my timesThe Korea Times
leehs

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.

Go to Email

Read more

South Korea

2 relatives of presidential hopeful Park found dead

By Lee Hyo-sik Two relatives of former Grand National Party (GNP) Chairwoman Park Geun-hye were found dead in what appears to be a tragic case of a family feud, the police said Wednesday. According to the Gangbuk Police Station, a 50-year-old man named Park was found dead by a nearby resident in a parking lot near Mt. Bukhan in northern Seoul early Tuesday morning. He was a son of the leading presidential hopeful’s cousin. The man bled to death after sustaining several stab wounds to his face and other body parts, police said. About three kilometers from the murder scene, a 52-year-old man, who is also a nephew of the former GNP Chairwoman, was found dead. Police said the man seemed to have committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree. After discovering a possible murder weapon for the first man near the place where the second man was found, police are investigating a possible connection between the two deaths. “We are looking into a scenario that the 52-year-old killed himself after murdering Park. We will conduct an autopsy on the two individuals and questio

Sep 7, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Asiana crash still veiled in mystery

Navy undersea capsule dispatched to locate, retrieve black box By Lee Hyo-sik The government has decided to deploy a Navy undersea exploration vessel to locate and retrieve the black box of an Asiana Airlines cargo plane that crashed in waters off Jeju Island in July. The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said Tuesday that it asked the Navy to mobilize a person transportation capsule (PTC) to assist its ongoing operation to find the black box, which holds the key to understanding how and why the Boeing 747 plunged into the sea. ``We deployed the capsule, which houses three crew members, to the crash site this morning,” said Kim Han-young, director general for the ministry’s aviation policy division. “Two naval vessels are present at the scene to provide logistics and other support for the capsule. We are positive that we can locate the black box this time with the help from the Navy’s state-of-the-art equipment.’’ Kim said the capsule can operate underwater for up to 20 straight days. But given unfavorable weather conditions, it will likely have to co

Sep 6, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

More single Korean men are in their 40s

By Lee Hyo-sik A growing number of Korean men are reaching their 40s without a spouse while facing financial hardship due to the prolonged sluggish job market and other unfavorable economic conditions, according to the latest report by the state-run labor institute. The Korea Labor Institute (KLI) said 14.8 percent of males aged 40 were unmarried in 2010, a steep uptick from 1.4 percent in 1985. Among 45-year-old men, 7.7 percent had yet to tie the knot, compared with 0.2 percent 25 years ago. In particular, the unemployed accounted for 27.4 percent of the unmarried 40-somethings, indicating that those without income are more likely to live alone due to financial instability. ``An increasing number of men and women here have become reluctant to get married, due to finances and other reasons. But we found that men with unstable employment face greater difficulties finding a partner,’’ a KLI researcher said. About 22 percent of Korean men with a high school diploma or lower were found to be single in 2010, while only 4.3 percent of university graduates were unmarried.

Sep 6, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Incheon airport to swap 10% stake with foreign airport

Incheon International Airport Corp. plans to sign a deal to swap 10 percent of its own shares with a foreign airport. In an interview with a local daily, CEO Lee Chae-wook said the company will sell a 10-percent stake in Incheon airport to an unidentified foreign airport in return for the same amount of shares in the latter. Lee said the company will also dispose of up to a 20 percent stake at discounted prices to the public. “In order to move Incheon airport to the next level, we need to introduce a more advanced management technique from the private sector through its privatization,” the CEO said. In early August, the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) Chairman Hong Joon-pyo brought up the idea of selling a 49 percent stake to the public, particularly low-income earners, about 30 percent lower than the market price. The government later said it will consider selling a 15 percent stake as the so-called “citizen shares,” not 49 percent. In March 2010, the GNP initiated a revised bill governing the operation and management of the airport. It called for the sale of u

Sep 5, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Electronic-cigarette ads face restrictions

By Lee Hyo-sik Electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes, popular among smokers attempting to kick the habit, will face the same restrictions in public advertisements as real tobacco, the court ruled Monday. The cigarette business law stipulates a cigarette be defined as a product made from tobacco leaves as a main ingredient for human consumption, according to the Seoul Administrative Court. But cigarette substitutes are also considered a cigarette under the law, it said. “The e-cigarette in question includes tobacco and is manufactured for humans to suck in liquid nicotine. Its sale and advertising should certainly be regulated by the law,” the court said. An importer of e-cigarettes ran a range of advertisements on its website to encourage smokers to buy its products as an alternative to real cigarettes. The company promoted its effectiveness in helping smokers quit through various online and offline events. But in June, the Seoul Metropolitan Government decided to restrict the importer’s commercial activities, saying that e-cigarette advertisements should face

Sep 5, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Prosecution raids top Seoul educator’s house

Kwak No-hyun to be summoned Monday By Lee Hyo-sik Top Seoul educator Kwak No-hyun faces a summons Monday after the prosecution raided his residence Friday to secure evidence showing his involvement in bribery. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said it will question Kwak, superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, about whether he gave 200 million won ($184,000) to Park Myoung-gee, a professor at Seoul National University of Education, in exchange for the latter’s exit from the election to the chief educator post last year. “We have demanded Kwak appear for questioning at 10 a.m. Monday. He notified us that he will do so as requested. We have been questioning Kwak’s wife and close aides, as well as Park’s confidants. Everyone is telling a different story. So, we will question Kwak intensely to get to the bottom of the case,” a prosecution official said. Investigators may arrest the liberal educator after the questioning if Kwak is found to have committed any violations of the nation’s election laws, the official said. The move came ho

Sep 2, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Korean Air faces indictment over practice of hiring foreign pilots

By Lee Hyo-sik The labor ministry has asked the prosecution to indict Korean Air, the nation’s largest flagship carrier, claiming its hiring practice of foreign pilots was “illegal.” The Seoul Southern District Labor Office said Friday that it had thoroughly reviewed a complaint filed by unionized workers of Korean Air. It added that it would refer the case to the prosecution. “We concluded that the airline’s method of employing non-Korean pilots violates the domestic law concerning the rights of dispatched workers. We asked the prosecution to indict Korean Air for hiring foreign aviators in an unlawful manner,” the labor office said. On Dec. 31, the Korean Air Flight Crew Union complained to the office about the company’s hiring practice of foreign pilots. The union accused Korean Air of illegally employing nearly 400 non-Korean pilots as non-regular workers via job placement agencies overseas. This violates the “Dispatched Workers’ Protection Law.” It said a pilot is not one of the 32 occupations that are allowed to be outsourced under the law. Those who violate the

Sep 2, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
Travel & Food

Korean low-cost carriers going global

By Lee Hyo-sik The country’s five budget carriers ― Jeju Air, Jin Air, Air Busan, Eastar Jet and T’way Air ― used to offer only domestic routes. Now they have flights linking Korea with destinations in Japan, China and Southeast Asian countries. Over the past few years, they have been providing outbound Korean and inbound foreign travelers with more choices in airlines. Low-cost carriers have been able to woo substantial numbers of customers from Korean Air and Asiana Airlines by offering lower airfare and differentiated services on international routes. This year local budget carriers have made a huge leap forward as a record number of Koreans have headed overseas. More foreign visitors from China, Japan and Southeast Asian countries have also helped them grow at an explosive pace. According to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, the number of Korean and non-Korean travelers using five low-cost carriers on a combined 13 international routes reached 276,000 during the January to February period this year, accounting for 4 percent of the total cr

Aug 25, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Train ticket scalpers face 10-million won fine

By Lee Hyo-sik Individuals who hoard train tickets in advance and sell them at higher prices later on- and offline will face fines of up to 10 million won, beginning Thursday. Korail, the state-run railroad operator, said that a revised Train Business Act went into effect, banning the resale of train tickets at higher prices. The company said it previously had no means to punish scalpers who make large purchases of train tickets through various discount programs to sell them later at inflated prices on the Internet. “Beginning Thursday, those who illegally distribute train tickets for profit will be financially penalized. We will actively crack down on the illicit trade of train tickets. Passengers should also refrain from buying tickets from scalpers,’’ a Korail official said.

Aug 25, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

5 arrested for selling US military items

A 54-year-old man, surnamed Yoon, and four other individuals have been booked for illegally selling disposed weaponry and other U.S. military items here, police said Thursday. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said since 2000, Yoon and three other individuals have been operating shops in Itaewon and Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, selling guided ground to air missiles, gas masks, night-vision goggles and other military equipment. Police suspect the items, which were supposed to be disposed of, were smuggled out of U.S. army bases here. Some of the goods are also currently used by the Korean military. A 35-year-old man, surnamed Kim, was found to have sold over 300 pairs of bogus field jackets, illegally imported from China, over the Internet. He set up an online shopping mall in 2009, exclusively dealing in military goods.

Aug 25, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
previous page
134135136137138
next page

Top 5 stories

Korea Times
About Us
Introduction
History
Contact Us
Products & Services
Subscribe
E-paper
RSS Service
Content Sales
Site Map
Policy
Code of Ethics
Ombudsman
Privacy Policy
Youth Protection Policy
Terms of Service
Copyright Policy
Family Site
Hankookilbo
Dongwha Group
FacebookXYoutubeInstagram
CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.