(123RF)The number of Korean men seeking treatment for hair loss is seeing an annual increase of approximately 4.8 percent, according to the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service in Seoul.The institution said the number of patients increased from 180,000 in 2009 to 210,000 in 2013. They spent 12.2 billion won ($11.88 million) for their treatment in 2009, and 18 billion won in 2013. About 30 percent of the patients are in their 30s and 40s. “Hair loss can have many causes,” officials of the

Technology May 22, 2014

More than 30 days after the sinking of the ferry Sewol, teachers of Danwon High School ― which lost 250 students to the disaster ― are being recognized as heroes. Only three of the 14 teachers survived, making them the group with the lowest surviving rate among the passengers on board. Most of the teachers’ bodies, including those who were staying in the cabins on the fifth floor of the ship, were found on the fourth floor. It is assumed that they retreated to the lower deck in an attempt to res

Social Affairs May 21, 2014

KBS reporters launched their strike on Monday demanding the resignation of company president Gil Hwan-young for his alleged involvement in the presidential office’s apparent censorship of the state-run broadcaster. The announcement came after Gil, who has been asked to step down, said on Monday that he would not resign.“The strike will go on indefinitely starting at 6 p.m., as Gil said he is not resigning,” Song Seung-ryong, chairman of the National Association of KBS Journalists, said Monday. “

Social Affairs May 19, 2014

Korean-born Belgian filmmaker Jung Henin (Jeon Jung-sik) was only about five when he was adopted by Belgian parents after being found as a lost child at Namdaemun Market in Seoul. He doesn’t know who filled out his adoption papers, but whoever it was recorded his skin color as “miel,” which means “honey” in French, instead of “Asian.”Now 48, Henin, who wants to be called by his Korean name, recently visited Seoul for the local release of his autobiographical animated film “Approved for Adoption.

Film May 9, 2014

JEONJU, North Jeolla Province ― Aside from film screenings and talk sessions with cineastes from all over the world, one of the most exciting events at Jeonju International Film Festival is Jeonju Project Market, during which local filmmakers pitch their latest film projects to potential investors and distributors.On May 3, a total of 10 selected filmmakers made presentations at the Jeonju Digital Independent Cinema in Jeonju, with some 300 industry figures attending, including those from Lotte

Film May 8, 2014

Elizabeth Warren’s ninth book is a campaign biography with a twist.Warren, who emerged as a national figure during the early days of the financial crisis, rapidly became a star of the Democratic Party’s liberal-populist wing. Her 2012 Senate campaign in Massachusetts attracted so much money and attention that admirers began talking her up as a presidential candidate even before she won.“A Fighting Chance” could easily fit as the next step toward that goal. It weaves her life story and political

Books May 8, 2014

If ever a performer came along at just the right time, it was Shirley Temple. The cherubic face and unbreakable spirit she displayed in her cinematic confections of the 1930s were the perfect spoonfuls of sugar to help the bitter medicine of the Depression go down easier for millions of Americans.The timing also couldn’t be better for John F. Kasson’s “The Little Girl Who Fought the Great Depression,” which arrives just two months after Temple’s death at age 85. The book is a wonderful epilogue

Books May 8, 2014

The Fatal Encounter (Korea)Opened April 30Drama. Directed by Lee Jae-gyuIn 18th-century Joseon, the nation’s young King Jeongjo spends every night working out alone in the palace to prepare himself for possible attacks from his political opponents. When he was 10, his father, Crown Prince Sado, died of starvation in a wooden chest of rice in which his father and Jeongjo‘s grandfather, King Yeongjo, ordered him to be confined. Growing up, Jeongjo was often stigmatized as the “son of the sinner” b

Film May 2, 2014

JEONJU, North Jeolla Province ― The latest collaborative 3-D project by three renowned Korean directors, Ryu Seung-wan (“The Berlin File”), Han Ji-seung (“Papa”) and Kim Tae-yong (“Late Autumn”), was unveiled on Thursday as the opening film of this year’s Jeonju International Film Festival.The film festival, one of the biggest events for local independent cinema, kicked off in the aftermath of the recent ferry disaster that has gripped the nation. As most earlier events in the entertainment indu

May 2, 2014

Personal-finance tomes aren’t usually bodice rippers with breathless sentences like: “She wanted him and couldn’t wait to have him, was totally addicted to his touch and couldn’t resist him.”But Boca Raton, Florida, financial planner Kathleen Grace, 46, wanted to explore women’s emotions about money and love ― and how those feelings can interfere with managing money.So Grace, who co-founded Excelsior Capital Advisors, hired a romance writer to help her create a modern fairy tale of Cinderella ―

Books May 1, 2014

Family LifeBy Akhil Sharma (W.W. Norton & Co)Akhil Sharma’s new novel, “Family Life,” should come with a warning sticker: Heartbreak ahead. This slender book, hardly more than 200 pages, follows 8-year-old Ajay Mishra and his family from India to Queens, where Ajay’s older brother, Birju, fulfills his parents’ immigrant hopes by gaining acceptance to the prestigious Bronx High School of Science. Then, their world is shattered when a swimming pool accident leaves Birju severely brain-damaged ― pu

Books May 1, 2014