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WHEN I entered the office to have an interview with the fourth wealthiest man in Korea according to Forbes, Kwon Hyuk-bin, I was surprised by his simple plaid shirt and his friendly-uncle-like disposition. I had expected more opulence from a man who has gained the honor of being listed in top 500 wealthiest people in the world, according to *Bloomberg* billionaire index. But he spoke nothing of things like Armani suits and a cabinet full of expensive whiskey bottles. Rather, he spoke passionately of his dreams. Here was a man who followed his dreams rather than the bounty. Kwon Hyuk-bin is one
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Kim Yeon-seung
2017.08.25 22:20
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THE NATION was shaken at its core by shocking news first reported by the broadcasting station, JTBC, on Oct. 24. JTBC disclosed the contents of a discarded tablet PC belonging to Choi Soon-sil, a close confidant of President Park Geun-hye, revealing that Choi had been involved in critical political scenes for the past several years. The tablet PC’s contents showed that, despite being an unelected and unauthorized individual, Choi had possessed and even edited highly confidential government content, including 44 presidential speeches. Further accusations were made that Choi had taken advantage
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Editors
2016.12.08 23:42
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THE MOVIE Surrogates depicts a future society in which the distinction between the real world and the virtual world becomes ambiguous. People no longer go outside of their houses themselves but instead confront reality with a surrogate robot. With surrogate robots, which are more attractive and younger than humans, people indirectly experience the world. People are also able to express a different version of themselves – a different self-identity. As crazy as it might sound, the life depicted in Surrogates is about to come true. Already, people are expressing different self-identities an
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Lee Kyung-chul
2016.10.04 20:27
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SOUTH KOREA’s pursuit of an advanced welfare state has always been challenging. Citizens agree with the necessity to build a better social safety net for everyone, but hesitate when it involves a greater financial burden. Such is the case for the recent welfare project of the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG). The so-called Youth Allowance Project targets the disconnected youth, a recent term brought up by the SMG to describe young people in their twenties who are neither working nor studying at school. However, doubts have arisen about whether the new program can really help these youths wi
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Yeo Ye-rim
2016.09.07 01:04
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CAN YOU imagine a society with no cash at all? It literally means that everything will be paid in electronic payment means, including money bets with friends, pocket money, and claw machines on streets. In fact, such a phenomenon is not far from reality, as South Korea has already taken its first step towards a cashless society. The Bank of Korea (BOK) announced in April that it will achieve a coinless society by 2020 in order to “reduce the inconvenience of carrying and using coins in shops or transportation and to lower the cost of minting coins.” Its plan is to create a noncash system in wh
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Yeo Ye-rim
2016.06.16 17:24
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2016 was a glorious year for Leonardo Di Caprio. He received his first Oscar award, which he richly deserved, for best actor in The Revenant. When, finally, the frenzy surrounding Di Caprio's Oscar subsided, the award ceremony was engulfed with a different controversy, facing criticism for the lack of African-American nominees. The problem of exclusion is not limited to the United States or the Oscars. The 2015 entertainment awards here in South Korea did not have any female nominees for the grand prize. During an episode of the comedy show Infinite challenge, South Korea’s most beloved femal
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Kim Yeon-seung
2016.05.11 00:26
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“THE PRICE good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men,” said Plato. Plato’s quote implies that a society full of politically ignorant people will be led by a government that fails to represent their interests. Unfortunately, South Korea is currently undergoing a similar situation. The 20th South Korean general elections will be held on April 13 of this year, but in fact, young people are reluctant to vote. Even though they realize the importance of voting as their civic duty, many denies to engage in political affairs. They are dominated by general weariness and
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Yeo Ye-rim
2016.04.06 16:38
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ON THE 28th of January, a press conference hosted by the Students’ Unions of several private universities in Seoul took place in front of the National Assembly Building. More than eight Students’ Unions, including the 53rd Students’ Union of Yonsei University, united together to demand that proper operation of the Tuition Review Committee be guaranteed and that government subsidies for universities be expanded. They claimed that increasing government aid to private universities could bring a decline in tuition fees, thus opening up higher education to all students, regardless of their househol
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Hong You-kyoung
2016.03.04 16:17
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“I AM reminded of a famous adage by Guanzi that growing grains will offer a year of prosperity, and growing trees will offer 10 years of prosperity, but growing people will offer 100 years of prosperity.” President Park Geun-hye made this statement in Beijing at Tsinghua University on June 29, 2013. A unique aspect of her speech, entitled “Opening a new period of two decades, a trip of trust between South Korea and China” was President Park delivered the first four minutes in Chinese, accentuating her effort to enhance Sino-Republic of Korea (ROK) ties. China, one of Korea’s most crucial partn
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Kim Ye-eun
2015.10.06 20:24
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THIS SEMESTER, Yonsei University adopted a new method of course registration known as the Yonsei Course Enrollment System (Y-CES), which combines three systems – mileage, time ticket, and waiting number. Whereas server crashes and chronic failures to register for desired courses were taken for granted under the previous registration system, Y-CES was expected to be free from these deep-seated plagues of course registration. The new system is currently Yonsei’s proudest boast, with president Jeong Kap-young even having announced his intent for the university to patent Y-CES and promote it
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Cho Yun-myung
2015.09.08 01:54
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THE STRUGGLE against the abrupt change of working conditions of numerous cleaning workers based at the Yonsei International Campus in Songdo has definitely been the hottest campus issue this semester. At the end of 2014, 23 among a total of 72 female cleaning laborers were discharged without forewarning to reduce school budget. The service charge, which according to the school general manager takes up about 12.3% of an average undergraduate’s tuition, has been increasing by around 22% annually for the past years. To confront this situation, the laborers and the student committee guarding labor
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Kim Ji-sun
2015.06.28 20:43
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A FEW MONTHS ago, a sentence on an online second-hand retailer captivated many consumers: “Honey Butter Chip For Sale.” Although the asking price was higher than the original sales price, the product sold out in the blink of an eye. Even at such an inflated price, people paid for the chip without any hesitation, expecting to receive them within the next few days. However, the chips never came. It turned out that 10,000,000 was swindled in total. Recently yet another product on a different online retailer has drawn attention: an empty bag of Honey Butter Chip, with a slight scent of the fable
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Paik Ji-eun
2015.05.11 19:57
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THE WEALTH gap has once again seeped into the education sector. According to the Ministry of Education’s recent announcement, households earning more than 6 million per month increased their private education expenses, while those earning less decreased their expenses. However, this phenomenon is not limited to private education alone. Households with incomes in the top 20% spent nearly eight times every month on education-related spending compared to those in the lowest 20%. As statistics suggest, the polarization of education based on money seems to have gotten bigger than ever. Must “good
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Choi Jean
2015.03.30 18:34
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“DO YOU know who I am?” Some ask this question rhetorically with disbelieving angry eyes. After asking the question, those people then usually proclaim their grand titles and names themselves. This “do you know who I am” card has been used by many people to gain the upper hand in a situation. It is the most representative case of gab-jil; a compound Korean word combining the word gab, meaning a being with superior power, and the suffix jil, meaning an act of doing. The word gab-jil refers to any wrongful acts committed by gab, the superior party, to eul, the subordinate weaker party. Gab-jil h
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Moon Sook-hyun
2015.03.02 14:12
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ON SEPTEMBER 15, the Ministry of Security of Public Administration (MOSPA) announced the “2014 local taxes amendment.” An increase in residence taxes and automobile taxes, as well as areduction in local tax exemptions were included inthis amendment. The recent policy proposal to increase taxes, in fact, was executed in response to the government’sattempt to increasewelfare expenditure. Since the government promised “welfare without increasing taxes” to the voters before the presidential election, the tax amendment is being embroiled in severe controversy and criticism. The tax policy and welfa
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Choi Ka-bin
2014.11.01 16:35
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“WHO ACTUALLY reads those papers?” “I take them as an umbrella when it rains suddenly.” “Don’t the reporters do the work simply so that they could write another line of an extracurricular activity on their resume?” The college press used to voice for the suppressed university students, and the pre-existing press and the society used to take them seriously - for real. Also, there was a time when sending *Yonsei Chunchu* to one’s boyfriend or girlfriend meant that they cared for him or her, by showing what was going on around their campus. Where is this culture to be seen now? Has college press
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Shin Eun-soo
2014.09.04 23:11
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“ALL PASSENGERS on Sewol-ho have been rescued. Please rest assured” – the official announcement on 16 April, 12p.m., by the South Korean government. Yet a few moments later, the government corrected its statement – over a hundred were still not recovered and three were revealed to be dead already, within hours of the accident. The people of South Korea were in a state of a speechless shock, and the families of the victims were naively fooled by the false announcements. The Sewol-ho ferry was carrying a staggering 459 people when it was capsized near Gwanmae Island, marking its plac
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Koh Soo-min
2014.06.03 08:24
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ARE YOU currently residing in the Yonsei International Campus (YIC) located in Songdo? Yonsei University built YIC to promote the globalization of Yonsei. Starting from the spring semester of 2014, most freshmen are required to stay at YIC for at least a year. Before this requirement took effect, there were severe conflicts between Yonsei students and the university administration. A majority of freshmen surveyed recently by the The Yonsei Annals seem to be enjoying their stay in YIC. Still, continuing problems at YIC need to be discussed openly and resolved. Since a lot of Yonseians are livin
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Ha He-bin
2014.05.05 23:40
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RECENTLY KOREAN society has witnessed many discussions of dating. "Senior dating" has arisen as a social issue, and teenage couples are busy celebrating not only their '100th anniversary' but even their 'two-two-day', which is their 22nd day together. Regardless of generation or age, dating has become an everyday concern for all Koreans, but among them, college students are ones that are expected to date most freely and most passionately. However, are they truly enjoying their love life as much as others believe them to be? Every generation throws a glance of envy towards the young 20s,
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Han Ye-seul
2014.04.08 14:46
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WITH THE start of the 2014 spring semester, university students might have their own worries. They might be anxious about their new classes, new professors or simply studying for a good grade. However, for some students, what worries them most is simply finding a place to live. Some students are lucky enough to live in a school dormitory, but most have to rent a room near school at a high cost. To lessen the burden of university students’ housing problems, the government in 2012 made a new policy activated by the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH). Under this policy called University Studen
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Ha He-bin
2014.03.04 00:48