Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Dankook opens software design center

Dankook University President Chang Ho-sung, third from left, hosts an opening ceremony for the Software Design Convergent Center on its Jukjeon campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. Rep. You Seung-hee of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, second from left, and Yongin Mayor Jung Chan-min, second from right, participated in the ceremony. / Courtesy of Dankook University By Chung Hyun-chae Dankook University held an opening ceremony for the Software Design Convergent Center on its Jukjeon campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday.“I hope our students will become creative talents who can innovate in a free atmosphere at the SW Design Convergent Center,” Dankook University President Chang Ho-sung said.“We aim to cultivate creative talent inspired by the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs,” said university spokesman Kim Nam-phil.The university launched the center in May in cooperation with SAP, IBM, SK Telecom and Yongin municipal authorities. The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning also provided financial support f

Jul 19, 2016

'Happy and healthy life is my motto'

Chef Mikhal Ashminov poses with a medicine ball used for BOOTCAMP training at the Sentinel One Box in Hannam-dong, Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of Emerson K PartnersBy Yun Suh-youngAfter suffering from poor blood circulation five years ago, Mikhal Ashminov decided to start working out. His health problem was caused by too much time spent standing due to his job and not exercising enough. The Bulgarian owner chef of Zelen, a Bulgarian restaurant in Itaewon, Seoul, came to Korea in 2002. He worked at the Sheraton and Westin hotels for three years until he decided to open his own restaurant in Seoul’s foreign district. Since 2006 he had managed the restaurant with success. Hard work may have paid off, but it took its toll on his health."My shin was all blue because I was always standing. I worked standing and ate standing. I'm a really busy guy. I worked 14 to 16 hours a day, so I couldn't find time to go to the gym. Then a friend of mine, who is also a Bulgarian chef, had the same problem and had his calf removed. I got so scared," said Ashminov during an interview with Th

Jul 19, 2016

BOK's first female executive retires

Suh Young-kyungBy Kim Jae-wonThe Bank of Korea’s (BOK) first female executive Suh Young-kyung left the central bank Friday, leaving a legacy of breaking the glass ceiling of the male-dominant organization.Suh retired from her post as deputy governor of the bank after completing her three-year term. She was the first female who reached the executive seat, but failed to climb further to become a senior deputy governor.The 53-year-old lifelong central banker said it was tough to forecast the economic situation since the global financial crisis. She had been in charge of economic analysis, economic statistics and international cooperation.“For the last few years, I had been struggling to analyze unusual economic situations, such as low growth and low inflation, sparked by the global financial crisis,” said Suh in her farewell speech.Indeed, it was a tough time for her and the central bank to navigate the sea of uncertainty. The BOK has been under pressure to cut its key interest rate to boost the sluggish economy while controlling snowballing household debt at the same

Jul 18, 2016

Unification seminar

Ewha Womans University’s vice president for international affairs Park Ihn-hwi, front row center, and Ewha students and professors pose with students of the University of Rostock, after wrapping up a two-day “summer academy” seminar on Ewha’s campus in Seoul, Saturday, under the theme of unification. Two professors of the University of Rostock in Germany are Stefan Creuzberger, back row left, and Gabriele Linke, front row second from right. Thirty-five students and 25 faculty members participated in the event co-organized by the two universities to discuss the unification of the Korean Peninsula. / Courtesy of Ewha Womans University

Jul 18, 2016

Ecuador earthquake relief aid

Singapore Korean International School Principal Park Jung-jae, third from right, presents a $1,500 donation to Singapore Red Cross Manager Katherine Tan at the Singapore Red Cross House, Friday. The fund, collected from the school’s students and teachers, will be used to help Ecuador recover from the damage caused by the 7.8 magnitude quake that devastated the South American country’s coast in April. / Courtesy of Singapore Korean International School

Jul 18, 2016

Finding missing persons is most rewarding experience

 Bak Han-chul By Lee Kyung-min For police officer Bak Han-chul, nothing is more rewarding than watching a person, whom he located after receiving a missing report, reunite with his or her family.“I genuinely feel happy for the family that I helped come together, thanking me for saving them from the thought that the person who went missing was dead,” said Bak at the Incheon Bupyeong Police Station.Bak, who became a police officer in 2005 and started at the missing persons department in July 2014, said his new line of work is emotionally more rewarding than his earlier mission including crackdowns and arrests.“Catching a bad guy is of course the duty of a police officer, but I feel I become more of a help to people who are desperately looking for their loved ones,” he said.Out of some 800 missing persons reported annually to the Incheon Bupyeong Police Station, the most memorable incident was when he recently helped a dementia patient, 92, who was staying in a state-run mental hospital, find her son, 71.The two met 19 years after she left home in

Jul 15, 2016

Finding missing persons is most rewarding experience

Doctor receives award for dedication to lepers

Dr. Kim In-kwonBy Yoon Ja-young Dr. Kim In-kwon has been awarded for his care of patients of Hansen’s disease, or leprosy, and others with disabilities. He’s been selected as the winner of the Seongcheon Prize awarded by the JW Foundation, a nonprofit run by the pharmaceutical JW Group, to recognize those offering medical services for the underprivileged.The foundation said that he was selected for his contributions to improving the human rights of the underprivileged as well as for their rehabilitation.As a graduate of Seoul National University’s medical school, Kim had an affluent and cozy life guaranteed. However, he gave up that life and volunteered to work at the national hospital for leprosy patients on Sorokdo, an island in Goheung County, South Jeolla Province, where lepers were kept isolated for nearly a century.The young doctor was accompanied by his wife and their daughter who was only two months old when they left for the island in 1980. His friends and family thought it would be okay for him to spend a few years serving there at the start of a long

Jul 14, 2016

Doctor receives award for dedication to lepers

Korean War vet gets highest US civilian honor

Retired Staff Sgt. Jose Diaz-Rivas, second from left, receives the Congressional Gold Medal for his contributions in the Korean War from Brooke Army Medical Center Commander Col. Jeffrey Johnson, as Diaz-Rivas’ wife and family look on, at Fort Sam Houston’s San Antonio Military Medical Center in Texas in thisJune 5 file photo. / Courtesy of U.S. ArmyBy Kang Seung-woo An 86-year-old Korean War veteran received the U.S. highest civilian award last month for his contributions during the war, according to the U.S. Army.Jose Diaz-Rivas, a retired staff sergeant who served with the 65th Infantry Regiment during the 1950-53 war, was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on June 5. The regiment was a Puerto Rican U.S. Army unit that made their mark in extensive campaigns during the conflict.“Not many people receive this medal; I feel very proud,” said Diaz-Rivas as he accepted the medal during a ceremony at Fort Sam Houston’s San Antonio Military Medical Center in Texas.Thanks to the regiment’s achievements in the Korean War, its soldiers earned m

Jul 13, 2016

Korean War vet gets highest US civilian honor

Ex-judoist works for public health

Chang Jung-sooBy Park Jin-haiChang Jung-soo, 64, has faced many challenges in life.As an aspiring young judo student, he left his hometown Daegu and came up to Seoul to find the bigger world. While studying at Hanyang University on full scholarship, he didn’t miss the opportunity to go overseas and become a national judo wrestling team coach in Bolivia, before becoming chairman of NuriVision, an anti-spam company.“I have always been chasing my dreams. I kept on saying to myself that I should venture out and look for the bigger world. If I had stayed in the country, I could be teaching students at school, but my dream was larger than that,” said Chang, during an interview with The Korea Times.In 1977, he led the national wrestling team in Bolivia, where judo was not a popular sport, and under his leadership the team clinched a total of 18 medals at international judo competitions.The achievement led the sport to be included in the regular curriculum and landed him more teaching jobs at the Military College of Bolivia and the National Police Academy. “As an over

Jul 12, 2016

Culture expert set to open library

Choi Jin-yong, former Uijeongbu Arts Center president, poses at his home in Jongno, central Seoul. / Courtesy of Seoul Culture TodayBy Lee Min-hyungChoi Jin-yong is planning to open a library for his massive collection of books on art and culture.The former president of the Uijeongbu Arts Center, 69, has devoted over four decades of his life to fostering the nation’s cultural heritage as a government official.In his decades-long career as a culture expert, he found himself immersed in reading and collecting books about culture in various areas including performing arts, folklore and sculpture. He said he has so far accumulated more than 40,000 books from the 1960s to 2000s.“I am in talks with a few provincial governments over opening a library for my collection of art books,” Choi said.Interested government bodies include Incheon City, Gimpo City and Jongno District in Seoul, he said.“Nothing specific has yet been decided over the library plan, but what I want is a cultural landmark where people can easily come and enjoy the nation’s modern, cultural his

Jul 11, 2016

People & Events

People & Events

Dankook opens software design center

'Happy and healthy life is my motto'

BOK's first female executive retires

Unification seminar

Ecuador earthquake relief aid

Finding missing persons is most rewarding experience

Doctor receives award for dedication to lepers

Korean War vet gets highest US civilian honor

Ex-judoist works for public health

Culture expert set to open library

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