Jeon Joo-yeon’s path to becoming the first South Korean to win the World Barista Championship is a typical “passion leads to success” story. In 2008, then a social welfare major at a local college, she started a part-time job at a big coffee shop in her hometown of Busan. At first, she did not even touch coffee cups. She was part of the shop’s online sales team. Slowly but naturally, she gravitated toward making coffee. In 2009, she made up her mind to become a barista.

Food Feb. 12, 2023

BUSAN -- South Korea’s southeastern port city of Busan is a popular holiday destination for those seeking to enjoy quality seafood and relax at the beach. But in recent years, tourists have been flocking to the city to get a taste of something different -- coffee. Global coffee competition winners are opening up cafes in Busan, with a shared goal of transforming the city into the next coffee hub like the Australian city of Melbourne. At the forefront of the movement is barista Jeon Joo-ye

Food Feb. 11, 2023

A planned exchange visit to a US town by South Korean high school students last year was canceled after animal activists there raised the issue of dog meat farms operating in the area the students are from, it was revealed Friday. Palisades Park, New Jersey – a twin town of Gangwha County in Incheon-- decided to cancel the planned three-week exchange program in June last year. The decision was made after some activists reported to the borough’s council about illegal dog meat activi

Social Affairs Feb. 10, 2023

"History through The Korea Herald” revisits significant events and issues over the seven decades through articles, photos and editorial pieces published in the Herald and retell them from a contemporary perspective. – Ed. When the dust from the 1950-53 Korean War settled, orphans were left to fight for survival. It was then a Christian couple from the US -- Harry and Bertha Holt -- stepped in to play a key role in arranging the babies to be adopted by foreign parents. The Holts

Social Affairs Feb. 1, 2023

A South Korean former athlete and local sports body executive has been named by a global federation of canoe organizations to lead diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity for women. Park Gi-young, vice president of South Korea’s Woman’s Sports Association, was tapped by International Canoe Federation President Thomas Konietzko as the chairman of the Lausanne-based organization’s diversity and inclusion committee as well as the person in charge of the body’s women&rsq

More Sports Feb. 1, 2023

South Korean actor Song Joong-ki and his British wife Katy Louise Saunders are eligible for a slew of benefits tailored for multicultural families in South Korea, which range from a 25 percent discount on phone bills to priority admissions to public daycare, international schools and local colleges. Song announced Tuesday that the couple has just completed their legal marriage registration in Korea in a letter to his fan club online. The couple’s latest decision allows them to receive be

Entertainment Jan. 31, 2023

If you’re a fan of Korean dramas, you would be no stranger to gimbap. The seaweed rice roll, usually filled with various ingredients, are akin to sandwiches in the West. It is easy to get, inexpensive and good for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It is the ultimate meal on the go. Recently in K-dramas, this versatile dish has taken on different meanings. In Netflix’s hit drama “The Glory,” protagonist Moon Dong-eun, played by actor Song Hye-kyo, eats gimbap whenever she can

Television Jan. 25, 2023

The act of honoring the spirits of ancestors by offering them food and drinks during the Lunar New Year has been considered a serious tradition for centuries in South Korea. But this year, some families have decided to honor the tradition in a lighter mood, according to photos gone viral on online communities. Versatile screen This photo, uploaded by an anonymous user and shared on Instagram, shows a clever use of a wall-mounted TV screen, a staple in Korean living rooms. Instead of keeping

Culture Jan. 24, 2023

Actress Kim Go-eun’s character in tvN’s “Little Women” is described as the typical Korean firstborn daughter. She is a strong realist who is willing to make sacrifices to support her family. She saves up money, not for her own sake but for her siblings. The burden of being the firstborn child in a family is a topic not only confined within South Korea. It is a subject studied by psychologists worldwide. Yet, in a society where deep-rooted patriarchal practices of the past

Social Affairs Jan. 14, 2023

When a small provincial branch of NongHyup Bank offered an online-exclusive installment savings plan with an annual interest of 8.2 percent in November last year, the news spread like wildfire among savvy savers. It sold like lottery tickets. Within hours, the bank sold 900 billion won ($707.8 million) of saving products, which was more than five times the size of the branch's total assets of 167 billion won. The problem was that the rural bank just wanted to attract just 10 billion won of fu

Market Jan. 11, 2023

Recently, the possibility police discovered a new serial killer sent shock waves across South Korea. Lee Ki-young, who was arrested late last month for the murder of a taxi driver and his ex-girlfriend, will undergo an extensive investigation into additional DNA found inside his home. Looking back, South Korea’s history of serial killers is still considered for its hateful brutality and aggression. Here are three of Korea’s most notorious serial killers: 1. Lee Choon-jae, the &l

Social Affairs Jan. 10, 2023

High cost of housing plays a role in South Korean couples not wanting to have babies, new study suggested, as the country struggles to find ways to reverse a shrinking population. According to the report, released Monday, by the state-affiliated Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, a 1 percent rise in the median home prices leads to 0.002 fewer births per woman. As of end-2021, Korean women had an average of just 0.81 babies over their lifetimes, which was the world’s lowest t

Social Affairs Jan. 3, 2023

Foreigners working in South Korea on an E-9 visa with a high command of the Korean language will likely be allowed to stay in Korea continuously for up to 10 years. According to a plan announced Friday by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Employment Permit System will be revised to give benefits to foreign laborers who are fluent in Korean. Currently, holders of the E-9 nonprofessional work visa wishing to extend their stay after 4 years and 10 months must leave Korea and reapply for th

Social Affairs Dec. 30, 2022

For millennials and Generation Z – those who were born between the early 1980s to early 2010s, respectively – clashing with their bosses at work has been popular material for television comedy in South Korea over the past few years. But recently, the skits took a new turn, with many of them poking fun at how their real enemy at work is not their bosses, but themselves. Saturday Night Live Korea’s new segment “MZ Office” – with “MZ” referring to mil

Culture Dec. 25, 2022

A hundred and one Korean dairy cows will fly to Nepal over the next month, as part of a plan to help boost the productivity of the South Asian country's dairy industry by sharing the cow's genetic resources. Led by Heifer Korea and the South Korean government, the project marks the first time live Korean cows are being sent overseas. Nepal has some 7.5 million dairy cows, about 20 times the number of Korea, and the dairy industry accounts for 9 percent of Nepal's gross domestic product, but t

Social Affairs Dec. 21, 2022