Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Sookmyung to transfer technology to local firm

Yoon Suk-joon, right, professor of biological science at Sookmyung Women’s University, poses with Qurient Chairman and CEO Nam Ki-yean after signing a technology transfer contract on the school’s campus in Seoul, Sept. 25. /  Courtesy of Sookmyung Women’s UniversityBy Chung Hyun-chaeSookmyung Women’s University signed a technology transfer contract worth 300 million won ($257,000) with Qurient, a medicine research and development company, a school spokesman said Tuesday.He said the technology is useful in creating new anticancer drugs by analyzing biometric big data. He also said the contract will help Sookmyung expand academic-industrial cooperation.Funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, Yoon Suk-joon, a professor of biological science at the university, has worked to develop the technology since 2011.“Cancer begins when a mutation occurs in some genes of a cell. Through this technology, we can observe whether a certain drug is effective in finding those kinds of genes and fighting them,” Yoon said.  &

Oct 6, 2015

Sookmyung to transfer technology to local firm

Professor honored with top design award

Chung Kyung-won, left, an emeritus professor of industrial design at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) speaks after receiving a top award from the Design Management Institute at the Royal Serena Hotel in Boston on Sept. 28 for his dedication to the development of the sector. / Courtesy of KAISTBy Yoon Sung-wonChung Kyung-won, an emeritus professor of industrial design at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), has received a top award in the design industry in the United States, the institute said Monday.The professor was awarded the prize by the Design Management Institute (DMI), an international organization for the industry, on Sept. 28 at the Royal Serena Hotel in Boston for his dedication to promoting the value of the design industry worldwide, according to KAIST.“It is a great pleasure to receive the prize, which is like the Academy Award in the design management sector,” the professor said. “I hope this will serve as a chance for Korea’s design industry to raise its profile on the global sta

Oct 5, 2015

Man in love with Upo Wetland

Lee In-sikBy Kim Se-jeongLee In-sik, 63, a retired school teacher, moved to the Upo Wetland in Changnyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, five years ago.Lee bought an empty storage space there, spending all of his severance pay. He used that space to teach visitors about the importance of wetlands, and he opened a library inside the space on Aug. 29. On the same day, his book on Upo was published.The book, “The Secret Garden, Upo,” is an essay and a collection of his 5-year-long work at Upo, the nation’s largest inland wetland and one of eight on Ramsar’s wetland list in Korea.He goes out to the 2.13-square-kilometer wetland twice a day, acting like one of its guardians.Lee’s dedication to Upo has continued for the last 24 years.He was behind the effort to put Upo on the list of Ramsar wetlands. He urged Changwon, a city near Upo, to host the Ramsar International Convention and made it happen in 2008. He also writes for local newspapers and accepts invitations to speak about the wetlands.Asked about his motivation, he cited a toxic chemical spill in the Nak

Oct 2, 2015By Kim Se-jeong

Korean-Australian elected mayor of Sydney suburb

Ok Sang-dooBy Park Si-sooKorean-Australian Ok Sang-doo, 62, was elected mayor of Strathfield, an urban city populous with Korean immigrants in Australia, local media reported Thursday. His term is one year.Ok is the second Korean-Australian to assume the position. Kwon Gi-bum had the same job in 2008.Strathfield is located 14 kilometers west of Sydney and about 10 percent of its 40,000 citizens are Korean.“I will try hard to create an environment in which citizens get harmonized peacefully regardless of cultural background,” the new mayor was quoted as saying.He expressed his hope of being elected to the Australian parliament.Ok moved to Australia in 1985 after graduating from Sogang University in Seoul with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He then studied politics at the University of New South Wales.In 2012, he was elected as a member of the Strathfield Council. The following year, he was elected deputy mayor of the Sydney suburb.Ok has served as a business consultant for the Korean International Business Corporation for many years. 

Oct 1, 2015

Korean-Australian elected mayor of Sydney suburb

Navy officer helping Antarctic research

Senior Chief Petty Officer Lee Ki-young of the Navy’s Ship Salvage Unit (SSU) /  Courtesy of the NavyBy Kang Seung-woo One of the military’s missions is to protect citizens overseas and this even reaches out to the Antarctic, with a noncommissioned Navy officer helping researchers studying there.Senior Chief Petty Officer Lee Ki-young of the Navy’s Ship Salvage Unit (SSU) helps researchers and transports supplies for the King Sejong Station as the only Korean military person there. King Sejong is the nation’s first Antarctic research base and is located on King George Island, some 17,240 kilometers from Seoul.Since 2009, the Navy has sent a member of the underwater demolition team (UDT) or the SSU to the research station every year and Lee, 39, was selected for the mission in November last year.The transportation of supplies is an especially tough mission for Lee due to the weather conditions.The island has sub-zero temperatures all year, which prevents the building of a concrete dock, so rubber boats are the only tools to carry supplies.However, the

Sep 30, 2015By Kang Seung-woo

Folk duo Nature Airliner to land in Seoul

Folk duo Nature Airliner composed of Laurier Tiernan, left, and Eiko Hosaka will perform for the Zandari Festa 2015 at West Bridge Rooftop on Oct. 4./ Courtesy of Nature AirlinerBy Kwon Mee-yooNature Airliner is neither an airline, nor an adventure company, but the name could easily be mistaken as a brand in either business sector. Moreover, the Tokyo-based bi-cultural folk duo never stays long in one place.Their journey began in the autumn of 2007, when Canadian musician Laurier Tiernan met businesswoman and photographer Eiko Hosaka in Tokyo. Proposing to her two weeks later, they were married after four months and their pace has never let up."By 2010, I had a substantial amount of airplay for my (punk) solo career. However, I also had a stack of unreleased folk songs," Tiernan said. “One day, I asked Eiko to try singing one of them in our bedroom and her voice just blew me away. I then begged her to play just one gig with me, as a duo."That first show led to a flood of offers, taking them to cafes, restaurants, hotels, bars and festivals around Japan. Tiernan plays the guitar

Sep 29, 2015

Folk duo Nature Airliner to land in Seoul

SNU students remodel houses for the elderly

 Students of Seoul National University’s volunteer group “Lovengers” pose in a room after repairing a senior citizen’s house in Sillim-dong, southern Seoul,Sep. 20. They have repaired the houses for senior and poor citizens in the area who live alone since January. / Yonhap By Jhoo Dong-chan A group of Seoul National University (SNU) students has repaired houses of senior and poor citizens who live alone.They first met one another last December through the school’s club activity called “SNU Sunshine Volunteer” while delivering briquettes for people in need around Sillim-dong and Nangok-dong area near their university.They decided to repair the houses of senior citizens who live alone and are unable to do it by themselves. They learned how to wallpaper in January.“We wanted to utilize our major in helping them,” said group leader Kwak Jin-won who majors in civil and environmental engineering at the school.They named their volunteer group “Lovengers,” a mixture of the word love and the Hollywood blockbuste

Sep 25, 2015

Davich CEO eyes global presence

Davich Optical CEO Kim In-gyuBy Lee Min-hyungDavich Optical CEO Kim In-gyu says he wants to be a happiness messenger through glasses.Before launching the nation’s largest optical products chain in 2000, he started a small glasses store in Busan in 1986. He said he was inspired to jump into the business after realizing how happy customers are after they bought glasses.“My brother-in-law was running a glasses store before I launched my own store,” Kim said. “I used to go there and saw people leaving the store happy that they had bought their new glasses.”But his business did not go as well as he expected.“Three years after I got started, I had to close the store as thieves broke into my store on a holiday,” he said. “But I couldn’t forget seeing people excited to see a brighter world with their new glasses.”That is why he decided to devote his life to the glasses business.“I prepared again to open another store, more determined and more carefully,” he said. “My business then began to prosper, so I did not hes

Sep 24, 2015

Pilot takes charge as mission commander at Red Flag-Alaska

Maj. Seo Jae-kyong / Courtesy of Korean Air ForceBy Kang Seung-woo Maj. Seo Jae-kyong has become the first South Korean pilot to lead a multinational team as a mission commander during Exercise Red Flag-Alaska, a field training exercise held last month, according to the Air Force.Seven countries participated in the annual exercise, held by the U.S. Pacific Air Forces. They were the United Kingdom, Thailand, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Korea.“At first, I thought that I would be able to perform the duty because I could speak English,” said Seo, an F-16 pilot instructor of the 19th Fighter Wing.Seo’s mission was to lead a strike force that included fighter jets, electronic warfare and airborne early warning and control aircraft, and aerial refueling tankers.“However, while preparing for the mission, I faced growing pressure because Exercise Red Flag is one of the largest most comprehensive exercises in the world,” said the 37-year-old, who has flown more than 1,260 hours.“No one from the Korean Air Force has taken command of the exe

Sep 23, 2015By Kang Seung-woo

Pilot takes charge as mission commander at Red Flag-Alaska

'Ironman' beats cancer through triathlon

Choi Min-joon poses with his bicycle, Saturday, a day before the 2015 Ironman 70.3 Incheon Race was held at Songdo, Incheon, Sunday. / Courtesy of Emerson K PartnerBy Nam Hyun-wooINCHEON _ For Choi Min-joon, 41, the sport of triathlon came at a critical point in his life, when he was undergoing painful treatment for cancer.Four years after he was diagnosed with bowel cancer, he now boasts robust health, participating in one of the most grueling sports and he gives hope to others suffering from cancer.“After I was diagnosed with cancer, I felt people surrounding me, and even my family, thought of me as a sick person and I hated that so much,” Choi told The Korea Times during an interview before he participated in  the 2015 Ironman 70.3 Incheon Race at Songdo, Incheon, Sunday. “I was eager to show I’m okay and how well I am,” Choi said.The race requires athletes to finish 1.9 kilometers of swimming, 90 kilometers of cycling and 21.1 kilometers of running in eight hours. Though this race covers only half of a full Ironman course _3.86 kilometers o

Sep 22, 2015

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