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Lee Kyung-min

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South Korea

Foot-and-mouth disease spreading

A quarantine official stands at the entrance of a pig farm in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, where foot-and-mouth disease was found, Friday./ YonhapBy Lee Kyung-min The government is on high alert over the spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), which re-surfaced on a farm in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, on Dec. 3According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs, Friday, eight farms in Jincheon and some farms in four other cities nearby tested positive for the disease: Jeungpyeong, Cheongju, Umseong in North Chungcheong Province, and Cheonan in South Chungcheong Province.So far, authorities in South and North Chungcheong Province have culled some 14,491 pigs since Dec. 3.They culled 1,788 pigs from Jincheon, 5,000 from Cheongju, 129 from Umseong and 1,500 from Cheonan.As a prevention measure, the ministry officials said they plan to vaccinate some 62,000 pigs on 41 farms near the area from Dec. 19- 22.They secured a 100 million-won ($90,000) budget and purchased 48,000 bottles of vaccine, the ministry said.The virus turned out to be type-O, the sa

Dec 19, 2014By Lee Kyung-min
Foot-and-mouth disease spreading
South Korea

Justice Kim voices only opposition

By Lee Kyung-minKim Yi-suOnly one of the nine Constitutional Court justices ― Kim Yi-su ― voted against dissolving the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party (UPP), Friday.Kim, 61, became a hot online topic instantly, and the grounds he provided for his opposition to the UPP disbandment is creating a debate between liberals and conservatives.“The UPP has some 30,000 supporters. Some of its party members holding a view in line with North Korea’s constitution construed as the party’s view as a whole is a misconception, thus lacking justification for dissolving a political party,” Kim said in the verdict.Kim also ruled that the political activities of the UPP were not against democratic order, nor did it hurt the principle of democracy and the fundamental spirit of the Constitution.Kim also cast doubt on whether Friday’s decision was a result of thorough deliberation on the positive and negative outcomes of the dissolution.“The public good or interest gained by the dissolution of the UPP not likely outweighs the situation of it remaining

Dec 19, 2014By Lee Kyung-min
Justice Kim voices only opposition
South Korea

Suwon torso murder suspect re-enacts crime

‘He had a grudge about girlfriend since breakup’By Lee Kyung-minPark Chun-bong, the Korean-Chinese suspect in the “torso murder” in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, re-enacts the killing of his girlfriend, Wednesday. A sign that reads “suspect” is hung around his neck. / YonhapPark Chun-bong, the Korean-Chinese suspect in the highly publicized “torso murder” in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, has re-enacted how he killed his girlfriend, dismembered her and discarded the parts in plastic bags.Investigators and local residents watched him re-enacting the killing at his rented room in Maekyo-dong, Suwon. There, he re-enacted severing the body into two parts: the lower body and torso, and later cutting off her right arm and left leg.Onlookers cursed Park as he arrived, but he showed no emotion.Park, 56, initially would not say why he killed the Korean-Chinese woman, 48, surnamed Kim, since being, but he confessed this week that he murdered her because she refused to meet him.After living together for eight months, Kim ended the relationship a month ago,

Dec 17, 2014By Lee Kyung-min
Suwon torso murder suspect re-enacts crime
South Korea

Hyundai Rotem ordered to pay for defects in KTX-Sancheon

KTX-SancheonCourt recognizes defects in high-speed trainBy Lee Kyung-min A court ordered Hyundai Rotem, the manufacturer of the high-speed KTX-Sancheon train, Tuesday, to compensate Korail, the state-run rail firm, for financial damage caused by defects in the train.Korail filed a compensation suit against the train manufacturer, affiliated with Hyundai Motor, in 2011, claiming 64 malfunctions in KTX-Sancheon trains, reported between April 2010 and January 2013, resulted in financial damage of 7.9 billion won ($7.2 million).Seoul Central District Court ruled in favor of Korail and ordered Hyundai Rotem to pay some 6.9 billion won to Korail, saying the firm was responsible for defects in the trains.“Some of the trains were recalled, which caused Korail to operate with fewer trains, resulting in a loss in operating profit,” the judge said in his ruling.“Out of the total 6.9 billion-won compensation, 6.75 billion won is for the loss of operating profit, and 108 million won is for customer refunds,” the judge added.The defect compensation claim suit against t

Dec 16, 2014By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Ministry orders full investigation of professors in sex abuse cases

By Lee Kyung-min The Ministry of Education has ordered universities to fully investigate allegations of sexual abuse against professors, rather than just accepting their resignations, officials said Sunday.The professors will be subject to a thorough internal investigation and due punishment, which many aggressors have dodged by resigning.This maneuver puts an end to any internal probe and also guarantees them severance pay, pension, and a clean record to seek new teaching jobs.Vowing to take stern measure against such professors, officials said the new regulation would serve as a deterrent.“By this measure, which is first of its kind, we expect a substantial decrease in the number of professors using resignation as some sort of safe haven. Further, we are considering imposing penalties on universities whose personnel are involved in sexual abuse,” a ministry official said.“Professors sexually abusing students is a grave crime, and our ministry takes it very seriously,” the official added.The move comes after a slew of sexual abuse allegations involving p

Dec 14, 2014By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Korean Chinese at a loss

By Lee Kyung-min  The arrest of Park Chun-bong, a Korean-Chinese murder suspect, is quickly eroding public sentiment toward Chinese people of Korean ethnicity.Some experts are raising concerns that innocent Korean Chinese people might be disadvantaged ― and could be targeted in crimes ― by Koreans with a bias.Police arrested Park, 56, on Sunday on suspicion of killing his live-in girlfriend and discarding her body parts after dismembering her.  They discovered four plastic bags containing body parts of the girlfriend, identified as 48-year-old Kim, a Korean Chinese woman, near his house.Park initially told investigators that he killed her accidentally during an argument by smashing her head into the wall. However, forensic scientists said Sunday an initial inspection showed that strangulation was the cause of death.Upon the news report, Internet boards were filled with posts sweepingly degrading Korean-Chinese and foreign workers residing in Gyeonggi.  “Do you know why so many violent crimes involving severing body parts, or serial killings, happen in Gyeong

Dec 14, 2014By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Emergency hotline services streamlined

By Lee Kyung-minThe government plans to merge more than 20 crisis hotlines into four or fewer by the end of this year, in order to enhance response times during emergencies.According to the Ministry of Public Safety and Security, Wednesday, lesser known three- or four- digit hotlines will be shut down, while those that are ingrained in the minds of the public, including 112 and 119, which are used for reporting crime and general emergencies, respectively, will remain.  The measures come after criticism that the primary cause of the massive death toll during the sinking of the Sewol ferry in April was partly due to the inept initial responses of government agencies that failed to coordinate during the incident.The government plans to divide the 20 hotlines into “emergency” and “non-emergency” categories and have one or two numbers for each.Current emergency calls include 112 for crimes, 119 for fire or rescue, 122 for marine accident, and 118 for reporting crimes in cyberspace.Non-emergencies include 117 for reporting bullying at schools, 113 for reporting

Dec 10, 2014By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

More water leaks in Lotte Aquarium

Inspectors from the Ministry of Public Safety and Security check cracks in an aquarium at the second Lotte World, southern Seoul, Wednesday. / YonhapBy Lee Kyung-min A government inspection team has found at least three water leaks from an aquarium inside the second Lotte World, southern Seoul, with two of them still unrepaired, officials said Wednesday.As a result of the inspection, the government may take stern action ― a temporary closure of the aquarium ― against Lotte, which has been under constant public and media scrutiny since the partial opening of the building in October.  The 11-member team, composed of officials from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of Public Safety and Security, announced the results after conducting an on-site inspection of the aquarium. “We conducted a one-hour investigation and discovered two additional water-leaking cracks on the side of the tank where Beluga whales are kept, besides the crack in the main water tank reported Tuesday. We suspect there will be more cracks that

Dec 10, 2014By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Water leak found in Lotte Tower aquarium

A crack in a 5,200-ton water tank in Lotte Aquarium is seen after it was repaired, Tuesday. / YonhapThe newly-built structure reignites safety concernsBy Lee Kyung-minLotte found water leaking from an aquarium inside Lotte World Tower in southern Seoul last week, but failed to evacuate customers, according to the group, Tuesday.This is the latest of various safety concerns raised about the tower since its partial opening in October.Lotte said company inspectors found a crack in a 5,200-ton water tank on the second basement level of the building on Dec. 3, but fixed the problem. The firm said the crack was caused by weakened acrylic coating on the tunnel’s wall.“We discovered a 1 millimeter crack on Dec 3, and fixed the problem by Dec. 6. Approximately 200 milliliters of water an hour had been leaking,” Lotte said in a statement.Prior to the information released by the company, some media outlets reported that the crack was 7 centimeters long.  Reynolds Polymer Technology, which built the aquarium, said cracks and leaks are frequently found in new aquariums and

Dec 9, 2014By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Torso triggers rumors about illegal organ trade

A woman walks past a sealed-off area where a torso believed to belong to a woman with blood type A was found on Dec. 4 on Mount Paldal in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday. / YonhapBy Lee Kyung-min A torso found in Mount Paldal in Suwon last week is spurring rumors and speculation about the motives behind the killing.One that is widely-circulating is that the remains were abandoned by a criminal ring specializing in the illegal trade of human organs.The rumor comes from an initial police finding that most of the blood was drained and organs were missing from the torso.Although police have dismissed such a rumor as being groundless, people are sharing unconfirmed text messages and e-mails detailing the “modus operandi” of organ traders.According to one such message being shared via social networking sites, a 26-year-old man surnamed Kim alleged that the torso was the evidence of such trade. He said the message was from his friend who is a police officer.“Usually young healthy Korean men and women are targeted. After being kidnapped, while they are temporarily pa

Dec 9, 2014By Lee Kyung-min
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