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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

Ex-TV Reporter Is Presidential Spokesperson

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff Reporter Kim Eun-hye, 37, a former reporter and anchorwoman of MBC, has been designated as the vice spokeswoman of Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday. ``I listened to the public voice as a reporter while at the vanguard. Now I convey their voice and am a bridge between the government and the citizens when carrying out policies,'' Kim said at a press conference held at MBC. Kim will serve as vice spokeswoman, supporting spokesman Lee Dong-kwan, and also be in charge of foreign news. ``I am not entering Cheong Wa Dae to commit myself to politics but to learn more about administrative tasks,'' she said. She also revealed that she was offered a chance to run for the Assembly. Kim graduated from the Department of Mass Communication of Ewha Womans University and entered MBC in 1993. She worked for the city, financial and politics desks and anchored news programs including News Desk from 1999-2000. She was at the politics desk covering Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade when she left the station. She won the Journalist of the Month award from the

Feb 13, 2008

Korea Needs Public Diplomacy Strategy

By Yoon Won-sup Staff Reporter A Dutch scholar renowned for his research on public diplomacy said every country including South Korea has to realize the importance of public diplomacy as it has become a central element of diplomatic practice today. ``Foreign ministries in the world pay more attention to their countries' reputation overseas. But the government can't decide what other people think about Korea,'' Jan Melissen, director of the Clingendael Diplomatic Studies Program of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations, told The Korea Times. The way of improving a country's reputation is through public diplomacy as it is defined as work aimed at influencing in a positive way the perceptions of individuals and organizations abroad about one's country and their engagement with it. In this sense, Melissen said public diplomacy can be seen as the instrumentalization of soft power, namely the power of one's attraction and reputation overseas. Harvard University professor Joseph Nye coined soft power ― a contrasting concept to hard power ― as representing cultura

Feb 13, 2008

UN Chief Gets Rotary Award

By Kim Jong-chan Politics Editor United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon received the Rotary International Award of Honor for his support for polio eradication and his dedication to furthering peace and understanding in the world, Rotary International announced Tuesday. Rotary International President Wilfrid Wilkinson presented the award in a ceremony in Chicago, the United States, held on the occasion of Ban's two-day tour of the city. Also present at the ceremony were Rotary leaders, including President-elect Dong Kurn Lee. Established in 1990, the award is presented to individuals who have actively supported global humanitarian efforts. Former South Korean President Kim Young-sam received it in 1993. Other recipients include Mikhail Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, Kofi Annan and four U.S. presidents. In a video message presented at a Rotary leadership conference last month, Ban said Rotary's leadership in the fight to end polio ``is more critical than ever." ``Your determination and generosity will drive us to the finish line in our race

Feb 12, 2008

Shinhwa to Hold Last Concert in Tokyo

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia Staff Reporter Korean pop group Shinhwa will bid ``sayonara'' to its Japanese fans with two concerts in Tokyo in April. Yonhap News reported that Open World Entertainment, the agency in charge of Shinhwa's overseas concerts, said the six-member group will be holding two concerts on April 18 and 19 at the Nippon Budokan, central Tokyo. This is expected to be the last concert featuring all the Shinhwa members, at least for the next few years. Open World Entertainment said all the Shinhwa members, except for Shin Hye-sung, will be enlisting in the military this year. All Korean males are required to serve in the military for two years. Shinhwa has a strong fan base in Japan and had already performed sold-out concerts in Nagoya and Tokyo last December, as part of its world tour. Group member Lee Min-woo, also known as M, recently held his solo concerts ``2008 M Style Japan Live'' in Tokyo on Feb. 10 and 11. ``Shinhwa will always love our fans. Please wait for us to come back,'' Lee told fans during the concert. Shinhwa, which made its

Feb 12, 2008

Advocate of NK Engagement Dies of Cancer

WASHINGTON _ U.S. Congressman Tom Lantos, a Holocaust survivor who advocated for engagement with North Korea while pushing for human rights, died Monday from cancer. He was 80. Rep. Lantos, a Democrat from California, announced his retirement last month after being diagnosed with esophageal cancer in late December, during his 14th term. President George W. Bush said he was saddened by the congressman's death and will miss his leadership. "As the only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress, Tom was a living reminder that we must never turn a blind eye to the suffering of the innocent at the hands of evil men," he said in a statement. Elected to office in 1980, Lantos had been the chairman of the House foreign affairs committee since January 2007. He was also a senior member of the House committee on oversight and government reform. His commitment to human rights was forged when he lost nearly his entire family in the Holocaust. The congressman made two separate trips to Pyongyang in 2005 to discuss North Korea's denuclearization and building trust between the tw

Feb 12, 2008

Global Center Serves Foreigners

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff Reporter Liu Yan, 35, the head of Yeonnam Global Village Center, the first community center to serve foreigners in Korea, knows the hardship of adjusting to life in Korea. Liu is from Tianjin, China but became a naturalized Korean citizen in 1998 after marrying her husband, who is Korean. ``I felt great inconveniences when I first came to Korea. I now want to help other people who go through the difficulties I did,'' Liu told The Korea Times in an interview at Yeonnam Global Village Center. Yeonnam Global Village Center helps all foreigners, but is particularly geared to cater for Chinese speakers. The global center provides a wealth of information for daily life in Korea, gives information on employment and introduces Chinese-speaking facilities. The center also works as a civil affairs office, issuing 319 kinds of civil affair documents either in Korean or English. The center is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The center plans to provide education programs, too. ``We will start a Korean language course for the Chinese and a Chinese co

Feb 11, 2008

Actor Jang Hyuk Becomes Father

By Kwon Mee-yoo Staff Reporter Actor Jang Hyuk, 31, who stars as a playboy in the SBS drama ``Robber'' ― aired on Wednesdays and Thursdays, became a father Friday. Jeong Ji-cheol of SidusHQ, the manager of Jang, announced that Jang's wife gave birth to a baby boy. Jang's wife, Kim, 33, was a Pilates instructor when they first met at a fitness club in 2002. Jang thanked her for her support during his hardship. The couple was registered as married in January, however, they have not held the wedding ceremony yet. The ceremony will be held in June at a hotel in Seoul. Jang first starred in the TV drama ``Model'' (1997) and later shot movies such as ``Volcano High'' (2001) and ``Windstruck'' (2004) with Jun Ji-hyun, also known as Gianna Jun. However, he was accused of intentionally avoiding the mandatory army service and entered the military in 2004 with other famous actors Song Seung-heon and Han Jae-suk. Jang returned to the TV screens with widely popular MBC drama ``Thank You'' last year. His character of a doctor who takes a single mom and her daughte

Feb 10, 2008

Competition Brewing for IOC Membership

Korean Vie for Berth to Official Seat of Sport-Governing Body By Kim Tong-hyung Staff Reporter A month into the Year of the Rat, South Korea's elite athletes are pushing their bodies through sadistic training programs driven by the zeal for fame at the summer's Olympic Games in Beijing. Beyond their grunts and sweat, however, are another group of sportsmen, who traded their shorts for designer suits and save their adrenaline for speeches rather than summersaults, but nonetheless will be seeking personal glory at the world sport's biggest stage come August. In a surprise news conference last month, Lee Elisa, a Korean table tennis legend and current president of the Taeneung Athletes Village, announced her bid to be elected as an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member. ``Korean IOC members have been either politicians or business tycoons, and they had limitations in communicating with sports officials from other countries and gaining their trust," said Lee, joined in the news conference by 30 Olympic women's medal winners who declared their support for the 54

Feb 5, 2008

N.Korean Defector Seeks to Run Lawmakers Post

By Kim Sue-young Staff Reporter A North Korea defector has registered as a candidate to run in the April 9 general elections for the first time in South Korea's history, the National Election Commission said Tuesday. Yoon Seung-gil, who defected from the Stalinist state eight years ago, said he wants to work as an Assemblyman to support other defectors by revising related laws. He added it is necessary to increase public awareness of the need to prepare for unification and defectors can play an important role in this. The hopeful also pointed out the Assembly has yet to prepare a full system to help the settlement of about 13,000 defectors. He hopes to run as a candidate of the conservative Grand National Party (GNP) in Gangseo, Seoul, where he lives. As he must pay 15 million won (nearly $16,000) to become a formal candidate, Yoon plans to raise the money from North Korea defectors. Yoon came to the South in October 2000 via China and Mongolia. After his father was executed in a factional feud, he said his family was expelled from Pyongyang and he w

Feb 5, 2008

Sick Caregiver Devotes His Life to 127 Dogs

By Kang Seung-woo Staff Reporter In some traditional Korean stories, dogs are described as faithful enough to sacrifice themselves to save their owners. But it is vice versa for 127 abandoned dogs in a plastic greenhouse located in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, where Kim Jeong-ho has taken care of those deserted animals for 30 years, although the 68-year-old man has no regular income barring monthly state subsidies of 200,000 won ($212). Aid from an animal hospital and an online pet lover club enable him to continue his merciful charitable work. What's worse, he was diagnosed with terminal oral cancer one month ago. However, the serious disease seems not to have distracted his affection toward dogs. ``I am all right, but I am really worried about who will care for them,'' Kim said. ``I started by bringing in an abandoned dog 30 years ago because I could not ignore the poor animal.'' His memory of losing his German Shepherd during the 6.25 War spurred him to help the dogs. He said after the financial crisis hit the nation in 1997, the number of deserted dogs skyr

Feb 5, 2008
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