The Korea Times

Work-related compensation stops at door

A court ruled that the boundary where a civil servant’s work-related compensation for industrial accident stops at the doorstep of a house. The Supreme Court overturned a high court’s ruling in favor of the public official, only identified as Yang, and sent it back to the Seoul High Court for review. Returning home from work, Yang fell down in his own yard and hurt his eyes after parking his car while walking toward his house. He filed a suit against the Government Employment Pension Service for paid sick leave but was rejected as it was not taken as a work-related injury. However, the top court ruled, “Injuries sustained on his commute, going to the office and returning home are included in work-related accidents. But once he steps onto his property, the act of coming back home from the office should be viewed as completed.” It added, “Therefore, an accident taken place in his backyard is not work-related.”

Jul 6, 2010By Cho Jae-hyon

South Korea

Student dead in drinking bout

A high school student has died after a bout of overdrinking in a competition with his senior to determine who could drink more. According to the police in Ulsan, South Gyeongsang Province, Tuesday, a 16-year-old high school student, identified only as Park, was found dead Sunday by one of his friends in a commercial building in Onsan, Ulsan City. Police quoted his friends as saying that Park had drunk four bottles of soju, a traditional Korean spirit, in a drinking competition with his senior Kim, 17, at a playground nearby a residential area in Onsan. His friends said Park was severely intoxicated after the drinking and was helped by one of his friends into the building to take a nap. A police officer said that vomit seemed to have caused respiratory obstruction after falling into an alcohol induced sleep. “His vomit seemed to have been stuck in his respiratory organ and blocked his breathing. We uncovered no circumstances where his seniors had forced him to drink or used violence,” he said.

Jul 6, 2010By Cho Jae-hyon

South Korea

Millennium Seoul Hilton - best business hotel

The Millennium Seoul Hilton has been named the Best Business Hotel in the Best Brand Awards hosted by The Korea Times in recognition of its top-quality customer services, modern conveniences and superb facilities. The nation's first English daily surveyed all its readers to determine the best brands, from the hospitality industry to the business world. This year, the hotel was picked by its readers as the Best Business Hotel, and its Italian and Japanese restaurants, ll Ponte and Genji, as the best restaurants in their respective categories. The hotel, which first opened its doors 1983 at the foot of Mt. Namsan, has built up its reputation as the premier business hotel in Seoul over the past years. Complete with superb, modern facilities, magnificent decoration and outstanding service, the 22-story hotel stands right in the heart of the business, entertainment and shopping districts of Korea's capital city. All 681 guest rooms and suites introduce new standards of luxury to the hotel's guests. Equipped with every modern convenience and stocked with luxurious amenities, i

Jul 5, 2010By Cho Jae-hyon

South Korea

48 civil servants face discipline for election campaign

The central government has ordered provincial governments to discipline 48 public servants for engaging in illegal campaign activities for the June 2 local elections, officials said Wednesday. The Ministry of Public Administration and Security said it has asked the local governments to reprimand the public servants according to the severity of their violations. They were asked to dismiss five, take punitive measures to reprimand eight and issue warnings to the rest. The Civil Servant Law forbids them from engaging in any political activities. But the accused government workers participated in the campaigning of certain candidates for the June 2 local elections.

Jun 30, 2010By Cho Jae-hyon

South Korea

Open investigation launched for another child rapist

Less than a month after Kim Soo-chul was arrested for raping an 8-year-old girl, another 7-year-old girl was raped in her room in broad daylight on Saturday in Seoul. Police kicked off an open search for the suspected rapist, distributing a composite sketch of the suspect in his 30s Monday. The suspect approached the primary schoolgirl playing with her friends near her house, took her inside her home and raped her when her parents were out working, according to the Dongdaemun Police Station. The first grader at an elementary school was a Vietnamese-born child whose parents came to South Korea a few years ago. "The criminal must have premeditated the crime given he knew that her parents were not at home," a police officer said. The latest rape case took place in a residential area in Jangan-dong in northern Seoul, where no surveillance cameras were installed. The suspect was wearing a black T-shirt and blue jeans with white sneakers at the time of the crime, police said. Recurring sex crimes against children are forcing civic groups to demand the government come up

Jun 28, 2010By Cho Jae-hyon

South Korea

Launch of weather satellite halted again

The launch of the nation's first geostationary ocean weather satellite was halted for the second time in two days due to mechanical glitches, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) said Friday. Abnormal readings were detected during the final countdown process, with the countdown having been halted 17 seconds before blastoff, it said. The Chollian communication, ocean and meteorological satellite (COMS) was originally set to lift off on the Ariane-5ECA rocket at 6:41 a.m. (KST) Thursday, but low pressure levels in both the first and second stage rockets forced a delay of 24 hours, it said. The exact cause of the delay was being examined by onsite engineers at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. "The problem of low pressure in the first stage rocket was detected again. It's uncertain when to attempt a new launch," a KARI official said. The government and other state agencies have invested 355 billion won ($294 mil) to develop the satellite since September, 2003.

Jun 25, 2010By Cho Jae-hyon

South Korea

Kindgergarten teachers also subject to evaluation

By Cho Jae-hyon Staff reporter From the second half of the year, teachers at public and private kindergartens will be subject to evaluation programs, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Friday. The controversial plan comes as the government is facing opposition from the nation's two largest associations of public school teachers for starting the evaluation of teachers at primary and secondary schools in March. Including kindergarten teachers in the evaluations has been studied by the education ministry as a way of advancing the nation's education from the infant stage. Under the new rules, kindergarten teachers will be evaluated by their principals who will be in turn be evaluated by city and provincial education superintendents. Teachers argued that the program will ignite unnecessary competition among them and could be abused as a means to punish teachers opposed to government policies. Teachers will be evaluated by their colleagues. They will also be rated by parents. According to the results, teachers who score highly will be given bonus

Jun 25, 2010By Cho Jae-hyon

Opinion

Red Devils still hungry

By Cho Jae-hyon City editor There is nothing like football to drive South Koreans into such a wild, collective frenzy. The chant "Dae~hanminguk" (Republic of Korea) is a commanding spell that lets loose the "Red Devils" en masse. Millions of supporters in red jerseys, despite the rain or the dark of night, have taken to the streets across the nation to rally behind their "Taeguk Warriors." This red-clad legion of enthusiastic fans, dubbed the 12th Taeguk Warrior, is a vital source of energy that powers the players whenever they face their football foes in the World Cup in South Africa. Living up to the high expectations of these passionate supporters, the South Korean squad pulled off a 2-2 draw with the Nigerian team to make it to the round of 16, a feat it has never achieved away from home. Much kudos to coach Huh Jung-moo and his players! South Korea has never claimed a berth in the knockout rounds on foreign soil though it reached the semifinals in the 2002 World Cup on its home turf. The current team ― boasting a good mix of young talent, veterans, and o

Jun 23, 2010By Cho Jae-hyon

South Korea

Hwagye Temple chief resigns amid dispute over river project

By Cho Jae-hyon Staff reporter Ven. Sugyeong, the chief monk of Hwagye Temple who has been a critic of the contentious four river redevelopment project, offered to resign Monday and relieve himself from the Jogye Order, the nation's mainstream Buddhist sect. The 61-year-old monk has urged the government to abort its four-river restoration project, while the Jogye Order leadership has largely remained silent over the issue. In a note to his followers, he said, "I am laying down everything and leaving." His sudden resignation comes several weeks after Ven. Munsu immolated himself on May 31, leaving a suicide note demanding the suspension of the river restoration project. Ven. Sugyeong said, "Monk Munsu had the courage of his convictions," indicating that his resignation is closely associated with the suicide. "I once lived thinking that I had a great cause for everyone, getting involved in environmental and NGO organizations. Even though I stood up against political authority, it didn't take long to realize that it was also one sort of power," he said. Monk Sugy

Jun 14, 2010By Cho Jae-hyon

Opinion

Caught in Catch-22

By Cho Jae-hyon City editor Did North Korea really attack the warship Cheonan? To steer clear of this uncomfortable but haunting question, the government and military should leave no stone unturned in their inquiry into the sinking. A team of international investigators, comprised of government and private experts, has blamed the North for the March 26 sinking of the ship that killed 46 sailors. They presented parts of a torpedo as "overwhelming evidence" that a North Korean submarine torpedoed the frigate. A naval warship went down, who else but the North is the dominating sentiment. Still, nearly 30 percent of citizens remain doubtful about the investigation result, according to a spate of recent opinion polls. It's not because they are left-leaning or sympathetic to Pyongyang as often accused by conservatives. Of course, people tend to believe what they want to believe. Even so, many questions surrounding the sinking of the warship are left unaddressed amid tight control of information by the authorities. According to another opinion poll organized by the Korea

Jun 2, 2010By Cho Jae-hyon

Cho Jae-hyon

Read more

Work-related compensation stops at door

Student dead in drinking bout

Millennium Seoul Hilton - best business hotel

48 civil servants face discipline for election campaign

Open investigation launched for another child rapist

Launch of weather satellite halted again

Kindgergarten teachers also subject to evaluation

Red Devils still hungry

Hwagye Temple chief resigns amid dispute over river project

Caught in Catch-22

Top 5 stories