Lifestyle - The Korea Times

K-pop stars in military to perform at Yeosu Expo

By Kim Susan Se-jeong K-pop stars who are serving in the military will perform for fans at the Yeosu expo on June 16. Singers Rain, Park Hyo-shin and KCM will perform at the K-Pop Special Concert hosted by K-Force Media. The show will start at 8:30 p.m. and run until about 10 p.m. at the Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea this coming Saturday. Global star Rain and Park, often called the “king of ballads” by fans, will share the stage with the girl group, Nine Muses who will be performing as well. The stage is equipped with a hydraulic extension catwalk and protrudes about 50m towards the crowd. The Expo is preparing to accommodate approximately 20,000 guests. A firework show will light the skies at the end of the night’s performances. “The K-Pop performance will mark the start of the Expo K-Pop festival,” said a representative from Yeosu Expo. The Expo is planning a string of K-Pop performances, starring idol groups, singers and bands throughout the summer months, from June to August. Those unable to attend the K-Pop Special Concert in person can enjoy the performance in

Jun 12, 2012

First multicultural officers in training

By Kim Susan Se-jeong The Army will produce its first non-multiracial officers next month. Cadets Bae Jun-hyeong, 22, and Han Gi-yeop, 21, are in training at the Korea Army Training Center, and set to become non-commissioned officers on July 4 after completing a 12-week training period. “Since I had to enlist, I thought it’d be better to do it early on,” said Bae, who confessed that he dreamt of becoming a soldier after seeing one on a soap opera in his childhood. After high school graduation, he wasted no time in applying to become a non-commissioned officer after consulting his father and Vietnam-born mother. On the other hand, Han, whose mother is from Japan, started thinking about enlisting after graduating high school. “I was debating on how to make use of my qualifications and thought of the Army,” said Han, who has earned eight certificates, including six in operating heavy equipment like forklifts and excavators, during his years at a vocational high school. “I’ll be able to make good use of them when I become a non-commissioned officer.” Both cadets p

Jun 11, 2012

Lena Park releases new album ‘PARALLAX’

By Rachel Lee Singer Park Jung-hyun, also known as Lena Park, is set to release “PARALLAX,” her 8th studio album and the first in three years. According to her agency, T-Entertainment, the 36-year-old singer will release the album on June 19. A teaser video was posted on her official website (www.parkjunghyun.com) and on her Twitter account (twitter.com/L_Space76) on Saturday. The one-minute video features scenes of her working with producers and other staff members to prepare the new release. It also contains the sounds of musical instruments such as piano and guitar that were used in the songs. Park made her debut in 1998 with the first studio album “Piece.” She earned fame again on last year’s popular singing survival show “I Am a Singer” on MBC. The Korean diva will also tour 10 cities across the nation, starting with concerts on June 23 and 24 in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, through September.

Jun 11, 2012

Juniel tries to make girl rock mark on K-pop scene

By Kwaak Je-yup Can a teen girl rocker make a dent on the music scene dominated by dance pop troupes? Nineteen-year-old Juniel thinks so. “I have my own identity, my own style, my own voice,” she told a room full of reporters at her debut showcase Thursday in Seoul. “I don’t’ have to compete with girl groups.” The performance of her first single “Illa Illa” made that point clear. She was almost screaming into the microphone, showing off her vocal pipes, as her band backed her up. The sound was reminiscent of earlier Alanis Morissette than IU, the cutesy local pop princess to whom Juniel’s physical resemblance has drawn comparisons. This was all the more surprising since the song’s subject was rather innocuous, even downright girly: “It is about the feelings a girl experiences when she falls in love for the first time,” she explained. During her interview, she looked more her age, speaking carefully with a tinge of timidity. Her agency FNC Entertainment has trained her in Japan for two years, like her label mates FT Island and CNBLUE. Starting from smallish stages in

Jun 8, 2012

(38) Kang Chol-hwan: harbinger of N. Korean defectors

By Andrei Lankov The North Korean resistance movement does not have many recognizable faces. This is understandable: a really brutal dictatorship would not allow any dissenter to stay alive. The fact that dissent was possible in Brezhnev’s Russia and, for that matter in Park Chung-hee’s South Korea, is yet another reminder that these two dictators were softies if compared to really serious practitioners of the craft ― like the hereditary dictators of the Kim family in the North One of the few who can be seen as a spokesman for the North Korean pro-democracy movement is Kang Chol-hwan, the first escapee from a North Korean concentration camp to make it to the South and speak of his gruesome experiences to the general public. His fate is all the more dramatic because his imprisonment was not his own fault ― he was only nine years old when he was sent to prison with his entire family. Until quite recently, the family responsibility principle was a peculiar feature of the North Korean prison system. In case of a political crime, not just the culprit but all members of their imm

Jun 6, 2012

KIPA, Yunnan College agree on ethnic projects

The Korea Institute of Public Administration (KIPA) and Chinese Yunnan Public Administration College (YPAC) agreed to increase academic research Monday, in a joint effort to find a solution to ethnic problems. KIPA, a flag think tank under the Prime Minister's Office, and YPAC share the view on the need that ethnic concerns should be addressed to ensure the dignity of different races and promote friendship among them. Wang Guozhong, vice president of YPAC, gave a lecture to scores of KIPA research fellows at a KIPA conference hall, introducing China's policies regarding minority races, which constitute a small portion of the country’s population. Wang's delegation is on a week-long visit to Seoul at the invitation of KIPA. The two research institutions will strengthen personnel exchanges and information related to public administration, including racial administration. Wang said that Chinese ethnic policies were put into practice on the principle of reciprocity and mutual equality in a bid to improve living conditions of minority races and secure their communities. A massive

Jun 5, 2012

Kiribati president gets honorary doctorate

By Kim Tae-gyu Kiribati President Anote Tong received an honorary Ph.D. in engineering Tuesday from Pukyong National University, which has praised his vigorous activities in preserving the environment. The Busan-based college also said that it took into account Tong’s exploits in offering the doctorate, including his proactive roles in developing the marine businesses of the two countries. ``It is a great joy and honor for Pukyong to offer an honorary Ph.D. to President Tong, a world-famous marine expert and environmental activist who has contributed to the development of Kiribati and Korea,’’ Pukyong President Park Maeng-eon said in a ceremony awarding the degree. ``From now on, President Tong is a proud member of our alumni.’’ Tong won the Kiribati presidential election in 2003 and was re-elected in 2007 and again this year. The 59-year-old has spoken up on climate change as he warned Kiribati might become uninhabitable by the turning point of the 21st century due to the rising sea levels threatening the island nation in the central tropical Pacific Ocean. H

Jun 5, 2012

K-pop leaders to perform in Macao

By Rachel Lee Korean idol groups will perform at “K-pop Nation Concert in Macao 2012,” at the Venetian Hotel in Macao on July 2. Co-hosted by MBC Plus Media and Hong Kong’s Beneco Asia, the stage will be graced by popular Korean artists Girls’ Generation, SHINee, U-Kiss and up-and-coming boy band B.A.P. The event is organized in an omnibus format. The participating musicians will get closer and reach out to the audience by showing performance clips and telling anecdotes not previously seen in either weekly music programs or individual concerts. Tickets went on sale on May 31 and “an avalanche of enquiries” crashed the internal system, said DBM Media, another Korean host of the event. “We are surprised by this unexpected amount of interest from fans in Korea and overseas,” said MBC Plus Media.

Jun 4, 2012

Raising public awareness key to preventing malnutrition

By Kim Bo-eun Cyprian Ouma, emergency nutrition advisor at the World Vision East Africa Regional Office, believes raising public awareness through advocacy is crucial to preventing malnutrition. “A significant number of child deaths are occurring from the simplest, preventable causes coming from malnutrition,” said Ouma. Children weakened from malnourishment become more prone to preventable illnesses such as pneumonia and diarrhea. “And the first 1,000 days through pregnancy to age two is crucial in determining the course of a child’s life,” said the nutrition specialist. Providing proper nutrition during this period affects physical growth and the ability to fight off diseases as well as cognitive development. “Child nutrition is a key development agenda, since the healthy growth of individuals is directly linked with the productivity and economic growth of a nation,” he said. What World Vision seeks to do, among many other efforts, is to increase awareness through hosting civil society forums, such as the one held last week in Seoul. The Korea Civil Society

Jun 4, 2012By Kim Bo-eun

Dokdo Essay Contest winners

The Korea Times and the Northeast Asia History Foundation are proud to announce 12 winners of the 2012 International Dokdo Essay Contest. The given topic of their essays was Korea’s legitimate claims to the Dokdo Islets and Japan’s counterclaim in the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951. Audwin Wilkinson, an American who has taught English in Korean universities since 1998, won the Gold Prize. Wilkinson, a graduate of California State University, will receive 1.5 million won in prize money and a plaque. Tarun Krishnakumar, an Indian student at the National Law School of India, and Moon Ji-yong, a Korean student studying journalism and communication at Kyung Hee University, won the Silver Prizes. Each of them will receive 500,000 won in prize money and a plaque. Three people were selected as Bronze Prize winners. They are Anil Pulickel, also a student at the National Law School of India, Paul Guzman, a Filipino studying an MBA at National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, and Yoon Sun-woo, a senior at Gwa Cheon Foreign Language High School. They will be each given 300,000

Jun 3, 2012

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