldn't be a part of almost everyday life.HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH'S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, KENNETH ROTH, SAYING:"Many North Koreans told Human Rights Watch that when an official or person in power picks a woman, she has no choice but to comply. She has to do whatever he demands whether it's for sex, money, or other favors."As Seoul and Washington focus on diplomatic outreach to North Korea, a series of re

Nov 4, 2018By Choi Won-suk
Sex abuse 'routine' in North Korea - report
News

North Korean leader criticizes sanctions at a resort construction site

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un condemned international sanctions on the country's nuclear program while he visited a resort construction site, North Korean state media reported on Thursday (November 1).The North's state-run television KRT released several still photographs of Kim inspecting a large construction project at a tourism resort in Wonsan along with high-ranking officials. During the inspection, Kim told workers that such economic projects are a new "decisive battle" for supporting the ruling party, pushing back against international sanctions over the nuclear program, KRT said. He also blamed the 'hostile forces' and sanctions by them and emphatized to build the nation's strenth on its own, according to KRT.American officials have been skeptical of Kim's commitment to giving up nuclear weapons, but the North's pledge at the summit with the South drew an enthusiastic response from President Donald Trump, who met Kim in an unprecedented summit in June and has been keen on a second meeting.Washington has demanded steps such as a full disclosure of the North's nuclear and mis

Nov 1, 2018By Choi Won-suk
North Korean leader criticizes sanctions at a resort construction site
News

China eases ban on trade of rhino and tiger parts

China has allowed the use of rhino and tiger products in medicine, alarming conservationists who say it will hamper efforts to protect them from extinction. China's State Council recently announced the partial lifting of a 25-year-old ban which will now allow the use of tiger and rhinoceros parts for scientific, medical, or cultural use.According to the New York Times, powdered rhino horns are used in Chinese traditional medicine to treat fevers and food poisoning, while tiger bone wine is believed to increase virility. Both have no proven benefit.The Chinese government claims the trade will be strictly controlled, and products must only be sourced from animals that are bred in captivity, excluding those in zoos. But conservationists say the move will only fuel black market trade in wild animal parts, endangering the estimated 30,000 rhinos and 3,900 tigers still in the wild.The move is a complete turnaround from Beijing's previous efforts in championing climate change initiatives and banning the domestic ivory trade. Experts speculate that the sudden easing of the ban may be a push

Nov 1, 2018By Choi Won-suk
China eases ban on trade of rhino and tiger parts
News

Japan denounces South Korean court decision as "unthinkable"

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday (October 30) that a South Korean court's order to a Japanese firm to compensate wartime forced laborers was "unthinkable," and the ruling overturned the legal basis for bilateral friendship since 1965.South Korea's top court ruled on Tuesday Japan's Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. must compensate four South Koreans for their forced labor during World War Two.Following the verdict, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono summoned South Korean ambassador Lee Su-hoon. Kono told Lee that he hopes South Korean government will immediately and resolutely respond to the controversial matter.Japan and South Korea share a bitter history that includes Japan's 35-year occupation of the Korean peninsula until 1945 and the use of comfort women, Japan's euphemism for girls and women, many of them Korean, forced to work in its wartime brothels. (Reuters)

Oct 31, 2018By Choi Won-suk
Japan denounces South Korean court decision as "unthinkable"
  • $87,000 each: Japanese firm ordered to compensate wartime forced laborers
News

South Korean court orders Nippon Steel to compensate WWII workers

South Korea's top court ruled on Tuesday (October 30) Japan's Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. should compensate four South Koreans for their forced labour during World War Two, a decision that could freeze ties between the uneasy neighbours.In a landmark ruling, South Korea's Supreme Court upheld a 2013 order for the company to pay 100 million won ($87,700) to each of the four steel workers who initiated the suit in 2005, seeking compensation and unpaid wages.Lee Choon-shik, the 94-year-old sole surviving plaintiff, welcomed the ruling.Japan and South Korea share a bitter history that includes Japan's 35-year occupation of the Korean peninsula until 1945 and the use of comfort women, Japan's euphemism for girls and women, many of them Korean, forced to work in its wartime brothels. (Reuters)

Oct 31, 2018By Choi Won-suk
South Korean court orders Nippon Steel to compensate WWII workers
News

Plastic to ride: Indonesians swap bottles for bus tickets

Plastic is just the ticket if you want to ride the buses of Surabaya. Bus commuters can pay their fare with used plastic bottles in Indonesia's second city.A two-hour bus ticket costs 10 plastic cups or up to five plastic bottles, depending on their size. This could help the city achieve its aim to be free of plastic waste by 2020.RESIDENT OF SURABAYA, LINDA RAHMAWATI, SAYING:"Garbage like plastic bottles piles up in my neighbourhood, so I brought them here so the environment is not only cleaner, but it will also help to ease the workload of garbage collectors."RESIDENT OF SURABAYA, SULASTRI, SAYING:"We can reduce trash so it doesn't pile up at home because we can just bring them here and make good use of it. It is a win-win situation."Commuters drop their plastic off at bus terminals or "pay" their fare on the bus.City data shows 250kg of plastic bottles can be collected a day this way - the equivalent of 7.5 tonnes a month.The bottles are auctioned off to recycling companies, helping fund bus operations and green spaces in the city.HEAD OF TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT OF SURABAYA CITY

Oct 29, 2018By Choi Won-suk
Plastic to ride: Indonesians swap bottles for bus tickets
  • South Korea bans disposable plastic bags from big supermarkets
News

Artificial sweeteners may be toxic to digestive gut microbes

New studies find that artificial sweeteners may be toxic to gut microbiome.Science Daily reports that researchers from the Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel and Nanyang Technological Institute in Singapore modified E. coli to light up when exposed to toxins, using it as a sensing model representative of the complex gut microbial system.Exposure to six types of popular artificial sweeteners, which include aspartame and sucralose among others, had a toxic, stressing effect that made it difficult for the bacteria to grow and reproduce.A separate study carried out in Australia looked at 29 healthy adults and randomly administered the capsule equivalent of drinking 1.5 liters of diet soda a day to 14 of the participants. The other 15 were given a placebo, according to a report in Diabetologia.After two weeks, the amount of good bacteria in the 14 subjects' gut had decreased, while gut pathogens had increased — potentially affecting the body's ability to regulate glucose.But while both studies' findings are compelling, experts say they are insufficient to establish causali

Oct 29, 2018By Choi Won-suk
Artificial sweeteners may be toxic to digestive gut microbes
News

Not exercising worse for health than smoking, diabetes and heart disease

Research has found that being fit can lead to a longer life, and that being sedentary is even deadlier than some diseases.According to a study published in JAMA Network Open, not exercising is more harmful to human health than smoking, diabetes, or heart disease.Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic studied 122,007 patients from January 1, 1991 to December 31, 2014, making them undergo treadmill testing and later recording mortality rates.Their findings indicate that cardiorespiratory fitness is linked to a longer lifespan, and that there is no limit to the benefits of exercise. There have been concerns that those who are overactive or exercise excessively are at a higher risk of death, but the research reveals that this is not the case.When compared to top exercise performers, the risk associated with death for those who were sedentary is 500 percent higher.The study concludes that a sedentary lifestyle is equivalent to having a major disease. (Next Animation via Reuters)

Oct 28, 2018By Choi Won-suk
Not exercising worse for health than smoking, diabetes and heart disease
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