Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Envoy Han Seung-soo Publishes Memoir on UN

By Park Si-soo Staff Reporter Han Seung-soo, the U.N. special envoy for climate change, has published his memoirs featuring various behind the scenes experiences he had while serving as the president of the United Nations General Assembly. The book, written in English, is titled ``Beyond the Shadow of 9/11.'' The nation's former foreign minister held a book launching ceremony Monday at a bookstore in the U.N. headquarters in New York City. The event was attended by around 200 distinguished guests including Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general of the United Nations, and many foreign diplomats. ``Before I took office as the president of the U.N. General Assembly, I couldn't find any memoir telling the hidden histories of the international organization, written by my predecessors,'' Han said. ``So I penned this book to help my successors by publishing stories containing diverse stories regarding the U.N.'' He was elected president of the assembly's 56th session in September 2001. Han wrote the memoir based on a draft made between September 2001 and September 2002

Oct 24, 2007

Actress Choi Kang-hee Donates Bone-Marrow

By Park Si-soo Staff Reporter The Korea Marrow Donor Program (KMDP) said Monday that entertainer Choi Kang-hee performed an act of charity by contributing her bone marrow last Wednesday to a child patient suffering from leukemia. This is the first case of a Korean celebrity donating marrow to an unknown patient. Reportedly, the 30-year-old movie star went to a Seoul-based hospital last Tuesday and donated the marrow on Wednesday. ``After learning that we found a patient who has a completely compatible genetic code with her, Choi stopped shooting her film and promptly visited the hospital to undergo a physical check-up in order to confirm a biological match with the recipient,'' the KMDP said. Her management agency said she is in good health now. ``We tried to discourage her from doing it for fear of harming her health. But Choi was adamant in donating to the patient so we accepted her proposal.'' Bone marrow is the soft tissue found in the hollow interior of bones especially the hip and thighbones. It contains immature cells, called stem cells, which develop int

Oct 23, 2007

Long-Time Star Couple Agree on Divorce

By Sa Eun-young Staff Reporter Actors Lee Young-ha, 57, and Sunwoo Eun-Sook, 48, a well-known star couple, have finalized their divorce. The decision, which was made under a mutual agreement, comes 26 years after tying the knot. The exact reason for the divorce was not given, however they mentioned that they were letting each other go to allow more freedom. “When a married couple live together for a long time, there are times when you become skeptical about certain things,” Lee said.

Oct 22, 2007

Universities Should Discriminate Against Bad Students to Be Competitive

By Park Si-soo Staff Reporter A Korean medical student said that universities, especially state-run schools, need to employ rigorous measures to control students' performances and achievements to strengthen their competitiveness. Park Chan-soon, a sophomore at the college of medicine of Seoul National University (SNU), who scored the highest in the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) held in 2005 with 498 points out of a possible 500, emphasized this in an interview with The Korea Times last week. ``Students with good achievements, of course, win a scholarship. Universities, however, do not have any measure to sanction students showing poor performances and achievements. That is one of the reasons why undergraduates in the nation study less compared with those in foreign countries,'' Park said. ``Foreign universities have strict guidelines regarding students' academic behavior and study criteria. If they fail to meet these, the school authorities can punish them and even kick them out of school. I think introducing these scholastic systems will encourage students to

Oct 22, 2007

KOIS Donates Books to Vietnam

By Kang Shin-who Staff Reporter The Korean Overseas Information Service (KOIS) will donate 7,000 books and 300 DVDs to Vietnam in cooperation with the ``Campaign Association of the Book Supplying for Oversea Koreans.’’ The donated books, includeing Korean novels, history books as well as a DVD set of the popular Korean TV drama ``Daejanggeum,’’ will be sent to the National Library of Vietnam and will be placed in the ``Window on Dynamic Korea’’ section, which is scheduled to open on Nov. 24. Vietnam established a Korean reading room section at the library to celebrate 15 years of diplomatic ties with Korea. ``It's very important to promote Korea because it contributes to upgrading the competitiveness of national brands in the long run. I put a lot of effort into collecting materials from private organizations, firms and universities,’’ KOIS Director Yoo Jae-woong said. To further promote Korea, KOIS will set up more Korean reading rooms in four other libraries including the Queens Public Library of New York, the National Library of Thailand, and Free University Berlin.

Oct 21, 2007

CNN Anchor Finds Sexism in Korean Journalism

By Kang Shin-who, Park Si-soo Staff Reporters A CNN anchor has pointed out sexism in the Korean broadcasting process. Kristie Lu Stout, 33, an American journalist and correspondent in Hong Kong, said Korean female news presenters should play a greater role in news production beyond merely reading news reports on television, in an interview with The Korea Times, last week. ``I think the same opportunities should be offered to both sexes. If male anchors have opportunities to be a reporter, female anchors should have the same opportunity,’’ she said. ``At CNN, all of us are involved in reporting, researching, writing and putting together stories in addition to being news anchors who are also required to do their own interviews, research, and prepare a lot of items,’’ she added. Stout, who has many fans in Korea, came to Seoul to air the weeklong special program ``Eye on South Korea,’’ which covered the country’s IT sector as well as Korean celebrities. Regarding the activities of Korean news presenters in the non-news arena, especially in entertainment, Stout sees the

Oct 21, 2007

Miss Korea Crosses Demilitarized Zone

By Park Si-soo Staff Reporter The reigning Korean beauty queen crossed the heavily armed Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to visit a North Korean city where a variety of inter-Korean economic cooperation projects are underway. Lee Ji-seon, Miss Korea for 2007, visited the Gaeseong Industrial Complex Tuesday as a representative of South Korea's young people. She crossed the inter-Korean border around 9:00 a.m. by bus to participate in a ceremony at the Gaeseong industrial site. The event was organized by the Korea Land Cooperation. The 24-old beauty queen was accompanied by Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung, Park Jin, representative of the largest opposition Grand National Party and Hyun Jeong-eun, chairman of Hyundai Group. ``I joined the trip to the North with the aim of boosting awareness of the Gaeseong Industrial Complex among young people in South Korea,'' she said. ``While North Korean females were quite kind and friendly, males were somewhat rigid and blunt.'' Lee was crowned Miss Korea at the 51st Miss Korea Pageant held at the Sejong Center for the Performi

Oct 18, 2007

Korean Team Ranks 2nd in Earth Science Olympiad

By Park Si-soo Staff Reporter The nation’s young prodigies in science won an outstanding achievement award in an international science competition. The Korean national team of four students excelling in earth science took second place with one gold and three silver medals at the 1st International Earth Science Olympiad, which ran from Oct. 7 to 15 in Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province, and Yeongwol, Gangwon Province. The Korean Earth Science Society hosted the competition. Kim Hak-rae from Jawoon High School won the gold medal in the competition, which is composed of writing and practical tests. Kang Seong-keun from Yangchung High School, Kang Im-seok and Jeong Min-gu, both from the Korea Science Academy, won silver medals. Taiwan won the championship with three golds and one silver medal. The third place was taken by the U.S., which secured two silvers and two bronze medals. More than 100 students and professors from 11 countries participated. Countries participating were the U.S., India, Nepal, Taiwan, Japan, Israel, Mongolia, Indonesia, the Philippines and

Oct 16, 2007

UCLA Dean Named as Distinguished Seoul National University Alumnus

By Park Si-soo Staff Reporter Park No-hee, the dean of the School of Dentistry at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), was named Friday as the 2007 Distinguished Graduate of Seoul National University (SNU). SNU picked the 63-year-old dental expert as the winner in recognition of his contribution to improving dental science especially regarding oral viruses and related diseases as well as mouth cancer. Park, who enjoys a high reputation for his scientific achievements, also received an award in 2001 from the International Association for Dental Research, and was selected by UCLA as a ``distinguished professor.'' In an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul, he said colleges should no longer limit themselves to staying inside their ``Ivory Towers.'' ``Now is the time for colleges to seek ways of solving emerging social problems such as global warming, pollution and labor issues. He said the role of universities has become all the more important in this age when all sectors of society show distrust. ``For universities to become troubleshooters in

Oct 15, 2007

Actress Sung to Get Married in December

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia Staff Reporter Actress Sung Hyun-ah will tie the knot with a businessman in December. The wedding ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. on Dec. 9 at the Paradise Hotel in Busan. The 32-year old Sung will marry a businessman named Hur, who is a year younger than her. However, no other details regarding her fiance are being disclosed. The wedding will take place in Busan at the request of her future husband's family who has ties there. Sung met her fiance in March through a mutual acquaintance. Both their parents are supportive of the marriage. Her future mother-in-law reportedly liked Sung so much that she wanted the couple to get married this year. Sung is known for her strong, sexy roles in Kim Ki-duk's ``Time'' and Kim Tae-eun's ``The Intimate.'' She also starred in ``The Customer is Always Right,'' ``Cello,'' ``The Scarlet Letter'' and ``Woman is the Future of Man.'' She finished third in the Miss Korea beauty pageant in 1994. Sung has appeared in a handful of dramas, such as the MBC drama ``Hur Jun'' in 1999 and ``The Good Woman and the Bad

Oct 14, 2007

People & Events