The Korea Times

Crown officials face jail term

By Lee Kyung-minThe prosecution is seeking jail terms of one to four years for seven executives of Crown Confectionary, the country’s fourth largest confectionary manufacturer, for knowingly selling contaminated snacks worth 3.1 billion won for five years, Wednesday.Of the seven people indicted, prosecutors are demanding prison terms of between one to four years for four defendants, and two suspended jail terms for the other three.“The primary consumers of the company’s products are children,” said a prosecutor. “They neglected the health risks to children in order to seek profit for such a long time. We demand harsh punishment.”The seven were indicted last year for selling Organic Wafer and Organic Choco Wafer products from March 2009 until August last year although they were aware that they were contaminated. The company did not report this to the health authorities.It recalled all of the affected products in September last year following an order from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

Oct 28, 2015By Lee Kyung-min

South Korea

NPS head resigns amid power struggle with health ministry

By Lee Kyung-min  Choi KwangNational Pension Service (NPS) Chairman Choi Kwang offered to resign Tuesday amid an intensifying power struggle with the health ministry over personnel issues.The resignation comes about two weeks after the dispute between the two organizations over the reappointment of the NPS’ chief investment officer (CIO) Hong Wan-seon.According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Choi tendered his resignation to the ministry in the morning.Choi and the ministry have argued over Hong, whose two-year term is set to end on Nov. 3.Earlier this month, Choi told Hong that there would be no reappointment and he should leave after the term. But the ministry said the decision was void because Choi had not sought the ministry’s approval in advance.  It also urged Choi to take responsibility for the row and resign.In response, Choi said he did not need approval because such approval is required only for the new appointment of a CIO, not a reappointment, which he claimed was at his discretion.While Hong has competently managed the 500 trillion won (

Oct 27, 2015By Lee Kyung-min

NPS head resigns amid power struggle with health ministry

South Korea

Seoul aims to attract 400,000 a year foreign patients by 2018

By Lee Kyung-minSeoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) said Monday that it plans to attract an average of 400,000 foreigners here annually by 2018 for medical treatment.Under the plan, SMG will crack down on medical institutions that overcharge and will strengthen interpretation services to help prospective patients receive good medical services, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said during a press conference held at a hospital in Gangnam, where a large number of medical facilities are concentrated.According to SMG, some 155,000 foreigners visited Seoul to receive medical treatment last year.“Medical tourism is a highly profitable industry. Patients stay here for an extended period of time with their expenditures being substantially large,” Park said.“SMG aims to develop the city into one of the best medical treatment destinations by taking the initiative in seeking active cooperation with the best medical institutions here,” he added.SMG will ask 50 private hospitals to disclose their treatment fees in detail and show that they are properly insured against possible med

Oct 26, 2015By Lee Kyung-min

People & Events

Sense of community key to changing world

Global Civic Sharing Chairman Park Myung-kwang speaks at his office. / Courtesy of Global Civic Sharing By Lee Kyung-min  Park Myung-kwang, chairman of Global Civic Sharing (GCS), an organization that helps developing countries overcome poverty, said fostering a sense of community is a key step toward changing the world for the better.“The role of civic groups will increase in the future, which in turn would foster people to have a more engaging attitude in everyday life,” he said. “Such grass-root efforts would help people care more about the society.”Park, a former lawmaker, said sustainable growth has been a passionate subject for him since early in his academic years.“I once co-managed an academic forum with the club of Rome at Kyung Hee University when I was an assistant professor there in 1979,” he said. “The chairman of the club at the time was Aurelio Peccei, a vocal advocate of capacity building aimed at overcoming the current challenges for humanity. That experience inspired me to pursue a similar initiative.”He

Oct 23, 2015By Lee Kyung-min

Sense of community key to changing world

South Korea

Wanted: empty bottles

People hoard empty bottles before cash refund increaseBy Lee Kyung-min Fewer empty soju and beer bottles are being returned to alcohol manufacturers because consumers and recycling collection agencies are hoarding them ahead of a planned increase in refunds for such containers.In early September, the Ministry of Environment said that it would increase cash refunds for reusable bottles from 40 to 100 won for a 350-milliliter soju bottle, and from 50 to 130 won for 500- and 640- milliliter beer bottles.The price hike is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 21. The refund amounts have remained unchanged for 22 years, since they were initially set in 1994.  Unlike the ministry’s attempt to encourage reusable bottle recycling by increasing the cash incentive, it is said that an increasing number of people are keeping the bottles until next year to receive the increased refund.After the announcement, 10 alcohol makers said they collected 79 percent of the bottles they sold the month before, according to the Korea Alcohol & Liquor Industry Association. That was down from a 9

Oct 21, 2015By Lee Kyung-min

South Korea

Seoul to restrict soda in public places

By Lee Kyung-minSeoul City is moving to remove sugary fizzy drinks from vending machines in public buildings.The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) said Tuesday that will restrict soda sales at public facilities starting in November.Seoul is the first municipality to adopt the measure designed to improve people’s health. The central government earlier banned soda sales near schools last year.More than 550 vending machines at 240 public office buildings in the city will not have soda, including City Hall, district offices and public community health centers. The sales ban will be applied immediately from November for 320 machines directly managed by the city government, and will gradually be applied for the rest managed by private subcontractors.Fizzy drinks without sugar will not be subject to the ban.The SMG also recommended subway operators replace sodas with other drinks at vending machines at subway stations. It will put up warning signs on vending machines at the stations about health hazards that can be caused by excessive sugar intake, while encouraging people to drink

Oct 20, 2015By Lee Kyung-min

South Korea

Ukraine tumult sends eye surgery cost higher here

By Lee Kyung-minThe ongoing turmoil in Ukraine is impacting eye clinics here, as the price of a medicinally used gas here and produced in the country is soaring.Eye clinics in Korea use a specific excimer laser for vision correction surgeries such as laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK) and laser-assisted subepithelial keratomileusis (LASEK).The laser uses a mixture of gases in its production of ultra-violet light; and neon is a key component, making up 95 percent of the total with the rest being fluorine and argon.The Eastern European country is a major producer of neon.As the conflict there has continued for months, eye clinics, alongside the semiconductor industry, are bearing the brunt of the material shortage and subsequent price hikes.The price of a 6,000-liter bottle of the gas has increased more than 20 fold from $1,200 at the end of last year to $25,000 in July, according to experts.Industry watchers estimate that the price is likely to soar to $55,000, as the conflict in the region is showing no signs of abating, following a U.S. Senate approval of military aid to

Oct 19, 2015By Lee Kyung-min

South Korea

Father gets suspended jail term for stabbing incompetent son

By Lee Kyung-min  A district court sentenced a 72 year old man, who injured his 41 year old son with a knife, to three years in prison, suspended for five years.  The Seoul Western District Court said Sunday that it found the father, guilty of attempted murder, but said that the court recognizes that he snapped under duress at the time of the incident.According to court documents, the son had not held any job since completing military service in his 20s, and had been living with his father, asking him for money for more than 20 years.The son asked the father to give him money for him to settle down in a rural area, and the father agreed to do so by putting his house in Mapo on a lease, resulting in the two living in the basement of another house instead.Shortly after the move, the father had to live on the streets for months, because the son asked him to leave so that he could have his girlfriend over to stay.   The son not only took ownership of the basement from the father, but also took out a 39 million won ($34,000) loan using the house as collateral, which th

Oct 18, 2015By Lee Kyung-min

South Korea

'Cat lady' incident sparks public anger

By Lee Kyung-min   The incident of the “cat lady,” a woman killed by a falling brick that a boy, 9, dropped from an apartment building roof on Oct. 8, has raised a question about criminal law, which stipulates that those under 14 years of age are immune from criminal charges.Critics say the law should not be too lenient toward these children, who many believe are fully aware of the consequences of their actions, and thus should be held accountable.The boy turned out to be the key suspect in the “cat lady” incident, in which a woman making a shelter for stray cats was killed after being hit by a brick while the boy and two schoolmates were doing a gravity test in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.However, under the law, the boy, whose identity is being withheld, will not face punishment, nor will he have a criminal record, because police cannot book him.However, his parents might be held liable if the victim’s family files a civil suit seeking compensation.Although suspects in that particular age group can still stand trial, the purpose is not to convic

Oct 18, 2015By Lee Kyung-min

South Korea

Cho acquitted of document leak in 'memogate'

By Lee Kyung-min     Cho Eung-chon, former presidential secretary, answers reporters’questions at the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul after being acquitted of charges of leaking confidential information and violating the Presidential Records Management Act, Thursday. / YonhapA district court acquitted former presidential secretary Cho Eung-chon on charges that he leaked presidential documents, Thursday.The Seoul Central district Court cleared Cho of violating the Presidential Records Management Act and leaking confidential information.While Cho passed copies of original documents to an outsider, the court did not recognize a copied one as a presidential document.“If all copied documents are regarded as presidential records, it means all such copies should be preserved and those damaging them should face criminal punishment. It is unreasonable,” it said.Regarding the confidential information leak allegation, the court said it was within Cho’s official duty.But the court handed down a seven-year prison term and a 43 millio

Oct 15, 2015By Lee Kyung-min

Lee Kyung-min

Read more

Crown officials face jail term

NPS head resigns amid power struggle with health ministry

Seoul aims to attract 400,000 a year foreign patients by 2018

Sense of community key to changing world

Wanted: empty bottles

Seoul to restrict soda in public places

Ukraine tumult sends eye surgery cost higher here

Father gets suspended jail term for stabbing incompetent son

'Cat lady' incident sparks public anger

Cho acquitted of document leak in 'memogate'

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