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Lee Hyo-sik

Korea Times Finance Reporter

Lee Hyo-sik is Finance Desk editor at The Korea Times. He manages finance-related stories on macroeconomics, banks, stocks, bonds, crypto etc. He is passionate about covering what's happening in Korea's financial industry and explaining it to both Korean and non-Korean readers. You can reach him at leehs@koreatimes.co.kr. Your insights and feedbacks are always appreciated.

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South Korea

Hopes increasing for deal at Hanjin Heavy

By Lee Hyo-sik The labor union and management of Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction (HHIC) have resumed negotiations to resolve a dispute over the company’s massive layoff plan, raising hopes they may reach an agreement. HHIC Chairman Cho Nam-ho held a closed-door meeting with Park Sang-cheol, chairman of the Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), at a Seoul hotel for an hour late Tuesday night. The umbrella labor organization has been talking with management on behalf of the firm’s union. The two had initially planned to meet at the company headquarters in Yongsan but decided to change the venue to avoid press coverage. They agreed to make all-out efforts to end the ongoing labor-management standoff as quickly as possible. ``Cho and Park agreed to work together to normalize the company’s operations as soon as possible. Based on their agreements, we will start negotiations with the firm’s working-level officials on how to resolve the dispute,’’ a KCTU official said. In a letter to company employees, Cho said Tuesday that he decided to accept the National Assem

Oct 12, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
Society

Ministry to activate programs for foreign students

By Na Jeong-ju Local colleges have adopted ambitious globalization programs while creating more all-English classes and attracting talented students from foreign countries. The administration has backed such moves under a long-term plan to nurture world-class universities and meet the growing needs of students and parents for globalized education. But it is now considering a policy shift. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has urged colleges to introduce more quality-oriented school programs, rather than just increasing the number of lectures given in English and accepting more foreign students. One of such efforts is to make it compulsory for universities to get government certification first to admit new foreign students. The system, which will go into effect this year, reflects concerns that some unpopular private colleges are giving admissions to any foreign applicants in a bid to increase enrollments and boost profits. “It’s time to strengthen monitoring of overall school policies regarding foreign students. The certification system will help enhanc

Oct 12, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Overseas Korean language tests plagued with cheating

By Lee Hyo-sik A growing number of people taking the Korean language proficiency exam in Southeast Asia have been caught cheating, forcing test organizers to take stronger supervisory measures to keep test sites free of irregularities. Increasing cases of cheating have made it more difficult for those in the region to come and work in Korea as the government stops holding the language test altogether. The Ministry of Employment and Labor said Tuesday that a total of 18,151 Indonesians took the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) in Jakarta and five other cities on June 25 and 26. Of them, 114 were caught cheating during the exam. It said 53 examinees were found to have taken the test in the place of someone else, while 49 were expelled from test sites for not surrendering their cell phones. The ministry suspected that more exam takers might have been involved in a systematic cheating scam using mobile phones, suspending the announcement of names of those who passed the exam on July 14. It asked the Indonesian government to investigate the case and check for any illi

Oct 11, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Festivals to celebrate rebirth of four rivers

By Lee Hyo-sik The end of the year will also mark the completion of the four river restoration project. To celebrate the revival of the four river systems — the Han, Nakdong, Geum and Yeongsan — municipal administrations across the country have planned the “2011 Riverside Autumn Feast,” comprising five festivals throughout October. Five municipalities through which the rivers flow will attract tens of thousands of tourists seeking to enjoy diverse waterside leisure activities and experience unique and rich cultural heritage prominent in the areas. The municipalities are Yeoju in Gyeonggi Province, Andong in North Gyeongsang Province, Buyeo in South Chungcheong Province, Naju in South Jeolla Province and Busan. “Through the restoration work, the four rivers have been reborn with full vitality. To celebrate their revival and promote them as new tourist spots, we have been and will be organizing festivals in cooperation with local administrations this month,” said an official at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. He said the government will make more ef

Oct 11, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

New bicycle roads to become green transport infrastructure

By Lee Hyo-sik Enthusiastic, avid cyclists as well as beginning bicyclers can celebrate the new paths the four-river restoration project has created. The government said refurbishing the four main river systems — the Han, Nakdong, Geum and Yeongsan — will not only secure water resources and improve water quality, but also build “green” transport infrastructures by encouraging more people to enjoy bike riding as a leisure activity. “Compared with the United States, Japan and other advanced countries, fewer people here use bicycles when going to work or traveling. Koreans rely more on automobiles as a means of transportation. Consequently there are not many places where people can go cycling,” an official at the Office of National River Restoration. He said the river improvement scheme has resulted in an extensive network of bicycle paths across the country and prompted cycling to become more popular among Koreans. “Green growth is an important global issue and the current administration has been introducing a range of measures to reduce greenhouse gas emi

Oct 11, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Tourists, locals enjoy new trekking courses

By Lee Hyo-sik Besides an extensive network of bicycle paths, the four-river restoration work has created multiple trails for trekking across the country, providing leisure seekers with a new opportunity to experience unique landscapes and ecological systems in each municipality. There are several popular riverside trekking courses. For example, a path created along the Dong River in Gangwon Province gives travelers a chance to see firsthand the unspoiled nature and eco-system in the upper Han River system. Several trekking trails along the Nakdong River near Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, allow trekkers to feel how and why Confucianism flourished in the area. “More people walk for exercise and health benefits. It has also become an essential part of traveling. Rivers, the cradle of human civilization, have a special history and culture. The best way to learn about them is to walk along them and see what they are like,” said an official at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. The official said the riverside trekking paths are growing in popularity, addi

Oct 11, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Four rivers emerging as new tourist attractions

By Lee Hyo-sik The state-funded restoration work has turned the country’s four major rivers into a new tourist attraction in which family and friends engage in a wide range of leisure activities. Bicycle riders now can ride along the river banks that extend hundreds of kilometers across the country, while water-sports lovers enjoy diverse fun activities. Municipal administrations through which the four main river systems — the Han, Nakdong, Geum and Yeongsan — flow have and will hold a number of festivals to draw visitors, providing a much-needed boost to the sluggish regional economies. However, the refurbishment project had a rough start in early 2010 as environment groups and opposition parties strongly opposed it. They argued that the 22.2-trillion-won ($20 billion) scheme is designed to provide undue favors to engineering and construction companies struggling with sluggish business after the global financial crisis in late 2008. The opponents also claimed that the project would destroy the environment and pave the way for the government to later build a

Oct 11, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Korea to help poor nations fight poverty through tourism

By Lee Hyo-sik GYEONGJU — South Korea will help developing countries make the best use of their tourism assets and improve related infrastructure to help them create jobs and generate new sources of income, the top tourism official here said Monday. At a press conference held in this ancient city on the sidelines of the 19th Session of the UN World Tourism Organization (WTO) General Assembly, Choe Kwang-shik, minister of culture, sports and tourism, said Korea has and will lend support to poor nations to help them fight poverty through generating larger tourism revenue. The biannual international gathering of tourism officials from all over the world began last Saturday and will last through Friday under the theme of “Fostering Growth and the Achievement of the MDGs through Tourism, Culture and Sports.” It drew over 800 participants, including 42 tourism ministers, from 100 countries. MDGs stand for Millennium Development Goals, which were initiated by the United Nations in 2000 to reduce poverty and improve the standards of living for people in the underdeveloped

Oct 10, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Childcare allowed for detained women

By Lee Hyo-sik Police said Sunday that detained female offenders can take care of their babies at detention centers if the infant is 18 months old or younger as part of efforts to improve the human rights of criminal suspects under police custody at detention centers. Additionally, pregnant suspects whose identities and addresses are confirmed will neither be handcuffed nor bound with ropes when being transported. Previously, only senior citizens aged over 65, the disabled and the sick were not shackled while being transported. The National Police Agency announced these and other changes, which went into effect beginning October. Police will provide them with childcare facilities and essential items. If offenders are incapable of caring for their babies due to illnesses or physical injuries or if the infants are sick or sustain injuries, childcare will not be allowed on the premises. Police have also decided to expand the list of items banned in holding cells. Shoe strings, eye glasses and unidentified medical goods have been added. In the past, belts, neckties, l

Oct 9, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Children of US soldiers caught for violence, theft

By Lee Hyo-sik Five children of U.S. military servicemen here have been apprehended for assaulting a Korean man, and stealing cash as well as other valuables from him in early September, police said Sunday. The Yongsan Police Station in central Seoul said that the adolescents, aged between 15 and 20, followed a 27-year-old Korean man and beat him up in Itaewon on Sept. 4. They robbed him of cash, a cellular phone and other valuables worth 200,000 won ($180). Police said a resident in the area reported the crime. After viewing surveillance cameras monitoring nearby streets and questioning eye-witnesses, police officers arrested the five offenders. “Three of them were found to be minors. In accordance with the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed between the United States and Korea, we handed them over to U.S. military police after questioning them about the alleged crime,” an officer said. Under the accord, the Korean law enforcement authorities are required to hand over U.S. soldiers and their family members committing crimes here to U.S. military authorities.

Oct 9, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
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