Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Myongji Hospital names new president

Kim Hyung-soo Kim Sae-chulBy Chung Hyun-chae Myongji Hospital in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, promoted its Vice President Kim Hyung-soo to president, a hospital spokesman said Wednesday.The promotion came immediately after hospital President Kim Sae-chul was named vice president for health sciences at Seonam University in Namwon, North Jeolla Province.The hospital forged partnership ties with the university on Feb. 25.Kim Sae-chul once served as president of Chung-Ang University Hospital. He graduated from Kyungpook National University School of Medicine.“Myongji Hospital’s new president has served as vice president at the hospital for nine years and I believe he will make a new leap forward for the hospital,” Myongji Medical Foundation Chairman Lee Wang-jun said.After graduating from the Medical College at Hanyang University, Kim Hyung-soo received his master’s degree and doctorate in medicine from the university.He was also an orthopedics professor at Inha University Hospital and the Catholic Kwandong University College of Medicine. He has served as

Jul 2, 2015

SK chairman's daughter becomes consultant

By Kim Jae-won  SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won’s oldest daughter has joined Bain & Company’s Seoul office as a consultant, the U.S.-based consulting company said Thursday. Chey Yun-jeong, 25, was recruited earlier this year by the consulting firm and is working as a junior consultant. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology at the University of Chicago after attending an international high school in China. Market watchers said consulting firms are popular destinations for children of chaebol owners before joining their family’s conglomerates because they can strengthen business networks and learn perspectives in management. They said Hyosung Vice Chairman Cho Hyun-sang and Kumho Tire Vice President Park Se-chang also had worked at consulting firms before joining their family’s conglomerates. Cho started his career at Bain’s Seoul office in 1996 and moved to the firm’s Tokyo office in 1997. After working at Japan’s NTT Communication for a couple of years, he joined Hyosung in 2000. Park began his professional career at

Jul 2, 2015

McDonald's Korea chief to supervise 8 new markets

McDonald’s Korea Managing Director Joe ErlingerBy Park Si-sooMcDonald's Korea Managing Director Joe Erlinger was named chief financial officer (CFO) supervising financial affairs of the American fast-food giant’s eight high-growth markets around the globe.He will also retain his leadership of the firm’s Korean unit. The eight new markets under his control are Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain, Russia, Poland, China and Korea.The eight markets have shown consistent growth in recent years and also have high growth potential out of 120 nations where McDonald’s has a business presence, the company said.Erlinger joined McDonald’s in 2002 and held a number of core positions at McDonald’s global headquarters in the U.S. He was appointed managing director of the firm’s Korean unit in 2013.“It would not have been possible for me to take the important role of CFO of McDonald’s high-growth segment without the company’s overall growth, which was achieved through McDonald’s Korea employees’ devotion and the affe

Jul 1, 2015

McDonald's Korea chief to supervise 8 new markets

Marine puts off discharge to join training

Marine Yang Hyuk-joon holds a 90-milimeter recoilless rifle during a landing drill at Anmyeondo Island, South Chungcheong Province, Monday, the day when he was initially supposed to be discharged before asking that his release be postponed. / Courtesy of Marine CorpsBy Jun Ji-hye Soldiers here often say, “Whatever happens, the clock is running until the end of your service.”This phrase indicates just how desperate they are for their discharge from their close to two-year mandatory military service.Marine Yang Hyuk-joon, however, made a rare decision to put off his discharge.He was supposed to quit on Monday, but requested the date be delayed until July 9.The reason was for him to join a large-scale landing drill that began on June 25 and will run through July 9 in the West Sea.Yang, who belongs to the 2nd Division of the Marine Corps, asked his commander to put off his discharge, who approved, saying Yang’s strong will set a good example to other soldiers.The 23-year-old said he made the decision as he could not leave his comrades while one of the lar

Jul 1, 2015By Jun Ji-hye

Marine puts off discharge to join training

Star chef Kwon promotes Korean cuisine in Japan

Chef Edward KwonBy Baek Byung-yeulChef Edward Kwon will host Korean cooking classes in Osaka, Japan, on July 6, announced the Osaka branch of the Korean Cultural Center on Monday.“As Osaka has the largest Korean population in Japan, many Japanese people are familiar with Korean cuisine, but the food most known to them is usually homemade meals,” the cultural center said in a statement. “With Kwon, who endeavors to promote Korean cuisine around the world, we hope to extend the level of food exchange.” The center revealed that they are preparing the cooking class to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral ties between Korea and Japan.The celebrity chef rose to stardom after serving as head chef at the prestigious Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai where he worked until 2008. Since coming back to Korea in 2009, he has spent time as an executive chef of restaurants in Hannam-dong and Cheongdam-dong in Seoul. Last May he opened a Korean restaurant, “Elements by Edward Kwon” in Moscow, in a bid to expand the presence of Korean food in

Jun 30, 2015

Star chef Kwon promotes Korean cuisine in Japan

Ex-Samsung executive emerges as savior of troubled firms

Chin Dae-jeBy Kim Yoo-chulA former Samsung Electronics president has emerged as a savior for troubled local handset manufacturer, Pantech, as he has a proven track record in helping financially troubled companies turn things around.Chin Dae-je, who served as the information and communication minister from 2003 to 2006 after serving as the CEO of Samsung Electronics’ digital media unit, is set to help Pantech.Optis, a manufacturer of optical disk drives, recently signed an agreement with Pantech creditors to acquire all Pantech’s debts, stressing that it will help the smallest mobile carrier expand its business territories focusing on countries in the Southeast Asian region.Optis was established by former Samsung Electronics executives. Its biggest shareholder is Skylake Investment, a private equity fund (PEF) which was created by Chin in 2006.“Pantech has patents and competitive technology. Skylake will try its best to help Pantech normalize its business and find new growth engines,” Chin said.The PEF is currently conducting due diligence on the reeling handse

Jun 29, 2015By Kim Yoo-chul

Ex-Samsung executive emerges as savior of troubled firms

Korean-American lawyer becomes Harvard Alumni Association head

Incoming Harvard Alumni Association President Paul L. Choi / Courtesy of Harvard UniversityBy Jhoo Dong-chanKorea-born American lawyer Paul L. Choi, 51, has been elected president of the Harvard Alumni Association (HAA), according to The Harvard Crimson, the university’s student newspaper.Choi is a partner at Sidley Austin Corp., a Chicago-based law firm that specializes in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), corporate finance transactions and securities, and corporate governance matters.He has participated in several M&A deals between global corporations, including representing First Data Corp. on its $29 billion acquisition by an investor group controlled by KKR, an American multinational private equity firm.For the university, Choi has been an active member of Harvard Law School alumni organizations. He was president of the Harvard Club of Chicago and also a former editor of The Harvard Crimson.Choi served as the HAA’s vice president last year and will succeed incumbent Cynthia A. Torres for a one-year term from the coming semester.Choi said he is looking forw

Jun 26, 2015By Jhoo Dong-chan

Korean-American lawyer becomes Harvard Alumni Association head

'Lab safety is still elusive'

Professor Moon Aree at her lab in Duksung Women’s University in Seoul. She was designated early this week as a grand prize recipient of the 2015 L’Oreal Korea-UNSECO Awards for Women in Life Science. / Courtesy of L’Oreal KoreaDuksung professor receives L’Oreal-UNESCO awardBy Lee Hyo-sik and Park Si-sooMoon Aree, a pharmacology professor at Duksung Women’s University in Seoul, has a “humble” dream which she believes would get the nation’s scientific prowess reinforced significantly ― lab safety.Lay people may believe the issue to be something of a done deal in a country boasting Asia’s fifth-largest economy and numerous innovative scientific achievements.Yet she said that is not the case and, furthermore, there are a number of things working against it.“To ensure the lab safety of scientists is a very basic task that should be done at any cost. Unfortunately, however, this is an issue that has yet to be addressed completely in Korea,” Moon said in a recent interview with The Korea Times. Moon serves as v

Jun 25, 2015

Korean students win prestigious scholarship

By Lee Jun-youbAlthough Korean students have become ubiquitous at elite universities around the world, they had been precluded from the creme de la creme of academic accomplishment．With the establishment of the Yenching Scholarship at Peking University, however, Korean students have gained an opportunity to win a prestigious scholarship.Sitting on a cool billion yuan ($160 million) endowment, the Yenching Scholarship has selected its first 100-student class hailing from 35 nations. These inaugural cohorts will live together in what used to be the Imperial Gardens at the heart of China’s first modern national university. The Korea Times spoke to the two Korean winners before they embark on their masters of Chinese studies in September.Kim Eun-seo Kim Eun-seoBorn in Daejeon, Kim grew up in Seoul, Wisconsin, and London before reading philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University. She remembers Wisconsin as having “a great atmosphere to grow up as a child thanks to its lush parks.”She joined the International Relations Society and the Debate Club in colle

Jun 24, 2015

Korean students win prestigious scholarship

Opportunity knocks for animal inspired artist

Kim Yeon-seok, a specialist in animal portraits, poses with his oil paint works at his studio in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province in this undated file photo. / Courtesy of Kim Yeon-seokBy Yi Whan-wooWith an increasing number of pet lovers in Korea, Kim Yeon-seok’s talent and passion for his job as an animal portrait artist is paying off, even in this age of digital reproduction.Since 2011, Kim, 54, works as a professional artist dedicated to drawing pets on canvas using oil paints. Before this, he worked as an artist part-time, usually drawing pine trees and bulls.The decision to go full time was not easy, considering that people are now used to photos and video clips that are copied, pasted, and shared online in the blink of an eye, Kim recalled during a telephone interview with The Korea Times this month.But at the same time, people’s desire to capture unique memories with their pets is becoming more and more commonplace. As a result, animal portraits using conventional forms of painting are growing in popularity, he explained.“I think this is only the beginning,&rdq

Jun 24, 2015By Yi Whan-woo

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