The Korea Times

Hospitals Skeptical of Medical Tour Program

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter Contrary to government statistics, most hospitals here believe Korea's ambitious goal to nurture medical tourism as a future growth engine is not progressing as well as initially hoped, citing inadequate marketing campaigns and poorly organized tour programs. They say the government should provide more financial and other support to help medical institutions increase overseas marketing activities, foster more talented medical and tourism manpower, and upgrade healthcare facilities. They also said the government should ease regulations concerning medical insurance coverage and malpractice. In a survey of 460 general hospitals and clinics nationwide conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Thursday, 93.9 percent of the respondents said their foreign medical tourism business has not met initial expectations over the past year. Only 5.7 percent said their business had gone as well as anticipated, with the scant remaining 0.4 percent achieving more than expected. Additionally, only 18.6 percent said the number of foreig

Apr 29, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Immigrant Wives to Be Barred From Working in Entertainment Joints

Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter Foreign wives of Korean men will be barred from working at bars, room salons and other late-night entertainment establishments as part of government efforts to prevent the abuse of the nation’s international marriage system. The government also plans to grant permanent resident status to musicians, artists and professional sports players living here for more than five years to attract foreign talents. The Ministry of Justice Wednesday announced these and other changes to the country’s “Immigration Act” and submitted the revised bill to the National Assembly in the near future for approval. It said it will ban foreign nationals tying the knot with Koreans from being hired by bars and other entertainment joints. Foreign spouses of Korean nationals are granted F-2 visas. Under the current law, it is hard to punish foreign wives engaging in late-night adult entertainment businesses. But under the revised immigration act, the government will be able to penalize them. “It is problematic that some foreign spouses are working at kara

Apr 28, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

People & Events

Pat Gaines Named as Boeing Korea CEO

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter Pat Gaines has been named as new president of Boeing Korea, effective June 4, replacing the current CEO Bill Oberlin who will retire in July. Gaines will lead Boeing's enterprise-wide business in Korea, while strengthening the company's local presence and finding new ways to pursue growth and productivity initiatives. ``Pat's leadership experience in global business and operations align directly with our ongoing efforts to increase our presence and collaboration with customers, partners, communities and employees in Korea. In this regard, he will be able to build on the solid foundation established by the excellent work Bill Oberlin has done in Korea,'' said Shep Hill, president of Boeing International and senior vice president of Business Development and Strategy. Gaines, a 23-year company veteran, joins Boeing Korea following a position in Boeing Commercial Airplanes in Seattle, where he served as vice president of Customer Support for Asia-Pacific. He has extensive experience in global operations and led efforts that established the jo

Apr 28, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

GS Construction Most Dangerous Workplace

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter GS Engineering & Construction, and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering have been named by labor union umbrella groups as the nation's most perilous workplaces, with large numbers of workers at the two companies being killed in various industrial disasters. A group campaigning for the prevention of industrial deaths, jointly launched by the nation's two largest labor umbrella groups, said Tuesday that a total of 14 GS workers died from a range of industrial accidents in 2009, the largest among domestic builders. The two groups are the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). Daelim Industrial came in second among builders, reporting nine industrial deaths, followed by Keangnam Enterprises and Ssangyong Engineering & Construction both at eight deaths. Daewoo topped the list of manufacturers as six workers at the world's third-largest shipyard were killed on the job. In cooperation with the liberal Democratic Labor Party and labor-friendly civic groups, the group also staged a

Apr 27, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

Companies

KCS to Turn FTA Into Golden Business Opportunity

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter South Korea should make the best use of free trade agreements (FTAs) with its trading partners to help local companies expand their presence overseas and attract foreign investment, transforming itself into a major worldwide business hub, the nation's top customs officer said Tuesday. In an interview with The Korea Times, Korea Customs Services (KCS) Commissioner Yoon Young-sun said he will make every effort to make customs clearance and other customs-related operations more business-friendly in a bid to help Korean firms more easily engage in international commerce in an increasingly globalized world. ``Korea's business territory has expanded dramatically over the past few years in line with a growing number of free trade accords it has signed. We have and will continue to provide local exporters with customer-oriented services in customs administration,'' Yoon said. FTAs with 16 countries have gone into effect and the pacts with the European Union and the United States are expected to take effect in the near future. Korea is currently nego

Apr 27, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Cheating Wife of Vegetative Patient Loses Court Battle

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter A woman who had an affair, because her husband was in a vegetative state, was ordered to pay 10 million won in compensation to her mother-in-law who filed a lawsuit against her seeking a divorce for her sick son. The Supreme Court said Monday that the mother of the comatose man was legally allowed to seek the divorce, upholding lower court rulings that granted a divorce-by-proxy to the man. The court also acknowledged the prior ruling that she must pay 10 million won in compensation. In 2005, the 53-year old forklift operator was accidently run over by a truck and has remained in a coma ever since. He tied the knot with his wife in 2004. Two years after the incident, his wife had a fight with her mother-in-law and left the house to stay with her own family. Without prior consultation with her husband's family, the wife applied for legal guardianship of her husband from the court. A few months later, she began having an affair with another man and was later charged with adultery. On discovering her infidelity, the mother filed a divorce suit

Apr 27, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Passengers Touched by Korean Air Service During Ash Flight Chaos

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter Korean Air took on a unique mission two weeks ago to transport a group of its passengers, not by air, but by sea and land across Europe, at the height of the global air traffic chaos as a result of the ash cloud from the eruption of the Icelandic volcano. The airline's response during that critical time received high praise from passengers. Many airline firms diverted flights to alternate destinations across Europe, during which the thick cloud of volcanic ash covered the sky. More air travelers were also holed up at airports, with many having to spend days and nights there until flights were resumed. The industry norm is that airline companies are not responsible if they are forced to change air routes and other operational matters due to natural disasters, meaning passengers are on their own to get to their final destinations. During the recent air traffic crisis, many airline firms followed this protocol, unloading travelers at alternate sites and providing no financial and logistics support. However, Korean Air handled the matter

Apr 26, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Industrial Deaths Highest in OECD

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter South Korea has emerged from the ashes of the 1950-53 Korean War and become one of the world's major economies over the past six decades. But its success has come at the cost of the lives of many dedicated Koreans enduring poor working conditions. And yet, Asia's fourth-largest economy still remains the most hazardous environment for industrial workers among advanced countries, according to the Korea Occupational Safety & Health Agency, Sunday. It said the nation ranked at the bottom in industrial safety among 21 OECD member economies in 2006, with nearly 21 Korean workers out of every 100,000 dying from a range of industrial accidents. Mexico was a distant second, as 10 out of every 100,000 workers in the Central American nation were killed in various industrial disasters in 2006, followed by Portugal (6) and Canada (5.9). Britain was the safest place to work, with only 0.7 out of every 100,000 employees dying on the job, ahead of Norway (1.3) and Switzerland (1.4) The agency also said industrial deaths here declined only 2 percent in

Apr 25, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Civic Group Sues Sponsored Prosecutors

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter A civic group here filed a suit against 57 former and incumbent prosecutors accused of having received money and sexual entertainment as bribes from a businessman. The People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) said Thursday that it has reported the so-called ``sponsored’’ prosecutors to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office for criminal proceedings, accusing them of taking bribes in exchange for providing business favors to the jailed head of a construction firm in Busan, the nation’s largest port city. On Tuesday, MBC TV’s investigative program “PD Notebook” made public the names and photos of two incumbent senior prosecutors ― Park Gi-joon at the Busan Prosecutors’ Office and Han Seung-chul at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office ― who were on the list. The one-hour episode of the weekly TV program called the testimony and documents from a 52-year-old man, identified only by his surname Chung, ``highly credible.’’ ``Chung’s documents prove that many prosecutors have received money and entertainment services from him for many years.

Apr 22, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

South Korea

Foot-and-Mouth Disease Spreads Across Nation

By Lee Hyo-sik Staff Reporter Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) appears to be spreading further inland after a new outbreak was confirmed Thursday at a dairy farm in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, raising concerns that the highly contagious disease will wreak havoc on the nation's livestock industry. In response, the government has raised its FMD crisis alert to the highest level, vowing to take all possible measures to contain the spread of the outbreak. "We received a report on a suspected case from a hog farm in Shinni, Chungju, Wednesday, and the pigs tested positive for the disease Thursday," the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said. The farm, 147 kilometers southeast of Seoul, was breeding 1,000 pigs, with some animals showing symptoms such as blisters and scabs on the teats and tongue Wednesday, prompting quarantine officials to seal off the farm and limit the movement of people and vehicles as a precautionary measure. This is the second outbreak outside Ganghwa Island on the west coast, where five cases were confirmed on April 9 and 10.

Apr 22, 2010By Lee Hyo-sik

Lee Hyo-sik

Read more

Hospitals Skeptical of Medical Tour Program

Immigrant Wives to Be Barred From Working in Entertainment Joints

Pat Gaines Named as Boeing Korea CEO

GS Construction Most Dangerous Workplace

KCS to Turn FTA Into Golden Business Opportunity

Cheating Wife of Vegetative Patient Loses Court Battle

Passengers Touched by Korean Air Service During Ash Flight Chaos

Industrial Deaths Highest in OECD

Civic Group Sues Sponsored Prosecutors

Foot-and-Mouth Disease Spreads Across Nation

Top 5 stories