The Korea Times

Forced love shot constitutes harassment

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff reporter A court ruled Tuesday that a high school in Gyeonggi Province did not overstep its authority in dismissing a male teacher who forced a group of trainee teachers to drink “love shots” against their will at an evening get-together party. A “love shot” is when two people drink with arms entwined, a drinking ritual meant to boost teamwork and forge closer relationships but which is often abused by male superiors. The teacher also sullied the dignity of educators by making unwanted physical contact with them, it said, siding with the school’s decision to dismiss him. “The teacher apparently forced trainee teachers to drink excessively and made unwanted physical contact with them. His behavior is tantamount to compromising the dignity of all teachers here,” the Seoul Administrative Court said. The court also said what the teacher did to the trainees clearly constituted harassment, adding there was nothing wrong with the school’s decision to sack him. In April 2009, the teacher made a group of university seniors assigned to the school

Jun 8, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Inspiring Night to boost tourism

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff reporter South Korea will hold a massive publicity event later this month to promote itself as one of the world’s major tourist destinations, the nation’s tourism chief said Tuesday. Lee Charm, president of the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), announced it will organize an “Inspiring Night in Korea,” jointly with the Visit Korea Committee, on June 23 at Changdeok Palace, UNESCO’s world heritage site in central Seoul, inviting thousands of tourism officials, Seoul citizens and foreign visitors. “The upcoming festival will feature a range of events to allow local citizens and foreign tourists to experience what it was like living in the palace during the Chosun Dynasty. Then, there will be a series of traditional performances to excite the crowd. It will be a celebration for everyone and be an occasion to renew Korea’s effort to emerge as one of the world’s major tourism powers,” Lee said. Last year, Korea launched the “2010-2012 Visit Korea Year” campaign in a bid to attract 10 million foreign tourists annually by 2012, increase the nation’s tou

Jun 8, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Korean Air hikes Jeju fare by 10%

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff reporter Those planning a trip to Jeju Island may want to go there this month as Korean Air plans to add a 10 percent surcharge in July to its airfares between the nation's southern resort island and other local destinations. The country's largest air carrier said Monday that it will hike the fares by 10 percent on flights between Jeju and other domestic cities on Friday and weekends in time for the summer vacation season. Currently, the airline firm adds a 5 percent extra charge to flights bound for Gimpo from Jeju after 4 p.m. on Sunday. But from next month, air travelers will have to pay 10 percent more if they fly on Korean Air from all inland airports to Jeju International Airport on Fridays. Passengers of flights bound for the island after noon on Saturdays are also subject to the higher airfares. On Sundays, those who fly from Jeju to other domestic destinations after noon will be required to pay 10 percent more. For instance, the one-way ticket between Gimpo and Jeju is currently priced at 84,400 won. But during the peak time, it will go

Jun 7, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Whale poachers caught in Ulsan

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff reporter Two fishing boats have been detained for illegally hunting whales in waters off Ulsan, the southeastern coast of the country, raising nationwide attention for the need to protect the engendered species. Ulsan Coast Guard said Sunday that police officers searched a 4.99-ton class unregistered gill netter that entered Onsan port late Saturday night and found dismembered parts of the whale, weighing nearly 1 ton. They took the 60-year old fishing boat's captain, identified only by his surname Lee, and the other crew members into custody and confiscated the entire catch. The maritime police also chased another boat suspected of being engaged in the whale poaching and captured it in waters 6.4 kilometers off Onsan port. ``Upon a report from a nearby military post about possible illegal whaling, we immediately dispatched two patrol ships and were able to bring them into custody,'' an officer of the Ulsan Coast Guard said. He said investigators are questioning Lee and the other crew members about the details of their illegal actions. Poaching

Jun 7, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

TaLK program promoted in US

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff reporter Korea has been successful in promoting its "Teach and Learn in Korea" (TaLK) program overseas, attracting many ethnic Koreans and other expatriate students in English speaking countries to teach English at rural elementary schools, the nation's top international education expert said Friday. In a speech addressed to teachers and education-related professionals from the United States and other countries during the "2010 NAFSA Conference & Expo" in Kansas City, the United States, National Institute for International Education (NIIED) President Chung Sang-ki said the TaLK program has become a major international volunteer program in Asia's fourth largest economy, providing both foreign English teachers and Korean students with valuable experience. "Korea's global standing has improved substantially over the years through the hosting of the G-20 summit in November this year and the nuclear security summit in 2012. Now is the time for talented youths in Korea to go abroad and explore opportunities outside the country. It is the same for competent i

Jun 6, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Twitter proves mighty force among voters

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff reporter Twitter, one of the most popular social networking sites, wielded its mighty clout in the June 2 local elections, emerging as a major force behind the strong performance by the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) as it helped boost the turnout of liberal-minded young voters. Many celebrities and ordinary citizens posted thousands of messages on the latest online social networking tool, encouraging fellow users to exercise their right to vote. Twitter, which combines the strengths of blogs and instant messaging services, enables users to send and receive short messages of up to 140 words on personal computers and mobile devices. Experts say the voter turnout on Wednesday was higher than estimated because more voters in their 20s and 30s, who are mostly Twitter users through their smartphones, went to the polls, inspired by thousands of "go and vote" online postings. Nearly 55 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot nationwide, the second highest turnout since the first local elections held in 1995 when the figure stood at 68.4 percent

Jun 3, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Migrant workers to get free vocational training

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff reporter Migrant workers here will be able to receive free vocational training from state-designated institutes nationwide. The program is part of government efforts to improve the job skills of foreign workers mostly employed by small-scale labor-intense manufacturing firms. The Human Resources Development Service of Korea (HRDSK) said Tuesday that it will receive applications from migrant workers with E-9 visas and select 5,000 for a state-sponsored job training program starting from June through November this year. On behalf of HRDSK, 67 job training centers across the country will offer laborers two types of vocational programs ㅡ basic and advanced. Trainees will gain practical skills in the fields of manufacturing, construction, agricultural and fisheries under the basic training scheme, while learning auto repair, welding and other expertise through the advanced program. ``On top of language problems, migrant workers, mostly from Southeast Asian countries, lack necessary job skills and lag far behind Korean employees in labor productivity,"

Jun 1, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Salaried workers building digital human network

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter Kim Sung-tae, a 37-year old reporter at one of the nation's major wire news service providers, regularly posts messages on Twitter through his iPhone about work and other notable daily events, and monitors postings uploaded by other Twitter users. He is also a member of an online tennis community and plays with other members on the weekend, while maintaining a personal page on the world's largest social networking site Facebook to keep in touch with foreign friends he met years ago while studying in the United States. Like Kim, a growing number of salaried workers here, mostly in their 20s and 30s, have begun forming the so-called ``digital'' personal networks by taking advantage of the readily available high-speed wired and wireless Internet connections, in conjunction with widely used smartphones and other advanced digital handheld devices. In its survey of 1,129 salaried employees in their 20s and 30s, online-based job portal, Career, said Monday that 56.8 percent manage at least one social network in cyberspace. Nearly 62 percent o

Jun 1, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Low voter turnout could hurt legitimacy of local elections

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff reporter The June 2 local elections are feared to post a record-low voter turnout amid widespread apathy among the electorate. The people will today pick some 4,000 governors, mayors, councilors and education chiefs. Koreans tend to be less interested in local elections, while showing greater interest in national ballots of choosing the President and legislators. Experts say that local elections are much more important to voters than nationwide polls because the former exerts a greater influence on their daily lives, adding that Korean adults should pay more attention to electing candidates who put the interests of the public before their own. They also say political parties and candidates should come out and discuss matters that are important to the welfare of the local community they represent, rather than engage in a series of ideological disputes, in an effort to bolster the voters' interests and make them go to the polls. To increase the voter turnout, they suggest that the government extend the campaign period and carry out a more active p

Jun 1, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Voting still too hard for disabled

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff reporter A group advocating the rights of an estimated 4.8 million disabled people here is calling on the government to make it easier for people with disabilities to cast a ballot in the upcoming June 2 local and other future elections. It is also urging political parties to select more handicapped candidates on their tickets and have those running for office pay greater attention to the welfare of the disabled. At a press conference in Yeouido, Monday, the so-called "2010 Local Election Disabled Alliance" demanded the government make voting stations and other state-run facilities friendlier for individuals with various disabilities, insisting that it is almost impossible for the handicapped to vote at polling stations. On March 10, 268 organizations advocating the rights of the handicapped launched the alliance in a bid to boost the political influence of Korea's nearly five million disabled people. "The June 2 local elections are crucial not only for the entire country, but also for the millions of disabled people. We believe that this electio

May 31, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

Lee Hyo-sik

Read more

Forced love shot constitutes harassment

Inspiring Night to boost tourism

Korean Air hikes Jeju fare by 10%

Whale poachers caught in Ulsan

TaLK program promoted in US

Twitter proves mighty force among voters

Migrant workers to get free vocational training

Salaried workers building digital human network

Low voter turnout could hurt legitimacy of local elections

Voting still too hard for disabled

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