The Korea Times

Concerns over illegal whaling arise on surging meat prices

By Lee Hyo-sik The price of whale meat, a delicacy for Koreans residing along the eastern coastal area, is surging due to a shortage following tighter rules on the distribution and consumption of whale meat. However, skyrocketing cost may tempt fishermen into more active whale hunting, with one whale trading at about 100 million won ($98,000), officials said. According to the Ulsan Coast Guard and environmental civic groups, Friday, it has become more difficult to eat whale meat in the industrial city of Ulsan as the value of whale meat increased dramatically since Jan. 1 when the government introduced a ``distribution certificate’’ for all whale meat sold and consumed in the country. Under the system, whales accidently caught in fishing nets or found dead on the waters are allowed to be consumed and given the permissible certificate by the Coast Guard. Illegally hunted whales cannot be certified and those dealing with the uncertified meat are subject to prosecution. This is expected to encourage more fishermen to engage in illegal poaching of the endangered spec

May 20, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Former vice minister under probe over deposit withdrawal

By Lee Hyo-sik Investigators are looking into how and why Jeong Chang-soo, former vice minister for land, transport and maritime affairs, withdrew nearly 200 million won ($180,000) in deposits from Busan Mutual Savings Banks and Daejon Savings Banks just before their suspension. Jeong, who resigned from his post on May 16, is suspected of having been tipped off in advance that the two troubled savings banks would be ordered to suspend their business, officials from the Supreme Public Prosecutors’ Office said Thursday. But Jeong dismissed the allegation, saying he decided to take out deposits made in his name and those of his family members out of concerns that the banks might go bankrupt. He insisted he had no prior knowledge of the two troubled banks being slapped with business suspension by the financial regulators. A prosecution official said investigators will probe how and why he withdrew deposits before their maturity. ``Jeong already admitted that he took out deposits prior to the business suspension of the two savings banks,’’ the official said.

May 19, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Hotels offer one-more-night promotion

Hotel Hyundai Gyeongju In commemoration of the ``2010-2012 Visit Korea Year,’’ the Hotel Hyundai Gyeongju offers a complimentary one night stay to foreign guests who stay at the hotel for three nights. This exceptional offer will continue through Dec. 31, 2012. The rate for a deluxe room is 150,000 won ($136) from Sunday to Thursday and 190,000won for Friday, Saturday and the day before a holiday. The offer is not valid in conjunction with other promotions or packages such as group, travel agency and special corporate rates. Reservations for the special offer should be made in advance because of room availability. For reservations and further questions please call 82-54-779-7200 or visit our website (http://www.hyundaihotel.com/gyeongju). Hotel Inter-Burgo Daegu In commemoration of the ``2010-2012 Visit Korea Year,’’ the Hotel Inter-Burgo Daegu presents an exceptional offer to long staying guests. Stay three nights and receive a 4th night free from January 1, to Dec 30, 2011. Here’s a chance to make weekends longer and the budget stretch further. Room

May 19, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Another soldier dead in barracks

By Lee Hyo-sik The Army is facing a public relations disaster, following a series of deaths of enlisted soldiers over the past few months, which have largely been blamed on the military’s inadequate medical care of servicemen. The latest incident involves a soldier who was found unconscious and suffering from respiratory distress in bed in the middle of the night. According to the Ministry of National Defense, Thursday, the 20-year-old private first-class, identified only by his surname Kim, was discovered unconscious by fellow soldiers around 4:20 a.m. on April 27 at the military barracks in Hwachon, Gangwon Province. He was a member of an engineering battalion affiliated with the Army’s seventh infantry division. After he was found, they reported the situation to a duty officer, and Kim was transferred to the battalion’s medical room 20 minutes later. An army doctor performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and other emergency steps on the unconscious soldier, but failed to stabilize him. Kim was the transferred to a nearby Army hospital in Chuncheon at aroun

May 19, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Dead draftee’s human rights violated

By Lee Hyo-sik The National Human Rights Commission said Wednesday that the human rights of a draftee, who committed suicide in March after his requests for ear infection treatment were ignored, were violated at the nation’s largest boot camp. The commission recommended that the Minister of National Defense and the head of the Korean Army Training Center in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province, reprimand those responsible for supervising the dead conscript, as well as improve the training center’s medical care of new recruits. The 21-year-old conscript, surnamed Jung, was found hanging in a toilet at the center on March 1. Jung’s family claimed he chose to kill himself after his requests to get treatment for his ear infection were denied several times. ``The family filed a complaint with us that drill instructors and other supervisors did not take proper steps to care for Jung when he wanted to be treated at a civilian hospital for an ear infection. The family also said some officers suspected him of faking the illness and verbally abused him, pushing Jung to kill himself

May 18, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Seoulites commute to work for average 40 minutes

By Lee Hyo-sik Lee Sung-sik, a 36-year-old office worker, leaves home for work at around 7:30 a.m. every morning. He lives in northern Seoul and takes the subway for about 40 minutes to his workplace in southern Seoul. His wife, Kim Hee-young, 33, leaves the house between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., after taking care of household chores. She’s a housewife and usually goes shopping at a nearby department store or hangs out with friends at a coffee shop. Lee and Kim describe the lifestyle of typical Seoulties, according to a study on urban dwellers’ movement patterns, conducted by the Korea Transport Institute. After surveying 437,000 urban households across the country, the institute said Wednesday that Koreans residing in cities spent an average of 36 minutes and 30 seconds to get to work in 2010, 30 seconds shorter than 10 years ago. Seoulties spent 40 minutes and 48 seconds on average to commute, followed by those living in Incheon (40 minutes and 18 seconds) and Busan (34 minutes and 18 seconds). About 33.3 percent of city workers were found to leave home between 7 a.

May 18, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

US, UK to adopt Korea’s romanization system

By Lee Hyo-sik The United States and the United Kingdom have agreed to follow the Korean romanization system. Books, maps and other materials published in the U.S. and Britain currently use names of Korea’s geographical locations under the McCune-Reischauer (MR) system, which spells Korean characters differently from the nation’s official romanization system. But it will likely change soon as the two English-speaking countries are moving to adopt Korea’s own Roman-alphabet spelling system, a local expert on geographical naming said Monday. Chang Dong-hee, ambassador at large for geographical naming at the Northeast Asian History Foundation, said representatives from the U.S. and Britain told him that they agreed to romanize names of locations in Korea under the Asian nation’s spelling method during a meeting of the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) held in Austria from May 2 to 6. He attended the meeting as one of Korea’s representatives. “They told us that they’ve decided to mark Korea’s geographical names in accordance with our romanizati

May 16, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Prosecutors join with HK for Deutsche Bank probe

By Lee Hyo-sik The prosecution said it has agreed with Hong Kong’s financial regulators to launch a joint probe into Deutsche Bank over the German bank’s alleged stock market manipulation that forced the key local index to nosedive in November last year. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said Monday that its investigators held a conference call with officials of Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) on May 13. Participants reached an agreement to jointly investigate Deutsche Bank’s alleged manipulation of stock prices, designed to realize tens of billions won in illicit profits at the expense of other investors, it said. “We launched a number of joint investigations with law enforcement authorities of many countries over the years. But it is the first time for us to cooperate on an active case with overseas financial regulators. We think the joint probe will help us bring justice to those responsible for last year’s stock price manipulation,” a prosecution official said. Prosecutors suspect that employees at the German bank’s overseas bureau

May 16, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Lawyer files petition against law punishing conscientious objectors

By Lee Hyo-sik A lawyer indicted for refusing to serve in the military has filed a petition with a court against the Military Service Law that puts conscientious objectors behind bars, arguing the law violates individuals’ freedom of conscience and religion guaranteed under the Constitution. Baek Jong-keon, 26, who has been practicing law since he graduated from the Judicial Research Training Institute in February, told The Korea Times that he filed a petition with the Seoul Central District Court on May 9. Baek, a Jehovah Witness, asked the court to review the current law dictating rights and obligations of conscripts over whether it infringes upon their Constitutional rights to reject the mandatory military service. ``Refusing to serve in the military is not to pursue individuals’ well-being. It is an act of promoting human dignity, world peace and prosperity of mankind. But the Korean government applying a universal legal standard toward all conscientious objectors clearly restricts individuals’ freedom of conscience and religion,’’ Baek said. He also said it is

May 15, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Concerns increase over online racism

By Lee Hyo-sik Concern is being raised over an increasing number of xenophobic Koreans supporting and organizing online and offline campaigns against migrant workers and immigrant wives. They said they launched “anti-multiculturalism” movement as migrant workers take jobs away from Koreans and commit crimes, and many migrant women, mostly from China and Southeast Asia, come to Korea to earn money under marriage scams. In the past, a few Internet users used to post messages critical of the growing number of foreign residents here on bulletin boards operated by web portals. But recently, several websites and community cafes against migrant workers and foreign wives have been launched, recruiting thousands of members from netizens and organizing activities online to promote their agenda. Furthermore, members of some anti-multicultural groups have begun engaging in offline activities, making protest calls to government agencies and lawmakers to force them to scrap the expansion of benefits for foreign residents. They even protested outside embassies of Southeast Asian

May 13, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik

Lee Hyo-sik

Read more

Concerns over illegal whaling arise on surging meat prices

Former vice minister under probe over deposit withdrawal

Hotels offer one-more-night promotion

Another soldier dead in barracks

Dead draftee’s human rights violated

Seoulites commute to work for average 40 minutes

US, UK to adopt Korea’s romanization system

Prosecutors join with HK for Deutsche Bank probe

Lawyer files petition against law punishing conscientious objectors

Concerns increase over online racism

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