Articles by Choi Jae-hee
Choi Jae-hee
cjh@heraldcorp.com-
BOK puts brakes on Gyeongju's iconic coin-shaped street snack
The historic city of Gyeongju may soon lose one of its most iconic street snacks, the 10-won waffle, as the South Korea’s central bank takes issue with its design resembling a real coin. The Bank of Korea on Thursday said it will put the brakes on the sale of the waffles designed after national coins that have become popular street snacks in some tourist destinations. The central bank has recently urged a warning to local producers of the coin-shaped snack to stop applying the design of go
Social Affairs June 22, 2023
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Driver acquitted of fatal crash as court acknowledges possibility of unintended acceleration
In a rare ruling, a local court has acknowledged the possibility of a vehicle defect in a 2020 car accident that killed a pedestrian, acquitting the driver of criminal charges. The Daejeon District Court on Tuesday found not guilty the 56-year-old driver who accidentally hit and killed a 60-year-old security guard on a university campus in Seoul on Dec. 29, 2020. Black box footage shows that the driver’s car, a local brand, exited an underground parking lot and made a right turn at a spe
Social Affairs June 21, 2023
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[Korean History] 1989: The year Koreans started traveling abroad
A passport was once something reserved for a privileged few in South Korea until the government began allowing all citizens to travel freely overseas on Jan. 1, 1989. To prevent an outflow of foreign currency that would weaken the Korean currency against the dollar, as well as to minimize Koreans’ contact with communists, international travel was only permitted for certain groups of people who had special reasons for it. These included company officials or businesspeople who need to
Hashtag Korea June 21, 2023
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Korea-themed cafe opens in Paris to promote Busan World Expo bid
A pop-up exhibition dubbed “Cafe de Busan” was launched in Paris ahead of the General Assembly of the Bureau International des Expositions, to support Busan's bid to host the 2030 World Expo, according to the Busan Metropolitan Government on Tuesday. South Korea is vying with Rome, Italy; Odesa, Ukraine; and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to host the Expo in its southeastern city of Busan. The two-day assembly, which began Tuesday with 179 BIE member countries attending, involves intense
Social Affairs June 20, 2023
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[Hello Hangeul] Edu-tech firm Visang rides Korean learning wave
The global Korean language boom has passed the point where Korean government-dispatched teachers and state-run language promotion agencies can meet local teaching demands. It is now time for Korea’s edu-tech players, trained to serve a particularly discerning and demanding clientele at home, to play a role, said Visang Education’s global education unit chief. “Demand for Korean language learning has exploded in many countries amid the worldwide popularity of Korean content. O
Hello Hangeul June 20, 2023
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Over half of thefts at staffless stores committed by teens: data
Along with the increasing number of self-service stores, related crimes, including theft and vandalism, have become rampant in recent years with the majority of cases involving teenagers, a report showed Monday. According to a report titled “A Study on Crimes at Unmanned Stores and Countermeasures,” published by the Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice, a total of 1,640 shoplifting incidents took place in Seoul from September 2020 to January 2022, which indicates that 96 cases
Social Affairs June 19, 2023
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Gator sighting jolts idyllic town; search continues for 3rd day
The search continues for a purported alligator in an otherwise idyllic village in the southern city of Yeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, after five people reported sightings of the reptile in a slow-moving stream that encircles the rural town. Despite having found no trace of a reptile, the city is not letting its guard down as of Friday, with four officials dispatched to monitor the vicinity of the purported sighting. It also plans to conduct a drone search of the area, officials said. &ldquo
Social Affairs June 16, 2023
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Instagram partly to blame for Korea's record-low fertility rate, says star lecturer
A star math lecturer’s diagnosis on South Korea’s persistently falling birth attributing part of the blame to Instagram overflowing with “flex posts” went viral Thursday. In a video clip, uploaded to his YouTube channel, apparently from a lecture, Chung Seung-je shares his thought on the issue, starting with a question, “Koreans had more babies in the past when they were much poorer. Things have gotten a lot better now, but why do people have fewer babies?” &l
Social Affairs June 15, 2023
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Cash-strapped young Koreans turn to pawn shops
Pawn shops have been seen as relics of the past, from a time when instant cash loans were not so readily available with just a few clicks. But though many perished, a new breed of shops has emerged, catering to clients who possess expensive gadgets or luxury goods but are temporarily cash-strapped. Lee Yong-seok’s shop in Seoul's bustling Hongdae specializes in loans secured against tech gadgets. In contrast to the traditional image of pawn shops with iron bars and stringent secur
Hashtag Korea June 13, 2023
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Narcotic residues found in Korea's sewage plants
Residue of methamphetamine, a common illegal substance, also known as “philopon” in South Korea, was detected in 34 sewage plants nationwide every year for the past three years, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Since 2020, the ministry has conducted the sewage test each year, whereby researchers collect samples of untreated sewage and analyze the concentration of drug residues to quantify drug use within a community. According to the latest report released by the
Social Affairs June 9, 2023
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Seoul world’s ninth-most expensive city for expats: survey
South Korea's capital city, Seoul, was named the world’s ninth most expensive city for expatriates in terms of living expenses, an international survey showed. According to a global consulting firm ECA International in March this year, the cost of living in Seoul was the ninth-highest, up one notch from a year earlier. Tokyo was next, down five notches on-year. The survey compared the costs of living in 207 cities with high numbers of foreign national residents across 120 countrie
Social Affairs June 8, 2023
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Seoul Metro puts 30 station names up for sale
Seoul Metro, the public corporation that operates the subway system in Seoul, is putting the names of 30 subway stations up for sale. The upcoming auction will involve 18 subway stations, the naming contracts of which have expired, along with 12 additional stations in downtown and commercial hub areas. They include Gangnam Station on Line 2, one of the busiest stations, as well as Seongsu and Sinsa Stations, in hip Seongsu-dong and Sinsa-dong, respectively. The new names will be displayed in bra
Social Affairs June 8, 2023
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Flasher booked for public indecency after being chased by children
Police booked a male college student in his 20s who exposed his genitals to elementary school children who then chased him last week in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, according to news reports on Monday. In video footage taken on May 31 and shown on the cable news channel YTN, the flasher -- wearing a mask, black t-shirt and grey sweatpants -- ran away as soon as he pulled his pants down in front of four elementary school students to display his genitals. The children immediately chas
Social Affairs June 5, 2023
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3 out of 10 university students witness bullying: report
Three out of 10 Korean students attending four-year universities across the nation have witnessed their peers falling victim to bullying, a report said Sunday. The National Youth Policy Institute published a report titled "Research on Bullying Among University Students and a Study on Preventive Measures for Improvement," which included the results of an online survey of 467 undergraduates from four-year colleges nationwide. Among the respondents, 135 students, or 28.9 percent, said t
Social Affairs June 4, 2023
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[Hello Hangeul] Korea needs to talk about invasion of English alphabet in everyday signage
In one up-and-coming neighborhood in Seoul, the prevalence of English letters on cafe and restaurant signboards adds to its exotic ambiance, complementing the diverse range of foreign cuisines found there. Approximately 7 out of 10 signboards in this area, known as Yongridan-gil and situated between Samgakji and Sinyongsan subway stations in central Seoul, are exclusively written in foreign languages. English is the most commonly used, followed by Chinese and Japanese. As one strolls through t
Hashtag Korea June 4, 2023
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