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No Secret Behind Energetic Player

By Kang Shin-who, Ahn Jin-Ju Staff Reporter, Intern It is getting hotter and the sizzling weather alerts most sports players’ wives. Many of them strive to help their husbands maintain stamina with special foods and medicine that, many Koreans believe, work well. However, this is just superstition to Karen and her husband, Daniel Rios who boasts the most powerful stamina among baseball players in the Korea Baseball Organization. ``He is not superstitious at all. There is a specific selection of food he eats on the days that he pitches. He also takes 10 different kinds of vitamins,’’ Mrs. Rios told The Korea Times when asked the secret behind her husband’s ceaseless power. Rios, a foreign pitcher of the Doosan Bears, was the best inning eater last year with 223 innings. Also, he is the only player who pitched over 200 innings for three consecutive years. Karen, with her daughter Gabrielle and son Mathew, attended Jamsil Baseball Stadium last Friday to support her husband. Unlike many Korean wives, Daniel’s wife stressed that sports players should not depend o

May 22, 2007

CEO Seeks Presidential Bid

By Kim Sue-young Staff Reporter Moon Kook-hyun, 58, CEO of staple products maker Yuhan-Kimberly, has hinted at opening his presidential bid. ``Civil organizations told me that they will ask businessmen by August or September whether to join political activities or not,'' he told reporters after participating in the inaugural meeting of a forum on climate change at the National Assembly on Monday. ``If there is something that businessmen can do for upgrading Korea, I will do it.'' Moon who is considered a potential presidential candidate to represent liberal forces, will likely gear up preparation for his bid by interacting with politicians, political sources said. He said those groups have pointed out that entrepreneurs cannot solve social issues while just standing in the background. ``If the civil groups share values for social unity, corporations can't stay away from those values. Business is a party of civil groups,'' he said. ``Political parties and social organizations haven't requested me to join political activities but I will sincerely respond to them fo

May 22, 2007

Winemaker CEO Welcomes Guests Aboard Moving Wine Bar

By Jane Han Staff Reporter Looking out the window from a southbound KTX train last November, a local wine company CEO saw a rusty and near empty Saemaul-ho coach on the tracks _ and instantly he thought, ``new business.'' The inspiration that flickered across the mind of WineKorea's top executive Yoon Byung-tae triggered a new drink-n-ride service that brings visitors to the country's one and only winery in Youngdong, North Chungcheong Province. ``The booming popularity of KTX has been threatening Saemaul-ho, and I thought the remodeling of a few cars of this neglected train into a moving wine bar would attract new riders,'' said 51-year-old Yoon, who heads a winery that is home to the local brand Chateau Mani. And he was right. Since the bi-weekly service started, its been enjoying full booking and rave reviews from guests. ``When I first approached the Korea Railroad Corporation to get a permit, they were welcoming because the project promised to revive a train that's been losing patrons over some time,'' said Yoon, hinting that a few more cars and entertainm

May 21, 2007

Actor Lee Byung-hun May Go to Hollywood

By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter Actor Lee Byung-hun will likely play a Hong Kong gang leader involved in crime and drug businesses in an upcoming film by a renowned Vietnamese-French director. Yonhap News Agency reported from Cannes, France that the 37-year-old actor will star in ``I Come With the Rain,'' a film scheduled for 2008 by director Tran Anh Hung. Tran's previous works include ``The Scent of Green Papaya'' and ``Cyclo'' among others. The upcoming $18 million-budget movie will become the first English-language film by the director. The film stars Josh Harnett, of ``Black Hawk Down'' and ``Pearl Harbor'' fame. The American actor will play the lead role of a former Los Angeles cop who comes to Hong Kong on a mission to find a missing son of a high-ranking Chinese businessman. Lee's role, a gang leader called Su Dongpo, will support the plot along with the role of Meng Zi, a Hong Kong cop and a long-time friend of the American. The film is expected to be Lee's debut on the world stage. Lee is currently filming ``The Good, the Bad and the Weird'' by director

May 21, 2007

‘Republic of Naver’ Builds Up

This is the first in a three-party series on the nation's top Web portal Naver and its influence on Korea. _ ED. By Kim Tae-gyu Staff Reporter Midway through 2005, the slogan `Republic of Samsung' was coined here to show how Samsung Group, Korea's No. 1 conglomerate by any measure, dominates the country. Now, the buzzword is `Republic of Naver,' as the nation's foremost Internet site Naver continues to expand its influence not only on the virtual world but also on the actual world. Last year, NHN that operates Naver chalked up 573.4 billion won in sales with operating profits of 229.6 billion won. Its operating profit rate is in the neighborhood of 40 percent. These sharply contrast with the industry's runner-up player Daum Communications, which racked up just 10.2 billion won in operating profit and 460.8 billion won in revenue last year. In the first quarter of this year, NHN stayed ahead of the curve with whopping performances _ 199.6 billion won in sales and 85.6 billion won in operating income, up 63.9 percent and 51.5 percent from a year before, respecti

May 21, 2007

Yim to Get Young Engineer Award

By Kim Tae-gyu Staff Reporter A Korean scientist was picked as the recipient of the Outstanding Young Engineer Award of this year, given by the IEEE Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology (CPMT) Society. Yim Myung-jin, a 34-year-old researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology, won the prestigious award _ a first for a Korean. The award will be presented to Yim at the Electronic Component and Technology Conference that will be held in Reno, Nev., May 29-June 1. The CPMT Society has conferred the annual award to a promising young scientist since 1996 on various criteria such as contributions to technology and product development. The successful candidates of the award should be 35 years of age, or younger, and long-time members of the IEEE or the CPMT in the United States. The CPMT Society is the leading international forum for scientists and engineers engaged in the research design and development of advances in micro-systems packaging and manufacture. Yim received his Ph.D. from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in 2

May 21, 2007

Peter Singer Speaks for Animal Rights

By Seo Dong-shin Staff Reporter Peter Singer, author of ``Animal Liberation,'' which is regarded as the bible of the animal rights movement, came to Seoul to talk about ``Living Ethically in the 21st Century'' in a series of Dasan Memorial Lectures. The Australian-born professor, who lectures at Princeton University and is affiliated with the University of Melbourne, was among Time Magazine's list of the world's 100 most influential people in 2005. The magazine stated that ``he is a man whose reasoning merits consideration by everyone. There are few philosophers, living or dead, about whom that can be said.'' The New Yorker once described the 60-year-old as ``maybe the most controversial philosopher alive.'' The ``controversial'' part of him does not manifest itself when the staunch vegetarian argues for animal rights or the need to contribute to eradicate poverty around the world, following theologian Thomas Aquinas who wrote ``Whatever certain people have in superabundance is due, by natural law, to the purpose of succoring the poor.'' His advocacy of animal rights is

May 17, 2007

Korean Designer Wins Grand Prix at French Festival

By Lee Hyo-won Staff Reporter A Korean fashion designer was awarded the grand prize at the 14th Dinard Fashion Festival. Lee Jae-hwan won the highest mention for women’s wear by a unanimous vote from the 13-member panel of judges. More than 200 candidates from all over the world applied for ten spots in the fashion festival, which took place from May 11 to 13 in Dinard, in northern France. The chosen few exhibited their work and organized a fashion show during the event. The 28-year-old designer presented seven pieces under the theme ``Sweet and Sexy.’’ Employing luxurious fabric like silk and cashmere, he created sophisticated black and ivory colored apparel. In particular, Lee’s elegant cream-tone wedding gown received much praise. Inspired by the glamour of the 1940s, the dress tastefully highlights the curvaceous feminine form. Pascal Millet, artistic director of fashion house Carven and head of the festival’s jury, explained that Lee’s superb choice of fabric and color was not the only reason for his grand prix. ``He created a pattern that most perfectly expr

May 17, 2007

University Columbia University Networks Global Alumni

By Bae Ji-sook Staff Reporter People used to be ignorant of them, sometimes fearing or looking down on them calling them lepers or deformed. But now we know that Hansen's disease sufferers are no different from any other people stricken with an illness, and are not to be feared. ``If found at its early stage, it can be cured through drug treatment,'' Kang Hey-song, nurse at the National Sorokdo Hospital, said. The 32 year-old-woman is among the list of 12 people receiving awards from the minister of health and welfare in commemoration of Hansen Family's Day on Thursday. The German Leprosy Relief Association, which helped found a farm for Hansen's disease patients and provided them with medical services in Korea along with two patients at the hospital, eight businessmen and lawyers were awarded with Kang for their efforts to support the patients. Kang, who has worked for the hospital since 1996, said the hospital is almost like a big family. ``There are 640 patients, 204 staff and dozens of volunteers, and we all feel like we know each other well and feel very bond

May 17, 2007

Merrill Lynch’s Dow Kim Quits to Set Up Own Investment Firm

By Park Hyong-ki Staff Reporter Merrill Lynch, the world's third largest securities firm, said that its executive vice president Dow Kim will leave the company by the end of 2007 to set up his own investment firm. Kim, 44, is also co-president of the Global Markets and Investment Banking group of Merrill. The New York-based investment bank announced the appointment of Ahmass Fakahany and Gregory Fleming to the new positions of co-presidents of the company. Merrill's Chairman and CEO Stan O'Neal said in a statement that Kim had expressed his desire for sometime to found his own business and put his investment and quantitative skills on the market. ``This is an opportune time for him to venture out on his own, as the company is performing extremely well, with an accomplished team of senior managers,'' O'Neal said. O'Neal described Kim as a ``respected, valued and energetic'' member of the company's senior team, who made many contributions to the rebuilding of the company's institutional capabilities and geographic footprint. Kim is expected to be available to the co

May 17, 2007
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