Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Zo to Appear in Epic Movie

By Sa Eun-young Staff Writer Korea's heartthrob Zo In-sung will join hands once again with director Yu Ha in an epic movie set during the Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392). The movie has yet to be titled, but will be produced by Opus Pictures and makes a fresh attempt at dealing with homosexual love. Zo and Yu last worked together in 2006 ‘’A Dirty Carnival”, which won Zo the lead male actor award at the 2006 Korea Film Awards. In the movie, Zo will appear as a Goryeo warrior, balancing a romance between both a male and female counterpart, but Yu clearly stated the movie as ``a love story between men,’’ Yonhap News Agency reported. The scenario will be completed around the end of September, while other cast members have yet to be decided on. Zo had many options for his last work before his compulsory military service, but his trust in Yu was the main reason he Zose to appear in the film without even knowing the exact details of the movie. Director Yu has been widely acclaimed by moviegoers and critics alike for bringing out violence and collectivity from deep within the human soul

Aug 6, 2007

Samsung Electronics ‘Mr. Chip’ in Uphill Struggle

By Kim Tae-gyu Staff Reporter Over the past few years, Samsung Electronics President Hwang Chang-gyu was a star businessman at the South Korea's foremost company by any measure. As a head of the Seoul-based company's cash cow semiconductor division, Hwang made Samsung the runaway leader in the memory chip markets. Since he took the reins of the semiconductor unit in 2000, Hwang also channeled much efforts and funds to claim technical leadership on the global scene. Based on such performances, Hwang was touted throughout last year as one of the strongest candidates to take the throne of Asia's most valuable technology company. Samsung is composed of five divisions including cell phones and displays. However, every flow has its ebb and Hwang's kingdom has been shaken this year for some reason. First and foremost, prices of memory chips plummeted earlier this year, substantially chipping away at the bottom line of the semiconductor unit. Possibly due to the deteriorating profitability, Samsung assigned a subdivision focusing on memory chips to Executive Vice P

Aug 6, 2007

Beauty More Than Just Pretty Face

By Lee Hyo-won Staff Reporter 2007 Miss Korea Lee Ji-seon, is just beginning to comfortably settle into her week-old title, which she confidently asserted means much more to her than having been simply crowned a beauty queen: ``I believe it's a contest for selecting a female representative of our country,'' the 24-year-old said during an interview with The Korea Times last Thursday. ``Until a few years ago, I agreed with anti-Miss Korea sentiment that the pageant promotes the sexual commercialization of women,'' she said. ``But if it were simply a contest for selecting pretty women, there would be no need to have one-on-one interviews to discern the knowledge, personal character and future outlook of the contestants.'' Lee explained that the contest has transformed drastically over time. With the latest Miss Koreas like Geum Na-na (2002), a medical student who later went to Harvard University, and Lee Honey (2006), a Seoul National University graduate, both known for being beautiful as well as smart, the Pageant's image is recovering, she said. ``I greedily thought mayb

Aug 5, 2007

Cultural Heritage Administrator Apologizes

By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter You Hong-june, head of the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA), Friday apologized for having used the budget for buying books authored by himself. The administrator said he is sorry for the criticism that it was inappropriate for the CHA to buy You's books out of state coffer and distribute them for promoting agency activities. ``All profits yielded will be donated to the national trust for preserving cultural heritage and I will be careful in the future lest this kind of incident should happen again,'' he said in a statement. You, a former university professor and art critic, is the writer of several books including the long-time bestseller series ``My Exploration of Cultural Heritage,'' published in the 1990s. He has been serving as the CHA administrator since September 2004. You recently came under criticism when it was revealed that the CHA used about 20 million won of its budget for purchasing five kinds of his books to distribute them for promoting cultural heritage of Korea. The outspoken scholar had created several ideologica

Aug 3, 2007

Dongguk U. Sacks Bogus Prof. Shin Jeong-ah

By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter Dongguk University's disciplinary board Friday made official discharge of Shin Jeong-ah, an art curator and the university's former assistant professor. Shin created a sensation earlier this month when, upon her being tapped as co-director of Gwangju Biennale, it was revealed that she had fabricated her academic records, which stated that she had graduated from top U.S. universities, including Yale. She did not own up to her forgery, but fled to New York on July16 where he has since been hiding. ``As you know, we held the first disciplinary meeting on July 27 to give her a chance to vindicate herself, but she did not turn up. So we held a second disciplinary meeting today, but she did not show up then either,'' Rev. Youngdam, chief of the disciplinary board meeting, told reporters after the meeting. ``Five out of seven disciplinary board members who were present at today's meeting made the decision to dismiss her.'' The Buddhist university has quickly responded to the scandal involving Shin, feeling the continuous media reports about the

Aug 3, 2007

Pastor Wins Magsaysay Award

By April Choi Korea Times Intern Kim Sun-tae's efforts to help the blind have been recognized in the form of the 2007 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service. The Manila-based Ramon Magsaysay Award was created to commemorate the late president of the Philippines and ``to perpetuate his example of integrity in government, courageous service to the people, and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society.’’ The award ceremony will take place in Manila on Aug. 31. Kim will receive a certificate, medallion with the likeness of Magsaysay and a cash prize. Director of Seoul's Siloam Eye Hospital, Kim has dedicated most of his life to helping the blind. After he was blinded by a mortar shell during the Korean War and was treated like a pariah by Korean society, he became determined to succeed and change how blind people were treated. Starting off by forming Korea's first church for the blind in 1972, Kim built a ministry for blind Christians. After touring Japan and the United States, he was inspired by their public amenities and rehabilitation programs for the blind.

Aug 1, 2007

Singer to Donate W100 Million to Correct Distorted History

By Kang Shin-who Staff Reporter Popular singer Kim Jang-hoon, 40, will donate 100 million won to the Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK) to correct the distortion of historical facts. VANK is a non-government organization that seeks to rectify false information about Korea on foreign Web sites. Kim earned the money from his work as an advertising model. Half of the donation will be used in producing postcards that describe Dokdo islets as Korean territory and history textbooks for foreigners. The rest of the fund will be allotted to increase the number of VANK members. Kim has given performances to aid the fight against a Chinese research project which claims the Chinese people’s historical sovereignty over Goguryeo, north of the Korean Peninsula which is now part of Chinese territory. Also he has protested against the Japanese leadership’s worship at the Yasukuni Shrine, which has, among others, the graves of war criminals; as well as the leadership’s denial of the cause of the ``comfort women,’’ who were forced to provide sex to Japanese soldiers during World Wa

Aug 1, 2007

Violinist Chung Kyung-wha to Teach at Juilliard School

By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter Renowned Korean violinist Chung Kyung-wha will teach at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York, her alma mater. The school's Web site has already listed the 59-year-old as ``faculty since 2007.'' Chung is a member of the ``Chung Trio,'' consisting of her younger brother, maestro conductor and pianist Chung Myung-whun, and her elder sister, Chung Myung-wha, cellist and professor at the Korean National University of Arts in Seoul. Born into a richly musical family, Chung Kyung-wha moved to the United States at 13 and entered the Juilliard on a scholarship to study under renowned violin virtuoso Ivan Galamian. Her other two siblings also studied at the school. Since her graduation in 1965, Chung has performed with world-class orchestras and conductors around the world, including the Berlin Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra. She also released several recordings through EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca and RCA. But she was forced to cancel a performance in September 2005 due to the sudden injury of her fingers, and has kept a low

Jul 31, 2007

Actress Kim Hee-sun’s Fiance Is Businessman

By April Choi Pictures of actress Kim Hee-Sun's fiance have surfaced over the Internet despite the actress' efforts to keep things low-key. Interest has been high in the young businessman, Park Ju-yeong, 33, and netizens have scoured the web for more information using clues from articles about the couple's upcoming wedding. They succeeded in finding a 2006 interview that the magazine, "Men's Health," did with Park. An accomplished sportsman, he is adept at boxing, fencing and martial arts. The second son of the president of Larksan Group, a local construction company, the bridegroom-to-be runs a spa in Apgujeong-dong, southern Seoul. Known for her roles in the martial arts movie "Bichunmoo," as a Korean Princess in "The Myth," "A Man Who Went to Mars" etc, Kim has a reputation as a leading actress in not only Korea but China, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. After starring in "The Myth" in 2005, the actress was going to start filming for a TV drama but is postponing her acting activities to concentrate on plans for the wedding. The couple is to wed Oct. 19 at the Seoul Sherato

Jul 30, 2007

Aspiring Designer Crowned Miss Korea

By Lee Hyo-won Staff Reporter The midsummer heat was at its peak as 60 Korean beauties took to the stage for the 2007 Miss Korea Pageant. Among them, Lee Ji-seon, who entered the national beauty contest as Miss Seoul, was crowned Miss Korea at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts last Friday evening. The graceful 24-year-old kept her composure as she received her glimmering crown, studded with 2,200 diamonds. Expressing thanks, Lee appeared determined to prove her competence as the new Miss Korea. The aspiring fashion designer said she wishes to make positive use of her title to achieve her dreams, but for the meantime will focus on representing the country at the Miss Universe pageant next year. Majoring in fashion design at the Parsons School of Design in New York, the beauty queen was also chosen as Most Photogenic while still in her junior year. During the contest, Lee garnered a great deal of attention, not only for her striking looks but also for her eloquent speech. When asked to critique the recent Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA) following

Jul 29, 2007

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