Global Community

(1661) Busan (I)

Graduation ceremony

Foreign students pose during a graduation ceremony at Konkuk University in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, Tuesday. The university has stepped up efforts to attract students from other countries. / Courtesy of Konkuk University

Language group to hold Korean intro

Language exchange and community group Global Seoul Mates (GSM) will host a Korean workshop in southern Seoul, Sunday.The focus of GSM is language exchange, culture exchange and social meet-ups.“Our mission is to cultivate a global community resting on the principles of positivity, self-development, pro-activity, experiential learning, humanity and humor. Our content revolves around the topic of how best to learn language in the context of being an expat living in Seoul,” the group says on its website.This is a chance to practice speaking Korean. Materials are designed to have attendees learn useful, relevant Korean phrases.“You are matched with a native-Korean teacher and you are asked to memorize, speak and practice the target language with your teacher,” the group says.One teacher will teach up to four students at one time.This event is only for foreigners who want to learn Korean.The cost is 10,000 won and includes a lesson, the following three hour language exchange and two drinks of your choice.To get to the venue, leave Sinnonhyeon Station at exit 3. Tur

Group presents film challenge

By John RedmondThe expat film group Korea International Expat Film Festival (KIXFF) presents “KIX48 _ 48hr Film Challenge” to take place at selected locations in Seoul from Sept. 8 to 10.The KIX48 is a community event to see who can make the best film in 48 hours.Titled “Write. Shoot. Edit. Relax.” the challenge for both pros and amateurs involves teams to race to start and finish a movie in two days.The competition starts at EMU Artspace for the kick-off event where teams will be given three elements: a prop, a line of dialogue and a location.Films will then be sent digitally to the KIX48 organizers on Sept. 10 via Dropbox. Finished films that are submitted on time will then be screened at EMU Artspace, Sept. 23.Films must be up to eight minutes longThe competition is open to everyone and registration can be done online; while a registration fee must be paid before Aug. 31.Participants who don’t have a team yet can join one at a “Meet and Greet” being held at the Hidden Cellar in Haebangchon, Sept. 2.Winners will be judged by the audience an

Movie star to be judge for English speech contest

By John RedmondSean Richard DulakeCelebrated Korean movie star Sean Richard Dulake will be a judge at the upcoming Teach North Korean Refugees (TNKR) 6th English speech contest in Seoul, Saturday.Seven North Korean refugees will be invited to give speeches in English in the contest which is sponsored by The Korea Times.As 70 percent of the North Koreans who have escaped to South Korea are women, the theme of the contest is “A Woman Is a Flower” examining the lives of North Korean women.Each speaker will have up to 10 minutes to address the question as they wish.Born to a British father and Korean mother, Dulake was raised in Los Angeles, California. After studying theater arts and business at Boston University, he moved to Korea in 2008.Two years later, he landed his first leading role in a Korean television series.Dulake has played a diverse array of characters in multiple film and television projects ranging from the role of the first doctor to establish a Western hospital in the 1880s in Korea in the period drama “Jejungwon” (2010), to a double agent in the

(1660) Jamsu Bridge pop-up beach

Match-fixing scandal taints Red Bull basketball tournament

ONG players (in white) deliberately play no defense as an Uptempo player tries a jump shot in the Red Bull Reign basketball tournament Group 1 final match. / Capture from a video provided by Project BallBy Woo Ji-wonRed Bull Reign’s first amateur basketball tournament in Seoul has been rocked by claims that a front-running team that included non-Koreans was victimized by collusion “not to let the foreigners advance.”In the three-on-three tournament’s main rounds involving the top eight teams at Jamwon Hangang Park on Saturday, Project X was looking to advance to the Group 1 final with a good number of goals.With two Koreans and two Americans, it was the only mixed-race team of the group’s four teams.However, Project X didn’t make the group final because the other teams ― Uptempo, Will and ONG ― allegedly colluded to make sure a Korean team would advance to the tournament final. Some witnesses said a Korean player from one team made racist remarks, such as, “Let’s not let the foreigners advance to the final round.”The three teams a

(1659) Talkative person

Group seeks foreign filmmakers

By John Redmond Funding for foreign filmmakers will be the subject of the 2017 KT Skylife UHD 4K Film Festival with the deadline set for Aug. 21.The group will provide up to 30 million won to be shared among 10 selected film crews.The 2017 slogan is “Think, Make” with a free choice of topics.Entrants can submit films of all genres, including documentaries, short films, omnibus style, web dramas and animation of at least 10 minutes in length. Photography or time lapses will not be accepted.All entries must be suitable for public broadcast (if possible, no smoking, nudity, drugs or sexually explicit images).The Korea International Expat Film Festival (KIXFF) has organized the event.KIXFF is run by a small group of expat filmmakers.Expat filmmaking in Seoul has made inroads in the Korean market, working on local and international television and film productions as well as producing music videos and commercials.Films must be of high resolution UHD (4K) with a resolution of 3840x2160, a frame rate of 59.94P in mp4 (H.264 codec) format.Multiple submissions are allowed.For

Photo exhibition features Korean nurses in Germany

By John RedmondA photo exhibition by Korean expat nurses from Germany is on display at the Seoul Museum of History in Jongno-gu, central Seoul. The event will run through Sept. 3.Titled the “Women Who Transcended Boundaries Exhibition,” the exhibition depicts Korean nurses who left their country for Germany in the 1960s to seek a better future for themselves and their families.The event also features stories about their lives as nurses and also as first generation Korean emigrants in a then divided nation as well as their reflections on current Korean modern society.The nurses, who went to Germany during the 1960s to ‘70s, formed the first Korean community in the country. Germany successfully revitalized its economy after the country was defeated and collapsed after World War II.“Germany recruited nurses from abroad as the country was suffering from a manpower shortage upon the improvement of the social security system and many nurses in Korea chose to go to Germany for the stabilization of their family and personal development,” the event organizers say