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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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Travel & Food

Croatia new destination for Korean tourists

By Lee Hyo-sik The Republic of Croatia is emerging as a new European destination for Korean and other Asian visitors, offering what France and other so-called ``tourism powerhouses’’ cannot. Croatia has been pursuing sustainable tourism for years not to overdevelop its tourism infrastructure and preserve its nature, said Amelia Tomasevic, CEO of the Zagreb Tourist Board, in an interview with The Korea Times. Zagreb is the capital of Croatia, which became a sovereign state in 1991, following the collapse of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Tomasevic came to Korea to participate in the 2011 Korea International Travel Mart to promote her country among heads of local travel agencies and tourism officials. ``Many Koreans have been to most well-known European destinations. I think now is the time to turn their eyes to Croatia because it is different from other nations. We are rich in culture, history and most of all, home to a well-preserved pristine nature,’’ she said. In 2010, about 20,000 Koreans visited Croatia, Tomasevic said, adding that there will be more

Jun 9, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Lawmakers seek to ban prosecutors from working at ministry

By Lee Hyo-sik Lawmakers are seeking to prevent prosecutors from working at the Ministry of Justice as part of their drive to reform the prosecution, a move that will further intensify the ongoing confrontation with prosecutors. The move came after the National Assembly decided to abolish the Central Investigation Department (CID) at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office last week. The special parliamentary committee on judicial reform said Wednesday it held a meeting to discuss a range of pending issues related to a revision bill governing the prosecutors’ office. They included banning prosecutors from being dispatched to the ministry and establishing a committee consisting of civilians to check the prosecution’s exclusive rights to indict. Legislators are considering disallowing prosecutors to work at the ministry, arguing they have taken up a number of key ministry posts and thus put it under the influence of the prosecution. Instead, civil servants would be assigned to the posts. The measure has been proposed by Rep. Park Young-sun of the main opposition Democratic

Jun 8, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

KTU seeks to remove educational discrimination

By Park Si-soo In January 1986, a middle school student jumped to her death after leaving a memo that read: “Happiness doesn’t come in the order of school grades.” It provoked public outrage over an education system that promoted the winner-takes-all rule through fierce peer-to-peer competition. Twenty five years have passed since the tragic event. Yet, in the eyes of Jang Suk-woong, chairman of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU), the notorious rule is still prevalent. Worse, he said, it’s getting harder to see a dramatic reversal of low achievers climbing up to the higher academic echelon only through their own efforts. Jang was elected in January to lead the KTU, a union representing about 58,000 teachers and workers in public and private schools here. The union marked its 22nd anniversary on May 28. “Peer-on-peer competition at school has intensified since the inception of the current administration. Adding to the woe is that children from rich families are increasingly occupying top rankings at schools, creating a wider gap in academic achi

Jun 8, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Power of high heels

By Mok Ji-soo Years ago, women were not allowed to go outside without permission; they were forced to get married at an early age; and they were considered no valuable than animal stock. Now the situation has improved. Women are actively participating in society as they recognize their rights and empower themselves. Condolezza Rice took office as Secretary of State; Sonia Sotomayor was the first Hispanic women to become a member of the Supreme Court; Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the House. Should women, however, be content with what they have accomplished? Even though contemporary society recognizes women’s right and allows them to be contributing members of the community, frequently, it does not treat them as equally as men. For example, women dominate higher education in general; however, men take up more than 60 percent of leadership positions in educational institutions. Having similar education and skills, women’s average wages hover around 75 percent that of men. Mary Fielder, the assistant dean of academics at the Episcopal High School laments, “Societ

Jun 8, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

14% of teenagers obese

By Lee Hyo-sik Fourteen of every 100 elementary and secondary school students here were found to be obese, consuming more fast food but less fruit and vegetables. Lack of sleep and exercise has also contributed to the worsening of Korean teenagers’ health, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Wednesday. It said 14.25 percent of those looked at were overweight or obese, up from 13.17 percent in 2009 and 11.24 percent in 2008. The ministry surveyed 188,000 elementary, middle- and high-school students across the country in 2010. The body mass index (BMI), a measurement which compares weight and height, defines people as possibly overweight or pre-obese, if their BMI is between 25 and 30, and obese when it is greater than 30. Obesity is a condition in which excess body fat accumulates to the extent that it may have adverse effects on health. In particular, the ratio of students with a BMI over 50 rose to 1.25 percent in 2010, up from 0.56 percent in 2000. About 16.2 percent of male high-school students were found to be either overweight or obese as th

Jun 8, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Tax on medical treatment of pets meets protest

By Lee Hyo-sik A growing number of lawmakers from both ruling and opposition political parties are opposing a government plan to impose 10 percent value added tax (VAT) on medical treatment for pets from July in an apparent bid to win support from an estimated 10 million pet owners. During a parliamentary interpellation session, Tuesday, Rep. Jeong Tae-keun of the governing Grand National Party urged the government to scrap imposing VAT on such treatment. ``Charging 10 percent VAT on medical care of pets is drawing a great deal of opposition from veterinarians and owners. The government views raising pets as equal to either receiving cosmetic surgery or purchasing luxury items. But this view is biased,’’ Jeong said. The new tax, introduced by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance as part of efforts to increase tax revenue, was approved by the Cabinet in December. It is scheduled to go into effect on July 1. The ministry said vets and animal hospitals have so far received tax benefits, adding the new tax was introduced based on the global standard that only medical trea

Jun 7, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Students seek class boycotts for tuition cut

By Lee Hyo-sik Students from major private universities are threatening joint class boycotts, forming alliances with civic groups and holding candlelit rallies in their campaign to cut tuition costs by half. Student leaders at Korea University and three other private schools in Seoul held a joint press conference at Ewha Womans University in western Seoul Tuesday, demanding President Lee Myung-bak deliver on a campaign pledge to halve tuition. Their move, supported by even some lawmakers from the ruling Grand National Party, is emerging as a major political and social issue. They said they will jointly push for a one-day class boycott on June 10 as a show of their determination to have costs of university education dramatically slashed. The four schools involved are Korea, Ewha Womans, Sogang and Sookmyung Women’s universities. Student leaders said they will hold a ballot on either June 8 or 9 for all registered students to decide whether to hold the one-day boycott. If the majority of students approve of the action, they will collectively refuse to attend class

Jun 7, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
  • DP leader vows to cut college tuition by 50%
South Korea

Gyeonggi Province to carry out inspections of US bases on its own

By Lee Hyo-sik The Gyeonggi Provincial Government said Sunday that it will conduct an investigation into areas around 28 U.S. military camps in the province to check whether soil and underground waters have been contaminated with dioxin and other harmful chemicals. The regional government’s announcement comes amid allegations that American soldiers buried hazardous materials inside bases across the country. The U.S. built a total of 51 bases in Gyeonggi Province. Of the 51, 23 have been returned to the Korean government, while the remaining 28 are still occupied and used by U.S. military. The provincial government plans to collect samples of soil and underground waters in areas adjacent to the 28 active U.S. bases. ``To conduct an inspection inside the U.S. camps, we need to consult with the U.S. military in accordance with the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which will take quite a long time. So, we decided to look into areas surrounding U.S. bases, which we can inspect independently,’’ a provincial official said. The Gyeonggi Institute of Health and Environm

Jun 5, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Seoul mayor says college tuition too expensive

By Lee Hyo-sik Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said university tuition these days is too expensive and has increased too steeply, lending support to student associations and liberal civic groups that have been holding street rallies across the country over the past week to counter such hikes. But the mayor expressed a negative view toward the idea of slashing college tuition by half, proposed recently by Rep. Hwang Woo-yea, floor leader of the ruling Grand National Party. Oh posted a message on his blog Saturday that university tuition fees are simply out of control, adding that the costs of college education have increased at a sharp pace each year. “When both my two daughters were enrolled in university, I struggled financially to pay for their education. Paying for children’s university tuition was really difficult even for me. For the majority of households, I believe it must be a really daunting task,” Oh said. He posted such messages following recent meetings with students from several universities in Seoul. But he added, “Nevertheless, is cutting college tuition in h

Jun 5, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Korean Air to put 1st A380 on Incheon-Narita route

By Lee Hyo-sik Korean Air, the nation’s largest airline, will operate its first A380 aircraft, dubbed “hotel in the sky,” on the Incheon-Narita and other short-distance routes in order to enable more passengers to experience what the jumbo jet is all about. The airline said Thursday that its first A380 plane will make its first passenger flight June 17, carrying travelers to Narita International Airport from Incheon International Airport. After returning from Japan, the aircraft is also scheduled to fly to Hong Kong later in the day. Korean Air plans to bring in four more A380 airplanes by the end of the year, operating them on its mid- and long-distance routes linking Incheon and cities in North America and Europe. Airbus will deliver five more jets to Korean Air by 2014. “We are happy to begin offering a great flight experience to our customers soon on the A380 airplanes. We decided to operate the first one on short-distance routes to provide more passengers with the opportunity to experience it first hand,” a Korean Air spokesman said. Korean Air will be the world’s

Jun 2, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
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