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Lee Kyung-min

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South Korea

Deoksu Palace stonewall street to be partially car-free

Street along Deoksu Palace to become car-free during daytimeBy Lee Kyung-minTthe Seoul Metropolitan Council said Wednesday that the street running along the stone wall of Deoksu Palace will be made car-free during the day as early as the end of 2016.The council said it and the city government are reviewing plans to ban vehicles from the 310 meter street running from the entrance of the palace and a fountain at the roundabout in front of Chungdong First Methodist Church in Jeong-dong from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.Since September, the city has banned cars there from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on weekdays and held street performances to attract more local and foreign visitors.“During lunchtime, the number of people in the street increased by 5 percent to 5,241 on average from 4,995 before September,” council member Choi Pan-sul said.“We are planning to expand the car-free hours so that visitors can fully enjoy the scenic beauty and cultural assets without being disturbed by traffic. We may begin it at the end of 2016 or early 2017 at the latest.”The city will launch a proj

Dec 23, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

'Resident registration number change should be allowed'

By Lee Kyung-minThe Constitutional Court ruled Wednesday that not allowing people to change their resident registration numbers was unconstitutional,.The court said that the law on registration numbers infringes on people’s basic rights; but it ordered it to be maintained until the end of 2017 to prevent social confusion that may arise from sudden changes. It ordered the National Assembly to revise the rule by that time.The law stipulates that local authorities should assign a resident registration number to each resident.The enforcement ordinance states that changes can only be made in limited cases.“An individual should be guaranteed to make autonomous decisions involving the use of their personal information, including when, to whom and by what extent such data can be disclosed,” the court said.“The law disallows number changes without considering possible damage to people through the leak or misuse of the numbers. This is excessive infringement on an individual’s right to make decisions about personal information, guaranteed by the Constitution.&rdqu

Dec 23, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

'Onion is food and agricultural produce'

By Lee Kyung-minIs a raw onion an agricultural product, or a food?A local and an appellate court made different decisions about the case where a public company official knowingly sold a large amount of rotten onions and dried peppers.Two officials at the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp. (aT), surnamed Cho, 48, and Song, 61, were indicted for buying 1,000 tons of onions, some of which were already rotting, from China in February 2011 and selling 480 tons of them to retailers here. They were also charged for selling 240 tons of partially rotted dried peppers imported from China in late September of 2011.The lower court acquitted them of the violation of the law on food sanitation, saying both onions and red peppers were technically not food but agricultural produce.However, the appellate court overturned the decision, recognizing the two items also as food.“Although they are ingredients not usually consumed without cooking, it doesn’t mean they are not food,” the court said. “How to take in food differs according to individuals and according to times,

Dec 21, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Officers sent to Philippines to investigate murder involving Korean

By Lee Kyung-minKorean police have dispatched a team of investigators to the Philippines to help solve a murder involving a Korean national there.It is the first time that the police have sent officers to investigate a crime taking place on foreign soil, the National Police Agency (NPA) said Monday.It follows a November agreement between NPA Commissioner-General Kang Sin-myeong and his Filipino counterpart Ricardo Marquez to strengthen public security for Korean nationals there.The NPA said the team of four officers headed to the Southeast Asian country in the evening to investigate the shooting death of a Korean man.The team includes three officers specializing in investigation, crime scene investigation and surveillance camera recording analysis, respectively, and a National Forensic Service expert specializing in firearms examination. One Interpol officer from here accompanied them.Upon arrival, the Korean police officers will cooperate with the local police to narrow down the suspects by conducting an on-site inspection, securing fingerprints at the crime scene and analyzing gunp

Dec 21, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Calls growing to protect foreigners' rights

Calls growing to protect rights of foreign workers and migrant wives By Lee Kyung-min Korea is facing growing calls to step up efforts to better protect the rights of foreign workers and migrant wives here. Amid the surging number of foreigners, the nation lags behind international standards, showing reluctance in ratifying the International Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and their Families, despite repeated recommendations by the United Nations (UN).The need to recognize their rights follows the increasing number of the particular demographic here.According to statistics released by the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG), Friday, which was International Migrants Day, the number of foreigners living in the capital stood at 457,806, up 10.3 percent from a year earlier. They account for 4.5 percent of Seoul’s total population.  SMG began monitoring the movement in 2000.The figure is notable as the number of Korean nationals in the city has been on a steady decline for the past three years, according to an official.The increase is due to the re

Dec 18, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
Calls growing to protect foreigners' rights
South Korea

Former Sankei bureau chief acquitted of defaming Park

Tatsuya Kato, the former Seoul bureau chief of Sankei Shimbun, speaks at press conference held at Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, after being acquitted of defaming President Park Geun-hye. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul By Lee Kyung-minA Japanese journalist was acquitted of defaming President Park Geun-hye in a report on her whereabouts during the Sewol ferry tragedy last year.The Seoul Central District Court cleared Tatsuya Kato, the former Seoul bureau chief of Sankei Shimbun, of defamation charges Thursday.The court ruled that his column was journalistic material, and therefore should be protected under the freedom of expression, guaranteed by the Constitution.While the court recognized that his column was factually incorrect, it said that he did not intend to defame the President as claimed by the prosecution, citing a lack of evidence.  “His column contained false information, as well as allegations. However, it is not enough to determine that he intentionally ran the column for the sole purpose of libeling President Park,” Judge Lee Dong-geun

Dec 17, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
Former Sankei bureau chief acquitted of defaming Park
South Korea

Men booked for catching, selling stray cats for meat

By Lee Kyung-min Police booked a man, surnamed Yun, 27, for allegedly capturing stray cats and selling them to a health food store in return for 15,000 won per cat, it said Thursday.It also booked the store owner, Kim, 52, for buying and butchering the cats and selling the meat to customers suffering from arthritis. Many believe here that cat meat is effective in treating arthritis and it is commonly ingested in a soup.According to the Songpa Police Station in Seoul, Yun caught five stray cats using a cage with sausages inside in August in Gangdong and Gangnam districts.Yun allegedly connected with prospective buyers online and contacted the store in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, where he sold them to Kim at 15,000 won each.Kim butchered them and sold the meat at 25,000 won per cat.Yun was apprehended after a woman witnessed him capturing a cat and reported it to police earlier this month.When citizens saw him capturing cats, Yun told them that he was a district worker working on a trap-neuter-return program, according to police.Police said that Yun confessed to the crime and sai

Dec 17, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

'I will become a teacher to help children like me'

Im Su-hwan, the grand prize winner of the 4th Korea Multicultural Youth Awards, smiles in the hallway of Deogam High School in Gimje, North Joella Province, Monday. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulBy Lee Kyung-min  Becoming an elementary school teacher will be a step toward helping young children from multicultural backgrounds like him, says Im Su-hwan, 17, the top prize winner of the 4th Korea Multicultural Youth Awards organized by The Korea Times.The second-grader at Deogam High School in Gimje, North Jeolla Province, was born to a Korean father and a Japanese mother. Having a foreign-born mother often made his school life difficult in Korea, a racially homogenous country where citizens are still not familiar with people of different ethnic backgrounds.“When I was in elementary school, I was bullied a lot,” Im said.“Other children said to me with a degrading tone, ‘Hey, I heard your mom is Japanese!’ My mom is indeed Japanese, but I could not understand why that had to be any reason that I was bullied.”Im said he would teach children t

Dec 16, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
'I will become a teacher to help children like me'
  • Winners of 4th Korea Multicultural Youth Awards
  • Multicultural Youth is hope for future
  • Prime Minister's message: 'Make your dreams come true'
South Korea

Shaman sentenced to 1 year for sexual harassment

By Lee Kyung-min An appellate court has upheld a lower court ruling sentencing a shaman to one year in prison for sexually harassing a middle school girl, 15, Wednesday.The Seoul High Court confirmed the guilty verdict against the man, identified as Kwon, 40, for sexually abusing a minor.According to the court, Kwon met the girl at a coffeehouse in Seoul in June and offered to counsel her, saying he could solve her inner problems.Kwon took her to a singing room. When the girl told him that she wanted to speak to her dead aunt, the man said he could channel the spirit of her deceased relative. Pretending that he was possessed, he told the girl to kiss him on the cheek.As the girl kissed him on the cheek, Kwon kissed her on the lips. As a result, she reported him to the police.Kwon claimed that he was too feeble-minded to make a sound judgment at that time as he was possessed by a spirit, and thus he did not intend to sexually harass the girl.But a district court dismissed his claim, saying he was fabricating details about the situation. “The offender is making excuses using

Dec 16, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Gov't may legalize tattooing

By Lee Kyung-min   The government said Tuesday that it is considering legalizing tattooing in a bid to help tattoo artists become legitimate and boost job creation. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL), related ministries will discuss legalizing the profession by 2017, as they view it as a promising grwoth industry in the future. Currently, tattooing is considered a medical treatment, as it involves piercing a person’s skin with a needle, and only licensed healthcare professionals such as doctors, nurses and Oriental medicine practitioners are permitted to perform it. Thus, most tattooists, who work without a medical license, are subject to punishment. Korea and Japan are the only two countries that define the act of tattooing as medical treatment, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare. If legalized, an estimated 2,000 tattoo artists nationwide will be able to practice their craft without fear of criminal prosecution, business shutdowns or fines. “We need to guarantee the tattooists’ artistic activities through proper government su

Dec 15, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
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