Lifestyle - The Korea Times

German scholar praises Seoul's energy policy

 Miranda Schreurs, left, environmental policy professor at Freie University Berlin in Germany, talks with Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, center, and environmental economics professor Ueta Kazuhiro of Kyoto University at Park’s office in Seoul, Thursday, before taking part in a conference on energy transition. / Korea Times By Kim Se-jeong Miranda Schreurs, an environmental policy professor from Freie University Berlin in Germany, praised the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) for supporting small-scale electricity producers using solar panels.“I am impressed,” said the professor, who is also the director of the Environmental Policy Research Center at the university.“If you have more electricity production locally, you can save infrastructure costs, and it helps people get involved in the process of energy production. Some say it’s more democratic because it means people’s participation,” she told The Korea Times, Thursday.She was referring to the “one-less nuclear power plant” initiative which the SMG launched in

Jan 23, 2015

German scholar praises Seoul's energy policy

NK defector qualifies as surgeon

By Jhoo Dong-chanKo Yoon-songKo Yoon-song, 41, has become the first North Korean defector to become a surgeon in Korea.After four years of resident training at Korea University Anam Hospital, Ko passed the exam for surgical specialists last week. There have been many instances of North Korean defectors obtaining medical doctor’s licenses before Ko, but he is the first to obtain a surgical specialist’s license. “Studying medicine in English was difficult. North Korea uses Latin in hospitals,” Ko said.Ko became a physician in 1998 after graduating from Pyongyang Medical School in South Pyongan Province, North Korea. The Workers Party there assigned him to treat tuberculosis patients at a local hospital. After working a couple of years as a physician, Ko wondered about life in the outside world.His first attempt to flee the country in 2001 failed as Ko was captured by Chinese police and sent to a labor camp in North Korea. He managed to escape the camp and cross the Tumen River in 2003.“I did all kinds of manual labor jobs in China for f

Jan 23, 2015By Jhoo Dong-chan

Wait until it matures: star fund manager

Park In-hee, a senior fund manager at ShinyoungAsset ManagementBy Kim Jae-won The dream of all individual investors is to gain as much profits as possible. To make their dream come true, they often buy big chip stock, and sell them when their prices go up 10 percent, or 20 percent.However, Park In-hee, a senior fund manager at Shinyoung Asset Management, said that the fastest way to gain big profits is to be patient and wait.“I recommend investors wait for a long time after buying undervalued chips, if they want to hit the jackpot. To hit a homerun is more important than a few singles,” said Park in an interview with The Korea Times.Park was chosen as the best fund manager by a local newspaper last year, marking a 54.54 percent profitability rate, compared to the benchmark KOSPI. She has been in charge of Shinyoung Value High Dividend Fund for 12 years since 2003, whose assets under her management have reached 3.3 trillion won ($3 billion), the biggest among local asset management funds.Asked what her biggest home run was, the 15-year career fund manager picked Hansa

Jan 22, 2015

Wait until it matures: star fund manager

NK circus troupe in Monaco

Members of a North Korean circus troupe pose with Prince Albert II of Monaco, center left, and his sister Princess Stephanie after receiving a Golden Clown during the Award Gala evening of the 39th Monte Carlo International Circus Festival in Monaco, Tuesday. / AP-Yonhap

Jan 21, 2015

Industry-academic cooperation

Yim Hong-jae, right, provost of Kookmin University, poses with Park Sung-jin, a director in charge of the government account team at Microsoft Korea, after signing an agreement on industry-academic cooperation at Kookimin’s campus in Seoul, Monday. Under the accord, the two will work on developing and operating industry-academic collaboration programs. They alsoagreed to provide students with opportunities to work at Microsoft Korea through the Microsoft Experience Program. / Courtesy of Kookmin University

Jan 21, 2015

POSCO Chairman with Indian PM

POSCO Chairman Kwon Oh-joon, left, poses with Narendra Modi, center, prime minister of India, and Korean Ambassador to India Lee Joon-gyu, at the prime minister’s office, New Delhi, India, Tuesday. Kwon was on a visit to participate in a ceremony marking the completion of its 150 ton-cold rolling mill. / Yonhap

Jan 21, 2015

Tenured SNU professor joins LG Chem

Nano-tech expert to lead company's R&D centerLee Jin-kyuBy Kim Yoo-chulFor Lee Jin-kyu, his guaranteed status as a tenured professor for the rest of his life at Seoul National University (SNU), the nation’s top school, really did not matter.Life is always going to be a challenge, he said. A life without risk would probably be boring, as risk is the spice of life.LG Chem said the world’s biggest battery supplier in electric vehicles has recruited Lee, 52, in a bid to develop new patents in battery materials.The outgoing SNU professor has been named as the research chairman at the company’s research and development center.Lee’s decision to join LG Chem came with much surprise as this is rare in Korean society for a SNU professor to drop his or her famed title.“This was a very tough decision. At SNU, I’ve studied basic principles in petrochemical materials. But I’ve wondered how companies develop ideas into commercialization,” Lee said.From next month, Lee will handle all business projects of the firm’s R&D center in Daejeon,

Jan 21, 2015By Kim Yoo-chul

Air Force Major committed to Dokdo education

Air Force Maj. Kim Sam-kwon By Jun Ji-hye Air Force Maj. Kim Sam-kwon has given about 2,000 lectures about Korea’s Dokdo islets since 2003 to raise public awareness about the fact that Dokdo is part of Korean territory geographically, historically and legally, despite Japan’s sovereignty claims.At his busiest, he spent about 200 days a year giving lectures at elementary, middle and high schools, universities, companies and state agencies.“It was sometimes hard. But, most of the lectures had been pleasant and fruitful for me,” he said in a recent interview. “Though I had much to do with my daily duties, I went to give lectures and took pleasure even in working overtime at night.” Korea has effectively controlled Dokdo with a small police detachment since its liberation from Japan in 1945. But, Tokyo has claimed that the islets, which lie closer to Korea, are part of its territory, although it never established sovereignty.Kim, who is now serving at the Joint Forces Military University and previously served at the Air Force Academy, ha

Jan 21, 2015By Jun Ji-hye

Air Force Major committed to Dokdo education

Lippert family gives birth in Seoul

U.S. Ambassador to Korea Mark Lippert smiles with his wife, Robyn, in this photo image captured from his Twitter account, Tuesday, after she gave birth to their first baby in Seoul. This is the first time that a wife of Washington’s top envoy to Seoul has given birth in Korea. Lippert, 41, said he considers giving a Korean middle name to their newly born son, who hasbeen not named yet. / Yonhap

Jan 20, 2015

New co-chiefs

Women’s rights group Korea Women’s Hot Line (KWHL) has named three co-presidents. They are, from left, Oh Young-ran, Ko Mi-kyung and Sohn Myung-hee. KWHL has promoted equality of the sexes and worked on varioussocial problems including violence against women. / Yonhap

Jan 20, 2015

People & Events

People & Events

German scholar praises Seoul's energy policy

NK defector qualifies as surgeon

Wait until it matures: star fund manager

NK circus troupe in Monaco

Industry-academic cooperation

POSCO Chairman with Indian PM

Tenured SNU professor joins LG Chem

Air Force Major committed to Dokdo education

Lippert family gives birth in Seoul

New co-chiefs

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