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'Korea should create DNA banks for overseas adoptees'

Han Woo-sung, head of Overseas Koreans Foundation, in his office last week / YonhapBy Lee Suh-yoonHan Woo-sung, 63, head of the government-funded Overseas Koreans Foundation (OKF), says it is imperative for the government to set up a DNA database for overseas Korean adoptees and their birth family.“Over half of the Korean adoptees I have talked to want to meet their birth family. If they don't want to face the parents who abandoned them, they're at least looking for a sibling to help them find their roots,” Han said in a phone interview, Thursday. “Because remaining documents are often inaccurate, DNA search is the only effective option to carry out the search.” A former Korean language reporter who was based in the U.S. for 30 years, Han has been lobbying for a government-run DNA database for adoptees since taking office in 2017. Thanks to an administrative change implemented this year, overseas Korean adoptees, under certain conditions, may register their DNA on the national database for missing people via South Korea's 34 diplomatic missions in 14 nations r

Jan 17, 2020
'Korea should create DNA banks for overseas adoptees'

Korean language test applicants hit record high in 2019: data

GettyimagesbankA record number of applicants took the Korean language proficiency test last year, data showed Friday, reflecting the growing popularity of the language.A total of 375,871 people sat for the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) in 2019, up 14.2 percent from 329,224 in the previous year, according to the National Institute for International Education's data analyzed by education service provider Haneul Education Corp.It marks the highest figure since 2,692 people took the exam when TOPIK was first launched in 1997. The total number of applicants who have taken the language test so far total 2.54 million.TOPIK is a language proficiency test for foreigners whose native language is not Korean. It will be conducted in 83 countries this year. (Yonhap)

Jan 17, 2020
Korean language test applicants hit record high in 2019: data

Japanese band Daiei Spray tours Korea

Japanese band Daiei Spray will perform in Seoul this Saturday. Courtesy of Daiei SprayBy Jon DunbarThe Japanese hardcore punk band Daiei Spray is coming to Seoul this Saturday to play at the eighth installation of the “Behind the Tongue” concert series. According to Kyo, the band's guitarist, he met Yoon Daemin, the guy behind “Behind the Tongue,” at a Daiei Spray show in Japan several years ago. Yoon told him about the Korean scene, and he eventually got to see Korean bands like Banran, Scumraid, Agari and Slant. He also came to Korea last year with his wife for sightseeing, and now is ready to bring his band over. Daiei Spray is named after a Japanese brand of strong hairspray that is popular among punks there. The band formed in 2004 in Hirosaki, north of Tokyo, but the band relocated to the capital in 2008 when Kyo had to move for work.Due to turnover of band members over the years, it took them until 2017 to release their first album, the seven-song 10-inch record “Isn't Brazing,” which Unite Asia called “a beautiful piece of wax that on

Jan 15, 2020By Jon Dunbar
Japanese band Daiei Spray tours Korea

Holiday in North Korea Encountering S. Korean pastor in N. Korea

Pastor Han Sang-ryeol is seen carrying rocks on the island-bound grounds of the Yanggakdo Hotel in Pyongyang on Aug. 19, 2010, a day before he returned to South Korea at the Joint Security Area. / Courtesy of Jon DunbarBy Jon DunbarI met a surprising number of interesting people on my 2010 visit to North Korea, the most memorable of whom was probably South Korean pastor Han Sang-ryeol. Han, a Presbyterian pastor and reunification activist who had been staying at the Yanggakdo Hotel, the same as my group. One of my friends noticed an elderly Asian man dressed in simple clothes, and suspected it was Han, who had snuck into the North on June 12 that yearThen on Aug. 19, I saw the same man wandering the grounds of the island-bound hotel, moving rocks around as if he was tending to a garden. I managed to intercept him in the parking lot with my friends, and we had a friendly chat with him and he shook our hands and posed for photos. He asked for our contact information to stay in touch, but considering the reception he was likely to receive on returning to the South, we decided it was bes

Jan 14, 2020By Jon Dunbar
[Holiday in North Korea] Encountering S. Korean pastor in N. Korea

F2 visa changes disrupt foreign residents' lives

Korea Times fileBy Jon DunbarMany foreign residents of Korea are scrambling after the sudden introduction of stricter visa rules late last year and their implementation early this year. The rule change stands to affect all applicants for the F2-7 visa, as well as current F2-7 holders looking to renew their visas, plus their spouses. An F2-7 visa is a type of resident visa available to holders of other visas, mostly D and E working visas. It is earned based on a points system, which takes into consideration various factors including education level, income, volunteer activities, participation in the Korean Immigration and Integration Program (KIIP) and age. Before, one needed at least 80 out of 125 points for the application only, but now the 80 points must be maintained to renew the visa.Bob, 42, a 15-plus-year resident of Korea, half of which has been on an F2-7 visa, found he is no longer eligible for his visa under the new rules. The visa awards points based on age, with those aged 30 to 34 earning the most points at 25, but these diminish the older one gets. The recent change put

Jan 14, 2020By Jon Dunbar
F2 visa changes disrupt foreign residents' lives

Foreign Line

Gay Shop celebrates openingA new online store, selling products created to bring a little art, pride and fun into the lives of sexual minorities and their allies, is holding an opening party this Friday night at the Warehouse Itaewon. The store, run by artist and performer Heezy Yang, sells art products including postcards, stickers, buttons, prints and books. Entry is free, and all attendees will receive a free gift, plus a 1+1 deal for all queer prints, four hours of unlimited cocktails for 15,000 won; and a drag show at 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. Also present will be queer content creator Hayden Royalty. Visit thegayshopkorea.com or fb.com/thegayshopkorea for more information. Art, culture of King Sejong's reignKing Sejong's 1418-1450 reign is remembered today for many advances, both linguistic and scientific. But under his watch culture and art saw many developments too. He oversaw the creation of several forms of ceremonial court music, a calendar system and helped with the development of the movable metal type called eulhae-ja. Yi Song-mi, emerita of art history at the Academy of K

Jan 13, 2020By Jon Dunbar

Joseon Images Streetcars of Seoul: 'first step toward civilization'

A streetcar in 1902 from the Bostwick photo album / Seoul Museum of History ExhibitBy Robert NeffWhen streetcars were introduced into Seoul in spring 1899, Harper's Weekly declared them to be “the first step toward civilization in the Hermit Kingdom.” They were relatively inexpensive (a ride, depending on the distance, cost between two cents and 15 cents), accessible to all (regardless of social status or gender) and viewed as cosmopolitan and fashionable. By the end of the year, the average daily patronage was 2,068 passengers. In 1910, there were 37 streetcars and the daily average passenger number was 9,810. By 1935, the daily patronage was about 150,000 served by 154 streetcars.In the beginning, however, things did not run so smoothly. A drought plagued the country and many superstitious people believed the streetcars were responsible. The claims were many: The cars sucked away the clouds, the electrical cables interfered with the rain spirits, the power plant was built on hallowed ground and the great dragon that slept beneath the city was disturbed by the streetcar

Jan 8, 2020

Mockumentary lambasts online urbex culture

"Min" helps "John" reach the roof of a building in Seoul for a photo shoot, in Alex G. Ringo's mockumentary "Inside Scoop from the Influencer. / Courtesy of Alex G. Ringo By Jon DunbarThere's no shortage of crazy rooftopping videos online, showing some thrill-seeker hanging off a ledge or climbing a perilous construction crane. It's all been done and netizens seem to have grown tired of them. But a new video, made by Russian urban explorer Alex G. Ringo, offers something different: it's a satirical mockumentary savaging the international jet-set urbex community, which he sees as having lost its soul to commercialism in the social media age. Ringo decided it's finally time to let the world see “Inside Scoop from the Influencer” this year, now that it completed the 2019 festival circuit. It will be online this weekend. It was nominated last year for “Best short film made for less than $5,000” at The Monkey Bread Tree Film Awards and for Best Experimental Short, Best O

Jan 8, 2020By Jon Dunbar
Mockumentary lambasts online urbex culture

B3 returns to Gyeongnidan's Boogie Woogie

The members of blues rock band B3 perform / Courtesy of B3By Jon DunbarB3, an expat blues, soul and rock band, has a show at Boogie Woogie in Itaewon's Gyeongnidan this Saturday.In an interview with The Korea Times, the band members requested their names be left out of the article, putting the focus on the band itself. “We're very team-oriented and prefer not to focus on band individuality ― the music's the most important to us,” they explained in a collectively penned response.B3 got its start in 2006 in the Pyeongtaek area playing the blues, but over time it expanded its repertoire to include soul and rock 'n' roll. As the members are scattered across Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, they stick mostly to covers and putting a “B3 spin” on them. They have a library of 50 to 60 songs and try to play at least 20 at every show, never the same set twice. Their blues repertoire includes “Sweet Home Chicago,” “Crossroads” and Stormy Monday.” They also cover the Allman Brothers, BB King, Eric Clapton, James Brown, the Temptations and Steely

Jan 8, 2020By Jon Dunbar

Hwacheon ice fishing festival begins Saturday

The 2020 Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival will be open to foreign visitors on Saturday, one week ahead of its formal opening, county officials said Friday.The world famous festival was originally scheduled to kick off on Saturday on a frozen river in the Gangwon Province county of Hwacheon, about 120 kilometers northeast of Seoul, but has been delayed by one week due to unseasonably warm weather.To avoid confusion among foreigners who had already booked flights or tour packages, however, Hwacheon's county government has decided to open the festival only to foreign visitors from the original opening date.Korean visitors are invited to enjoy the annual ice fishing festival from Jan. 11 to Feb. 2, they added. Approximately 20,000 fishing holes will be pierced through the ice over a 2.1-kilometer area about the size of 24 soccer fields, and about 200 tons of "sancheoneo" will be released during the festival. Sancheoneo is a species of trout known to live only in very clean fresh water.According to county officials, the ice is now about 20 centimeters thick in the upper reaches of the ice

Jan 4, 2020
Hwacheon ice fishing festival begins Saturday
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