Articles by Park Han-na
Park Han-na
hnpark@heraldcorp.com-
Shuttered schools get makeover, find new purpose
Nearly 400 empty school buildings, chiefly in rural areas, are sitting idle after closing their doors due to lack of students, government data showed Tuesday. The Ministry of Education has a thorny task of giving new life to abandoned classrooms. As of May last year, a total of 3,855 schools have closed across South Korea in nearly 40 years since 1982, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Education, as the number of students declined to just 60.3 percent of 1990 levels. The data on
Culture Jan. 18, 2022
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As omicron sweeps US, ‘comfortable’ KF94 masks gain popularity
KF94 masks, the Korean version of an N95 mask, are gaining popularity in the United States, with experts calling for upgraded protective options over cloth masks as the omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly throughout the country. Michael Baym, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School shared his review of using KF94 masks produced by Korean firm Dr. Puri. “They’re very comfortable. I was also happy to see on the CDC/NIOSH testing page that they test at ove
Social Affairs Jan. 14, 2022
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Jeju bans trading of tickets to Hallasan
The white peaks of Mount Hallasan on Jeju Island has gained notable popularity this winter, promoting hikers to pay extra cash to get access to the snowy landscape. Dozens of postings seeking to sell, buy or exchange QR tickets to Hallasan National Park have been posted at secondhand online stores. Offered by the national park, tickets are available online for free on a first come first serve basis. One post uploaded on Joonggonara, the country‘s largest online used goods marketplace, sh
Social Affairs Jan. 12, 2022
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Young politicians wanted: NGO seeks to reshape politics with grassroots initiative
Everyone talks about the March 9 presidential election. But the local elections to be held in June are the big day Park Hye-min, 29, has been counting down the days to. Park is the executive director of Newways, a nonprofit organization that she founded about a year ago with a friend she met at a book club. The organization’s goal is to discover rookie politicians who speak the same language they do, and foster them as city or provincial councilors who represent young people’s inte
Social Affairs Jan. 12, 2022
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Shinsegae heir goes on with anti-communism posts, rebukes Instagram over political bias
Shinsegae Group Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin on Friday continued to express his discontent over Instagram’s removal of his post expressing his hostility toward communism. Chung criticized Instagram for its engagement in political activities by deliberately taking down posts that don’t match the preference of the platform, according to a story by local media outlet Maeil Business Newspaper, which cited an anonymous close acquaintance of Chung. “The value of free expression
Social Affairs Jan. 7, 2022
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Presidential candidate Lee envisions state-sponsored workcation centers
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung on Tuesday pledged to establish “workcation” centers in rural areas of the country to allow people working remotely to stay and help struggling local economies. Under the COVID-19 pandemic, over 9 in 10 of the country’s biggest firms have adopted a telework system, according to Lee. “I will support a balanced life between work and rest in line with the changes in the new era and in the
Social Affairs Jan. 4, 2022
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Non-face-to-face therapy gains traction during pandemic
Lee Kyung-ran, who has been working as a therapist for the past 15 years, has ditched face-to-face consultations thanks to a growing demand for phone and virtual sessions after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since late 2019, she has been offering therapy sessions through Naver eXpert, a service launched by the country’s largest portal Naver. Naver eXpert provides a wide range of one-on-one online consultations and classes from experts including lawyers, accountants and asset con
Social Affairs Jan. 3, 2022
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Street cleaner: “I’m totally satisfied with my job”
An online post purportedly written by a street cleaner saying he is “100 percent satisfied” with his salary and working conditions has gone viral Sunday. The writer of the job review, posted on online community bobaedream.co.kr., introduces himself as a 42-year-old sanitation worker who started work on Jan. 1 last year. “I’m 100 percent satisfied with my job largely due to the salary I receive,” he wrote, adding that his annual wages easily exceed 50 million
Social Affairs Jan. 2, 2022
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Women earn 11% less than male counterparts at Seoul government
Women working at the Seoul Metropolitan Government earn about 11 percent less than their male colleagues, data showed Wednesday, marking a smaller gap than the average figure registered by members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The data found that the gender wage gap, referring to the rate of men’s average pay to that of women, reached 11.28 percent last year, lower than 12.8 percent, the latest average of member nations of the OECD. Female civil servants f
Social Affairs Dec. 29, 2021
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Feeling shut out, the unvaccinated stick together online
On Sunday, gazaahome.com launched with a list of a few hundreds of restaurants in the country that do not “discriminate against” unvaccinated people. As of Tuesday afternoon, the digital map showing the location of the businesses garnered some 70,000 views, with entry suggestions flowing in from users, according to its developer Goda. “It seems that our society is going through a somewhat chaotic period due to the recently strengthened vaccination pass policy. I have deve
Social Affairs Dec. 28, 2021
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Demanding to be heard, disability groups disrupt rush-hour trains
An association of civic groups in South Korea stepped up actions in their campaign to raise awareness for the mobility rights of the disabled, staging simultaneous rallies at subway stations during the morning rush hour. From around 7 a.m. Monday, scores of activists and disabled persons affiliated with the Solidarity against Disability Discrimination showed up at four stations -- Gwanghwamun, Wangsimni, Yeouido and Haengdang -- all on Line No. 5. Some people in wheelchairs deliberately put
Social Affairs Dec. 20, 2021
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[Eye Plus] Let there be light
We may be heading into the darkest winter of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Myeong-dong wants us to keep our spirits bright. The once-bustling shopping mecca of Seoul is not busy as it used to be pre-pandemic, but it is twinkling, sparkling and shining brighter than ever before with extravagant Christmas light displays. Millions of LED lights adorn the exterior of departments stores and other buildings in the district, creating a spectacle at night. Street trees decked out with Christ
Travel Dec. 18, 2021
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Why so many taekwondo academies?
From school pickup and dropoff and supervised homework time to Hula-Hoop practice for gym class, taekwondo academies are playing an expanded role in South Korea. On top of martial arts lessons, the centers -- a sure-fire find near practically any elementary school in South Korea -- provide much-needed help to two-paycheck couples struggling to juggle work and child-rearing responsibilities. Five-year-old Kwon Ye-rin’s after-kindergarten routine hinges on a taekwondo academy, although
Social Affairs Dec. 17, 2021
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Marriages down 43%, births 64% in Seoul over 20 years
In the past 20 years, the number of marriages in Seoul has decreased by 43 percent and the number of births by 64 percent, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Thursday. Marriage registrations in the capital city hit a 20-year low of 44,746 in 2020, down 43.2 percent from 78,745 tallied in 2000. From a year ago, the 2020 figure also represented a drop of 7.3 percent. The average age of first marriages last year was 33.61 for men and 31.6 for women, up 3.96 years and 4.35 years
Social Affairs Dec. 16, 2021
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How much are you willing to pay for green spaces?
In Seoul’s affluent neighborhood of Hannam-dong, where top celebrities and corporate big shots live, a bleak and desolate 28,197-square-meter plot of land lies barren and untouched. Fenced off with barbed wires, the land -- the size of four soccer fields -- has been off limits to residents for decades. Records dating back to the 1940s show authorities reserved the land for a public park. In reality, the dusty plot stands as a legacy of the turbulent times Korea has been through, with
Social Affairs Dec. 15, 2021
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