The Korea Times

Koreans pick material well-being as top source of meaning in life: survey

gettyimagesbankBy Yoon Ja-youngKoreans pick “material well-being” as the number one factor that makes their lives meaningful, a survey showed.According to a survey by the U.S.-based Pew Research Center, which posed an open-ended question about the meaning of life in 17 advanced economies, people in 14 countries picked “family” as the most significant source of meaning in their lives, more than any other factor. “Family” includes quality time spent with their kinfolk, the pride they get from the accomplishments of their relatives and even the desire to live a life that leaves a better world for their offspring. “Family” was cited as a meaningful factor by around half or more of the respondents in Australia, New Zealand, Greece and the U.S. The survey allowed respondents to choose multiple answers. Family, however, was not the top choice in Spain, Taiwan or Korea. “Health” was cited by most Spaniards, while Taiwanese picked “society,” which the research center defines as the institutions and attributes of where peo

Dec 2, 2021By Yoon Ja-young

Koreans pick material well-being as top source of meaning in life: survey

Law & Crime

Hackers peeping into Korea's apartments through intercom systems: report

gettyimagesbankBy Yoon Ja-youngA media report stating that smart controlling systems installed in newly built apartments are vulnerable to hacking, is triggering concern that footage of residents' private lives could be stolen and sold to shady online business operators, including porn sites.IT Chosun, a news outlet specializing in IT, recently reported that video recordings of ordinary households in Korea are being sold on the Dark Web, or webpages not indexed by search engines, and that have hidden IP addresses. The hacker it contacted claimed that they had hacked most intercom systems with cameras in Korea's apartments and that the footage had been extracted and sold.The hacker presented thumbnails as evidence, including shots of naked people in their homes. The hacker requested 0.1 BTC, or a bitcoin worth around 8 million won, for the video footage from one day in someone's home, according to the news outlet. The systems installed at apartments first started as intercoms but now enable controlling various home devices, such as lighting and heating. Some new models even include ca

Nov 25, 2021By Yoon Ja-young

Hackers peeping into Korea's apartments through intercom systems: report

Trends

Evolutionary biologist says having children in Korea today is a 'stupid' choice

A screenshot from the YouTube channel of Choi Jae-chun, a professor of animal behavior and ecology in the College of Natural Sciences at Ewha Womans University, shows him talking about Korea's low birthrate.By Yoon Ja-youngA renowned evolutionary biologist in Korea has said that it is a “stupid” choice to have children here.Choi Jae-chun, a professor in the College of Natural Sciences at Ewha Womans University specializing in the behavior and ecology of animals, said on his YouTube channel that it would not be wise to give birth and raise a child in Korea today.He said that, from his viewpoint as an evolutionary biologist who studies animal behavior and ecology, the current low birthrate in Korea is a “natural” consequence, since it is the result of an evolutionary adaptation. The country's total birthrate, or the number of babies born per woman, was 0.84 last year, the world's lowest.“Animals that can't control (their desire to breed) when there is no food or shelter are very unlikely to survive.”He cited studies by evolutionary biologists that ha

Nov 25, 2021By Yoon Ja-young

Evolutionary biologist says having children in Korea today is a 'stupid' choice

Sports

'World Taekwondo Peace Festival' sheds light on the sport's contribution to world peace

The World Taekwondo's demonstration team performs during the "World Taekwondo Peace Festival" at the Seosomun Shrine History Museum in Seoul, Nov. 22. Courtesy of World TaekwondoBy Yoon Ja-youngA special event to instill pride in the world's 100 million taekwondo practitioners as guardians of peace was held in central Seoul, Nov. 22.The "World Taekwondo Peace Festival," co-hosted by World Taekwondo (WT), the sport's global governing body, GCS International and the U.N. Association of Korea, was held at the Seosomun Shrine History Museum, Monday evening, to commemorate 2021, the “special year” for taekwondo. The Tokyo Olympics held this summer, after a one-year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, marked the 20th anniversary since the introduction of taekwondo as an official Olympic sport while the year also marks the 40th anniversary of the U.N. International Day of Peace, which was first suggested by the late Choue Young-seek, the founder of Kyung Hee University and father of WT President Choue Chung-won. Taekwondo is recognized as a sport that has contributed significant

Nov 22, 2021By Yoon Ja-young

Sports

Goyang City goes all-out as host of World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships

Goyang Major Lee Jae-joon speaks during an interview with The Korea Times, Nov. 16. Courtesy of Goyang City GovernmentNorth Korea invited and likely to participateBy Yoon Ja-youngWith the world still struggling against the COVID-19 pandemic, major sports events have been suspended too. But against such odds, the World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships, scheduled to be held in Goyang City next April, will be the first major international sports event in the country since the outbreak of the pandemic, and the city is going all-out to host the event.“We stressed 'safety' when we were competing to host the poomsae championships. Goyang City had been in the spotlight around the world, having been the first to introduce drive-through testing centers during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mayor Lee Jae-joon said during an interview with The Korea Times. Located northwest of Seoul, the city led a number of innovations during the pandemic, which include tracking visitors in crowded facilities like cafes, restaurants or shopping malls by simply having them make a phone call, instead of writi

Nov 19, 2021By Yoon Ja-young

Goyang City goes all-out as host of World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships

Sports

World Taekwondo to commemorate decades-long journey toward world peace

World Taekwondo (WT) President Choue Chung-won talks with The Korea Times during a recent interview at WT headquarters in Seoul. Courtesy of WTCombat sport puts peace before triumphBy Yoon Ja-young“This is not about fighting. It's about courage, it's about confidence and respect.” That's what Terry Crews, the host of NBC's “America's Got Talent,” said after a performance by the World Taekwondo (WT) demonstration team, excitedly pushing the Golden Buzzer to advance the team to the quarterfinals. If there were one more word that should be added to Crew's description of taekwondo, it would be peace. This combat sport is about self-defense rather than offense. It protects not only the self but also the weak. And when it protects the weak, it helps others. “It seems that taekwondo is more properly evaluated in other countries. Parents are fascinated by the values that it instills in children. It goes beyond being a combat sport. They acknowledge the philosophical meaning there,” WT President Choue Chung-won said in a recent interview with The Korea Time

Nov 17, 2021By Yoon Ja-young

World Taekwondo to commemorate decades-long journey toward world peace

Economy

Paradox of job policy: Irregular workers increasing despite Moon's rosy promise

gettyimagesbankBy Yoon Ja-youngGetting rid of precarious, irregular jobs was one of the key pledges of President Moon Jae-in to address social inequality in the form of dualism in the labor market ― the gap between high-paid, well-protected regular employees, and low-paid, irregular ones with unstable working conditions. Starting from pressuring state-run companies to give contract workers regular positions, despite fairness issues, the administration has kept “zero irregular workers” at the top of its employment agenda. As of June, a total of 196,000 irregular workers in the public sector had gained regular status.With only a few months left before Moon leaves office, however, the number of irregular employees ― including temporary, contract, part-time and outsourced workers ― has surged to a record high, as experts say the government's short-sighted employment policy has brought about the completely opposite outcome to the promised results ― just as its housing policy did.Record-high number of irregular workersAccording to the latest data released by Statistics Korea, t

Nov 14, 2021By Yoon Ja-young

Paradox of job policy: Irregular workers increasing despite Moon's rosy promise

More Koreans frustrated by 'broken social ladder'

Law & Crime

Man found guilty of sex crime for filming cheating wife

gettyimagesbankBy Yoon Ja-youngA man was found guilty of a sex crime for filming his wife as she engaged in an extramarital affair. The couple was in the midst of divorce proceedings.The appellate department of Ulsan District Court sentenced a man in his 50s to a fine of 1 million won ($850) and 40 hours in a sexual violence treatment program for the violation. The man was indicted for breaking into a studio apartment in Ulsan on an early morning in August of last year, inflicting violence on his wife and the man who was with her, and filming them with his smartphone. He used a ladder to climb up to the window and gain entry to the premises. He had secretly followed his wife, who had left home after an argument. He then broke into the premises she had entered and was infuriated to find her with the man, both in their underwear. The lower court had found the husband guilty only for breaking into the studio apartment and inflicting violence, and had sentenced him to a 2-million-won fine for these acts. It had determined that his filming them with a smartphone doesn't constitute a sexua

Nov 9, 2021By Yoon Ja-young

Man found guilty of sex crime for filming cheating wife

Travel & Food

'Korea has chicken size problem': Columnist slams sauce-focused vendors

gettyimagesbankBy Yoon Ja-youngA well-known food columnist has slammed Korean fried chicken for being too small. Food critic Hwang Kyo-ik recently made a series of postings on his Facebook claiming that Korean fried chicken is too expensive and that therefore, the meat doesn't taste that good. “Korean chicken is not tasty. It is not tasty because the chicken is small,” he wrote. He said that the fried chicken currently being served at chicken restaurants in Korea is made from small broiler chickens weighing about 1.5 kilograms. “Some people insist that these small broiler chickens taste better than big broiler chickens. I wonder if they have ever tried big broiler chickens weighing around 3 kilograms.”He presented data from the Rural Development Administration comparing small and large chicken. The report cites increasing costs and tasteless meat as the key problems of producing small chicken, while large chicken can reduce production costs by 20 percent.He said that consumers in other countries enjoy fried chicken made using bigger chickens. “Korean fri

Nov 9, 2021By Yoon Ja-young

'Korea has chicken size problem': Columnist slams sauce-focused vendors

Entertainment

'Squid Game' actor appears at LA event with Daesang Group vice chairwoman

Lee Jung-jae arrives at the LACMA Art + Film Gala at Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles, Nov. 6. AP-Yonhap By Yoon Ja-youngActor Lee Jung-jae, who stars in the global hit Netflix original series, “Squid Game,” was in the spotlight at an art and film event held in Los Angeles, appearing with Lim Se-ryung, who is the vice chairwoman of the Korean condiment and food manufacturing conglomerate, Daesang Group. The couple have been in a relationship for seven years. The 49-year-old actor attended the LACMA Art+Film Gala held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles, Nov. 6. The annual event, supported by the luxury brand, Gucci, aims to honor artists who have contributed to the development of modern and visual art. Among the participants this year were the other Korean actors of “Squid Game,” Lee Byung-hun and Park Hae-soo, as well as its director, Hwang Dong-hyuk. The other Korean actors, Kang Dong-won and Jung Woo-sung, as well as film directo

Nov 8, 2021By Yoon Ja-young

Yoon Ja-young

Read more

Koreans pick material well-being as top source of meaning in life: survey

Hackers peeping into Korea's apartments through intercom systems: report

Evolutionary biologist says having children in Korea today is a 'stupid' choice

'World Taekwondo Peace Festival' sheds light on the sport's contribution to world peace

Goyang City goes all-out as host of World Taekwondo Poomsae Championships

World Taekwondo to commemorate decades-long journey toward world peace

Paradox of job policy: Irregular workers increasing despite Moon's rosy promise

Man found guilty of sex crime for filming cheating wife

'Korea has chicken size problem': Columnist slams sauce-focused vendors

'Squid Game' actor appears at LA event with Daesang Group vice chairwoman

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