The Korea Times

Glass ceiling smashers to discuss women’s role

Forum will shed light on global female leaders’ challenge and achievements By Lee Hyo-sik The phrase, “the 21st century is the era for women,” has already become a cliche. Women have increased their social and economic status, and a growing number of women are taking top management posts at various companies both at home and abroad. However, there still exists discrimination against women. South Korea remains at the bottom in the gender equality index, claiming 104th position among 134 countries surveyed by the World Economic Forum. Many women are doing their utmost to break through the glass ceiling. And lots of them have already smashed it. These global women leaders are coming to Seoul. This conference will provide a valuable opportunity to listen to their stories of challenges and successes. Condoleezza Rice, former US secretary of state From January 2005 to 2009, Condoleezza Rice served as the secretary of state of the United States. Before serving as America’s chief diplomat, she served as assistant to the president for national security affairs from Januar

Oct 27, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Korean teenagers growing obese

By Lee Hyo-sik A growing number of elementary and secondary school students are becoming obese as they eat more ramyeon and other fast foods, but less fruits and vegetables. Lack of sleep and exercise have also contributed to worsening Korean teenagers’ health. Unveiling these findings, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said parents and schools should do more to improve the physical condition of Korea’s future generation. After examining a total of 194,817 elementary, middle- and high-school students across the country, the ministry said Wednesday that the height of a male sixth grader averaged 150.5 centimeters in 2009, up 0.3 centimeters from a year earlier, with that of the female sixth grader remaining unchanged over the one-year period. But the average heights of the male 12th graders (173.8 centimeters) and female 12th graders (161.1 centimeters) were 0.1 centimeters shorter than those in 2008. The average male sixth grader weighed 45.9 kilograms last year, up 400 grams from 2008, with that of the female 12th graders gaining 900 grams to 56 kilog

Oct 27, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Foreign airlines safety records available

By Lee Hyo-sik Many Korean travelers these days are tempted to fly with foreign air carriers to Southeast Asia and other overseas destinations, attracted by cheaper ticket prices. But they may hesitate due to safety considerations. To ease concerns among Korean passengers, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs has been making public the safety records of not only budget carriers, but also large foreign airline firms operating routes between Incheon and other airports in their home countries. The ministry said Wednesday that a website (aviation.mltm.go.kr) has recently been updated with the latest safety-related information on 62 non-Korean air carriers, including flight delay and cancelation rates as well as accident records. The website was launched in April. It offers a list of foreign airline companies involved in fatal accidents here since October 2007, as well as the delay and cancelation rates from October 2009 through September this year. The site also provides the reports of safety assessments by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the Inte

Oct 27, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

45% of Seoulites choose leisure over money

By Lee Hyo-sik Nearly half of Seoul residents would prefer to give up income to engage in leisure activities, reflecting Koreans’ growing desire for a higher quality of life. According to statistics released by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, Monday, 45 percent of citizens living in Seoul prefer recreation over money, with only 18.8 percent choosing to work for money rather than rest. Seoulites aged over 10 spent an average of four hours and 28 minutes on weekdays, and six hours and 22 minutes on weekends to take part in a wide range of leisure activities in 2009, down 17 minutes and one minute, respectively, from five years ago. On weekdays, the average man living in Seoul spent four hours and 26 minutes a day for fun activities on a par with the average woman’s four hours and 29 minutes. But men exercised and engaged in other leisure activities for six hours and 54 minutes on weekends, an hour and two minutes longer than that of women, according to the statistics. Seoul city attributed this gap to the fact that Korean women are usually the primary caretaker o

Oct 25, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

Travel & Food

Korea Tourism Organization to host investment meeting

By Lee Hyo-sik The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) will hold an international conference here later this month to promote tourism as a promising growth engine in the Asia Pacific region and attract investments from businesses. The fifth Asia Pacific Tourism Investment Conference (APTIC) 2010 will be held at the Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul on Oct. 26-27, drawing over 3,000 participants from both home and abroad, including prospective investors, government officials, industry experts and the general public. Under the theme of “Invitation of a New Growth Engine,” the meeting will deal with a wide range of issues covering tourism development and development in Asia, offering information and advice on how to attract investments and implement projects efficiently. “In its fifth year running, the programs of the conference will be expanded to cover a wider range of topics than in past years in efforts to outline the new methods of financing in the tourism industry; manifesting successful green tourism, the prospect of convergence and integration tourism, the anti-aging market

Oct 21, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Taekwang chief, mother face summons

Investigators raid house of Taekwang Industrial director By Lee Hyo-sik The prosecution will soon summon Taekwang Group Chairman Lee Ho-jin, 48, and his 82-year-old mother Lee Seon-ae, executive managing director of Taekwang Industrial, for questioning over their alleged roles in the creation and management of slush funds. They will also likely be questioned on the alleged illegal transfer of wealth and group control to Chairman Lee’s children, and a number of Taekwang’s corrupt business deals. The Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office Thursday raided the house of managing director Lee, suspected to be at the center of the group’s management of the slush funds, in central Seoul, and secured accounting books and other finance-related documents. Last week, investigators raided Chairman Lee’s home and office, as well as the headquarters of Heungkuk Life Insurance, Goryo Savings Bank and other group affiliates, securing computer disks and confidential material. On Oct. 18, they also searched the Seoul Regional Tax Office and confiscated tax-related documents concer

Oct 21, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Location tracking App stirs dispute

By Lee Hyo-sik For people who do not want their boyfriends and girlfriends to know their whereabouts, this is one more reason not to buy Apple’s iPhone. iPhone users now can download an application called “You trust me, right?” onto their device at the App store, which allows them to track the real-time location of fellow iPhone users through the phone’s global positioning system (GPS). The application is stirring up a controversy, with some iPhone holders expressing concerns over the infringement upon privacy. They also say it could make it easier for couples to break up and cause more trouble between husbands and wives. “I think it will be like wearing an electronic tracking anklet used for sex criminals. It’s an apparent infringement upon privacy,” said Kim Nam-soo, an office worker. But others say that the application will allow iPhone users to better protect loved ones by knowing their whereabouts all the time as Korea sees the number of violent crimes increase at an explosive pace, particularly against women. Once downloaded, iPhone users can track the loca

Oct 21, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Cyber terror goes wild

Female teacher who had sex with minor under attack By Lee Hyo-sik Some netizens are waging a “cyber terror” campaign against a 35-year-old female middle-school teacher found to have had an inappropriate relationship with a pupil by spreading photos of her and other private information in cyberspace. Experts are referring to it as a “witch hunt,” which could destroy the life of the victim, as well as those of her family members, and are urging Internet users to refrain from “reckless” cyber bashing. They also warn that those spreading personal information of others could face criminal charges. Since media outlets broke the news Monday that the female teacher, who is married and has three children, allegedly had sex with a 15-year-old student in her car in an underground parking lot last week, some netizens began using information from her personal homepage to disparage her. They copied her photos, the name of her workplace, family background and other information, and uploaded them onto Internet community sites, such as DC Inside (www.dcinside.com) and Netizen Crime

Oct 20, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Half-Korean kids abandoned in Vietnam

By Lee Hyo-sik A growing number of children born between Korean fathers and Vietnamese mothers have been neglected or even abandoned in the Southeast Asian nation, with more Vietnamese wives going back to their home country with their kids after divorce. Many divorced immigrant wives have come back to Korea to work and earn money, while leaving their children in the hands of parents and relatives. These children in Vietnam were found to have been inadequately taken care of in the absence of both father and mother. According to data submitted by the Ministry of Justice to Rep. Lee Jung-hyun of the governing Grand National Party (GNP), Wednesday, a total of 63 Vietnamese women, who had previously married Korean men and went back to their home country with their children after divorce, have come back to Korea alone, leaving their kids behind in Vietnam. But the ministry and other government agencies have been able to persuade only 31 of them to bring their children back to Korea. “The majority of Vietnamese and other Asian women are divorcing their Korean husbands, due m

Oct 20, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Apple sued by teen for poor after-sales service

By Lee Hyo-sik Apple has been sued for the first time here by a Korean iPhone user over its “poor” after-sales services. As hundreds of Korean consumers have already filed complaints about Apple’s subpar after-sales policies, similar lawsuits could follow. According to the Seoul Central District Court Tuesday, a 13-year-old girl, identified only by her surname Lee, filed a lawsuit against Apple Korea, demanding the company refund her 290,400 won, the amount she paid to have her broken 3G iPhone repaired. Lee said in a petition that she took her iPhone to Apple’s service center early this month as some functions were not operating properly. At first, Lee was told that her phone would be fixed for free. But several days later, the center told her that she would have to pay 290,400 won if she wanted her phone fixed, claiming that a tiny strip of label indicating whether the phone was in contact with water or not had discolored. “My phone was never in water. It is absurd for Apple to claim the problem is my fault. When my phone is disassembled during the legal proceeding

Oct 19, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

Lee Hyo-sik

Read more

Glass ceiling smashers to discuss women’s role

Korean teenagers growing obese

Foreign airlines safety records available

45% of Seoulites choose leisure over money

Korea Tourism Organization to host investment meeting

Taekwang chief, mother face summons

Location tracking App stirs dispute

Cyber terror goes wild

Half-Korean kids abandoned in Vietnam

Apple sued by teen for poor after-sales service

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