A network promoting human rights across Asia is asking young people to fill out an online survey. The Asia Pacific Youth Network wants people in Korea and other countries in the region to answer questions on youth activism by Aug. 12. Every 100th respondent will also be given a small prize. In just three years, the group has grown from 20 youth activists to a network which has taken almost 30,000

A U.K. expert is to coach Korean students on social enterprise next week. Social entrepreneur Clifford Southcombe is to visit Seoul from Aug. 1-4 to train students taking part in Social Venture Competition Asia.A founder of his country’s social enterprise movement, Southcombe will also give a lecture at Sookmyung Women’s University on Monday. Southcombe managed one of the U.K.’s first successful c

Helpers prepare food for homeless people at a previous Busan event. (Kwon Ki-Jai)An event to help homeless people in Busan is being held on Saturday. Expats with Busan ATEK Volunteer group are set to help out Korean volunteers at the event to run from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Busanjin Station yard. Those taking part will spend four hours giving out free meals to homeless people at the station. For

A forum on Korea’s Internet freedom is to be held in Seoul on Saturday, Aug. 6. The Asia Chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association has organized the forum, which is in part sponsored by TNM Media, blog Nanoomi.net and Platoon Kunsthalle. The event to be held from 12―3 p.m. at Platoon Kunsthalle in Gangnam will examine Northeast Asia’s changing media landscape.A panel discussion will ex

Volunteers and donors are being sought to give kids a taste of native English teaching in South Jeolla Province. The 2nd Annual HOPE Summer English Camp is to take 10 skilled ESL teachers to a rural elementary school in Suncheon.  Organizers said the camp would give students at Haeryong Elementary School a rare chance to interact with foreigners. “Although Gyeonggi Provincal Office of Education ha

A native English teacher in Korea is set to run a marathon to raise money to fight cancer. Nick Scherf, who teaches at the Hanyang Oregon Language Institute in Seoul, is to run in honor of his parents who both suffered from the disease.Scherf, 25, has been planning the 42-kilometer run since his father died of esophageal cancer in March 2008. His mother, Sandra, was diagnosed with breast cancer ju

Han lobbying for laws to allow American families to adopt N.K. orphansHis hard-won adoption by an American professor transformed Han Sang-man’s destiny from that of a North Korean street boy to a successful U.S. businessman with the means to help other refugees.His adoptive father, Arthur Schneider, took the orphaned Han under his wing while serving here in the aftermath of the Korean War. Schneid

A cycling challenge is to be held in Chuncheon on Sept. 17. Keen cyclists can choose between taking part in a six- or 12-hour course in the Gangwon Province countryside. Riders for the six-hour course should meet at Chuncheon Station at 9 a.m. on the day for a 10 a.m. start. The route is on quiet country roads and includes a climb to the top of Soyang Dam.Participants for the 12-hour course should

Making kindness contagious in SeoulA group of benevolent strangers is seeking donations for a pay-it-forward project in Korea. Seoul Giving Club is to hold a giveaway next month. Organizers are inviting people to make financial donations to the club’s biggest pay-it-forward event to date. The movement aims to spread goodwill by performing small acts of kindness and encouraging the recipients to do

Expats who are longer-term residents in Korea are being sought to take part in Seoul Global Center’s Neighbors From Afar Program. The project seeks people from different countries to commit to take one or two classes a month where they will introduce their country to Korean kids. A Korean volunteer will accompany the foreigner during the hour and a half classes during which they can introduce thei

Volunteers will help out at an orphanage for disabled children on Saturday, Aug. 6. The group will meet inside Yeonsinnae Subway Station near Exit 3 at 1:30 p.m. before going to the Angel House children’s home by bus.Once there, the expats will cook food for the children before eating with the residents. They will also help with washing and cleaning as well as playing with the children there.Each

Plur logoPLUR members are set to teach English to disadvantaged kids in Seoul this Saturday. Volunteers for the group Peace, Love, Unity and Respect are to teach low-level English learners from 2-4 p.m. at Sarang Eui Geul Bang, a short bus ride from Seoul’s Silim Subway Station. The group will teach and play with kids, giving them a rare chance to spend time and interact with foreigners. For more

A British animal welfare expert is to talk at an animal welfare training session in Gwangju. People taking part in the session will learn about preventing animal abuse from an expert from the U.K.’s Royal Society for the Protection of Animals. RSPCA Head of External Affairs Paul Littlefair will talk about the animal welfare situation in the U.K. in terms of promoting and evaluating protection meas

A group of benevolent strangers is seeking donations for a pay-it-forward project in Korea. Seoul Giving Club is to hold a giveaway next month. Organizers are inviting people to make financial donations to the club’s biggest pay-it-forward event to date. The movement aims to spread goodwill by performing small acts of kindness and encouraging the recipients to do the same for others.A Seoul Giving

Kirsty Taylor An art historian is seeking donations to fund a digital photo book of North Korean art. An academic delegation is to travel to North Korea this August. The group of students and professors from around the world is to meet North Korean academics and visit some of the isolated country’s important cultural sites. They will visit landmarks often promoted to visitors by the Pyongyang gove

North Korean defectors are in need of English teachers this summer. Native English speakers are being sought to teach elementary and middle school students at a Hana Center near Daecheong Subway Station in Seoul. The Hana regional support centers help North Koreans continue to adjust to life in the south. They are the next step in integrating refugees into life here after they finish the three mon

Charity aims to improve young people’s rights and end child abuseMost kids in South Korea no longer lack food or shelter. But too many of them lack another necessity, according to Save the Children Korea president Kim No-bo ― they are missing a voice. By this, he means the ability for kids here to speak out in their own interest. “My greatest concern is on child abuse,” he said. “The major issue i

A photo scavenger hunt is to raise cash for charity in Seoul. The third annual Little Travellers Scavenger Hunt is to raise cash for the Hillcrest AIDS Center Trust. The contest to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS costs 15,000 won to enter ― covering the cost of a Little Traveller doll. The beaded dolls are handcrafted by women at Hillcrest who are affected by HIV/AIDS.The entry fee also covers the

A closure-threatened animal sanctuary has managed to secure new premises to keep helping abandoned pets. The Busan Abandoned Pet Sanctuary was facing the prospect of losing its accommodation for street animals as the lease on its original premises was not being renewed. But now BAPS is set to move to its new home in an old pig farm this September. The charity is now looking for architects, enginee

A group helping migrant women in Korea is taking part in a Korean craft exhibition today through Saturday.EcoFemme is participating in Ecolife section of the Hand-made Korea fair at COEX in Seoul. The social enterprise group is working with migrant women to make and sell handicrafts, returning the profits to them.EcoFemme also provides counseling and education services for migrant women here and s