Test your knowledge of Korea with our weekly quiz on the language, culture, history or anything K-related. -- Ed.  Girls born in Korea in 2020 are expected to live 86.5 years, six years longer than boys. The latest available data puts the average life expectancy at 83.5 years for both sexes in Korea, second only after Japan among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Japan’s figure is 84.7 years, while the OECD average stands at 80.5 years. Despite

지난 회에 이어, 유용한 비즈니스 영어 표현들을 소개합니다. ‘비즈니스 영어’라는 게 따로 떨어져 존재하는 것은 아닙니다만, 일상 회화에서 흔히 볼 수 없는 표현들을 활용하는 것도 사실입니다. 저희 책 『나는 더 영어답게 말하고 싶다 비즈니스 편』에서 뽑은 표현들입니다.   <투자> 1 A Please let me know the penalty for withdrawing my money from the investment prior to the maturation date. B If you withdraw your money from the investment before the maturation date, then you will forfeit all the accrued interest and will only receive the principal back. A 만기 이전에 투자금을 빼면 어떤 불이익이 있는지 알려

It was four in the afternoon on March 10, 1991, when the first planned explosion of Saddam Hussein’s chemical weapons went off at the US weapons depot in Khamisiyah, Iraq, and the first gray-white smoke cloud that would come to be called the Plume wafted skyward and drifted over the troops. There would be many blasts that day. Bill Florey, a young and proud-to-serve E4 specialist, had just parked his truck after a day’s work. Francesca Yabraian, who would become his friend and woul

The defeat of Donald Trump to Joseph Biden in the last US presidential election brought celebration and relief for half of the American people, but frustration and fury for the other half. At that time, America was sharply divided by two groups that were constantly blaming each other. For example, the Democrats blamed Trump for the division of America, but the Republicans asserted that Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were responsible. Perhaps both sides had a point. During the Clinton era, campa

An environmental activist displays the radiation level of a portable fan at a civic group’s office in Seoul on Tuesday. The group, called Asian Citizen’s Center for Environment and Health, claimed handheld fans emitted harmful levels of electromagnetic radiation, a day after the Ministry of Science and ICT concluded that the fans met international safety standards after reviewing 20 different small portable fans on the market.

A nursing staff member at Asan Medical Center, Seoul’s largest general hospital, died late last month after collapsing while on duty, local reports said Tuesday. The reports, which were based on an anonymous post on Blind, a social app for workplace-related talk amongst verified workers, said the nurse fell unconscious in the wee hours of July 24, showing symptoms of a brain hemorrhage.  But the hospital with over 2,700 beds had no neurosurgeon who could give an emergency surgery

If you are a K-drama maniac, you might be wondering why Koreans eat seaweed soup on their birthdays. Most cultures have cakes or some other special dish (usually a pastry). But in Korea, it’s seaweed soup. Seaweed is traditionally served to women during postnatal care. The seaweed is a great source of iodine and iron, and its detoxifying characteristics make it an ideal food for postnatal recovery. So, Koreans eat seaweed soup on their birthdays to pay respect to their mothers. 

Arirang songs evoke powerful emotions and often lead to spontaneous shoulder dance moves among Koreans, at home or abroad. Arirang is a genre of Korean music featuring heart-wrenching laments of tragedy, hardship, suffering and injustice. Arirang‘s improvisational nature enables anyone to easily weave their own poignant life stories into the song, like modern-day rap. Life has always been tough for ordinary Koreans, especially in remote areas. Poverty, hard labor, and abrupt political ch

희귀자료. 2002년 1월 김대균의 일본토익만점 성적표 어느 마케팅 전문가의 컨설팅을 받은 적이 있다. 성공적인 마케팅은 숫자를 제시하는 것이 좋다고 하고 희귀한 자신만의 것을 보여줘야 한다고 한다. 그래서 토익 450여회 최다응시 만점강사로 이미지를 만들고 일본 만점기록을 강조하기도 한다. 여기에 하나를 더해 볼 수 있을지 Korea Herald의 도움을 받아 본다. 한국인 최초 일본 최초 만점인지가 궁금하다. 만약에 그렇게 되면 기록 하나를 더 만드는 것이 된다. 일본에 가서 토익 시험을 보게 된 이유가 오늘의 테마이다. A blessing in disguise(위장된 축복) 코로나시대에 어려움을 겪는 분들이 많다. 필자가 일본에 가서 시험을 보게 된 것은 어쩔 수 없는 상황이 있었다. 당시 전국에서 가장 인기있는 토익강사로 수강생이 많자 같은 학원 강사가 조교를 동원하여 6개월간 필자의 강의를 듣고 자료를 정교하게 정리하여 토익위원회에 기출문제를 쓴다고 고발을 한

Paddle down Han River Are you feeling exhausted or drained under the hot weather? There’s a riverside festival coming up this weekend to cool you down. “2022 Han River Festival - Summer” kicks off this Friday, offering more than 20 programs spanning the 11 riverside parks in Seoul until Aug. 15. How about hopping onto a “king canoe” and paddling through the Han River’s waterway? The 12-person canoe leaves at a dock near Seorae Island, and passes by Sebits

We have been receiving many messages from our Indian viewers about how to become a K-pop idol here, so we decided to invite India’s first K-pop idol, Shreya Lenka. Shreya is about to debut with the K-pop band Blackswan as Sriya. From why she decided to debut here, to what it was like to secure that one spot competing against 4,000 applicants and her goals as a K-pop idol, Shreya shared with us her Korea journey! Park Sun-yeong, Kim Su-hyeon and Lee Ji-min contributed to this report. By K