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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

KoreaToday Foreign visitors become global family in homestay

By Kim Rahn A number of Koreans have experienced homestay during trips or study abroad. They say they were satisfied with the specific lodging style, adding they had a glimpse of daily life of people in the country. Good impressions make some of them provide homestay services to foreign visitors in Korea to give such an experience back to foreigners. Homestay in Korea has been offered mostly through acquaintances, but state and local organizations have recently presented programs as part of a tourism promotion. The Seoul Metropolitan Government, along with the Seoul Tourism Organization, has offered the Seoul Global Family program since 2009. Some 450 families have been certified by the city government after inspections and four-days of education on related service and guidelines. The Korea Tourism Organization is also recruiting host hopefuls for a homestay service named Korea Stay. “The service is gaining good feedback not only because of the cheap rate — 40,000 won per night including breakfast — but also due to the unique chance to experience ordina

Feb 23, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

KoreaToday State-of-the-art airports backbone of Korean economy

By Lee Hyo-sik Korea’s state-of-the-art airport facilities have been the backbone of its trade-oriented economy over the years, making it easier for exporters and importers to move goods and raw materials across the border in a more cost-effective and efficient manner. Incheon International Airport, Gimpo International Airport and other airports across the country have encouraged more Koreans to head overseas for educational, leisure and other purposes, while attracting a growing number of inbound foreign tourists, which has led to the globalization of Korea. They have also provided a much-needed boost to the nation’s two flagship carriers, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, helping them emerge as internationally-competitive firms. Korea’s two airport operators, Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) and Korea Airport Corp. (KAC), have begun exporting their managerial know-how and high-tech aviation equipment to developing countries, creating a new source of income. Incheon International Airport The nation’s main gateway to the outside world, which opened in Marc

Feb 23, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
Society

New college entrance exam

By Yoon Sung-ah Lee Ju-ho, minister of education, science and technology, announced the finalized plan for the 2014 national college entrance exam last month. It has been more than three months since word first came out, with many revolutionary alterations being brought up. However, after three months of discussion, the finalized plan does not seem to contain many of the proposals that were made earlier. There must be various reasons for this, but as a high school student who will be affected by this plan, disappointment is hard to hide. Regardless of whatever debate educational experts or National Assembly might go through, the main party involved in this issue is the students. Thus, the plan needs to be carefully thought out, considering what is best for them. The revised plan does not seem to reflect this very well, though. With the fever for education higher than ever, students are under enormous pressure to enter college. The reformation of the plan was expected to relieve this pressure somewhat by giving the students two chances instead of risking everything

Feb 23, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
Society

New GRE to be launched in August

Exam friendlier, more efficient for both test takers, faculty By Han Sang-hee For students pursuing an undergraduate degree, the door of opportunities opens to lead in various directions: work, travel or continued academic endeavors by enrolling in a graduate school. If the last one is the case, before choosing a school with the best-looking campus and impressive faculty, first things first: an impressive GRE score... after taking the revised one, of course. The Graduate Record Exam, commonly known as the GRE, was first created in 1949 by the Education Testing Service (ETS) and was introduced to Korea in 1955. Some 600,000 take the test every year in 180 countries while many graduate schools around the world recognize the scores as an important requirement in the admission process. Only 10 Korean graduate schools currently follow suit, including those at Yonsei and Seoul National universities. Considering the impact the revision may create for institutes and test takers, David Payne, vice president of ETS, paid a visit to Korea for the first time to make sure everythin

Feb 23, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Police suspected of covering up spy case on Indonesia

By Lee Hyo-sik Police are apparently in a dilemma regarding their investigation into who was responsible for breaking into the hotel room of an Indonesian presidential envoy last week, with mounting evidence pointing to the country’s spy agency as the perpetrator of the bungled theft. If the National Intelligence Service (NIS) is confirmed to be involved in the crime, it could deal a serious blow to Korea’s global image while straining diplomatic ties with the Southeast Asian nation. Suspicions abound The Namdaemun Police Station has backtracked on its statement concerning the investigation since it began, raising suspicions that it is attempting to cover up NIS involvement in the case. Police initially said they had no contact with the agency regarding the incident. But they later said an NIS agent visited the station to discuss the probe shortly after the Indonesian delegation reported the break-in. Early Thursday morning, about 20 hours after the Indonesian envoy reported the case to the police, a man who identified himself as an NIS agent, visited the Namdaemun

Feb 22, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Man stabs coworker citing sighting of devil

By Lee Hyo-sik A 30-year-old man who works at a discount store in the Mapo district of Sangam-dong has been arrested for stabbing a 35-year-old coworker with a sharp object multiple times, the police said Monday. The Mapo Police Station said that the man, identified only by his surname Yoon, stabbed the colleague named Lee in the chest and the face several times. At the time of the incident, Lee was smoking a cigarette in an employee lounge at around 6:30 Sunday morning. Other employees stopped Yoon from further harming Lee, saving the latter’s life. Lee was taken to hospital for treatment. Yoon told police officers that he saw a devil in Lee, saying that he could not help but kill him. Yoon is found to have been receiving psychotherapy for the past eight years. Police sought an arrest warrant on charges of attempted murder.

Feb 21, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Lotte Hotel in hot seat for poor security

By Lee Hyo-sik Lotte Hotel is drawing criticism for its poor security, following a break-in last week into one of its rooms where Indonesian envoys were staying. The hotel was found to have neither deployed security guards to the floor where the 50-member delegation from the Southeast Asian country was staying, nor taken additional security measures, leaving their personal property vulnerable to theft. Last Wednesday, the delegation reported to police that three intruders — two men and one woman — were caught using a USB memory stick to copy computer files from a notebook computer owned by an Indonesian delegate, before they fled from the hotel in downtown Seoul. The envoys, representing Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, arrived Tuesday for a three-day visit to discuss bilateral cooperation with their South Korean counterparts. The delegation met with President Lee Myung-bak Wednesday for talks on expanding economic and military cooperation before returning home the next day. When the suspects forced their way into the hotel room and stole c

Feb 21, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Justice Minister Lee suspected of influencing Hanwha investigation

By Lee Hyo-sik Justice Minister Lee Kwi-nam has been embroiled in an escalating controversy over his alleged influence-peddling in the prosecution’s recent investigation into Hanwha Group’s embezzlement scandal. Lee has been suspected of having pressured investigators not to seek an arrest warrant for a Hanwha executive, compromising the independence of prosecutors, while having openly said he would replace the head of the investigation unit. Minister Lee also allegedly asked investigators in Ulsan last year not to indict members of the governing Grand National Party (GNP) who were facing charges of breaking election laws in the run-up to the June 2 local elections. In response to such allegations, the Justice Ministry flatly denied them, insisting no senior ministry officials made any calls to the Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office to affect the Hanwha investigation. “No one at the Justice Ministry gave such orders to the district prosecutors’ office. The allegations are entirely groundless,” it said in a statement. According to prosecution sources Friday, a s

Feb 18, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Ex-arms procurement chief questioned

By Lee Hyo-sik Former arms procurement chief Chang Soo-man appeared before the prosecution Friday to face questioning over allegations that he received bribes from Daewoo Engineering and Construction (Daewoo E&C) in return for granting business favors. Chang, one in a group of close aides to President Lee Myung-bak, is also under investigation over allegations that he got tens of millions of won from jailed businessman Yu Sang-bong, who was arrested last December for illegally brokering a number of contracts to operate cafeterias at construction sites. The former commissioner of the Defense Acquisition Program Agency (DAPA) was summoned to the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office, Friday morning. He did not make any remarks to the waiting reporters. A prosecution official said investigators are questioning Chang about whether he received gift certificates worth about 10 million won issued by a department store in September from Daewoo E&C CEO Seo Jong-uk in return for helping the firm win a military construction deal. Last April, the builder won a 47.8 billion

Feb 18, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
Travel & Food

Foreign tourism bodies gear up to attract Koreans

By Lee Hyo-sik As much as Korea wants to draw foreign tourists to generate income and promote its international image, foreign countries are also making greater efforts to attract Koreans to spend money on their goods and services. Marketing arms of foreign tourism boards operating here have launched an aggressive campaign to encourage more Koreans to go to their respective countries this year as more individuals are expected to head overseas for leisure in tandem with rising income and other improvements in economic conditions. Some have arranged a meeting with the press to promote their tourist destinations, while others have launched a publicity campaign to directly appeal to a greater crowd. Among others, the Singapore Tourism Board is making a head start by holding a large-scale promotional event with the press on Feb. 16 to publicize one of its major tourist attractions, Sentosa Island. Sentosa Island, Singapore It is Asia’s leading leisure destination and Singapore’s premier island resort getaway, located within 15 minutes of the central business and sho

Feb 17, 2011By Lee Hyo-sik
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