The Korea Herald

Jeju residents meet to clean beach

Keen divers and snorklers gathered to clean trash from a beach on Jeju Island this weekend. About 10 expat volunteers cleaned the coast between Hyeopjae Beach and Geumneung Beach on Saturday. The group spent about three hours cleaning the sand and surrounding area.“We got stuck in cleaning the shrubbery at the edge of the beach and the rocky shoreline. We also spent time digging out buried fishing nets and dragging half-burnt rope and net off the rocks,” said one of the organizers, Liz Church.Th

June 20, 2012

Volunteers sought for Canada Day

Volunteers are needed to help out on Canada Day in Seoul. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Korea (CanCham) is seeking about 20 passionate Canadians to help it celebrate the event. Assistance is needed for everything from heavy lifting to serving beer and playing with kids at the barbecue. The family-friendly celebration will serve up Canadian food and drinks at the Canadian Embassy’s Schofield Hall in Seoul on July 1 from 3:30-6:30 p.m. Entry to the event costs 35,000 won for non-members, 30,

June 20, 2012

World Refugee Day marked in Seoul

More than 10 refugee rights groups joined up on Saturday to commemorate World Refugee Day. The Refugee NGO’s Network held an information event and flash mob ahead of the international refugee day, which falls on June 20. The groups were also celebrating the passage of South Korea’s long-awaited Refugee Act. The Korean Refugee Act was enacted this Feb. 10 and will take effect July 1, 2013, confirming the rights of refugees that must be protected here. Many problems with South Korea’s refugee syst

June 20, 2012

Shantytown cleanup by expat volunteers

Volunteers are to visit a Korean shantytown this weekend to clear up trash. Mannam International Volunteers will visit Guryong in southern Seoul to clean up trash in the village and near the river on Saturday. Expats will fill bags of trash and debris to help prevent pollution from washing into the streams this summer. Guryong Village is a settlement located Gangnam, in the shadow of luxury skyscrapers in the predominantly affluent and middle-class neighborhood. The community faces dire poverty,

June 20, 2012

Marathon effort for education

Guatemalan student in Korea is running to help kids back homeKyung Hee University student Bremelin Romero has always seen education as the key to success, and now she’s set to run the Stockholm Marathon to help people in her home country. The Guatemala-born, U.S.-educated graduate student is pursuing a master’s degree in International Relations and Free Trade Agreements in Korea, but she has not forgotten her Central American roots. Romero, who first came here in 2008 to work as a middle school

June 20, 2012

Musicians in tune for CLASH charity event

More than 15 artists are set to perform at a charity music night in Seoul this Saturday. The “CLASH” event ― with the tagline “Two worlds collide for the greater good” ― aims to bring together not only the expat and Korean communities, but also two different musical styles, to provide support for victims of sexual violence in Africa. A percentage of the proceeds raised from the event at Freebird in Hongdae from 7:30 p.m. to midnight will go to the Nabi (Butterfly) Fund to help women who are the

June 20, 2012

Musicians in tune for CLASH charity event

‘Lost neutrons may have wandered off to parallel universe’

The anomalous disappearance of neutrons may be explained by their mirror particles in a parallel universe, Italian theoretical physicists claimed.Past experiments showed that the loss rate of some very slow neutrons appeared to depend on the direction and strength of a magnetic field. This left scientists dumbfounded because a neutron, by definition, is a neutral particle.However, a theory by Zurab Berezhiani and Fabrizio Nesti from the University of l’Aquila alleges that such phenomenon happens

June 17, 2012

‘Lost neutrons may have wandered off to parallel universe’

North Korean refugee to share her lifestory

Pukyong National University will host a presentation on Saturday by a North Korean refugee about her life.The presenter, who was a market trader in the North and arrived here recently, will talk about her experiences in the North and her flight to freedom.There will be a chance to ask questions and learn more after the presentation.However there will be a strict ban on photos to prevent danger to her relatives still in North Korea if she is identified.An activist from North Korean Awareness, whi

June 13, 2012

Seoul celebrations for Refugee Day

A day of events will be held in Seoul on Saturday to raise awareness of the plight of refugees both in Korea and worldwide.The Refugee NGOs’ Network, which consists of some 10 organizations working on refugee protection and rights, is organizing the day along with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea and the UNHCR-Korea, to celebrate World Refugee Day and Korea’s upcoming enforcement of an independent Refugee Act. The bill was enacted in February and will be enforced on July 1, 2013.The

June 13, 2012

Gwangju rights academy invites attendees

Applications are now open for a human rights academy program to be held in Korea this summer. The May 18 Academy will run from July 30 ― Aug. 15 in Gwangju. It will provide training for domestic and international civil society activists working for human rights, democracy and peace.The event is organized by the May 18 Memorial Foundation, which was set up in the memory of democracy activists killed by soldiers in the Gwangju uprising of May 18, 1980. The event will include lectures from experts

June 13, 2012

Gwangju rights academy invites attendees

Canadians to teach N.K. students

Canadian volunteers are being invited to join a program to help North Korean defectors this summer. The Canadian Embassy is hosting the Inside Canada Defector Program to give English teachers the chance to help North Koreans adapt to their new lives in the South. Volunteers are being sought for one or both of the intensive two-week sessions to be held at the embassy in Seoul. The first will be offered from July 15-28, and the second from July 30-Aug. 10.While the exact scheduling has yet to be c

June 13, 2012

English tutors sought for N.K. defectors

A charity is seeking English-speaking expats to become personal tutors for North Korean refugees. People for Successful Corean Reunification currently has 144 students in need of private teachers.PSCORE was established in 2006 by young North Korean defectors, South Korean university students and foreigners interested in reunifying the Korean Peninsula. It offers support for North Korean refugees here as well as campaigning for the human rights of those remaining in the country.Part of its work i

June 13, 2012

English tutors sought for N.K. defectors

Sport to support Kenyan kids

Expats from around Korea will meet up for a sports tournament in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, this month to benefit African children. The 12-team futsal contest has been organized to raise money for the Purpose for Life Foundation. The organization supports several projects, including improving living conditions for people in the Kenyan community of Ngumbulu. Its most recent activity in December saw visiting volunteers making bricks for a child development center in the village situated 130 kil

June 13, 2012

Finland seeks secrets of Korea’s education success

Finland and Korea are both lauded for producing some of the world’s highest-performing students, but their education systems produce results by very different means. Korean kids endure long school days followed by hours of evening classes, causing the Korean government to ban tutoring after 10 p.m. Meanwhile, Finnish children have the third-shortest schooldays in the OECD and don’t start compulsory schooling until 7 years old. “We think that children need time for play,” explained former Finnish

June 10, 2012

Finland seeks secrets of Korea’s education success

Multiculturalism on Korea-Oz agenda

Experts from Korea and Oz were set to discuss multiculturalism in the two countries Thursday.The 2012 Australia-Korea Multiculturalism Symposium is being held in Seoul, with a special focus on the implications of multiculturalism for education. The program includes talks on the characteristics and implications of multiculturalism in both Australia and Korea as well as its impacts on the labor market and education. The event was co-organized by Australian Education International and the Australia

June 6, 2012

Women’s solidarity workshop in Seoul

A free workshop on prostitution around U.S. military bases in Korea is being held by a women’s solidarity group on Saturday. The featured speaker at “U.S. Military Camptown Prostitution in Korea: 1945-Present” will be university professor Lee Nah-young. It has been organized by the Women’s Global Solidarity Action Network. The workshop will be held from 2-5 p.m. at the Columban Mission Center, a building with a traditional Korean roof directly outside Sungshin Women’s University Subway Station’s

June 6, 2012

Emcees to raise cash for Korean kids

Iron Mic will host a benefit gig for underprivileged and disabled children in Seoul’s Itaewon area on Saturday. The event at Genie Ultra Lounge will start at 10 p.m. with an emcee battle, cypher, performances and dancers. Those attending will be requested to give a 5,000 won donation at the door to raise cash for the Miral Foundation. The organization was founded in 1993 to help pay for the medical expenses of underprivileged children and support rehabilitation programs for people with disabilit

June 6, 2012

Samoan Independence celebration for charity

The Samoan community in Korea is preparing to celebrate its golden jubilee, commemorating 50 years of the country’s independence with a charity event in Seoul.Guests are invited to dress in their best Samoan attire or Polynesian-themed clothing. The charity event will be held in Itaewon’s JR pub from 7 p.m. on Saturday. Samoans are celebrating becoming the first South Pacific island to gain independence in 1962. The organizers have pledged to donate funds raised to Rotoract Samoa, which helps to

June 6, 2012

Samoan Independence celebration for charity

Expats step up to help nuns connect with runaway teens

It was an unusual evening gathering in Seoul’s Gangdong-gu. Several nuns met up with a Korean investment banker, some foreign professionals and English teachers to spend four hours outside a mall at a busy teenage hangout.But the disparate group of adults did have a common purpose ― they were meeting for the first night of a pilot project aiming to reach out to teenage runaways in Cheonho-dong. Nuns who work for Sonia’s House women’s shelter had chosen this area in the hope of meeting vulnerable

June 6, 2012

Donors help cancer-hit teacher back to U.S.

‘Tyler Fund’ raises more than $11,000 for teacher’s treatment back homeDonors have rallied to raise a massive sum to help a Yeosu-based English teacher return to his native U.S. for cancer treatment. Almost $11,700 has been donated to a fund-raising website to support Tyler Schroeder in the weeks since he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. The 25-year-old had been living and teaching in Yeosu for almost two years when he visited a hospital in Seoul in early May, complaining of back pain.

June 6, 2012

Donors help cancer-hit teacher back to U.S.