Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Things you need to know about hepatitis A

By Yoo Youk-jin Hepatitis A is an acute infection of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV), which is most commonly transmitted by contaminated food or drinking water. According to the World Health Organisation, there are an estimated 1.5 million new cases of hepatitis A each year, worldwide. It's particularly common in less developed countries with extreme poverty or poor sanitation conditions. Africa, northern and southern Asia, and parts of South America, all have high rates of the disease. In these regions almost every adult carries antibodies for hepatitis A suggesting that it is quite usual for people to be exposed to the infection, usually during childhood, and naturally develop immunity. This is not different from what has occurred in South Korea, and it is the reason why most Koreans over 50 years in age have immunity against HAV. However, in contrast the younger Korean population are rarely exposed to the virus after birth, so they don’t have similar immunity. More than 15,000 Korean people were infected last year, and the number of reported cases is incr

Nov 21, 2010

Book explores 30 wonders of Korean Buddhism

By Han Sang-hee Understanding a religious faith is difficult — spanning the scope from the history and culture to philosophy and practices, it would be nearly impossible to completely learn a given tradition in a short period of time, although people benefit greatly by using various sources, including books. The Korea Buddhism Promotion Foundation has been working hard to make Buddhism and its unique culture and teachings accessible to both the local and foreign crowds, and it hopes to facilitate the process with a new book, “The Colors of Korean Buddhism: 30 Icons and Their Stories.” The book introduces distinctive icons that represent Korean Buddhism, which also have been published in The Korea Times from February to September this year. The series was called “Icons of Korean Buddhism” and introduced 30 of the representative or most typical Korean Buddhist cultural items, personas and symbols. “Throughout Korean history, the role of Korean Buddhism has not only been confined to religious or ideological aspects but has been part of Korean people’s lives and the b

Nov 21, 2010

400th Turtle Marathon to be held on Sunday

The monthly Turtle Marathon is celebrating its 400th anniversary this Sunday. Organized by The Korea Times’ sister company, the Hankook Ilbo, the Turtle Marathon has been held once a month since 1978, with some 120,000 people taking part. Unlike an ordinary marathon, the Turtle Marathon enables participants to walk slowly and enjoy the early morning air and natural surroundings. To celebrate the special occasion, marathoner Lee Bong-ju, who won the silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics, the 2010 Miss Koreas, singer Tae Jin-ah and pop duo Norajo will join the healthy and refreshing walk. Lee Tae-yong, chief director of the Korea Energy Management Corporation, will lead this month’s event, which will also include a special program to raise awareness on energy savings. There will also be a raffle for prizes such as an LED television (Samsung Electronics), certificate for a free international flight (Hana Tour, Green Tour), health check-up certificates (Korea University), sneakers and sportswear (Adidas Outdoor), jewelry (Blumer Korea), a Panasonic DSLR camera, kimchi

Nov 19, 2010

(113)Differences in leadership, part 2

In keeping with the previous column, we will review the saju ― Eastern philosophy of reading one’s fate ― of two more leaders, in order to understand their life stories and the differences or similarities in leadership styles. Lula da Silva, the 35th and current President of Brazil, is being ranked as the most popular Brazilian president in its history. He has been elected president in 2002 and will end his reign in January 2011, after eight years of presidency. Lula was born with yin earth energy, which is usually represented by crop fields. Yin earth is translated into patience and benevolence ― it provides a space for people to harvest. The plants obtain nourishment from the soil and yield fruits for the people. The yin field opens itself with no strings attached. It is sociable but has internal strengths. As we have often seen in the saju of political leaders, we see the abundance of earth, self energy, nourished by great fire energy, or the knowledge star. However, looking at his earlier life, his career star (wood) was chopped by metal. When reading one’s

Nov 18, 2010

Important facts about asthma

By Bae Ji-sook People with asthma are quite vulnerable to cold weather, allergies and dust. In low temperatures and dusty environments asthma suffers cough more often and breathing problems. According to the definition provided by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, asthma is a chronic lung disease that inflames and narrows the airways. Asthma causes recurring periods of wheezing (a whistling sound made when you breathe), chest tightness, shortness of breath, and coughing. The coughing often occurs at night or early in the morning. As of the latest report in 2007, there are more than 2.4 million asthma patients in Korea. If you have been kept awake during the night because of excessive coughing or shortness of breath; or have always felt short of breath after exercise; suffered from colds or flu for more than three weeks; have had breathing problems after taking cough drops or hypertension pills or have eczema, you should consult your doctor because you might have asthma. Dr. Shin Jong-wook of Chung-Ang University Hospital says people with incorrect information a

Nov 7, 2010

Won Buddhism to bring ethics to G20 politics

By Ines Min Won Buddhism of Manhattan, a U.N.-accredited NGO, opens the second annual G20 Universal Ethics Summit in Seoul, Sunday. The seven-day, multi-faceted event looks to bring a return of global focus to ethics and leadership principles. The religion and culture summit seeks to recalibrate the fundamental goals of influential figures in order to avoid further economic crises. Comprising of lectures, panels and an inter-religious retreat, more than 60 participants are expected to attend the events of the G20 Universal Ethics Summit. The international meeting’s highlights are divided into three days of focused discussion, while the retreat lasts for longer than the duration of the activities. The “G20 Moral Politics” forum opens Nov. 9 in Highwon Village at 9 a.m. The first full day of events will focus on creating a draft statement on ethics for the eventual signing by 25 leaders of countries. Ven. Dr. Chung Ok-lee, executive director of the U.N. Affairs and Interreligious Work office of Won Buddhism, will provide a welcoming address, while opening remarks will be

Nov 5, 2010

(112) Differences in leadership between Sarkozy and Merkel

By Janet Shin Korea will be hosting the Group of 20 Summit in November. Not only political leaders from G20-member countries, but business leaders, and thousands of government officials, academics and journalists will visit Korea. Among the national leaders visiting for the summit, some in particular interest us with their unique life stories leading up to their presidency and influencing their philosophies and ways of politics. We will review the saju of two leaders, Nicolas Sarkozy, the 23rd and current president of the French Republic, and Angela Merkel, the first female chancellor of Germany. The two show different leadership qualities in governing their respective countries. First, Sarkozy was born on Jan. 28, 1955, and his saju is as below. The French president was born with the energy of yin earth, which is representative of crop fields. Born in the yin earth month, where the energy is very cold, it would have been difficult to plant any crops without the help of fire energy (warmth) in the month stem and year branch. His wood energy, which stands for the

Nov 4, 2010

Buddhist association to hold scholars meeting

By Ines Min The Korean Association for Buddhist Studies opens its annual fall seminar for scholars Friday at Dongguk University, central Seoul. This year’s meeting focuses on Eastern Buddhism’s dissemination and development in the West as well as its future direction. A number of renowned scholars of Buddhism and related fields will attend to give lectures, comments and analyses, providing an opportunity for seasoned academics to meet with up-and-coming researchers. A section focusing on Buddhism and history includes a discussion on the Avatamska Sutra, the Korean translation of a Jogye Order text and the period of enlightenment. Lead speakers include Kim Jin-hyun, an instructor at Dongguk University and Haeinsa Temple; Jung Kyung-sook, an Indian philosopher Ph.D at Dongguk; and Park Yong-mo, in the doctorate’s program of Dongguk, respectively. Attendees can also look forward to a section on Applied Buddhism, with lecture topics ranging from the advice and psychology of early Buddhist growth in the West and the principles of Zen. Other attending scholars include Kwon

Nov 3, 2010

Unexplained physical symptoms need mind

By Kang Do-hyung Many of you may have more than one experience of clear physical pain such as headache or nausea without any medical reason at one point in your life, especially when you were stressed out, In most cases, such sparse experiences do not imply a disorder, but in some cases, they do. In this article, I would like to introduce a mental disorder that is called the somatoform disorder. Somatoform disorder is caused by cognitive, social and behavioral factors, and is characterized by various physical discomforts and pain without an adequate physical reason and it is distinguished from malingering. Although only about 0.1 to 0.3% of population is diagnosed with somatoform disorders, those who suffer from somatoform symptoms are way more common in general population. The onset of somatoform disorder often takes place around the age of 30 or younger, and it is significantly more common in women than in men. Somatoform disorders include somatization disorder, conversion disorder, and pain disorder. Also, there are two categories in somatoform disorders: monosymptomati

Oct 31, 2010

(111) Face and Fate

By Janet Shin A Korean plastic surgeon recently released a report detailing the most appealing female faces for each ethnic group. Statistics on the optimal ratio and shape of one’s eyes, cheekbones, nose and chin were unveiled in composite pictures of various races. How is this related with saju, which tells of one’s fate? Historically, people have yearned to read their fates through a variety of channels. There are many historical academic references about their studies. In summary, their efforts were made through three major philosophical concepts, Heaven, Earth and Man. We may apply these in various ways. In terms of understanding one’s destiny, they wanted to know the teachings of heaven through saju or Chinese astrology from one’s birth ― although sub-concepts of heaven, earth and man are also found within saju, too. The teachings of earth were read through feng shui. Lastly, the teachings of man were expressed in appearance. Ancient masters tried to read people’s faces along with saju to tell their destinies. These ancient teachings were not based on superficial

Oct 28, 2010

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