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INTERVIEW 'Our objective is disbandment'

The United Nations Refugee Agency's Special Envoy Angelina Jolie, right, with the organization's Goodwill Ambassador in Korea Jung Woo-sung, center, and senior public information associate Shin Heinn at UNHCR Korea's office in Jung-gu, Seoul, Nov. 4, 2018. Shin and Chae Hyun-young, interviewees of this report, asked The Korea Times not to conspicuously expose their photos. Courtesy of UNHCR KoreaUnited Nations Refugee Agency Korea explains its region-specific role and desire to endow its job entirely to the Korean government By Ko Dong-hwanAt the United Nations Refugee Agency Korea's office, employees half-jokingly say that someday they will no longer be needed in this country. The statement carries more than a self-deprecating tone. It is the Korean representative of the international organization's ultimate objective. The agency says achieving the goal is for the good of the Korean government. With its limited authority due to the regional office's geopolitical situation and directives from UNHCR's Geneva headquarters, the agency, in a low-key way, mainly advocates and supports the

Dec 19, 2018By Ko Dong-hwan

[INTERVIEW] 'Our objective is disbandment'

Live music concerts across Korea for Christmas

The pop-rock band Walking After U is touring across Korea, appearing in Gangneung on Friday, Daegu Saturday and Mokpo Christmas Eve. / Courtesy of Walking After U By Jon DunbarFor many foreigners, Christmas can be the loneliest time of year, spent far away from family and without the usual ritualized Christmas traditions. But it's especially important to go out this weekend. Fortunately, Korea's live music community is especially active for Christmas. Here are some affordable shows in smaller, welcoming venues in Seoul, Daegu and Busan ― as well as Gangneung and Mokpo ― that are unlikely to turn away anyone at the door. Daegu's landmark concert hall Club Heavy has two Christmas concerts this weekend.Friday's show features five Daegu acts ranging from mild to wild, including Ashtray, Kimbitockmin, Igloo, Polyp and the increasingly high-profile skate punk band Drinking Boys & Girls Choir. The show starts at 7 p.m. and costs 10,000 won.Sunday's show features Seoul indi

Dec 18, 2018By Jon Dunbar

Guidelines for using The Korea Times' Facebook account

The Korea Times supports the free exchange of ideas and debate on its Facebook page but for cases as follows, it reserves the right to delete items and “unfriend” those who make the postings in question.i) Use of offensive language ii) Slanderous claimsiii) Privacy violationsiv) Improper ads, spam and links to themThe Korea Times takes no legal or financial responsibility for damage from disputes caused in the course of online discussions by its users on its Facebook. The Korea Times is open to suggestions and ideas from its users to make its Facebook platform better and safer.This policy takes effect on Dec. 18, 2018, and is not applied retrospectively.

Dec 18, 2018

Guidelines for using The Korea Times' Facebook account

Korea Encounters Christmas in the early 1960s: A time of charity, Christmas cards, drunken merrymaking

A bakery storefront in Myeong-dong is decorated for Christmas in 1960. / Korea Times archiveBy Matt VanVolkenburgIn the early 1800s, according to a 1975 Korea Times article, Korean Catholics secretly “gathered together and read the bible at midnight and shared makkolli, tteok, tteokguk, and…donated clothes or rice to the poor. They gave their kids a bag filled with nuts, dried persimmons, fruits, or tteok.”By 1960 Christmas was observed by over 1 million people who, as before, tried to comfort poor street children and frontline soldiers. While carolers “made pilgrimages through the streets and sang” in cities and villages, “Jingle Bells” was “drifting from the department stores and over the radio.” By this time Christmas had become a much more commercial holiday, however, and when it came to shopping, the most crowded areas “were the bakeries and the department stores fully decorated with Christmas trees, cards and Santa Claus.”The lack of curfew on Christmas Eve, however, turned the evening into a night of revelry, w

Dec 18, 2018

Korea to open more immigration offices

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, left, and Justice Minister Park Sang-ki show a memorandum of understanding signed at Seoul City Hall, Monday, aimed at improving conditions for foreign residents. YonhapBy Ko Dong-hwanThe Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) and the Ministry of Justice signed an agreement Monday to better cater for the increasing number of foreign residents in Seoul by strengthening bilateral networks and expanding foreigner-friendly measures.Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and Justice Minister Park Sang-ki signed a memorandum of understanding at Seoul City Hall, Monday. The signing ceremony was participated in by four officials from the city government and three from the ministry. Four representatives of the Seoul City Foreign Residents Council ― from China, Japan, Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan ― and the U.K.-born head of Seoul Global Center, another SMG arm geared to supporting the city's foreign residents, also attended.The MOU is intended to introduce refreshed policies in six major sectors: discovering foreign talent; providing consultation and education; improving delivery of admin

Dec 17, 2018By Ko Dong-hwan

Sri Lankan given permanent residence after saving woman from fire

Katabilla Ketiye Ge-Dara Nimal Siri, center, receives the LG Honor for saving a Korean woman, 90, from a burning house in Gunwi County in North Gyeongsang Province in February 2017. Courtesy of Uiseong Fire StationBy Ko Dong-hwanAfter saving a woman, 90, from a burning house in North Gyeongsang Province last year, a Sri Lankan migrant worker in South Korea has been awarded permanent residency status.The Daegu Immigration Office will officially grant the status to Katabilla Ketiye Ge-Dara Nimal Siri at the office on Dec. 18, according to the Ministry of Justice on Sunday.The decision was made on Dec. 13 when the ministry held a meeting for protection and improvement of human rights of foreigners. The committee decided unanimously to grant the status to the Sri Lankan, 38.TV broadcaster KBS1 reported Nimal's heroic act, with a caption saying he "sustained burns on his face and hands when saving 90-year-old woman from the fire." Courtesy of KBS1Nimal arrived in Korea on a E-9 visa in 2013. The document expired after three years in September 2016, but he decided to stay. He did not want

Dec 16, 2018By Ko Dong-hwan

Sri Lankan given permanent residence after saving woman from fire

25% of expats live in Seoul

Nearly 25 percent of 1.67 million foreign residents in South Korea (427,618) are living in Seoul ― a 50 percent increase from 2009.By Park Si-soo Nearly 25 percent of 1.67 million foreign residents in South Korea (427,618) are living in Seoul, data shows ― a 50 percent increase from 2009, according to Seoul City. Yeongdeungpo-gu has the biggest expat population of 59,561, followed by Guro-gu (54,541), Geumcheon-gu (33,107), Gwanak-gu (29,698), Gwangjin-gu (22,230), Yongsan-gu (20,697) and Dongdaemun (20,002). The three districts with the least foreign population were Dobong-gu (3,143), Gangbuk-gu (5,423) and Nowon-gu (5,479).As the expat population continues to increase in Seoul, the city and the central government have drawn up policies top boost their quality of life and make full use of their abilities in the national interest. As part of this, Seoul City and the Ministry of Justice will forge a partnership on Monday, under which the two will explore ways to lure talented foreign entrepreneurs, scholars and students, streamline immigration and visa processes, among other issues. T

Dec 16, 2018

Korea Times Bloggers' Night

The Korea Times hosted its Bloggers' Night at a downtown restaurant Wednesday to show appreciation for their effort to strengthen its weekend editions and sometimes weekdays. The four seated are, from left, Prof. Emanuel Pastreich; Casey Lartigue, leader of TNKR, an NGO for North Korean refugees; The Korea Times President Lee Byeong-eon and Pokemon expert Rachel Stine. In the first row standing, from left, are the Times' digital newsroom reporter Lee Min-young; former CNN Seoul Bureau chief Sohn Jie-ae; the Times' digital managing editor Oh Young-jin; Kang Jae-eun, model and collaborator of street fashion photographer Michael Hurt, fourth from right in the first standing row; chief editorial writer Park Yoon-bae; the Times' online data analyst Lee Soo-jin, reporter Dong Sun-hwa; copyeditor Emma Sparkes; and reporters Jung Da-min and Ko Dong-hwan. In the back row, from left, are web designer Lee Jong-eun; reporter Jung Min-ho; movie reviewer Jason Bechervaise; Alex Jensen of TBS's “This Morning;” Jacco Zwetsloot, HMP Law director of business innovation; Prof. Hannah Jun; K

Dec 13, 2018

Foreigners' 'cash-only' immigration fee payment questioned

Korea's Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission asked the Ministry of Justice Thursday to allow foreign residents here to use their credit cards to pay immigration fees. Getty Images BankA government civil rights watchdog said Thursday it has asked the Ministry of Justice to allow foreigners staying in South Korea to use their credit cards to pay immigration fees.According to the Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission, foreigners are currently required to pay fees related to immigration and nationality in cash only, causing them inconvenience.The fees include 50,000 won (US$44) to 100,000 won for an application for a reentry permit, 120,000 won for an application for a permit to engage in activities not covered by one's status of sojourn, 100,000 won for an application for a permit to change one's status of sojourn, 300,000 won for an application for a naturalization permit and 20,000 won for a report of nationality acquirement.Some of 2.32 million foreigners staying in Korea have complained that service fees at immigration offices could not be paid by their credit cards a

Dec 13, 2018

Foreigners' 'cash-only' immigration fee payment questioned

RASKB 'Royal' origins of world's oldest Korean studies organization

By Steven L. ShieldsThere is a small, not-well-known Korean studies association in Korea. The organization began in the late 1890s. Yes, more than 100 years ago. It was the first “learned society” in Korea, organized by Westerners. Its name evokes an era that is, perhaps, long-lost and anachronistic. The Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (RASKB) is the world's first and oldest organization to pursue and promote Korean studies. It predates, by many decades, every Korean studies department at any university, anywhere in the world.One might ask, why does an organization in modern Korea have such a name? Korea hasn't had anything “royal” for a long time. The era of kings and emperors in Korea is but a memory from history. Korea's last emperor, King Sunjong, died in 1926 but was effectively deposed by the Japanese in 1910. Some have wondered if the name should be changed to reflect changing times.The first “Asiatic Society” was organized in 1784 in Kolkata, the then-capital of British India. A counterpart was organized in Mumbai in 1804. As interest in the Indian subcontinent grew

Dec 11, 2018By Jon Dunbar

Global Community

Global Community

INTERVIEW 'Our objective is disbandment'

Live music concerts across Korea for Christmas

Guidelines for using The Korea Times' Facebook account

Korea Encounters Christmas in the early 1960s: A time of charity, Christmas cards, drunken merrymaking

Korea to open more immigration offices

Sri Lankan given permanent residence after saving woman from fire

25% of expats live in Seoul

Korea Times Bloggers' Night

Foreigners' 'cash-only' immigration fee payment questioned

RASKB 'Royal' origins of world's oldest Korean studies organization

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