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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

KAIST’s official documents now bilingual

By Lee Hyo-sik The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) will release all of its official documents and public notices in both Korean and English from this year’s second semester so non-Korean students and faculty members can more easily adapt and get the most out of campus life. The measure also aims to make the school a more globalized academic institution, KAIST officials said. Those who draw up official papers only in Korean will rate poorly in the performance evaluations, the school said. “Currently, we produce documents only in Korean. But beginning September, all academic departments and administrative offices will be required to add an English version when drawing up official papers, public announcements and postings on a website,” said Kim Yoon-soo, senior management at KAIST public relations office. Not only official documents, but also campus bulletin board messages and banners will be required to be bilingual. Those who send email to a group of people on campus should also add an English version of the message along with the Korean on

Aug 5, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Will plan to privatize Incheon airport take off?

Proposal to sell stake to citizens draws protest from opposition party, civic groups By Lee Hyo-sik The proposal to sell a stake of Incheon International Airport to low-income earners at discounted prices is reigniting disputes over privatizing Korea’s main gateway. The government is favorable to the idea initiated by the ruling Grand National Party (GNP). It hopes the plan will win public support for the denationalization of the airport and win approval from the National Assembly. Citizen shares Opposition parties and civic groups called a political tactic by the GNP to deceive the public and garner more votes in next year’s elections. They say the issuance of the so-called “citizen shares” will not improve the finances of low-income families, stressing that the airport should remain 100-percent state owned. On Monday, GNP Chairman Hong Joon-pyo said the party will push ahead with a plan to sell a 49-percent stake to the public about 30 percent lower than market price. “The public and particularly low-income earners should financially benefit from the sale o

Aug 4, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
Travel & Food

Water parks offer splashing fun

By Lee Hyo-sik The unusually wet weather this year has made it more challenging for summer vacationers to plan that perfect relaxing getaway. It has been a real bummer particularly for those who waited all winter to put on swimsuits and enjoy the fun rides at water parks. As the country anticipates improved weather conditions for what’s left of the summer, water parks across the nation hope to attract larger numbers of vacationers to come and experience some of the new rides. By adding state-of-the-art rides and upgrading the quality of amenities, Ocean World at Daemyung Vivaldi Park, Caribbean Bay at Samsung Everland, Seorak Waterpia and Bluecanyon at Pheonix Park are eager to draw visitors. Ocean World The water recreation center, located inside Daemyung Vivaldi Park in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, has been changing the industry paradigm by introducing a range of revolutionary rides that water park lovers here have never experienced before. Ocean World unveiled the “Mega Slide Zone,” featuring four slides, when it opened its doors to the public April 30. The zo

Aug 4, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
Society

More textbooks needed for foreigners learning Korean abroad

By Yun Suh-young More textbooks customized to foreigners’ needs are essential for the promotion of Korean language education abroad, educators say. Foreign Korean language teachers talked about the difficulties of teaching Korean abroad at The 10th International Conference on Education for Koreans Abroad which took place in Ulsan from July 25 to 30. Coming from over 40 nations, 103 teachers participated in the six-day event. The largest group of teachers came from China with 31 from Korean-Chinese schools with 10 from Japan, 8 from the U.S., 4 from Canada and others from countries such as Russia, Belarus, Norway, Romania and Bulgaria. Under the theme “Korea’s modern society and tradition, Korean education,” the Educational Foundation for Koreans Abroad (KFKA) hosted the conference. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, and the National Institute for International Education provided sponsorship for the forum, designed to boost the quality and professionalism of Korean language teachers abroad. One of the biggest problems the participants at the con

Aug 3, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

S. Korea blocks access to N. Korean tour site

By Lee Hyo-sik The South Korean government has been blocking a website of a Beijing-based tourism agency specializing in tours to North Korea since January for allegedly posting pro-Pyongyang material. The Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) said Tuesday that the websites of Koryo Tours (www.koryogroup.com and www.koryotours.com) were blocked at the request of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), the country’s spy agency. ``We decided to prevent South Korean servers from accessing Koryo Tours’ sites on Jan. 26, two days after NIS and other law enforcement authorities made requests for such,” said a KCSC official, who declined to be named. “We concluded that the content of the sites violated the National Security Act and other relevant laws banning propagandist information about North Korea.’’ Under the laws, South Koreans cannot view pro-North Korea information on-and off-line. Those who distribute and promote pro-North material are prosecuted. For its part, the NIS said it is up to the commission on whether to block certain websites from being acces

Aug 2, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

More rains expected in central areas

By Lee Hyo-sik Seoul and its surrounding areas will receive up to 30 millimeters of rain between Tuesday night and Thursday morning, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said Tuesday. Up to 30 millimeters of precipitation accompanied by lightning and thunder will swamp Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces through Thursday morning. The southern region will be mostly cloudy with occasional showers. Continuing on to the weekend more downpours are forecast as typhoon Muifa, which is expected to make landfall in Shanghai late Saturday, will likely bring more rain to the entire peninsula. Jeju Island will likely feel the effects of the northward-moving typhoon from Saturday, receiving substantial rainfalls. ``Muifa is forecast to reach the Chinese mainland this weekend if it continues to move on its current course. Even if the typhoon does not land on the Korean Peninsula, it will bring lots of rain across the country through next Monday,’’ a KMA official said. The official raised the possibility that the typhoon could change its course and pass thro

Aug 2, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

27,800 join class action against Apple

By Lee Hyo-sik About 27,800 iPhone users here have joined a class-action lawsuit against Apple over the phone’s indiscriminate collecting of users’ location information, a law firm organizing the suit said Monday. That number is far fewer than the firm expected as the odds of winning a legal battle against the world’s largest information technology company have increasingly become slim. Miraelaw, based in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, said that 27,802 iPhone users registered with the law firm to join a suit against Apple, paying 16,900 won ($16) each in litigation fees for which they will each receive 1 million won if they win the case. The amount to be claimed in court would be more than 27 billion won. The law firm stands to receive 20 percent of the compensation for winning the suit. This means for every 1 million won awarded to a claimant, 200,000 won will go to the firm. Even if the case is lost, the firm still receives 9,000 won from each participant as a fee for arguing the case. Applications were received through the website (www.sueapple.co.kr) fro

Aug 1, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Caution issued against speculation on Asiana crash

By Lee Hyo-sik A flurry of questions surround the crash of the Asiana Airlines’ cargo plane off Jeju Island last Thursday not only concerning the exact cause of the accident but more suspiciously about the multiple insurance policies one of the two missing pilots obtained not long before the flight. The pilot’s purchase of the insurance policies sparks speculation of a possible insurance scam. Accusations Asiana and the bereaved family flatly deny. Company officials and family members say it makes no sense for the pilot who earned 200 million won ($190,000) a year to engage in an insurance scam by staking his life and destroying the airplane full of high-value cargo. The 52-year-old captain Choi Sang-ki, his body not yet recovered, had purchased seven life and non-life insurance policies between June 28 and July 18. If Choi is declared dead due to an accident, his insurance beneficiaries will collect up to nearly 3 billion won. Insurers reported the findings to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) a day after the crash and are now looking into how the pilot purchas

Aug 1, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Residents mull class action over landslides

By Lee Hyo-sik Residents of a heavily-hit neighborhood of southern Seoul plan to file a class action suit against the district office for failing to properly warn them of the possible landslides on Mt. Umyeon last Wednesday, which killed 18 and injured a dozen others. The landslides also destroyed homes, buildings, vehicles and other property in the areas surrounding the mountain. Arguing that Seocho District Office neglected its duty by ignoring a landslide warning issued by the Korea Forest Service years ago, residents insisted the district office did not take the necessary precautionary measures to deal with landslides and other natural disasters. The office also paid no attention to the clean-up efforts. A 55-year-old resident living in the Art Hill apartment complex in Bangbae-dong, where three residents lost their lives due to the landslides, told Yonhap that apartment residents will form an ad-hoc committee soon in order to file a lawsuit against the district office. “Seocho office and Seoul city keep blaming the unexpected torrential rain for the fatal landsli

Jul 31, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Int’l marriages account for 10.5% of newlyweds in 2010

By Lee Hyo-sik International marriages between Koreans and foreign nationals accounted for 10.5 percent of all newlyweds in the country last year, slightly down from 10.8 percent in 2009, Statistics Korea said Sunday. About 34,200 couples comprising of a Korean and a non-Korean tied the knot here in 2010, up 900 from 33,300 a year earlier. But last year’s ratio fell as marriages between Koreans grew at a faster rate. Of foreign women who wed Korean men, Chinese and Vietnamese brides accounted for the largest numbers at 36.6 percent each, followed by Filipinos at 7.3 percent. Chinese men also accounted for the largest share marrying Korean women at 28.8 percent. Japanese and Americans came in second and third with 26.3 percent and 19 percent, respectively. The number of international marriages between Koreans and non-Koreans peaked at 42,356 in 2005, accounting for 13.5 percent of all newly married couples here. But since 2006, the number has consistently fallen. Statistics Korea said 15.3 percent of new marriages registered last year in South Jeolla Province were inter

Jul 31, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
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