People spend as much as one third of their lives sleeping. However, the general population often ignore the significance of sleep. According to the National Sleep Foundation, the amount of sleep recommended for teenagers is nine to 11 hours and for people 18 to 64 is seven to nine hours. However, hardly having any time left after work, study, and assignments, people often fail to fulfill the recommended amount of sleep. To have a better lifestyle, one must comprehend the benefits of having enough sleep and the harmful effects of curtailed sleep.One of the side-effects of sleep deprivation is h

High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) is the technology which utilizes ultrasound waves to focus energy on a specific point to achieve various purposes including cosmetic, medical, and surgical needs. It is valued as a non-invasive technique to treat various symptoms. Mechanism The mechanism of HIFU is relatively simple. Ultrasound waves are basically a form of mechanical energy of a certain magnitude. Just as light collected by a magnifying glass can initiate fire, when multiple waves converge at one spot by a special HIFU transducer, the energy held by each wave is focused, increasing the

Prosecutors have requested arrest warrants for two executives of Kolon Life Science (KLS) regarding the ‘Invossa Incident’.According to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office requested arrest warrants from executives Kim and Cho on charges of ‘Obstruction of Performance of Official Duties by Fraudulent Means’. As executives who played a major role in the process of developing Invossa, conducting medical trials, and attaining the approval of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), they are suspected of fabricating the ingredients of Invossa and subm

The 2020 Summer Olympics will be held in Tokyo on July 24, 2020. It is recorded to be the fourth Olympic games held in Japan and the second to be held in the capital of Japan, after its first Olympics games 56 years ago. Olympic official site and Tokyo 2020 game organizers advocate that the Tokyo 2020 Sumer Olympics will be “the most innovative ever organized” and that the games are anticipated to win the title as “the most gender-equal Olympics” considering the predicted 48.2% participation of women. Despite the positive appraises regarding the event, Tokyo 2020 is characterized as ‘controver

With the advent of artificial intelligence technology, self-driving cars have been put under the spotlight. When self-driving technology is discussed, people generally think about it in terms of human transportation. However, there is a different aspect to the self-driving technology that will improve people’s quality of life: the autonomous delivery robots.Delivery is a big part of modern life. People’s reluctance to step outside their doorsteps has significantly catalyzed delivery service industries as the success of Amazon illustrates. Amazon uses a very convenient shopping method as it del

This summer the diplomatic row between Korea and Japan escalated into a financial dispute as they started imposing economic measures on each other. On July 1, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced that it would restrict exports of key materials for manufacturing semiconductors and display panels. Starting with this, a full-fledged trade dispute has begun and relations between Seoul and Tokyo seem to be heading toward collapse. To understand why this trade war started we need to look through a recent ruling made in Korea’s Supreme Court.During the World War II, there were Ko

Look around your room or office. There are everyday objects ranging from furniture to electronic goods. How many of them did you make yourself? Probably none or very few items. Most objects are probably bought from stores. But, if there are a lot of objects around that you made yourself, you are a maker.Maker is someone who satisfies his needs through making. The maker movement spirit is defined by Mark Hatch, who is the founder of Tech Shop, a makerspace: 1) make, 2) share, 3) give, 4) learn, 5) too up, 6) play, 7) participate, 8) support, and 9) change. The details of each can be found in Th

At the World Health Organization’s (WHO) World Health Assembly held on May 25, member states officially voted to adopt the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) that lists game addiction as a ‘gaming disorder.’After the ICD-10 was adopted in 1990, the WHO has discovered that game addiction was one of the major causes of death and health threats in modern society, and game addiction was one of them. The WHO listed gaming disorder on the draft of the ICD-11, which was released on June 18, 2018. The WHO has classified gaming disorder as ‘Disorders due to addictive be

It has been quite a while since the latest protest in Hong Kong started and yet the unrest shows no sign of stopping. Many protesters are risking rubber bullets and tear gas, but what makes them bear all this violence? To understand we need to look through some context that underlies the situation.Hong Kong’s HistoryHong Kong significantly differs from many other cities in China. It was under the British government for 150 years. After the Opium Wars of the nineteenth century, Hong Kong Island was ceded to the British Empire. However, more than 86% of modern Hong Kong, the New Territories, was

In 2019, the minimum hourly wage increased from 7,530 KRW in 2018 to 8,350 KRW, which is approximately a 10.9% increase. The hourly wage of 8,350 KRW amounts to 1,745,150 KRW per month for full-time employment (40 hours per week with holidays included). The national minimum wage is in place to protect low-income employees by forcing the employers to pay at least the amount that is set by the minimum wage. Although the burdens of low-income workers and part-time students were relieved to some extent by the increase in the minimum wage, there is a certain group of people whose work condition has

Lately, financial technology, or “Fintech” has innovated payment methods. Many online payment systems that support online money transfers and serve as an electronic alternative to traditional payment methods have appeared. In the U.S.A. and China, simple payment services such as “Paypal” and “Alipay” have been widely used by the public, and in Korea many similar services such as “Samsung pay”, “Kakao pay”. are increasing their market shares. ‘Simple payment service’ refers to any electronic payment service that allows users to make payments on and off-line simply and securely. It is a system t

Soon is May 18, a national day of commemoration for those who fought and died during the ‘May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement’. Although South Korea is presently a ‘democratic republic’, from 1961 to 1987, South Korea was a country under authoritarianism where indirect elections, media manipulation, and mass-shootings happened. Only after many years of struggles and sacrifices did South Korea finally have her first truly ‘elected’ president and become a genuine ‘democratic republic’ in Dec. 1987. The ‘May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement’ took place for ten days in Gwangju and JeollaNam

Lonely death, commonly referred to as ‘Godoksa’ in Korean, is a phenomenon where people living in solitude are found dead long after they actually passed away. Living in solitude cuts them off from the mainstream society that even when they pass away because they were so away from other people, their bodies are unattended to. First introduced in Japan, ‘Godoksa’ is now an issue Korea is having to deal with. With Korea having one of the world’s highest rates of elderly poverty and exponential increase in elderly single households, lonely death is turning into one of the major social problems.Du

On Feb. 29, an unexpected crisis occurred at the Gwangan Bridge in Busan that connects Haeundae-gu to Suyeong-gu. The Gwangan Bridge is the second longest bridge in Korea after the Incheon Bridge and is 7,420 meters long. The bridge is constructed so that it can withstand 45 m/s speed typhoons and seven meters high waves and is rated as a one in aseismic design. Such a sturdy bridge was damaged by a 6,000 ton-container ship, named the Seagrand, steered by a drunk Russian captain. Although the impact partially damaged the bridge structure, the Busan Coast Guard (BCG) reported that there were no

On April. 11, the Constitutional Court announced the anti-abortion law ‘unconstitutional’. Since 1953, abortion has been illegal under Article 269 and 270 of the Criminal Code; the country restricted women’s fundamental rights by punishing those who had an abortion with a fine up to two million KRW and imprisonment for up to a year. Doctors who conducted such surgeries were also sentenced to imprisonment for up to two years. Although illegal, the government-financed survey conducted last year showed there had been 50,000 abortion surgeries in 2017 alone, meaning that one out of five women with

According to research from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), there are 5.64 million self-employed people in Korea. This is 21.0% of total employees, and the figure has decreased since 2008 when it was 25.3%. The ratio is quite high compared to those of OECD countries. In 2017, 25.4% of the total employees were self-employed and this is the fifth highest among OECD countries: unlike domestic figures, it counted unpaid family workers as self-employed people. Another report of the MSS claims that 67.6% of self-employed people started their businesses ‘because there was no other choice othe

Before the summit On Jan. 1, Kim Jong-un, the Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea, sent a positive message about holding the second North Korea – United States summit through his New Year’s address, although he also said he would seek a new path if there were unilateral U.S. sanctions and pressure.Responding to Kim’s speech, Donald Trump, the president of the United States of America, tweeted that he is also looking forward to meeting with Chairman Kim who realizes that North Korea possesses great economic potential. Accordingly, from the start of 2019, North Korea and the U.S. revealed th

Deep-fried laver, dried laver coated in a batter of glutinous rice starch, dried, and deep-fried, is a Korean snack, is just one product of Korean culture that has gained fame. How did this seemingly ordinary snack catch the eyes of million? The answer, ‘Korean Fever’, also known as the ‘Korean Wave’. With people, being captivated with Korean culture, it holds a powerful influence power over them. A TV show scene showing a celebrity eating deep-fried laver was all that was needed to propel the dish into the international spotlight. There are various elements to ‘Korean Fever’. Those elements i

Lee Guk-jong, the celebrated head of Ajou University Hospital’s trauma center, recalled Yoon Han-deok as being instrumental in organizing Korea’s emergency care system over the last 15 years.According to the National Medical Center (NMC), a public hospital as a subpart from the Health Ministry, Yoon Han-deok, the head of its National Emergency Medical Center, was discovered passed away in his office. At just 51, Yoon died of an apparent heart attack. A NMC doctor who conducted a preliminary autopsy concluded that Yoon’s heart attack may have been caused by years of stress and overwork. His dea

Whoever purchases a product or service from a company is the company’s customer. Whether the customer lives in the country of the company’s foundation or in a foreign country, every customer paid for the product and deserves to be treated accordingly. However, for the companies that rely on statistics and only care about their profit, the story is quite different. One such company that discriminates in the Korean market is the Japanese gaming company, Nintendo.Nintendo is a worldwide electronics and video game company founded on Sept. 23, 1989. Nintendo sells gaming consoles such as the Ninten