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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

Money makes men obese while rich women stay thin

By Lee Hyo-sik A recent survey has found an interesting correlation between financial success and weight, yet with contrasting results for men and women. According to a medical study by the department of family medicine at Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, overweight men make more money than their slimmer counterparts, while more overweight Korean women earn smaller paychecks. “After analyzing the obesity levels of a group of men and women, we found that income levels of the men increased as their weight increased. But it was the opposite for women,” said Prof. Oh Sang-woo who led the study. The study was based on the body mass index (BMI), a measurement which compares weight and height. It defines people as possibly overweight or pre-obese, if their BMI is between 25 and 30, and obese when it is greater than 30. The study found that the monthly earnings of males go up the more they weigh. Men with a BMI below 18.5 made an average of 2.25 million won ($2,000) per month, while those with a BMI of between 25 and 29.9 earned a monthly average of 3.24 million won. Over

Jul 5, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Mongolian Airlines under fire

By Lee Hyo-sik Mongolian Airlines has come under criticism for launching charter flights without approval from the Korean government, duping air travelers who purchased unauthorized tickets. To fly chartered flights between Korea and other countries, airlines are obliged to receive prior approval from aviation authorities here. According to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs Tuesday, Mongolia’s flagship carrier has been selling tickets on three weekly chartered flights since June without a green light from the authorities. It operates six regular flights per week between Incheon and Ulan Bator, with Korean Air providing another six weekly flights. Passengers with bogus tickets have been able to board a plane only when seats on regular flights become vacant. Some travelers are even forced to fly to Japan and other countries to take a flight operated by other airlines affiliated with Mongolian Airlines. The airline operates a Boeing 737-800 aircraft on the Incheon-Ulan Bator route, which carries up to 170 passengers. Given this, more than

Jul 5, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Hundreds evacuate Techno-Mart after jolt

By Lee Hyo-sik Hundreds of merchants and shoppers evacuated Techno-Mart, a 39-story building in northeastern Seoul, Tuesday, after it shuddered for 10 minutes. Building managers and rescue officials were unable to immediately identify what caused the shopping complex featuring electronics outlets and discount stores, to shake. The Gwangjin Fire Station said it received a call that an office building of Techno-Mart, called the “Prime Center,” shook for 10 minutes at around 10:10 a.m. According to officials from the Korea Meteorological Administration, the jolt at the building was not an earthquake as it detected no seismic activity in the area. About 500 merchants and customers exited the building. Roughly 3,000 people were inside the building at the time. The fire station dispatched 23 rescue workers and seven fire trucks to help people exit the building and prevent others from entering. There has been no report of human casualties and property damage, it said. One merchant working on the 20th floor of the Prime Center told rescuers that she felt dizzy, adding

Jul 5, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Benefit for defoliant victims widened

By Park Si-soo A law that cites death dates of soldiers as the sole factor in determining whether to compensate their families was ruled unconstitutional, the country’s top court said Sunday. The 7-to-2 decision by the Constitutional Court immediately abolished the law that enabled families of soldiers who died before Dec. 21, 2007, of defoliant-related disease to receive survivor’s benefits from the government. “Making a decision as to whether to give the benefit by date of death is unreasonable,” said President Lee Kang-kook of the court said in a ruling statement. “The law apparently infringes on the petitioners’ right to freedom and disturbs their pursuit of happiness.” Three distraught family members filed a petition with the court in 2007, claiming the discriminative compensation by death date had infringed upon their right to freedom and other constitutional rights. The government enacted the law in 2007 to support the education and employment of family members of soldiers who died due to exposure to toxic defoliant during the Vietnam War and defense operat

Jul 3, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Korea to set tone for Asias green growth as WCC host

By Yun Suh-young Korea is expected to provide a fresh catalyst for other Asian countries to boost green growth as it will host an international conference on the environment next year, a senior official from an international environmental watchdog said. Her remark comes amid Korea’s aggressive push to pursue a green agenda. The government unveiled its “low carbon, green growth” vision in 2008 and opened the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) in Seoul last year. “If Korea succeeds in the shift to a green economy, it would be much more meaningful to countries like India and China,” said Aban Marker Kabraji, the Asia Regional Director for International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The IUCN is the largest environmental organization in the world acting much like the U.N., except that its members discuss environmental issues from all sectors rather than a wider range of issues like the U.N. does. The IUCN will open the World Conservation Congress (WCC), the largest global conference discussing environmental issues, on Jeju Island next year. Asian members wi

Jul 3, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Heavy rains pound central region

By Kim Tae-jong The central and northern parts of the country Sunday saw heavy rain due to the influence of a seasonal front with more than 20 millimeters of rain falling per hour in some areas amid thunder and lightning. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) issued heavy rain alerts in Seoul, Incheon, and northern parts of Gyeonggi Province, with warnings in southern parts of Chungcheong Province and northern parts of Gangwon Province. Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area are expected to receive about 120 millimeters of rain until early Monday morning, according to the KMA. “This is a typical torrential downpour with a huge amount of rain within a short time. We advise people to keep an eye on the weather news as the precipitation level varies from region to region,” a KMA official said. Several roads were flooded and blocked, including Jamsu Bridge in Seoul, causing extreme traffic congestion, and passengers were also banned from walking along the Cheonggye Stream. The weather agency forecasts it will stop raining Monday morning in central areas

Jul 3, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Ex-tax official indicted for bribery

By Kim Tae-jong The prosecution has indicted a former ranking tax official on charges of bribery. Lee Hee-wan, former head of the investigative unit at the National Tax Service, allegedly received 300 million won ($281,100) from KimYoung Co., an academy specializing in college transfers, for tax favors in 2006, according to the prosecution. “He retired from the tax agency in June, 2006. But even after that, he used his power to peddle influence in the tax agency’s probe into the allegedly corrupt company after receiving the bribe,” a prosecutor said. The tax agency launched a special investigation into KimYoung Institute in 2006 after various allegations including tax evasion, embezzlement and ill-kept accounting records. Kim Young-taek, chairman of the company, allegedly gave Lee 300 million, asking him to push his former colleagues to complete the investigation with results favorable to the company and remove its name from the press release, the prosecutor said, citing the investigation’s conclusions. Lee is also suspected of receiving 3 billion won from SK G

Jul 3, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Cambodia to assist corruption probe

By Lee Hyo-sik Prosecutor General Kim Joon-gyu has asked his Cambodian counterpart to help Korean prosecutors investigate a foiled real estate development project financed by a corruption-ridden savings bank in the Southeast Asian nation, the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said Sunday. Kim has also sought cooperation from the Attorney General of Cambodia’s Supreme Court Chhuon Chantha, who was here to attend the 4th World Summit of Prosecutors General, Attorneys General and Chief Prosecutors’ Office, on the prosecution’s efforts to track down assets hidden by Korean businessmen and politicians there, estimated to be tens of billions of won. “During a bilateral meeting held Saturday, Kim asked his Cambodian counterpart to support our probe into why Busan Mutual Savings Banks invested huge sums of money in a large scale property development project in Cambodia and how the plan went sour. Kim also asked Cambodian law enforcement authorities to help trace and retrieve assets stashed by Korean nationals there,” an official at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said. According to th

Jul 3, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
Travel & Food

Hotels offer one-more-night promotion

This is the seventh in a series of introductions featuring hotels that offer a ``one-more-night promotion,’’ under which guests who stay for three or four nights are given a one-night complementary stay. The series will introduce three hotels each at a time biweekly. A total of 36 hotels across the country will be presented over a six-month period. This is part of a nationwide campaign to promote the ``2010-2012 Visit Korea Years.’’ — ED. Courtyard by Marriott Seoul Times Square In commemoration of the ``2010-2012 Visit Korea Years,’’ Courtyard by Marriott Seoul Times Square offers a very special benefit for long-staying guests who visit Korea. Stay three nights at the Courtyard and get a fourth night free. The offer is valid through Dec. 31 2011. Guests must book with the code ``D50” to benefit from the promotion. It is not valid in conjunction with other promotions or packages such as group, travel agencies and special corporate rates. For reservations or more information, please call at 82-2-2638-3000. Novotel Ambassador Busan To commemorate the ``2010-2012 Vi

Jun 30, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Blockading Seoul Plaza is unconstitutional

By Lee Hyo-sik A police closure of Seoul Plaza with riot police buses to prevent a rally from being organized is unconstitutional as it infringes upon the people’s rights to free movement and use of public spaces, the Constitutional Court said Thursday. The court said that the police cannot indiscriminately deny the public access to Seoul Plaza even though there is a possibility that illegal gatherings or violent protests may be organized at the popular assembly site. ``Police should have taken only specific and lesser measures to prevent an illicit protest from taking place at the time. Denying the entire public access to the plaza goes against the constitution because it overly restricts citizens’ freedom of movement and use of public resources,’’ the court said. Of the nine judges, seven found the police action unconstitutional, while the remaining two said it did not breach the Constitution because police limited the public access to the plaza only for a short period of time. Following the police blockade of Seoul Plaza from May 23 through June 4, 2009 following

Jun 30, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
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