my timesThe Korea Times
Lifestyle

People & Events

Korea Times
About Us
Introduction
History
Contact Us
Products & Services
Subscribe
E-paper
RSS Service
Content Sales
Site Map
Policy
Code of Ethics
Ombudsman
Privacy Policy
Youth Protection Policy
Terms of Service
Copyright Policy
Family Site
Hankookilbo
Dongwha Group
FacebookXYoutubeInstagram
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.

One-Armed Fighter Kicks Away Prejudice

By Bae Ji-sook Staff Reporter It is unlikely you would throw a high kick at someone _ if that someone were a well-built martial art player, you probably wouldn't dream of it. But despite lacking one arm Ku Yang-hoi, a 170-centimeter tall and 62-kilogram fighter, has already won five times with one draw in six bouts with his high kick. Seeing Ku, an amateur martial art player standing in the ring, it is hard to imagine him punching someone as he lacks an arm. Everyone said it was impossible for him to fight in Spirit MC, the mixed martial arts league. Should he fall on the ground there is no way he can fight back against the fists and kicks pouring down upon him, for he can barely defend himself let alone stand up again. Even when falling, Ku can get critically injured because he cannot make use of both arms to defend his fall. His coach Shin Dong-jin first discouraged him. But after Ku practiced falling down and getting up more than four hours a day for six months, he became his biggest supporter. Ku practiced and practiced all day long, and when he fell, he learned t

Apr 23, 2007

Move Over Starbucks Pastry, Make Way for Rice Cakes

By Jane Han Staff Reporter Doo-wop to bebop jazzy beats along with the smooth aroma of java beans penetrate every corner of warmly lit coffee republic Starbucks as java lovers eagerly line up for their morning caffeine rush. A tall latte held in one hand and what is that held in the other? A blueberry scone? Beep _ it's a custom-made traditional rice cake. ``Starbucks meets rice cakes _ that's real fusion. It's East meets West,'' said Yoon Sook-ja, the director of the Institute of Traditional Korean Food in a Korea Times interview yesterday. With Yoon's tireless efforts to promote Korean food, especially rice cakes, major global coffee brand Starbucks began selling rice cakes in two of its 200 local shops last week. ``My heart still pounds thinking of the day when we signed an agreement to have rice cakes sold at Starbucks,'' said the 59-year-old, recalling last week's signing ceremony with Starbucks Coffee Korea CEO and Kyonggi Province Governor Kim Moon-soo. The first move was made in January by the provincial governor, said Yoon, to promote Korean rice a

Apr 19, 2007

Senior-Serving Chef Drives Magic Food Bus

By Jane Han Staff Reporter Once he roamed the urban back alleys and lived the life of a young hood, but Kim Jong-won has proven that ``bad boy’’ doesn’t have to last forever. ``I was stabbed more than twice and my finger bones were crushed one too many times,’’ said the 48-year-old of his young years. ``I’m embarrassed to say those were my immature days.’’ But with those same fingers, Kim has whipped out plates and plates of food for the homeless elderly for the past 20 years. Now a chef in Seoul, Kim makes trips every weekend to nursing homes and shelters around the country with a bus full of food _ added with his energy. ``It’s not merely volunteer work. Serving these mothers and fathers is my greatest happiness,’’ he said in a Korea Times interview on Tuesday at his Yoido restaurant. ``So even after a week of hard work, I just hop into my bus and hit the road on the weekend.’’

Apr 18, 2007

Korean-American Says Aegis Program Reflects His Background

By Jung Sung-ki Korea Times Correspondent WASHINGTON, D.C. _ Fifty years ago, a four-year-old Korean-American boy left South Korea for the United States, physically ill, his mind scarred by war. The memory of his birthplace grew dim as grew up but his love for his mother country remained. Now the Korean-American is taking a great pride in orchestrating the Korean Navy’s ambitious plan to build ships equipped with the Aegis Combat System. ``To me, the (Aegis) ship coming together kind of represents me in a way or my life because of the fact that half of the ship is American and half Korean systems, and they come together to create powerful results. It’s a reflection of my life,’’ David P. Luhta, director of Korea programs at Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors, said in an interview with The Korea Times on Tuesday last week. Luhta, 54, is in charge of the $3.2-billion KDX-III destroyer program to launch three 7,000-ton Aegis warships by 2012, following the development of nine KDX-I (3,000 ton-class) and stealthy KDX-II (5,000 ton-class) destroyers. A KDX-III v

Apr 17, 2007

Former Minister Lee Goes From Intellectual to Spiritual

By Jane Han Staff Reporter Former Culture Minister Lee-Oyoung, an acclaimed writer and scholar, announced his decision last week to get baptized this summer. Because the 73-year-old has been widely known to speak of religion from a cultural point of view, many have expressed surprise at his latest decision. Lee even discussed the bible on a Christian television show for a year, but his approach was always kept objective. But after witnessing his daughter’s fight againt cancer for over ten years and second-handedly experiencing spirituality through her, the former minister was said to have opened his heart. Lee’s 47-year-old daughter, who is a devout Christian, spoke of her personal struggles at Onnuri Church in Seoul early this month. She shared how her father stood by her during the whole process. ``I wept so many tears over the past 10 years that I don’t think I slept a night without crying,’’ she said in tears during the church’s morning service. ``I haven’t gotten baptized yet, nor have I begun the process, but if someone can give my daughter what I can’t

Apr 17, 2007

American Hotel Manager Takes Home More Than Good Memories

By Jane Han Staff Reporter Checking guests in, making beds, preparing meals, running room service, dialing morning calls _ all part of a daily routine for any ordinary hotel _ but veteran hotel manager Richard Gorman says his job had a different purpose. As the former general manager of the five-star Dragon Hill Lodge located in the Eighth U.S. Army base in Seoul, Gorman’s guests were no ordinary individuals on business or vacation, but soldiers transferring in and out of Korea. ``Our hotels and many of the things we do are identical with the things common to our counterparts in commercial hotels like Hiltons, Hyatts and Marriotts, but we do those tasks for very different reasons,’’ said the 59-year-old, who has been in the military recreation business for almost four decades. Dragon Hill Lodge in Korea, Hale Koa Hotel in Hawaii, Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Germany and Shades of Green in Florida are four lodging facilities operated by the U.S. Armed Forces Recreation Center in support of personnel assigned overseas. Gorman was with the local branch, with 394 gu

Apr 12, 2007

Lee Wins Avery Fisher Grants

By Jane Han Staff Reporter Violinist Lee Yu-ra was awarded the 2007 Avery Fisher Career Grants earlier this week, taking home honor and a $25,000 cash prize. The four winners, including the Borromeo String Quartet and double bassist DaXun Zhang, received their awards at the Lincoln Center’s Kaplan Penthouse on Tuesday. The recognition often gives a career boost for instrumentalists and Lee is the sixth Korean musician to earn the honor. Sarah Chang, Richard Yongjae O’neil and Daniel Lee were among other previous local honorees. Twenty-two-year-old Lee studied at the Juilliard School and the New England Conservatory prior to beginning her professional musical career appearing with the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic and other renowned orchestras.

Apr 11, 2007

University Columbia University Networks Global Alumni

By Kim Sue-young Staff Reporter Ku Non-hoi, a civic activist-turned-lawmaker affiliated with the governing Uri Party, died of gastric cancer early yesterday morning, his family and hospital officials said. He was 46. Ku started his political career as a lawmaker on the Uri Party ticket in the 2004 general election in Taejon, his hometown. He had worked as a vice-floor leader of the party since 2005 and had participated in a special committee for political reformation and a capital relocation alternative plan committee. The lawmaker was treated with stomach cancer in 1995 but had a relapse 11 years later, last February. He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. The ruling and opposition parties have expressed their condolences, and the Uri Party said yesterday that it plans to back a bill to support cancer patients. Born in Boryong, South Chungchong Province, in 1960, Ku worked for the Korean Federation for Environmental Movement and the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy before his public service.

Nov 2, 2006

University Columbia University Networks Global Alumni

By Kang Seung-woo Staff Reporter Former pro wrestler Kim Il, who dominated professional wrestling in the 1960s and ’70s, died Thursday afternoon in a hospital in Seoul. He was 77. An official at the Eulji General Hospital, where Kim had been hospitalized for 10 years, said that the late wrestler, who had been plagued by chronic diseases including complications from diabetes and hypertension, passed away at 12:17 p.m. According to the hospital, the cause of his death was a heart attack brought on by renal insufficiency and kidney failure. On Wednesday, as his blood pressure suddenly lowered, he was transferred to the intensive care unit. CPR, or Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation, was performed but to no avail. The bald-headed Kim moved to Japan in 1957 and started wrestling there under the guidance of Kim Shin-rak, known by the Japanese name Rikidozan, and won the World Wrestling Association heavyweight championship. He stayed in the ring for 30 years, claiming the champion’s title 20 times. Kim is survived by his wife, Lee In-soon, two daughters, Ae-ja and Soon-hee an

Oct 26, 2006

University Columbia University Networks Global Alumni

By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter Former President Choi Kyu-hah died early yesterday morning at the age of 88. A national funeral is likely be held on Thursday, government officials said. Choi was found unconscious at his home in western Seoul around 6 a.m. and was taken to Seoul National University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:37 a.m., according to doctors and his family. He had been suffering from a chronic disease attributed to his advanced age, according to his bereaved family members. Doctors said the exact cause of his death seems to be heart failure. He is survived by two sons and a daughter. President Roh Moo-hyun sent his chief of staff, Lee Byung-wan, to the hospital to express his condolences to the family members and gave them a phone call in the afternoon, according to Chong Wa Dae. Choi briefly served as acting president after then-President Park Chung-hee was assassinated by his top intelligence officer on Oct. 26, 1979, and later that year became the country’s fourth president, leading the 10th administration. But he stepped down the next year

Oct 22, 2006
previous page
579580581582583
next page

Most Read in Lifestyle