my timesThe Korea Times
Lifestyle

People & Events

Visang Education CEO to support Korean language schools abroad

Yang Tae-hoeBy Kwon Ji-youn The head of an education firm has promised to promote the Korean language and culture among children of ethnic Koreans around the world.Yang Tae-hoe, president of Visang Education, said he will do his best to keep his promise after he was appointed as the president of the Global Korean Supporters (GKS) on May 15. The GKS is a not-for-profit organization aimed at supporting Korean language schools abroad.“Because the GKS has only recently been founded, our major goal is primarily to promote awareness about the organization and ask for help from the public,” Yang Tae-hoe told The Korea Times.Yang pointed out that inadequate facilities and a lack of support are the most serious challenges to be tackled to promote Korean language schools overseas.He has vowed to supply more Korean learning materials to the schools and transfer advanced teaching methods for them by taking advantage of his firm’s specialty in producing textbooks and teaching aids. He said Visang Education will help overseas Korean schools teach their students the language

Jul 4, 2013
Visang Education CEO to support Korean language schools abroad

Singer Lee Hyo-ri to wed in September: reports

By Yun Suh-young Lee Hyo-riIconic K-pop singer Lee Hyo-ri, 33, will tie the knot with singer-songwriter Lee Sang-soon, 39, in September according to news reports, Wednesday.The couple have been together since 2011 when they were introduced to each other by pianist and singer-songwriter Jung Jae-hyung.News about the wedding date was released Wednesday when an entertainment news media reported that the two have already printed out wedding invitations.However, their agencies made conflicting statements throughout Wednesday regarding the wedding.At first, an employee from Lee Hyo-ri’s agency, B2M Entertainment, told the media that the couple have completed printing out invitation cards and that the two will get married in Jeju.Hours later, however, the agency changed its statement, saying nothing has been confirmed yet and wedding invitations have not been prepared.Lee Sang-soon’s agency also stated that there are talks about the wedding but no details have been confirmed yet.Rumors of the two getting married had been spreading since a month ago when Hyo-ri publicly spok

Jul 3, 2013
Singer Lee Hyo-ri to wed in September: reports

Korea praised for fighting against HIV

Denis Broun, executive director of UNITAIDBy Nam Hyun-wooKorean Air travelers have been helping HIV patients in poor countries without knowing it, said the head of an international organization.Denis Broun, the Executive Director of UNITAID, the drug purchasing unit of the World Health Organization (WHO), said during an interview that the 1,000 won tax on air tickets that travelers pay goes into a huge fund used to support the medical needs of children in developing countries afflicted with HIV, malaria and tuberculosis (TB).“It’s called etiquette tax,” said Broun. He explained that the etiquette tax is used to finance 70 percent of his organization activities globally. There are currently 10 countries participating in the etiquette tax program. The organization uses these contributions to negotiate with pharmaceutical firms to supply HIV drugs to developing countries at lower price. Korea is the only Asian country taking part in the program. It has donated a total of $28 million to the organization between 2006 and 2011. “UNITAID put this money into changing

Jul 3, 2013
Korea praised for fighting against HIV

Miss Korea to win alumna award from high school

Yoo Ye-binBy Kwon Ji-youn This year’s Miss Korea Yoo Ye-bin is to receive an award from her high school, the Jakarta International Korean School (JIKS) in Indonesia.JIKS said Tuesday that it will grant the alumna award to Yoo at a ceremony set for July 8 on campus.“I can say with some confidence that Yoo has the refinement to grow to be a global and outstanding individual,” school principal Seon Jong-bok said. “I hope she will become a global leader who is acknowledged for more than just her looks.” JIKS has recognized her for enhancing the school’s standing and honor with her intellect, beauty and personality since she won the Miss Korea 2013 competition.Yoo graduated from JIKS in 2010. She is now studying clothing and textiles at Gyeongsang National University in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province. The 21-year-old is admired for her Western-style figure _ she is 171.3 centimeters tall and weighs 52.1 kilograms.  She was crowned Miss Korea on June 4 at the Miss Korea 2013 annual beauty pageant held at the Sejong Center for the Performing A

Jul 3, 2013
Miss Korea to win alumna award from high school

Disabled receives doctorate at 56

Bang Gui-heeBy Kwon Ji-youn Bang Gui-hee, president of the Korea Disabled Artist Association, suffers from poliomyelitis ― but that won’t stop her from receiving her doctorate degree at age 56. Bang’s dissertation, titled “A Study on the Experiences of Creative Activities by Artists with Disabilities,” has been approved by Soongsil University and next month she will be granted her doctoral degree. Bang is the first to receive a doctorate on the topic of disabled artists. In her thesis, she researched those artists who are actively contributing to culture, art, music and performance. She studied a total of 12 artists. Bang’s first 10 attempts at a doctorate failed because schools were unwilling to accept severely disabled people. But in 2010, she was accepted into a doctoral program at Soongsil University. “Disabled artists deserve opportunities as well,” she said. “We are often denied the opportunity to draw or write. I was able to receive my doctorate because I was given that opportunity.” While attending school, Bang a

Jul 3, 2013
Disabled receives doctorate at 56

Statue of ex-forced laborer to be erected in Busan

Park Noh-hakBy Kwon Ji-youn A statue of late Park Noh-hak, a former forced laborer who helped Koreans in Sakhalin return to Korea, will be built in his honor, according to a commemoration committee Tuesday. A group of Sakhalin Koreans, who were mobilized as forced labor by the Japanese authorities during World War II, gathered early this year to set up a Park Noh-hak memorial hall. Park was conscripted and sent to Sakhalin for labor in 1943. In 1956, he moved to Japan and founded an association for Koreans. Since then, he had worked to help Sakhalin Koreans return to Korea. He composed a list of some 7,000 Sakhalin Koreans who desired to return to Korea, and this list is now dubbed the “Sakhalin List.” It has now become an artifact that provides verification regarding the Sakhalin Koreans and their return home. Park Seung-ui, the committee chair, told The Korea Times that he has begun discussing with government officials about the construction of the statue. “We are talking with relevant officials about building the statue in the memorial hall that will be buil

Jul 3, 2013
Statue of ex-forced laborer to be erected in Busan

Korean teenager to make PGA debut

Kim Si-wooBy Jung Min-hoKim Si-woo will make his long-awaited PGA Tour debut Friday (KST) at the Greenbrier Classic at the Old White TPC in West Virginia.The 18-year-old became the youngest golfer to pass the PGA Tour qualifying tournament, which is also known as the Q-School, last December at 17 years, five months and six days, eclipsing Ty Tryon's previous record of 17 years, six months and one day. However, the age limitation had prevented Kim from getting membership until his birthday on June 28.Without the membership, golfers are only allowed to play up to 12 competitions, including a maximum seven on sponsors’ exemptions.Kim participated in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February only to miss the cut. At the Puerto Rico Open a month later, he abruptly withdrew with back pain in the first round.The golf prodigy said his goal is to earn his PGA Tour card for next year by finishing the season within the top 125 rankings on the money list.With 27 events already over out of the total of 40, Kim, who has failed to collect any prize money, should step up to make th

Jul 2, 2013
Korean teenager to make PGA debut

First Korean woman pilot to receive medal

Kim Kyung-oBy Kwon Ji-youn Kim Kyung-o, the nation’s first woman pilot, will receive the Dongbaek Medal of the Order of Civil Merit at the Women’s Week ceremony, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced Monday. “I am very honored to win the medal,” Kim, 84, said. “I don’t think there is any other way to express it.”She was an air-force pilot in the 1950-53 Korean War and after she was discharged, she became an icon for Korean civil aviation. She is currently chairwoman of the Far East Women Pilot Association.Kim served as vice president of the International Aeronautics Federation (FAI) in 1983 when Korean Air Flight 007 was shot down by a Soviet interceptor near Moneron Island, west of Sakhalin Island, in the East Sea. She played a leading role in having the FAI adopt a statement denouncing the Soviet military for attacking the civilian jet.She also played a significant role in enhancing national prestige, especially for women. She served as president of the Korean National Council of Women between 1988 and 1994, and played a

Jul 2, 2013
First Korean woman pilot to receive medal

Inha University grants ANOC president honorary doctorate

Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah, president of ANOCBy Kwon Ji-youn Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah, president of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), was conferred an honorary doctorate degree in politics by Inha University, June 28.The university said Al Sabah, 50, received the doctorate in recognition of his efforts in bringing about global peace through sports and for helping Incheon City organize the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. A school staffer said Al Sabah was chosen for the honor because of his “significant contribution to the development of sports in a global scope.” The conferment ceremony was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Incheon in the presence of noted figures such as Cho Yang-ho, chairman of the Inha Foundation and Hanjin Group.Other participants included Park Choon-bae, president of Inha University; Kim Jong-haeng, chairman of the Korean Olympic Committee; and Park Yong-sung, honorary president of the Korean Olympic Committee. Al Sabah served as Kuwait’s minister of information in 2001 and minister of energy in 2003. He also serv

Jul 2, 2013
Inha University grants ANOC president honorary doctorate

Al-Hosany represents unknown sides of UAE

Nawal Al-Hosany, the director of sustainability at Masdar, speaks during a discussion at the Global Green Growth Summit in Songdo, Incheon, June 11.By Kim Da-ye An interview with Nawal Al-Hosany, the female director of sustainability at Masdar, reveals two things about the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that non-Emiratis may not be familiar with. While known as an oil-rich Middle Eastern state, the country strives to be a leader in clean energy and seeks to empower women.Masdar, also called the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, is a “commercially driven” renewable energy company initiated by the government. Based in Abu Dhabi, Masdar has its own graduate education and research institution ― Masdar Institute of Science and Technology ― and an investment arm that manages two clean technology funds worth $540 million.The company also operates wind farms or solar power plants in the Seychelles, Tonga, Afghanistan and Mauritania. To the outside world, it is best known for Masdar City, a futuristic zone powered entirely by renewably energy.Al-Hosany is in charge of developing M

Jul 1, 2013
Al-Hosany represents unknown sides of UAE
previous page
294295296297298
next page

Most Read in Lifestyle