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Koreans welcome mass start at PyeongChang

 Speed skater Lee Seung-hoon, front, competes in the mass start event of the International Skating Union (ISU) Speed Skating World Cup at the Taeneung International Ice Rink in Seoul on Nov. 23, 2014./ Courtesy of the Korea Skating Union By Kwon Ji-younSpeed skating mass start was among four new events approved by the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) executive board for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games. The addition is great news for Korean skaters, who have excelled in that event.The IOC on Monday ratified the addition of doubles in curling, mass start in speed skating, a team event in alpine skiing and big air in snowboarding. However, the snowboard parallel slalom event was removed in agreement with the International Ski Federation (FIS).In particular, the addition of the mass start in speed skating, also known as long-track speed skating, is music to Korea skaters’ ears. Olympic gold medalist Lee Seung-hoon medaled at five ISU World Cup mass start events during the 2014-2015 season. He bagged gold in Japan, Germany and Norway, bronze in Seoul and sil

헤드라인 필수 어휘 (8) - (Headline Vocabulary 8)

헤드라인 필수 어휘 (7) - (Headline Vocabulary 7)

Algal blooms

An activist checks the quality of water from Nakdong River in Daegu,Wednesday, which is suffering from algal blooms. The hot weather is the main cause for the blooms. Temperatures rose to the highest level this year with the mercury in Seoul rising to 35 degrees Celsius. / Yonhap

'Tough guy' actor to make MMA debut for charity

 / YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungActor Kim Bo-sung has released a video that shows him training for his debut with Road Fighting Championship (Road FC).The video shows Kim throwing punches at a sparring partner inside a Road FC practice ring.Kim, 48, known for playing tough-guy characters, said last week he would donate the money he makes as a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter to children with cancer.“I hope all those who know me come and buy tickets for my match,” he said. “It costs about 100 million won ($89,600) to pay for the surgery for each patient. I want to save millions of children’s lives by collecting tens of billions of won from ticket sales.”But details of his debut match are yet to be revealed.Road FC CEO Chung Moon-hong said, “All revenue from ticket sales will be used to pay for the children’s surgery. I was impressed by his charity effort and hope more people buy tickets. If we sell tickets as usual, we cannot save many children’s lives.”Last month, the actor donated 10 million won for pediatric cancer patients.&ldquo

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New start for The Hankook Ilbo

Seung Myung-ho, chairman of The Hankook Ilbo, a sister paper of The Korea Times, greets U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert during a reception to celebrate the 61st anniversary of its foundation, and declare a new start under the new leadership at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul, Tuesday. The U.S. envoy said the exciting re-launch of the newspaper was an opportunity to celebrate the freedom of the press./ Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon

UNESCO discussion

Choi Jong-moon, right, the Korean ambassador for cultural and UNESCO affairs, greets Jun Shimmi, the Japanese foreign ministry’s director-general for cultural affairs, ahead of their second round of meetings at the foreign ministry in Seoul, Tuesday, to resolve a dispute over Japan’s bid to inscribe wartime industrial facilities as UNESCO world heritage sites. / Yonhap

TV fee suit

Civic activists hold a press conference in front of the Seoul AdministrativeCourt, Tuesday, after filing a lawsuit to seek separation of the 2,500-wonTV subscription fee from electricity bills. The fee is included in electricity bills and automatically collected from every household. Some 1,600 people previously asked the Korea Broadcasting System and the Korea Electric Power Corp., both state-owned firms, to separate the charges, but theyrejected the demand. / Yonhap