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Online mall guru reveals shocking baby blues

Hong Young-gi with her husband, above, and baby boy / Courtesy of TwitterOnline mall guru Hong Young-gi, who married a high school student and had a child when she was 21, has revealed that she cried when she found out she was pregnant.Hong, now 23, appeared on cable network tvN talk show “Taxi” with her husband and son. She spoke about not giving up on her unexpected pregnancy with her teenage future hubby two years ago.“I cried when I found out I was pregnant,” said Hong, who has earned as much as 300 million won ($265,000) with her online mall business since she launched it when she was a high school student. “My boyfriend was only 18 back then. He wanted to smile on finding out about the news but he couldn’t because I kept crying.”Hong is also famous for her glamorous body and beautiful looks.  

Mar 11, 2015By Ko Dong-hwan
Online mall guru reveals shocking baby blues

Bitcoin Center opens in Seoul

 Terry Jang, left, one of the owners of Bitcoin Center Korea, gives a speech at the opening of the center on Feb. 28 in Itaewon, Seoul. / Courtesy of Bitcoin Center KoreaBy Lee Min-hyungA Bitcoin Center Korea that has opened in Seoul, aims to change the nation’s perception about digital money.“In order to take bitcoin adoption in Korea to the next level, we need to change the perception of bitcoin from a strictly high-risk investment to a potential mainstream currency,” said Terry Jang, one of the owners. He is a co-founder of Digital Synergy, a startup that aims to improve the marketing side of bitcoin.More than 40 local bitcoin community members gathered for the opening ceremony on Feb. 28.The center aims to provide detailed information about bitcoin, which is not familiar to many Koreans. Anyone interested can get information from the center.“Education is the key to bitcoin’s adoption, and having a common place for discussion and networking will provide more opportunities for developers and users alike,” said John Ra, the other co-founder o

Mar 10, 2015
Bitcoin Center opens in Seoul

Korea short of halal eateries

By Kim Bo-eunMuslim tourists from Southeast Asia are finding Korea is short of Halal restaurants and prayer rooms. Only around 140 restaurants in the country serve Halal food. Halal means permitted in Arabic and refers in this case to the type of food Muslims are allowed to eat and how it is prepared. Muslims are not supposed to eat pork and other food containing blood or alcohol. Most Halal restaurants here serve Indian, Pakistani, Turkish or Arab cuisine. Only about 50 Korean restaurants offer Halal food. Some Korean restaurants provide grilled fish or braised seafood, or offer vegetarian dishes such as temple cuisine.The Korea Muslim Association has certified only five restaurants. A total of 244,520 tourists from Malaysia a predominantly Muslim state visited Korea last year, a 17.7 percent increase from a 2013, according to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO). Another 208,329 tourists came from Indonesia, a 10.1 percent rise from a year earlier.About 624,000 Muslim tourists came here in 2013, many lured by K-pop and Korean dramas.There is also a shortage of prayer rooms.There ar

Mar 10, 2015By Kim Bo-eun
Korea short of halal eateries

Naked dancing woman heats up Internet

 Netizens claimed woman in this Instagram photo is the "Audi girl."  A naked woman dancing in a Korean club has become a hot online topic.Several photos posted on Instagram and spread by various blogs show the woman wearing only white panties as she dances beside a pole. A crowd is watching her and taking pictures.Another photo shows what netizens claim is the same woman, wearing neat office clothes and taking a selfie in front of a black sedan.Netizens and bloggers suggest the woman is a sales person at an Audi dealership in Wonju, Gangwon Province. They say the woman, whom they have dubbed “Audi girl,” is married with a child.

Mar 10, 2015By Ko Dong-hwan
Naked dancing woman heats up Internet

Koreans get taste for late-night snacks

/ Courtesy of CUMore Koreans are craving for late-night munchies.According to convenience store CU, sales of ready-made meals between 10 p.m. and midnight made up  21.6 percent of sales of such food.The food includes small pizzas and, fried chicken.“Those late-night foods have become popular thanks to single households, who prefer easy, quick meals,” a CU spokesman said. “We are planning to diversify the food range and promotions.”Sales of such foods were up 176.4 percent last year from a year earlier. 

Mar 10, 2015
Koreans get taste for late-night snacks

Is coffee good or bad for you?

/ Korea Times fileCoffee has become so popular in Korea that people prefer a cup rather than eating rice or kimchi.However, besides the benefits, there can also be bad effects from caffeine found naturally in coffee beans.Coffee can help you lose weight, and black coffee instead of calorie-abundant latte helps.“As well as being practically calorie-free, coffee may be a mild appetite suppressant,” Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper quotes dietician Nigel Denby as saying.It also pushes out waste fast by stimulating and increasing bowel contractions.But too much coffee can increase the risk of crumbly bones or osteoporosis because caffeine speeds up bone loss.“Caffeine also affects absorption of calcium from the gut and accelerates calcium excretion, potentially leading to bone loss,” the newspaper quotes Julia Thomson, a specialist nurse at the National Osteoporosis Society, as saying.Calcium is essential for strong bones. 

Mar 10, 2015
Is coffee good or bad for you?
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