Lifestyle - The Korea Times

Winners of 2023 Korea Times - ETS Student Reporter Contest

» For the winners, please download documents.

Aug 23, 2023

Winners of 2023 Korea Times - ETS Student Reporter Contest

INTERVIEW Elite North Korean defector dreams of studying abroad

Kim Gum-hyok, North Korean defector who is now a policy adviser at South Korea's Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs / Courtesy of Kim Gum-hyokBy Kim Hee-suKim Gum-hyok, 31, is a North Korean defector who became a policy adviser at South Korea's Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. Having arrived in the South in 2012, Kim is part of an emerging generation of North Korean defectors fast acclimatizing to life in South Korea. Kim at one time was a former broadcaster, YouTuber and is now a government official. “The North Korean defectors of my generation do not usually meet each other. While the past generation of defectors listen to North Korean music and enjoy eating 'naengmyeon' (Korean cold noodles), my generation is eager to be a part of mainstream society in South Korea. Like myself, they want to enter conglomerates and the Ivy League schools or be a doctor and lawyer,” Kim said in a recent interview with The Korea Times.He also dreams of studying at a U.S. school such as Johns Hopkins University or at Columbia University's School of International and Public

Aug 22, 2023

[INTERVIEW] Elite North Korean defector dreams of studying abroad

2027 World Youth Day will utilize temporary housing in Seoul: archbishop

Peter Chung Soon-taick, the archbishop of Seoul, gives a briefing on the 2027 World Youth Day, which will be held in Seoul, during a press conference at the Archdiocese of Seoul, Aug. 22. YonhapThe 2027 World Youth Day will utilize home stays, churches and schools in Seoul to accommodate young Catholics who will gather for the global event, the archbishop of Seoul said Tuesday.Seoul has been chosen as the host city for the next World Youth Day, becoming the second Asian host following the Philippines in 1995.Peter Chung Soon-taick estimated up to 800,000 pilgrims are expected to attend the closing Mass, saying the organizing committee will arrange accommodations in various forms across the capital city. "In addition to home stays, we will make use of retreat houses and education centers in cathedrals. We will also use school auditoriums and classrooms for sleeping arrangements," Chung said during a press conference held at the Archdiocese of Seoul. For the closing Mass of the event, which is expected to draw the largest number of people, the attendees could camp out or stay in tempor

Aug 22, 2023

2027 World Youth Day will utilize temporary housing in Seoul: archbishop

Revamped TOEFL iBT test aligned with test takers' desired outcomes

A student prepares TOEFL iBT test through the TOEFL® Practice Online, which helps test takers experience what it's like to take a real test. Courtesy of ETSBy Kook Yeon-wooAs part of its effort to create an optimal experience for test takers, ETS has introduced a revised TOEFL iBT® test as of July 26. The test now takes less than two hours to complete, an enhancement from the previous three-hour-long test time. The changes include streamlined instructions and navigation, removal of unscored questions, a shortened Reading Section and a new Writing for an Academic Discussion task.The TOEFL iBT score scale remains unaltered, while the improvements, developed with feedback from ETS customers and stakeholders, address the needs of test takers and help them save time and ease test day stress.So far, the TOEFL iBT test's changes have garnered positive feedback from students with varying goals.Mun So-yeon, a high school student preparing for an undergraduate degree in Japan, said that she had struggled with the lengthy test-taking time in the past. “Personally, I really loved t

Aug 21, 2023

Revamped TOEFL iBT test aligned with test takers' desired outcomes

The Korea Times signs MOU with Taiwanese media outlet

Korea Times President-Publisher Oh Young-jin, bottom, and Taipei Times Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Huang display copies of a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the two media outlets, during an online signing ceremony, Monday. Screenshot from online ceremony

Aug 16, 2023

The Korea Times signs MOU with Taiwanese media outlet

INTERVIEW Ex-Miss University finalist turns into pro golf teacher

Lee Won-beBy Kim Hee-suLee Won-be, a KLPGA golf pro, is working at Nineplex in southern Seoul's affluent Gangnam District. She is a member of LPGA Teaching and Club Professionals (LPGA T&CP), which is the LPGA's teaching program to become a certified LPGA professional, the most authoritative teaching pro status in the United States. She said she is in the final step to receive Class A.Lee expressed a deep interest in volunteerism. She was the finalist at the World Miss University (WMU) in 2014. That status helped her to pursue her dream of charity and donation. The competition was to select the representatives of the World University Peace Service Corporation Foundation who will later work on the U.N.'s International Year of Peace. “I studied about world peace and my contribution towards it, with a focus on the services and efforts to pursue values such as curbing global warming,” she said.She said her experience at WMU helped boost her golf career. “I could create new relationships aside from golf. I felt refreshed when talking with people from diverse sectors

Aug 7, 2023

[INTERVIEW] Ex-Miss University finalist turns into pro golf teacher

Seoul selected as host of 2027 World Youth Day

Pilgrims and bishops celebrate on stage holding a Korean flag after Pope Francis announced Seoul as the host of the 2027 World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal, Sunday. AFP-YonhapSeoul was chosen on Sunday as the host of a global Catholic Church event for young people in 2027.Pope Francis announced the South Korean capital as the host of the 2027 World Youth Day during the closing Mass for this year's event in Lisbon on Sunday.Seoul archdiocese estimates between 700,000 and 1 million pilgrims, including about 300,000 from overseas, will attend the 2027 World Youth Day.World Youth Day brings together young Catholics from around the world in celebration of their faith. The first World Youth Day was held in 1985. Since 2002, World Youth Day has been held every three years, but after 2011, the subsequent event was held one year earlier than scheduled, in 2013, in Rio de Janeiro, to avoid conflict with the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.The 2022 event was postponed until this year due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.The last Asian host of World Youth Day was Manila, capital of the Phi

Aug 6, 2023

Seoul selected as host of 2027 World Youth Day

New digital facade at Seoul's award-winning design plaza to light up city

Visitors to Dongdaemun Design Plaza in central Seoul watch a media facade being projected onto the structure during the Seoul Light DDP 2022 Winter in December 2022. Courtesy of Seoul Design FoundationAnnual light show wins Red Dot Award By Ko Dong-hwanDongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), an outlandish-looking structure in Seoul that defied orthodox architecture and glimmers like a silver fish, is launching a new projection art for the city's hip fashion sector.Starting from Aug. 31, the Seoul Light DDP 2023 Fall will display a large-scale media show on the surface of the 220-meter-wide structure under the night sky until Sept. 10, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, Monday. Miguel Chevalier, a French digital and virtual artist who has earned international recognition as one of the pioneers of computer-based art, and the Frankfurt-based European Design Center run by the Korean automaker Kia are creating the works. Their high-end digital productions share the theme of “digital nature.”The feature presentation will illuminate the streets of one of the city's busiest a

Aug 1, 2023By Ko Dong-hwan

New digital facade at Seoul's award-winning design plaza to light up city

MOU with Rwanda media outlet

MOU with Rwanda media outlet       Korea Times President-Publisher Oh Young-jin, top left, and New Times of Rwanda's Managing Director James Munyaneza show copies of a memorandum of understanding on the promotion of cooperation between the two media outlets, during an online signing ceremony, Wednesday. At bottom is First Counselor Claude K. Ganza of the Embassy of Rwanda in Seoul who helped arrange the signing ceremony. Screenshot of online ceremony

Jul 28, 2023

Maestro Chung Myung-whun tapped as ambassador for Busan's Expo bid

Maestro Chung Myung-whun, left, poses with Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon during Chung's appointment ceremony as the sixth ambassador for the port city's bid to host the World Expo 2030 at City Hall, Tuesday. YonhapBy Lee Hae-rinKorea's award-winning conductor Chung Myung-whun has joined efforts to promote Busan's bid to host the World Expo 2030 after being named as the southern port city's sixth official ambassador.Busan Metropolitan City and the public-private committee promoting the city's Expo bid held Chung's appointment ceremony at Busan City Hall, Tuesday.“I was born in Busan and I came back here with much pleasure after experiencing world stages,” Chung said during the appointment ceremony, expressing his determination to support the bid campaign.Born in Busan in 1953, Chung inherited and grew his passion for music from his mother, who carried a small piano with her when she evacuated to Busan at the outbreak of the 1950-53 Korean War, he said during a press conference after the ceremony. The southeastern port city became a haven for war refugees from across the coun

Jul 27, 2023By Lee Hae-rin

People & Events