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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

Public concern flares over safety of KTX-Sancheon

Korail president under fire for remarks downplaying recent accidents By Lee Hyo-sik A series of breakdowns and a derailment involving Korea’s latest bullet train, the KTX-Sancheon, in recent months have placed Korail, the state-run railroad operator, and its CEO Huh Joon-young under growing public scrutiny. In the aftermath of the mishaps, KTX passengers have become uneasy about the safety of the nation’s bullet train system, with many opting to take a bus or other means of transportation. Additionally, frequent breakdowns of the KTX-Sancheon, a model which was developed and manufactured by Hyundai Rotem using domestic technology, is feared to negatively affect Korea’s efforts to win multi-billion dollar projects to construct a bullet-train system in Brazil, the United States and other countries. But a bigger problem is that CEO Huh and senior Korail officials are not taking seriously the series of KTX glitches, which experts say could lead to fatal accidents in the future. Since the new KTX model was put into operation in March last year, there have been at least

Feb 28, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Korean draftees under colonial rule denied medical subsidies

By Lee Hyo-sik A law disallowing state medical subsidies to Koreans, conscripted by the Japanese military during Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula (1910-45), but serving within Korea, is constitutional the highest court said Sunday. The ruling came after a man who was conscripted in June 1945 by the Japanese army and served in Busan filed a constitutional appeal after he was denied state medical funding. He argued that the law was unconstitutional on the grounds it violated the principle of equality. The law, designed to assist those who were forced to serve in the Japanese military during World War II, entitles only draftees who were forcibly sent to Japan, China and other foreign countries to fight for the Japanese army against the allied forces to state assistance. It was enacted in June 2008. “The state can decide the scale of the support extended to those forcibly drafted by Japan during colonial rule at its discretion, given its financial soundness and other factors. It is not necessarily discriminatory for the government to place priority on those who

Feb 27, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Jeju records highest rate of physical assault

By Lee Hyo-sik Travelers to Jeju Island are advised to take extra caution while touring the nation’s southern resort island due to the highest rate of physical assaults and traffic accidents in Korea recorded there. According to a data released by the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, Jeju’s physical assault rate in proportion to the population came to 460.1 in 2009, the highest in the country. The rate is calculated by dividing the number of crimes times 100,000 with the population. Gangneung, Gangwon Province, showed the second highest rate of physical attacks at 403.3, followed by 390.6 in Guri, Gyeonggi Province. A total of 1,888 cases of violence were reported in Korea’s most popular travel destination in 2009. Jeju was also found to have had the country’s highest rate of traffic accidents in proportion to the population. Its ratio came to 788.8, followed by Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, at 710 and Wonju, Gangwon Province, at 660.6. A total of 3,237 car crashes occurred in Jeju in 2009. But an official at the Jeju Provincial Police Agency said hundreds of thous

Feb 27, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Vietnamese workers rights violated during clampdown

By Lee Hyo-sik Police officers violated the human rights of Vietnamese workers caught for gambling by physically abusing them during a raid and interrogation late last year, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said Thursday. The rights agency suggested the officers be reprimanded for the inappropriate behavior. But it did not hold officers responsible for the death of two Vietnamese workers who drowned in a nearby river while attempting to flee from the police. The rights commission’s decision came after Gimhae Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) and Gyeongnam Migrant Community Service Center in South Gyeongsang Province filed the complaints against the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency. “During a clampdown, the police beat the Vietnamese workers indiscriminately in the head and the arms, causing severe physical injuries. The officers clearly violated the workers’ rights to physical safety,” NHRC said in a statement. The commission also said the officers kicked the workers, and punched their heads and faces during the interrogation. “The laborers

Feb 24, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Air Busan offers Jeju tickets at 9,900 won

By Lee Hyo-sik A total of 9,900 travelers seeking to fly to Jeju Island from either Gimpo or Busan next month will be able to purchase a one-way ticket for only 9,900 won ($8.80) from Air Busan, a low-cost carrier owned by Asiana Airlines, beginning Friday. Buyers will only be able to secure discounted seats at the airline’s website (www.airbusan.com) and once purchased, tickets are not refundable. Including airport user fees and fuel surcharges, the final ticket price adds up to 23,800 won, the budget carrier said. Air Busan’s regular one-way ticket for Gimpo-Jeju and Busan-Jeju routes are priced at 62,400 won and 50,700 won, respectively. Besides the 9,900 won tickets, the company will sell all other seats for its domestic routes at a 60-percent discount in March. “To celebrate the upcoming launch of the Gimpo-Jeju route next month, we have decided to offer special deals to air passengers flying with us. But only the first 9,900 customers will be able to purchase the heavily discounted tickets at our website, starting from 11 a.m. Friday,” an Air Busan spokeswoman s

Feb 24, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
Travel & Food

Singapore Biennale beckons art-loving visitors

By Lee Hyo-sik From March 13 through May 15, the Singapore Biennale 2011, organized by the Singapore Art Museum, will kick off throughout the city state, drawing tens of thousands art-loving visitors from all over the world. The Biennale was established in 2006 as Singapore’s premier platform for international dialogue in contemporary art, placing the nation’s artists within a global context and fostering productive collaborations with the international arts community. One of many key pieces of the Southeast Asia’s leading Biennale will be the ``Merlion Hotel,’’ which will be created by Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi. The artist will transform the Merlion Park, Singapore’s beloved iconic landmark, into a temporary, luxurious hotel suite. It will be open in the day for public viewing and booked in the evening for overnight stays. The hotel, fully furnished with a double-bed, bathroom, amenities, personalized room check-in, a dedicated Merlion Hotel butler as well as offer breakfast the next morning at the Fullerton Hotel Singapore, will take reservations from Feb. 28. All gue

Feb 24, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

KT Linkus union raided over political fund donation

By Lee Hyo-sik Prosecutors raided the union office of KT Linkus, a public phone service provider, Wednesday, on suspicions of it providing illegal political funds to lawmakers. The Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office sent investigators to the union office in Yongsan, confiscating computer hard disks and financial documents, including records of banking transactions. Union leaders are suspected of giving illicit funds to politicians without obtaining consent from members. Prosecutors launched a probe into the case after receiving complaints from the National Election Commission that the union leadership provided money to several lawmakers in the name of union members who were not aware of the political contribution. The contributions are reportedly worth hundreds of millions of won. ``It is too early to say what we are looking into. The ongoing investigation is not about the creation of a slush fund or illegal lobbying toward politicians. It has nothing to do with KT either,’’ a prosecution official said. Investigators plan to summon union officials for questioning

Feb 23, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

7 in 10 salaried workers want to leave Korea

By Lee Hyo-sik More than seven out of every 10 salaried workers want to leave Korea to settle down in Australia or other foreign countries, citing the nation’s “poor social safety net,” a survey showed Wednesday. In a survey of 932 employees nationwide, conducted by online recruiter JobKorea, 76.1 percent said they would like to emigrate if they could. Of them, 62.5 percent cited Korea’s poor social welfare system as the single biggest reason making them opt for resettlement overseas. Respondents were allowed to give multiple answers. Nearly 50 percent cited the widening gap between the rich and the poor, followed by the tight labor market at 47.8 percent. Other reasons that make them long for other countries are excessive private education costs, and geopolitical risks associated with North Korea. Among those who chose to remain in Korea, 51.1 percent said they would like to continue to live here because they would face difficulties in adapting to a new environment abroad. About 45 percent said they are reluctant to emigrate because they would miss friends and family

Feb 23, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

After-school English education to be improved

By Lee Hyo-sik Elementary and secondary school students will soon be able to take part in more after-school English programs and attend more practical math classes as part of government efforts to slash private education costs. In 2010 alone, parents here spent a total of 21 trillion won to send their children to private learning institutes. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology wants to cut the amount by as much as 1 trillion won this year. Among other measures, the ministry plans to develop English TV programs and textbooks in the first half of the year, which will be tailored to each grade, through the state-run public education broadcaster EBS. From the latter half of the year, all schools across the country will teach the developed programs and use the materials for English education. Elementary and secondary schools will also be encouraged to set up an English study club so students can study the language educational content provided by Arirang TV. At the same time, the ministry will place more emphasis on practical mathematics education in schoo

Feb 23, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Woman gets 20 years for dismembering husbands body

By Lee Hyo-sik A 40-year-old woman was sentenced to 20 years in prison Wednesday for suffocating her husband and dismembering his body. The Changwon District Court ruled that the woman, identified only by her surname Lee, should be severely punished for an unethical and horrendous crime even though she suffered from habitual beatings by the husband. “Lee later confessed the crime to a friend. She also has a daughter to raise. Given all these considerations, we decided to sentence her to only 20-years in prison,” it said in the ruling. In August last year, Lee put a plastic bag over the head of her 59-year-old husband, identified only by his surname Choi, and suffocated him. She then dismembered his body, put the pieces into a travel suitcase and abandoned it in a storage unit owned by her parents.

Feb 23, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
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