Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Korea to Participate in Prosecutors’ Summit

By Park Si-soo Staff Reporter Prosecutor General Lim Chae-jin will leave for Romania, Wednesday, to participate in ``the 3rd World Summit of Prosecutors General, Attorney General and Chief Prosecutor,'' the Supreme Prosecutors' Office said, Tuesday. Lim plans to visit Saudi Arabia and Dubai on his way to the meeting to form a partnership with their respective prosecutions, the office said. The annual event, to be hosted in Bucharest, the Romanian capital, will continue from March 23 to 25. Chief prosecutors from 103 countries are expected to come together at the meeting. Lim is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech on ``prosecutors' independence'' on the second day of the gathering. He will return on March 26. pss@koreatimes.co.kr

Mar 17, 2009

Actors Reunite for Music Album

By Lee Hyo-won Staff Reporter Actors Kim Min-jong, 37, and Son Ji-chang, 39, will return to the K-pop scene in April, reviving their popular 1990s duo The Blue, Yonhap News announced, Monday. In a recent interview, Kim said the duo finished recording their single album, which features former hits like ``Feeling Only for You'' and ``With You'' and solos such as ``Endless Love.'' They will start promoting their album around April or May. The two actors launched The Blue in 1992. They were playing leads in hit dramas at the time, and enjoyed explosive popularity among women when they debuted with ballads and dance music. They went their separate ways for a while after their first album, but reunited in 1995 for a second project and produced many hit songs. ``I yielded to (Son) Ji-chang's temptation to release this new album,'' Kim said, laughing. ``Ji-chang always wanted to record a Best album for The Blue. At the end of 2007, we sang together at an event and got a positive response, and so I decided to take part in the project. ``It will inspire nostalgia for the gen

Mar 16, 2009

Mountaineer to Publicize 2010 Leisure Conference

By Kim Ji-soo Staff Reporter Mountaineer Um Hong-gil, who set a world record as the first climber to conquer the 16 peaks of the Himalayas, over 8,000 meters high, has been named the public relations representative of the Chuncheon 2010 World Leisure Congress and Leisure Games. Chuncheon City announced its decision to name the 48-year-old record-setting mountaineer and professor at Sangmyung University as a spokesperson last Friday. The international event will take place for six days, from Aug. 28 to Sept. 2, 2010, at Gangwon National University. Over 2,000 scholars, practitioners, students, journalists, government officials, entrepreneurs and policy makers in leisure and related areas from around the world will be participating in the biannual science council to discuss and present their latest findings. Um will attend various festivals and events hosted by Chuncheon City to publicize the event. Um will be officially appointed at Chuncheon's City Hall on Monday in the presence of key figures, such as its Mayor Lee Gwang-ju and Son Eun-nam, the president of t

Mar 15, 2009

Italian Media Face Challenges Amid Economic Downturn

By Kim Se-jeong Staff Reporter The head of the Italian Journalist Association visited The Korea Times, Friday, as part of a trip to Korea, discussing the impact of the global economic crisis on the media. Lorenzo Del Boca’s journey was part of preparations for a group visit of Italian journalists that he will lead to Korea in July. Del Boca said that in his homeland, the print media is hit hardest by the economic downturn. “In Italy, broadcast media lost 20 to 25 percent of sponsorship, and the print media lost almost 60 percent.” He stressed the role of the media as a fair and unbiased voice in a diverse Italian society and the role of the association in not only training individual journalists as independent voices, but also in assisting them in every possible way to maintain their independence. The Italian Journalist Association is an entity with nearly 10,000 active members. From his own career in journalism, Del Boca has climbed the ranks to become its president. He has heads the Italian National Press Federation and the Italian Journalists Guild. Currently,

Mar 13, 2009

Boy Returns Home as US Navy Official

By Lee Tae-hoon Staff Reporter A Korean boy, who could barely speak English when he immigrated to the United States at the age of 15, has returned to the country of his birth as the commander of a U.S. Aegis destroyer for the annual South Korea-U.S. military drill which will continue until March 20. Choi Hee-dong, commander of the guided-missile destroyer USS Chaffee, is participating in the 12-day Key Resolve-Foal Eagle exercise. The drill is a simulation-driven, defense-oriented combined command-post exercise that evaluates the allied forces’ capability to bring troops and equipment to the peninsula in the event of a contingency. Having moored the 9,200-ton destroyer in Donghae, Gangwon Province, the Korean-American commander and his crew will visit nursing homes and tourist attractions, including Kangwon Land, in the country’s east coastal region. leeth@koreatimes.co.kr

Mar 12, 2009

Unification Ministry Appoints Vice Spokeswoman

By Kim Sue-young Staff Reporter The Ministry of Unification appointed Lee Jong-joo, director of the ministry's humanitarian assistance division, as its vice spokesman, Thursday. Lee, 36, is the first woman to assume the post at the ministry. ``I learned that the ministry is seeking to strengthen communication between the government, the people and the media. As the first vice spokesperson, I will use as many chances as I can to explain North Korea policy,'' she told The Korea Times. Lee entered the ministry in 1998 as deputy director in the settlement support division. She also served as deputy director of the ministry's inter-Korean economic cooperation and exchange division and director of the international cooperation division. A graduate of Korea University, in Seoul, with a degree in sociology, Lee obtained an M.A. in public administration at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in the United States in 2006. She passed the state civil service examination in 1996. ksy@koreatimes.co.kr

Mar 12, 2009

Korean Judge to Head Intl Criminal Court

By Kim Rahn Staff Reporter A Korean judge has been elected to head the International Criminal Court (ICC), the world's only permanent court established to punish perpetrators committing serious crimes in the international community. The court announced, Wednesday, that fellow judges had elected Song Sang-hyun as president in succession to current chief Philippe Kirsch of Canada. Song will lead the court for three years alongside two vice presidents, Fatoumata Dembele Diarra from Mali and Hans-Peter Kaul from Germany. He will be in charge of the court's overall administration, excluding affairs of the Office of the Prosecutor. A graduate of the law department at Seoul National University (SNU), Song passed the state exam for government officials in 1962 and another exam for judicial officials the next year. He taught students at SNU from 1972, and held posts including the head of the Korea Law Professors Association. He has been with the ICC since 2003. The court said Song and the vice presidents were elected by an absolute majority, highly recognizing Song's a

Mar 12, 2009

Chu Sung-hoon Marries Japanese Model Shiho Yano

By Kim Jae-won Staff Reporter Korean-Japanese fighter Chu Sung-hooon, named Akiyama Yoshihiro in Japanese, has recently married Japanese model Shiho Yano. Shiho posted on her blog Tuesday that they had recently registered their marriage. ``I'm comfortable to be with Akiyama. I'm grateful I met him,'' Chu's new wife said. Shiho, 32, often called ``Charismatic Shiho," is famous in Japan. Chu also confirmed his marriage on his Web site, Tuesday. ``I have something to say. Shiho Yano and I have registered the wedding.'' The couple was reported to have met in January 2007. The wedding date and procedure were not made public. Chu joined the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) last month. The 33-year-old said that he wanted to win the UFC title in a press conference in Seoul last week. He is likely to debut in the US-based Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) organization in July. shosta@koreatimes.co.kr

Mar 11, 2009

Han Chae-young Cast in Good Morning, President

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia Staff Reporter Actress Han Chae-young, who stars in the hit KBS drama ``Boys Over Flowers,'' has been cast alongside popular actor Jang Dong-gun in the upcoming film ``Good Morning, Mr. President,'' Yonhap News Agency reported Monday. Han's agency BH Entertainment confirmed the actress will play the role of the outgoing president's beautiful daughter, who falls in love with Jang's character. "Good Morning, Mr. President" will be a film about three fictional Korean presidents: an old, outgoing president who wins the lottery, a young charismatic president and Korea's first female president. Expectations are running high for the film since Jang will be portraying a youthful president patterned after U.S. President Barack Obama.

Mar 9, 2009

`Mother of Cuisine’ Ha Dies at 87

By Lee Hyo-won Staff Reporter Ha Sun-jung, CEO of Ha Sung Jung General Food Co. and a major figure in the Korean culinary scene, passed away of old age Friday morning, Yonhap News announced. She was 87. Born in 1922, Ha founded the nation's first culinary institute in 1954 in Jongno, downtown Seoul, now called Hascook, or Han Sung Jung Academy. She became a renowned businesswoman in the local food industry by manufacturing kimchi, ``jeotgal'' (spiced pickled seafood) and other food. She is survived by her daughter, Park Heui-ji, director of Hascook Academy, and her son in law Kim Hang-gu, president of Hangjin TNT. Ha's ceremonial funeral hall was set up at Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, and the funeral cortege left the hospital at 8 a.m., Sunday. hyowlee@koreatimes.co.kr

Mar 8, 2009

People & Events

People & Events

Korea to Participate in Prosecutors’ Summit

Actors Reunite for Music Album

Mountaineer to Publicize 2010 Leisure Conference

Italian Media Face Challenges Amid Economic Downturn

Boy Returns Home as US Navy Official

Unification Ministry Appoints Vice Spokeswoman

Korean Judge to Head Intl Criminal Court

Chu Sung-hoon Marries Japanese Model Shiho Yano

Han Chae-young Cast in Good Morning, President

`Mother of Cuisine’ Ha Dies at 87

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