The Korea Times

Dominos Pizza removes 30-minute delivery promise

By Cho Jae-hyon Domino’s Pizza Korea said it will scrap the 30-minute delivery promise amid growing public criticism that the policy has put delivery drivers’ lives at risks. “We’ve done our best to prioritize safety while carrying out the 30-minute delivery rule. But we’ve decided to end it amid growing concerns,” it said in a statement. It is the first time in two decades that the pizza chain in Korea has decided to revoke its promise to customers that all pizzas will be delivered in less than 30 minutes after ordering. Under the 30-minute rule, delivery men have had to drive their motorbikes fast and recklessly to avoid facing disadvantages in wages, risking their lives. A group of civic groups have demanded that the company must put an end to the rule, threatening to launch a campaign to boycott Domino’s pizza if it would not listen to them. The system caught the public’s attention after a 24-year-old Pizza Hut employee was in a head-on collision with a taxi in Doksan-dong, southwestern Seoul on Dec. 12. On Feb. 13, a 19-year-old delivery man was also killed

Feb 21, 2011By Cho Jae-hyon

South Korea

Man booked for assaulting woman in subway

A 54-year-old man was booked for assaulting a 23-year-old woman during an argument over how he should sit in a subway car, police said Sunday. At around 11:50 pm on Friday, in a train on subway line number 5, the man, identified only as Park, was dozing with his legs spread wide. The woman, surnamed Woo, who was standing in front of him, asked him to sit so his legs were together as her friend sitting beside him felt uncomfortable, according to the police. Infuriated by her protest, the man slapped the woman and pushed her several times. “I was assaulted for saying ‘Please, sit with your legs together’ as my friend felt uncomfortable,” the woman was quoted as saying by a policeman. As her initial request was ignored, the woman repeated her request and pushed his leg so the man got up from his seat and slapped her in the face, police said. “I did so (slapped her) because she irritated me while I was dozing,” the man was quoted as saying.

Feb 20, 2011By Cho Jae-hyon

Opinion

Bullet mystery

By Cho Jae-hyon The daring operation to rescue 21 crew members of the freighter Samho Jewelry from Somali pirates on Jan. 21 seemed flawless. Right after Korean naval commandos rescued the cargo ship and its crewmen, President Lee Myung-bak came forward and proudly said he endorsed the unprecedented operation dubbed “Dawn in the Gulf of Aden.” Most media outlets lauded the victorious maneuver and gave a thumbs-up to President Lee for his bold decision to give the go-ahead to the mission, comparing it to Operation Entebbe. The meticulously-prepared operation would have been perfect had Captain Seok Hae-kyun not been wounded. But he sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Military authorities initially said one of the captured pirates fired multiple rounds at him from an AK-47 rifle, citing testimonies from crewmembers. Some Korean netizens were immediately suspicious of the announcement. As in the past, these so-called netizen investigators raised questions and analyzed every bit of information and data disclosed by the authorities. They raised the possibility that he might

Feb 9, 2011By Cho Jae-hyon

South Korea

8 percent of female students attempted suicide

Eight percent of female teenagers have attempted to kill themselves, a survey showed Thursday. Nearly 30 percent of female teenagers have at least once thought of committing suicide, according to a survey of 69,754 middle and high school students by the Ministry of Gender, Equality and Family. The percentage for male students was lower — 5.5 percent answered they have tried to kill themselves and 16.4 percent said they have considered suicide over the last year. Girls were more prone to suicide and other harmful actions due to a broken family, financial problems and violence at school, as 18.3 percent of female students complained of this, compared with 14.7 percent of boys. Nearly eight in 100 teenage girls said they have been sexually assaulted over the past year.

Jan 27, 2011By Cho Jae-hyon

South Korea

Teens booked for eating pork ribs in closed restaurant

A high school student and two of his friends have been booked without physical detention for sneaking into a closed restaurant and grilling and eating pork ribs, police said Monday. According to the Nambu Police Station in Ulsan, South Gyeongsang Province, the 16-year-old high schooler, identified only as Cho, and his friends allegedly consumed pork ribs worth 100,000 won ($90) in the evening in the restaurant which was closed for the day on Dec. 1. They are suspected of having stolen a hair dryer and 100,000 won from a nearby hair salon just 30 minutes after the consumption of the pork ribs. “They are also suspected of having stolen navigation devices from vehicles in parking lots and sold them on the Internet. They said they committed the crimes out of hunger and lack of allowances,” a police officer said.

Jan 24, 2011By Cho Jae-hyon

South Korea

Cybercrime investigation center beefed up

By Cho Jae-hyon The prosecution has decided to bolster its cybercrime investigation center to better cope with hacking and other illegalities on the Internet. It will assign an additional 25 investigators to its cybercrime squad which is currently comprised of eight officers, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said Sunday. The cybercrime investigation center tracks down hackers, electronic commerce fraud, the leak of private information, and other crimes that are committed on the Internet. “We expect this enforcement of investigations will provide a great leverage for the cybercrime investigation center to crack down on all kinds of crimes on the Internet,” a prosecution official said. Its move comes as the number of cybercrimes jumped to 164,536 cases in 2009 from 136,819 in 2008.

Jan 23, 2011By Cho Jae-hyon

South Korea

Soldier aiding quarantine work killed

By Cho Jae-hyun A soldier who had been mobilized to help in quarantine work in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province was hit by a vehicle driven by a dozing driver and killed Sunday. The 23-year-old soldier, identified as Kwon, a private who joined the army three months ago, was hit by a car being driven by a sergeant first class, 27, while he was standing at a guard post. Kwon was rushed to hospital but declared dead there. He was controlling traffic along with other quarantine officials at the post.

Jan 9, 2011By Cho Jae-hyon

South Korea

State health insurer posts 1.3 tril. won loss

The National Health Insurance Corp. said Monday it posted a 1.3 trillion won ($1.1 billion) loss last year, as the growth in expenditure outpaced that of premium income. The shortfall marked a 406-fold increase from 3.2 billion won the previous year. It recorded 33.6 trillion won in total premium income, up 7.6 percent or 2.3 trillion won from a year earlier, while its annual expenditures jumped 11.7 percent or 3.5 trillion won to 34.9 trillion won. It froze the increase of premiums in 2009 following the global financial crisis before raising premiums by 4.9 percent in 2010. “We expect to record about 500 billion won in losses this year. Therefore we are going to adopt retrenchment policies,” said an official from the insurance agency. The rise in expenditures reflects increases in insurance coverage of diseases and policyholders’ visits to hospitals, it said.

Jan 3, 2011By Cho Jae-hyon

South Korea

Rat bread fabricator faces arrest

The scandalous “rat bread” case, in which a bakery outlet owner alleged the body of a rat was found in a loaf of bread of a rival franchise, ended up being a hoax cooked up by the accuser himself. Police said Friday they have sought an arrest warrant for the 35-year-old owner, surnamed Kim, taking into consideration the severity of the case that has caused a huge public stir for the last few days. Police said Kim confessed that he put the rat’s body into the loaf of bread he baked himself on the morning of Dec. 23, took photos of it and uploaded them onto the Internet, using someone else’s ID. He will be charged with violation of information protection and other related laws. Kim surrendered himself to the police at 8:55 p.m., Thursday and confessed to the fabrication of the “rat bread.” "I put a rat’s body into the bread to deliver a light blow to the rival store, but the case grew far bigger than I expected," he told reporters, while being taken away by police officers. “I’m solely responsible for this case and I hope that this won’t damage others.” Kim, the owner of

Dec 31, 2010By Cho Jae-hyon

South Korea

New FMD case reported at pig farm in Gangwon

A new foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak has been reported at a pig farm in Gangwon Province, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said Thursday. The ministry issued an order to cull and bury about 13,000 animals at the farm in Hongcheon, about 100 kilometers east of Seoul, and livestock within a 500-meter radius of the farm have also been ordered slaughtered. This is the first time that a pig farm has tested positive for the deadly disease in the eastern province. With the latest outbreak, the number of cattle and pig farms infected has risen to 12. In the meantime, President Lee Myung-bak called on the military to be more involved in assisting government efforts to contain the rapid spread of the disease across the nation. The government has ordered the culling of over 549,000 and the vaccination of 227,000 animals at 8,570 farms across the country.

Dec 30, 2010By Cho Jae-hyon

Cho Jae-hyon

Read more

Dominos Pizza removes 30-minute delivery promise

Man booked for assaulting woman in subway

Bullet mystery

8 percent of female students attempted suicide

Teens booked for eating pork ribs in closed restaurant

Cybercrime investigation center beefed up

Soldier aiding quarantine work killed

State health insurer posts 1.3 tril. won loss

Rat bread fabricator faces arrest

New FMD case reported at pig farm in Gangwon

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