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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

EBS to overhaul lectures after controversy over anti-military remarks

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff reporter A lecturer with the state-funded Educational Broadcasting System (EBS) made derogatory remarks against the military and those who have served in the nation’s armed forces, creating a controversy on the airwaves. The broadcaster said Monday it will overhaul its online lectures to prevent a recurrence or similar incidents. With her remarks spreading like wildfire in cyberspace, the female teacher posted a written apology on the EBS website. In a bid to lay the escalating row to the rest, EBS decided to strip her of her teaching post and issued an official apology. EBS said Sunday it has deleted the controversial lecture clip, given by the 38-year old Chang Hee-min, from its website. Chang, a teacher at one of Seoul’s prestigious private high schools, Hana Academy Seoul, began teaching Korean language at the broadcaster in February 2007. In the clip posted on March 11, she said, “Women give birth to men and raise them painstakingly. But when Korean men grow up, they go to the military and learn how to kill (people). If they had not learned

Jul 26, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Car accidents most frequent 6-8 pm on Friday, Saturday

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter Pedestrians and drivers are advised to take extra caution between 6 and 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday because they are at a higher risk of being involved in traffic accidents, the Road Traffic Authority (ROTA) said Monday. It said there were 977,535 traffic accidents last year across the country, killing 5,838 people and injuring 1.5 million. The number of accidents rose 2.5 percent from 2008, with traffic injuries increasing 3.1 percent. But those who were killed in car crashes inched down 0.5 percent over the one-year period. The number of drivers or pedestrians treated for injuries for more than three weeks totaled 188,049, with 1.03 million being treated for between 5 and 21 days. About 280,000 received medical treatment for less than five days. Vehicle-to-vehicle collisions accounted for 78.3 percent of the all traffic accidents. Cars hitting pedestrians took up 14 percent, with 4 percent involving only one vehicle. Drivers and pedestrians are more likely involved in mishaps on Friday and Saturday, when traffic is the heaviest,

Jul 19, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Seoul City in bad shape financially

Outstanding debt jumps 75%; per citizen debt 310,000 won By Lee Hyo-sik Staff reporter The financial soundness of the Seoul Metropolitan Government has been deteriorating over the past few years as it outspends its revenue, and borrows more money to finance a number of development schemes, including the “Design Seoul” and “Han River Renaissance” projects. It has also been expanding a range of social welfare-related programs in a bid to boost popularity, mostly with senior citizens despite financial constraints. Civic groups blame Mayor Oh Se-hoon for Seoul’s worsening fiscal state over the past few years, arguing that the lawyer-turned politician is obsessed with raising his standing with the public. They urge Oh to discontinue what they call an array of “pork barrel” projects, and slash labor and other operating expenses to bolster its financial health. The city said Monday that its outstanding debt jumped 75 percent to 3.24 trillion won as of the end of 2009 from 1.85 trillion won a year earlier, with its per-capita liability jumping to 310,000 won from the previous

Jul 19, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Jin Air turns profitable for 1st time in 2 years

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff reporter Jin Air, a low cost carrier of Korean Air, posted an operating profit in the first half of the year, its first half-yearly gain since its establishment two years ago, lifted by surging domestic and international air travelers. In a press conference marking the second anniversary of the budget carrier, Jin Air CEO Kim Jae-kun said Thursday that the airline earned 50 billion won in revenue from January through June, and recorded an operating profit of 2.1 billion won. It was the first time for Jin Air to operate in the black since it was founded by its parent Korean Air in July 2008. ``We had an operating loss of 5.8 billion won in the first half of 2009 due to the global economic downturn, the worldwide flu epidemic and other unfavorable business conditions. But we were able to turn around sharply this year through our rigorous efforts to cut costs, boost labor productivity and improve customer service, on top of soaring air travel demand,'' Kim said. He added that the 2.1 billion-won operating profit in the first half was the largest among the

Jul 15, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Korea to develop marine, air-based leisure industries

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff reporter Increasingly wealthy and well-being conscious Koreans are demanding more recreational options and this trend toward maritime and air-based leisure industries can be a future growth engine for South Korea. The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said Thursday that it will expand necessary leisure-related infrastructure and develop diverse tour programs, allowing vacationers to enjoy an array of recreational activities both in the water and in the air. Under the plan, six ports specifically designed for cruise ships will be built in Incheon, Busan, Yeosu, and other coastal cities by 2020. This will encourage international vessels to anchor in the local harbors, attracting foreign tourists to come and spend money here. The total investment is estimated at 313 billion won for the project. The government plans to nurture the local cruise ship industry to meet the keener interest of Koreans in this new leisure area. The ministry also plans to expand air-based recreational activities to meet the increasing demand for more advanced

Jul 15, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Seongnam not in financial shambles

Moratorium declaration pits city against central government By Lee Hyo-sik Staff reporter The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said Wednesday that Seongnam City should have not declared a debt moratorium on 520 billion won ($430 million) it borrowed from the central government to finance a residential development project, saying the city is financially able to meet all of its outstanding debts. But the largest city in Gyeonggi Province continues to insist that it has no other choice but to declare bankruptcy because it cannot spend its entire budget on the Pangyo residential development, adding it will issue municipal bonds worth 100 billion won each year for the next three years and save tens of billions of won in its general budget to pay off the debt. The ministry said after consulting with officials from Gyeonggi Provincial Government, Seongnam City and Land & Housing (LH) Corp, it found that the municipal city only has to pay LH Corp. 35 billion won this year for infrastructure development in Pangyo. It said the city has about 70 billion won in a sp

Jul 14, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Traffic fine defaulters face severe sanctions

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff reporter Drivers defaulting on overdue parking or speeding tickets will not be able to sit behind the wheel from as early as December this year, with the government moving to crack down on traffic rule violators and increase state revenue. Those who do not undergo the state-mandated vehicle inspection and default on penalties will also be banned from driving. The Ministry of Justice said Wednesday that it will submit a revised bill concerning the punishment for traffic rule violations to the National Assembly for approval during its plenary session in September. If passed during the upcoming session, a range of measures aimed at forcing traffic fine defaulters to pay overdue penalties will go into effect later this year. Under the revision, police and municipal administrations will be authorized to confiscate license plates from drivers failing to pay due parking tickets and other traffic-related fines. Additionally, those who do not have their vehicles go through mandatory inspections in accordance with the law and fail to pay the resulting

Jul 14, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Korea Air to hike intl airfare by up to 10%

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff reporter Korean Air, the nation’s largest air carrier, will hike its international airfares by up to 10 percent next month capitalizing on surging overseas travel demand by Koreans amid improving economic conditions and the strengthening of the local currency. Asiana Airlines and low budget carriers are also expected to follow suit. According to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs Tuesday, Korean Air informed the ministry of its decision to increase its airfare between Incheon and destinations in North America, Europe and Oceania by 5 to 10 percent in August. Flights bound for the United States and Canada will cost travelers 5 percent more, while those wanting to travel to Spain and other European countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand will have to pay 10 percent more. For instance, first-class passengers on flights between New York and Incheon will pay 10.6 million won for a round-trip ticket, up 5 percent from the current 9.77 million won. First-class airfare between Incheon and Paris will increase by 10 percen

Jul 13, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

More sex criminals to wear electronic anklets

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff reporter Thousands of felons convicted of rape and other sex crimes are likely to be obliged to wear traceable electronic anklets, with a revised bill enabling the retroactive enforcement of the monitoring of sex offenders rule going into effect Friday. The prosecution plans to ask courts to issue an order mandating as many convicted sex offenders as possible to wear the device in a bid to prevent them from repeating their crimes. According to the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Tuesday, prosecutors will investigate 6,916 convicted sex criminals nationwide to decide whether to place them under the monitoring system. Former sex offenders have not been subject to wearing the device if they were convicted before Sept. 1, 2008, when the scheme was introduced in an attempt to control sex criminals prone to recidivism. But from July 16, sex convicts could be forced to wear the device even if they were indicted before September 2008. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office said it will prepare detailed guidelines as soon as possible on ho

Jul 13, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik
South Korea

Schools scrambling to prevent sex crimes

By Lee Hyo-sik, Kang Shin-who Staff reporters Schools across the country are scrambling to come up with effective measures to prevent sex crimes against the young students on their premises, in light of many recent sexual assaults against minors. Some have installed security grilles in class windows to stop possible sex offenders from entering the building and closed unguarded school gates to ensure the safety of school grounds. Others have hired more security guards to conduct closer surveillance of school grounds. Some schools have even banned male parents from entering the school premises. But the majority of parents still feel uneasy about the safety of their children at school, saying more has to be done to stop sex crimes against children. Some parents have bought their children cellular phones and even accompany their kids to and from school. Alarmed by a chain of brutal child rape cases, elementary and middle schools across the nation have started taking a host of steps to prevent students from falling victim to sexual assaults, while they are in school. "O

Jul 8, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik
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