Lifestyle - The Korea Times

'A good pianist should be subjective'

Pianist Kim Jae-young performs at Carnegie Hall in this January 2012 file photo.  / Korea TimesPianist Kim Jae-youngBy Park Jin-haiKim Jae-young, 21, won this year’s prestigious Yamaha Young Performing Artists (YYPA) Competition for Piano, with eight other young musicians also victorious in different musical fields.The only Korean among the winners will leave for the YYPA Celebration Weekend to be held at Ball State University in Indiana from June 20 to 23. This will include rehearsals, master classes and workshops focusing on having a career in music.Kim, a Juilliard undergraduate student, under the tutelage of Jerome Lowenthal, says he started playing the piano when his mother noticed he had perfect pitch at the age of five.  “Since then, my life has been deeply involved with the piano. All those good and bad years, the piano has been always by my side,” said Kim, during an e-mail interview with The Korea Times.He studied at the Korea National University of Arts in Seoul before moving to the United States in 2011. Kim also took lessons at the Eastman Sch

Jun 18, 2015By Park Jin-hai

Wine competition

Sommelier Lee Jung-hoon sniffs Australian wine to examine its quality during the final contest of the Korea Wine Challenge 2015, an international wine competition, in the Korean Wine Challenge office in Jongno, downtownSeoul, Wednesday. The 11th annual event, sponsored by the monthly magazine Wine Review, was held from June 8 to 17 to select the best wine. Among 705 entries from 20 countries, six wines were selected as winners in each category — sparkling, white, red, rose, fortified, sweet — by fivejudges including Lee. Maycas del Limari Quebrada Seca of Spain was chosen as the trophy red wine./ Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Jun 17, 2015

Golf gathering

Ambassadors representing 13 countries and honorary consuls representing 15 countries pose before they play golf at Lakeside Country Club in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. The 13 ambassadors are from Switzerland, Thailand, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Pakistan, the Philippines, Mongolia, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Morocco, Peru and Fiji. The honorary consul corps led by Yu Seung-pil, honorary consul-general of Haiti, hosts the friendship golf competition every year to strengthen ties. / Courtesy of Yu Seung-pil

Jun 17, 2015

'Bi-cultural self-esteem essential for interracial children'

Olivia IhBy Yi Whan-wooKorea faces growing challenges in successfully embracing interracial children as members of society. According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, their numbers peaked at 204,204 in January 2014.Olivia Ih, 29, a native French lecturer at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA), says self-esteem and critical thinking as a bi-cultural and bi-lingual person are essential for interracial children to adapt to the communities of their parents’ origin.Having been raised by a Korean father and a French mother, Olivia married a Korean man in 2013 and is now working on her doctoral thesis on marriage migrants at Ewha Womans University.“Be proud of who you are, of having two cultures, and you will become a valuable member of Korean society,” she said in an e-mail interview with The Korea Times, Tuesday.Olivia advised people with a diverse background to remain objective when speaking about different cultures, not making superficial observations while considering why cultural differences exist.“For instance

Jun 17, 2015By Yi Whan-woo

'Bi-cultural self-esteem essential for interracial children'

Yangpa sings at baseball stadium

Korean singer Yangpa performs during a baseball match between theTexas Rangers and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas, Monday. She sang the national anthems of Korea and the United States consecutively, winning the applause of spectators. / Yonhap

Jun 16, 2015

Artists shed light on global issues at UN

Curator Kim Yu-yeon, second from left, poses with artists participating in the “Intersections/New Conjunctions” exhibit at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on June 3. The artists are Cha Jae-min from Korea, left, Sabine Bitter from Austria, second from right, and Yuken Teruya from Japan. / Courtesy of Kim Yu-yeonBy Kwon Mee-yooIndependent curator Kim Yu-yeon has just concluded a contemporary art exhibit at the United Nations Headquarters in New York that ran from June 1-15.Titled "Intersections/New Conjunction," the exhibition focused on a wide range of social issues, ranging from excessive urbanization and rapid economic growth to environmental pollution and human rights problems.Kim is a New York-based curator who has extensive experience in international exhibitions, including "Tong" at Haeinsa Temple in Korea in 2011 and the Mediations Biennale 2008 in Poland. She also introduced Korean artists to the world through "Hanji Metamorphoses," a special exhibit featuring Korean traditional paper in New York in 2012 and "The Points of the Compass" in Cub

Jun 16, 2015

Artists shed light on global issues at UN

Jane Fonda at Greenpeace event

Actress Jane Fonda listens to speakers during the “Toast the Coast”Greenpeace event to celebrate the coast and protest oil tanker traffic and arctic drilling, at Jericho Beach in Vancouver, British Columbia, Saturday./ AP-Yonhap

Jun 15, 2015

World's oldest newlyweds

British 103-year old George Kirby, left, chats with his newly married wife, 91-year old Doreen, during their wedding party at the Langham Hotel, Eastbourne, East Sussex, Britain, Sunday. The couple sealed the knot before family and friends after being together for 27 years. With their combinedages of 194 years, it would make them the world's oldest newlyweds, beating a previous record that was held by two elderly couple from France, over a decade ago. / EPA-Yonhap

Jun 15, 2015

Sewol rescuer suffers from stomach cancer

Kim Hong-kyungBy Kim Jae-wonKim Hong-kyung, 59, a plumber who rescued more than 20 passengers onboard the ill-fated Sewol ferry a year ago, is now suffering from stomach cancer, according to the National Cancer Center (NCC). Kim was diagnosed with stage-four stomach cancer in December after suffering from insomnia in the months after the disaster, said the NCC in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. The plumber rescued over 20 people, most of them high school students, by making a rope with curtains and fire hoses during the tragic disaster. In total there were 172 survivors from the ferry sinking.The cancer center said that it plans to help him by discounting his medical expenses. He has borrowed 15 million won to foot the medical bill. “We are taking a process to help Kim financially through our internal agency. People and civil groups also said they want to support him,” said a spokeswoman of the hospital. The NCC official said that Kim has been distressed with financial problems because he was not given sufficient compensation from the government since the disaster. The governm

Jun 15, 2015

Sewol rescuer suffers from stomach cancer

Walmart part-timer admitted to Harvard

Rebekah Chun, second from left, poses with Scott S. Brabrand, left, superintendent of Lynchburg City Schools; Holly Frazier, third from left, Chun’s history teacher; and Timothy Beatty, head principal of Heritage High School. Harvard University has offered a full scholarship to Chun. / Yonhap By Jhoo Dong-chan  Walmart part-timer Rebekah Chun, 18, has been accepted into Harvard University with a full scholarship.Chun scored 2,390 on the 2,400-point SAT and graduated at the top of her class this year at public Heritage High School in Lynchburg, Virginia, according to her father, Chun Jong-taek, Friday.Born in Yeosu, South Jolla Province, in 1997, Chun moved to the U.S. with her parents when she was 12.In her early school years in the U.S., Chun made efforts to break the language barrier, reading a large number of books aloud every day, her father said.Chun also did various volunteer work, as well as extracurricular activities.Being a huge fan of English soccer icon David Beckham, Chun has played soccer since she was in middle school. In high school, she captained

Jun 12, 2015

People & Events

People & Events

'A good pianist should be subjective'

Wine competition

Golf gathering

'Bi-cultural self-esteem essential for interracial children'

Yangpa sings at baseball stadium

Artists shed light on global issues at UN

Jane Fonda at Greenpeace event

World's oldest newlyweds

Sewol rescuer suffers from stomach cancer

Walmart part-timer admitted to Harvard

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