Articles by Park Han-na
![Park Han-na](https://res.heraldm.com/content/koreaherald/hgrp_profile/20230809174134789423.jpg)
Park Han-na
hnpark@heraldcorp.com-
Ex-president Park’s would-be residence in Daegu attracts visitors
An empty residential property in Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province is drawing throngs of visitors in recent days following reports that it would soon be the home of the impeached President Park Geun-hye, who is currently in hospital. Park’s close aide and lawyer Yoo Young-ha reportedly signed a contract to purchase the property in Ssanggye-ri, Dalseong County, for around 2.5 billion won ($2.08 million). It consists of a main building with two stories and one basement level as well as thr
Social Affairs Feb. 14, 2022
-
Farming evolves with the help of IT, AI
Becoming a farmer carries a high risk, with volatile weather and soil conditions affecting farm crops in a blink. The risk, exacerbated by global warming, has been mitigated for Lee Kyung-ju, a former IT office worker-turned farmer who has been growing cucumbers with the help of a smart farm system since 2020. He kicks off his day by checking his smartphone application showing the farming weather forecast and agricultural commodity prices. He then arrives at his 6,000 square-meter farm in C
People Feb. 11, 2022
-
Health authorities mulling free at-home test kits
The South Korean government is mulling over whether to provide free self-testing kits for COVID-19 and who to give them to, amid growing supply shortage fears induced by recent changes in pandemic treatment measures. Demand for self-test kits has surged since the government began to prioritize high-risk groups on Feb. 3, including those aged 60 and over, for access to immediate polymerase chain reaction tests. Under the new system aimed at dealing with the omicron-fueled COVID-19 wave, the re
Social Affairs Feb. 10, 2022
-
Subway disrupted as disability groups continue protest
An association of disability groups in South Korea is continuing their protest actions at subway stations, disrupting operations during the morning rush hour for the fourth weekday in a row. On Tuesday, some members of the Solidarity against Disability Discrimination staged a rally at Chungmuro Station at around 7:30 a.m., demanding the government do more to help disabled people. “The protest by the disability rights group, which was held on the morning of Feb. 8, ended at 10:18 a.m.,
Social Affairs Feb. 8, 2022
-
[Herald Interview] Politics startup seeks to bring power of data to people ahead of elections
Transparent and unbiased data will help potential voters and politicians make rational choices, putting an end to the era of heavily skewed public polls and knee-jerk policy reactions. This is the guiding philosophy at Oxopolitics, where scores of data engineers are working to change political decision making with the power of data. “I wanted to build an open data platform that enables each user to have their say about politics and see the data on themselves, like-minded people and al
Politics Feb. 6, 2022
-
[Herald Interview] Artist commemorates independent corner stores
Old ramshackle mom-and-pop stores have provided a lasting subject for Lee Me-kyeoung, a 53-year-old painter, from the human life cycle to childhood nostalgia, when no one even showed the slightest interest in them. “When I started to draw small stores back in late 90s, people hated to see outdated and obsolete things,” Lee said during an interview with The Korea Herald. Lee has produced more than 450 pen drawings on mom-and-pop stores in small villages across the nation in the
Arts & Design Jan. 27, 2022
-
[Herald Interview] Korea’s first professor for influencers: Find your own attractiveness and they will follow you
Self-assessment of one‘s attractive qualities is a critical step to becoming a successful influencer, according to Ryo Chu-hyeop, a 36-year old YouTuber and South Korea’s first professor of “influencer affairs.” In order to make other people follow you online, aspiring influencers need to ruminate on their own ideas and thoughts and what kind of attributes they have to attract others. “Attractiveness does not necessarily mean (physical) beauty. It can be somet
People Jan. 26, 2022
-
Heavy snow covers parts of South Korea
Heavy show fell in Seoul, Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces on Wednesday, prompting authorities to issue alerts over potential traffic disturbances and frozen roads. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, Seoul received 3.5 centimeters of snow while Gangwon Province‘s Seoraksan and the southeastern Ulleung Island saw heavy snow of 18.5 centimeters and 19.5 centimeters, respectively, as of 2 p.m. The weather agency lifted a heavy snow alert, which indicates that snow of at le
Social Affairs Jan. 19, 2022
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
Most Popular
-
1
Korea enters full election mode
-
2
Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
-
3
Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
-
4
Lee Jong-sup resigns as envoy to Australia
-
5
Yellow dust engulfs S. Korea, advisory alert issued
-
6
Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
-
7
S. Korea to boost support for single-parent families
-
8
Court upholds jail term for man who attempted to murder ex-girlfriend
-
9
Kia EV9 wins world car of year
-
10
Korea misses out on global bond index boost