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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

Cafeteria rally

The Saenuri Party’s Seoul mayoral candidate Chung Mong-joon, left, serves a free meal to a senior citizen at a welfare center for the elderly in Yeongdeungpo, while Park Won-soon, candidate for the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, smiles as students greet him at a cafeteria on Kyung Hee University’s main campus in Dongdaemun, Seoul, Friday. / Yonhap

May 23, 2014

Candidates exploiting ferry disaster

By Ko Dong-hwan Candidates for the June 4 local elections are frequently seen at Jindo, South Jeolla Province, which was the scene of last month’s ferry disaster that left more than 300 dead or missing.The candidates made it clear they were at the scene just for the exposure, with their speeches and campaign songs blaring from the amps, disturbing family members of the victims who are still waiting for divers to find the bodies of their loved ones.“It’s very inconsiderate and tasteless of them to create a circus in a county devastated by the worst maritime tragedy in years. As a voter, I would never support these candidates,’’ said one Jindo resident.An election official from Jindo admitted that candidates in the region have been competing to use the ferry incident to their advantage and said aggressive campaigns would be regulated if complaints continue. 

May 23, 2014By Ko Dong-hwan
Candidates exploiting ferry disaster

News viewers trust JTBC most

By Ko Dong-hwan Cable channel JTBC is the country’s most trusted provider of television news, according to a survey of 1,000 adults by Research View.JTBC got a 27.9 percent rating, followed by state-controlled KBS (20.6 percent). SBS (11 percent) finished third, followed by MBC (10.5 percent.)The survey found that most Koreans find JTBC to be the most reliable news source in terms of transparency.Conducted by a polling agency Research View, the survey quizzed 1,000 mobile phone users over 19 using a random digit dialing method.The rank also included TV Chosun (7.1 percent), MBN (4.7 percent) and Channel A (3.4 percent).

May 23, 2014By Ko Dong-hwan
News viewers trust JTBC most

Shamelessly corny Kim Bo-sung strikes gold

By Ko Dong-hwanAs an actor, Kim Bo-sung is a limited talent. He has exactly two skills ― an exaggerated laugh and a fake macho posture ― and this keeps him in comedy roles such as bumbling cops and brain-dead thugs.But Kim is treated like royalty in the world of advertisement where companies find his ludicrously corny personality as a perfect temple to promote a product.Kim’s recent advertisement for rice beverage Birak Sikhye, where he is seen punching rice bags and jars, knocking coffee and sports drinks off other people’s hands and making them drink Sikhye, all while shouting “eui-ree!’’ (loyalty), went viral.Kim is pleasantly surprised by the popularity of the advertisement. But he also says with dead seriousness that he hopes the advertisement will inspire people to be loyal to their friends, family and community.Perhaps, this is the essence of Kim’s charm ― he never seems to break out of his character to the point where you wonder whether the character is really himself.“I am grateful that people love the advertisement wh

May 23, 2014By Ko Dong-hwan
Shamelessly corny Kim Bo-sung strikes gold

Protestant church leader resigns over remarks about ferry victims

A co-vice chairman of an association of conservative Protestant churches stepped down on Friday after coming under fire for remarks about the victims of last month's deadly ferry sinking.The Christian Council of Korea accepted the resignation of Rev. Cho Kwang-jak and publically apologized to the families of the victims.The pastor drew strong public indignation for saying during a meeting of the council on Tuesday that he does not understand why the children from poor families chose to travel to the southern resort island of Jeju instead of going to a popular inland destination such as Mount Seorak on the east coast or Bulguk Temple in Gyeongju, an ancient city in the southeastern part of the country.Cho also said he doesn't understand why people are making a fuss over the ferry sinking even though they silently mourned the deaths of 46 sailors in North Korea's attack on the South Korean warship Cheonan in 2010.The 6,825-ton ferry Sewol, en route from the western port city of Incheon to Jeju Island, capsized and sank off the southwest coast on April 16. Of an estimated 476 people abo

May 23, 2014

Biological diversity talks

Environment Minister Yoon Seong-kyu, right, poses with BraulioFerreiradeSouzaDias, headoftheUnited-NationsConventiononBiologicalDiversity (CBD) after signing an agreement to cooperate for the12thCBDconference scheduledforOct.6 to 17 in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, at the Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Research Center in Seoul, Thursday./ Courtesy of the Environment Ministry

May 22, 2014

Singer honors late Roh Moo-hyun in new video

Lee Seung-hwan, left, and the late President Roh Moo-hyunBy Ko Dong-hwan Veteran singer Lee Seung-hwan, 49, is preparing to release a new video offering tribute to the late President Roh Moo-hyun.The video is for Lee’s song, “A Better World,’’ from his latest album “Fall to Fly’’ released in March.The song’s lyrics are based on a poem by Do Jong-hwan, whose verses made Lee think of how Roh lived and died, the singer said. “I thought about president Roh when I recorded the song,” Lee said in a media interview.Cartoonist Kang Pool, film director Oh Seung-yoon and calligrapher Gong Byung-gook participated in creating the video. The Roh Moo-hyun Foundation also provided a specially designed portrait of Roh for use in Lee’s video.Roh, Korea’s last president a liberal party, leaped to his death in 2009. While Roh left a mixed legacy as president, he continues to be lionized by liberal politicians, who remember his down-to-earth personality and contributions as a human rights lawyer and democratization ac

May 22, 2014By Ko Dong-hwan
Singer honors late Roh Moo-hyun in new video

Police clamp down on anti-Park posters

By Ko Dong-hwanPolice in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, are pursuing unknown creators of street posters satirizing President Park Geun-hye, triggering a debate over freedom of expression.The poster shows a smiling Park dressed in traditional “hanbok’’ and seemingly attempting to ride on the back of a dog. Several dogs, their expressions somewhere between blankness and depression, stare at the president from behind.Other dogs run toward Park with mouths agape, like personal messengers, and the backdrop has a silhouette of a ship sinking below the blue horizon.The Sewol ferry sank off the waters of the southwestern island of Jindo April 16 with 476 people aboard. Only 172 of them were rescued with the remainder confirmed as dead or missing.Critics have accused the government of bungling its emergency response and failing to properly enforce regulations that would have stopped the ship's operators from putting profit before safety.The poster found in Gangneung appears to be an extension of this criticism with the dogs portraying Park’s aides or government-friendly

May 22, 2014By Ko Dong-hwan
Police clamp down on anti-Park posters

Seong Si-kyung voted as dreamiest book reader

Seong Si-kyungLee Sun-kyunCho Seung-wooBy Ko Dong-hwan Crooner Seong Si-kyung was voted by Korean women as the man they most desire for reading a book to them.Seong, also popular as a television emcee and radio host, garnered 33 percent of the votes in a survey by the Korean Publishers Association participated by 630 women.Actor Lee Sun-kyun finished second with a 20 percent support, followed by actor Cho Seung-woo (18 percent), Kim Soo-hyun (16 percent) and Kim Woo-bin (13 percent).Unfortunately, Korean government data also shows that Koreans hardly read books. 

May 22, 2014By Ko Dong-hwan
Seong Si-kyung voted as dreamiest book reader

'Kingmakers' are in demand ahead of local elections

Moon Jae-jinPark Ji-wonSohn Hak-kyuPark Young-sunBy Ko Dong-hwan Local election candidates are competing to be seen with so-called “kingmakers,’’ or popular politicians who can generate clout and exposure, as the June 4 ballot day nears.The busiest kingmaker is Moon Jae-jin, who lost the 2012 presidential vote to Park Geun-hye, but continues to be the spiritual anchor of the opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD).NPAD candidates are scrambling to lock Moon into showing up as their rallies. Moon had been a close ally to late President Roh Moo-hyun, the last president produced from the liberal front, and candidates believe that a sighting of Moon would move the hearts of younger voters who positively rate Roh’s legacy.Park Ji-won, the grizzled political veteran and former chief of staff for late President Kim Dae-jung, is also in popular demand from candidates.Candidates in the North and South Jeolla Province areas hope that the presence of Park, whose political identity is permanently tied with the Nobel Peace Prize winner, will help secure

May 22, 2014By Ko Dong-hwan
'Kingmakers' are in demand ahead of local elections
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