Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Diplomats experience Korean calligraphy

Popular Hangeul calligrapher Kang Byung-in demonstrates various calligraphy styles for the Koreancharacter “Kkot,” or flower in English. In the back row from left are Austrian Ambassador to KoreaElisabeth Bertagnoli, Singaporean Ambassador Wei Kiat Yip, Malaysian Ambassador Rohana Ramliand Alexandra Prasetio, the spouse of the Indonesian ambassador. / Korea Times photo by Kim Jae-heunBy Kim Jae-heunRenowned Korean calligrapher Kang Byung-in gave a speech and lesson on Korean calligraphy to foreign diplomats at the invitation of the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI), led by President Choi Jung-hwa, at the residence of Malaysian Ambassador Dato Rohana Ramli, Tuesday.“I am honored to introduce Korean calligraphy to foreign ambassadors tonight,” said Kang. “We tend to limit Korean letters as phonograms, but Hangeul can also express the meaning of the letters through calligraphy. I wanted to show the value of Korean letters, especially to foreigners who may only know Hangeul as a means to deliver information.”After an hour-long speech, Kang wro

Feb 25, 2016

Global citizenship education

Sixty-four teachers from elementary and secondary schools across the nation celebrate the completion of a five-day global citizenship education course at the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU) under the auspices of UNESCO in Guro-gu, western Seoul, Feb. 19. The course was designed to help teachers cultivate schoolchildren as global citizens who have a better understanding of world peace, human rights and cultural diversity. / Courtesy of APCEIU

Feb 24, 2016

Activist campaigns for bill for N. Koreans

Ihn Ji-yeon, center, the founder and president of Now! Act for North Koreans! (NANK), delivers a collectionof photos on the group’s activities to National Assembly Speaker Chung Ui-hwa at Chung’s office in Seoul on Dec. 22, 2015. / Courtesy of Ihn Ji-yeonBy Yi Whan-wooNow! Act for North Koreans! (NANK), a Seoul-based activist group set up in September 2013, has been campaigning for the parliament to pass approval for a long-stalled bill drawn up to research, record and attempt to counter Pyongyang’s human rights abuses. With the National Assembly set to pass the bill by the end of this week, Ihn Ji-yeon, the founder and president of NANK, says her next goal is to help North Koreans who have left the isolated state socially integrate in the South.“It will not be the end, but just the beginning for me and NANK if the bill on North Korean human rights is approved,” she told The Korea Times in a phone interview, Tuesday. “The passage of the bill is a small but critical step for social integration in a unified Korea and that’s why NANK h

Feb 24, 2016

Activist campaigns for bill for N. Koreans

Late student gets honorary certificate

The late life sciences student Jang Se-min, left, poses with his father and younger brother before his death in this file photo. / Courtesy of POSTECHBy Yoon Sung-wonThe late life sciences student Jang Se-min has received an honorary completion certificate from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH).According to the university, it granted the certificate to the late student Friday to commemorate his dedication to the study of life sciences.“Though his time at the university was short, he was an impressive student with academic passion and dedication,” said Kim Kyung-tae, a life sciences professor at POSTECH. Kim, who used to be Jang’s academic advisor, petitioned the university administration to grant the late student an honorary completion certificate.“He also had a positive mind and a lively nature, which helped him make good relationships with other students. If he could have continued studying, I am sure that he would have become a sincere life scientist,” Kim said.Born in 1992, Jang was brought up in a Christian family and learne

Feb 22, 2016

Korea Times photographer wins award

Shim Hyun-chulBy Kim Rahn Shim Hyun-chul, photojournalist for The Korea Times, won an award at an annual news photography contest hosted by the Korea Press Photographers Association (KPPA).With his photo titled “The Last Bow,” featuring the late Keangnam Enterprises Chairman Sung Woan-jong, Shim won the runner-up prize in the “people in the news” category for the 52nd annual contest.In the photo published in last year’s April 9 edition, Sung bows during a press conference in Seoul held the previous day where he denied allegations of embezzlement and influence-peddling. A day after the conference, Sung committed suicide, making the photo one of his last official appearances. He left behind a list of eight politicians who allegedly received kickbacks from him, two of whom the prosecution indicted.Shim, who joined The Korea Times in 2006, has won seven other photo awards from the association.Besides Shim’s photo, the KPPA honored 38 photos in 11 categories. The award-winning pieces will be exhibited at COEX in southern Seoul May 3-15.

Feb 22, 2016

Pictures of the year 2015

Taekwondo practitioner becomes cop

Kim Seung-hee, a former national taekwondo champion turned police officer, demonstrates a side kick in front of her office in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, Thursday. / YonhapBy Kim Bo-eunA skilled taekwondo practitioner is starting the second chapter of her life as a police officer.Kim Seung-hee, 28, was one of the former or competing athletes hired as martial arts specialist police officers. She was assigned to Gunsan Police Station in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, earlier this month. Now undergoing police training, she will start working there in April.Kim was a gold medalist in the 2004 Asian Taekwondo Championships and the 2011 World University Taekwondo Open Competition.“I cannot express how happy I am,” Kim told The Korea Times. “Although I have just started training (as a police officer), the pride I feel through this job is much greater than when I was only practicing taekwondo.“The greatest part is that I can help others through my work.”Because she represented South Korea in taekwondo, Kim said she wanted to work for the country and its

Feb 19, 2016

Fast Campus CEO to export career education

Lee Kang-min, CEO of Fast Campus, speaks about his company’s career education courses and overseasstrategy at his office in southern Seoul, Friday. / Courtesy of Fast CampusBy Lee Min-hyungLee Kang-min, 32, is seeking to change the nation’s educational landscape by exporting career education.As CEO at the career education company Fast Campus, Lee runs some 50 education courses for jobseekers.“Unlike developed countries in Europe and in North America, most Asian countries do not have well-established education programs,” he said in an interview last week. “We are planning to diversify our revenue streams by expanding our education programs into countries such as China.”The startup chief expressed optimism for the project, as the company has seen what he calls “surging demand” in only two years after opening. More than 3,500 students have registered for the programs as of the end of last year, according to him. He said this is a massive increase, compared to just 800 students in 2014.The company is set to offer online courses starting in

Feb 18, 2016

Fast Campus CEO to export career education

Woman to head detention center for 1st time

Song Hwa-sookBy Kim Hyo-jin Song Hwa-sook, 57, was appointed head of the Seoul Juvenile Detention Center, Monday ― the first woman in the country to have been put in charge of such an institution. Song was credited as an expert who has worked in the penal reform sector for over 27 years, according to the justice ministry.The Seoul center, the country’s biggest youth correctional facility, opened in 1942, provides secondary education and job training to about 250 juveniles. Song began her civil service career as an English teacher in 1986. “I’m really pleased and honored to become the head of my first workplace,” Song said. “I will do my utmost to help our students to become able and to stand on their own feet after they are discharged.”Song was a teacher at a secondary school in North Jeolla Province. She recalled that there were many students who dropped out of school due to financial difficulties. She helped them attend an evening school after working in a factory during the daytime.In hopes of helping more young students in need, Song appli

Feb 17, 2016

Woman to head detention center for 1st time

Conan O'Brien upsets Korean fans with bungled event

American show host Conan O’Brien enters the POSCO P&S Tower, where his meet-and-greet withfans took place on Monday. / YonhapBy Kwon Ji-younAmerican late-night talk show host Conan O’Brien has come under fire for allegedly cutting a fan meet-and-greet short to see U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert.The event was supposed to last for about two hours on Monday evening with some 230 Korean fans at the Posco P&S Tower in southern Seoul, but ended after just 30 minutes without a clear explanation. Shortly after his departure from the scene, the U.S. Embassy posted a photo of O’Brien standing with the ambassador.Fans at the event claim the ambassador’s unexpected appearance might be the main reason for the bungled event. But the U.S. Embassy in Seoul and the event’s organizers denied the allegations, saying his visit was “brief” and the ambassador had nothing to do with the short-lived event.“The ambassador’s meeting with O’Brien was very brief, and definitely not the reason his meeting with fans was cut short,&rd

Feb 16, 2016

Conan O'Brien upsets Korean fans with bungled event

Designer has vision for 10-year diary

Jo Kwang-mee, creative director and CEO of JKMDesign, holds the 10-year diary./ Courtesy of JKMDesignBy Yun Suh-young"What's a 10-year diary? You use it for 10 years?"This is the typical reaction when people first encounter the unfamiliar product dubbed the "10-year diary."A 10-year diary is, literally, a diary to be used for a decade. But what differentiates it from regular diaries is not just its thickness. Each page has 10 boxes with the same date but different year written on it. In other words, users will be able to see a 10-year schedule of the same date all in one page."I wanted to create a diary which helps people to look back on themselves. This is a diary for self-designing which means it helps you design your future and reflect on your past," said Jo Kwang-mee, creative director and CEO of JKMDesign, who created the diary."You cannot but inevitably see what you did today last year or the year before. You would contemplate your past actions and plan for a better future through the pages."Jo is a package designer who began her design career as creative director of Coca-