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Lee Kyung-min

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South Korea

'Torso found in Suwon belongs to woman with blood type A'

By lee Kyung-min A headless, armless torso found in Mount Paldal in Suwon on Dec. 4 belongs to a person with blood type A, presumably a woman, police said Monday.“Based on the initial findings, we are checking it against the list of missing persons,” a police officer said.Last week, police began their investigation after a hiker found a plastic bag containing the torso beside a trail.So far, police have found a fruit knife near the scene, and sent it the National Forensic Service (NFS) to see if there was any link with the killing.   On Thursday, the body was sent to the NFS for an autopsy, and more detailed results are expected to take more time, police added.Since the torso was found without vital organs, some initially suspected it might be linked to the illegal organ trade.This week, police increased the number of officers involved in the investigation to 440, up 100 from last week, along with cadaver dogs that specialize in finding body parts.Police said one of their only leads thus far was a set of industrial gloves found with the torso, and said they

Dec 8, 2014By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Court: Lotte deserves fine for unfair practice

By Lee Kyung-min A court has rejected a request from Lotte Shopping to nullify a fine the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) imposed on the firm for abusing its subcontractors.Lotte Shopping, the operator of Lotte Department Store, was previously ordered by the antitrust watchdog to pay 4.5 billion-won ($4 million) in fines for abusing its dominant market status from January to May of 2012. However, the firm filed a suit in April to protest the fine.The Seoul High Court ruled Monday that Lotte Shopping should pay the fine, saying the firm’s unfair business practice did harm to small businesses and hampered fair competition.“Lotte Department Store asked its 35 subcontractors to submit sales reports to compare sales figures from Lotte and other department stores. Upon detecting the suppliers’ better sales figures made from other department stores, Lotte forced them to undersell goods and work extra hours, and ordered them not to have the same promotional events at other department stores,” the court said.“When either of those demands were not met, or the sup

Dec 8, 2014By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Local governments in conflict over mass transit debt

By Lee Kyung-min   The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) is in feud with the municipal governments of Incheon and Gyeonggi Province over how to settle a growing debt from a transfer discount system for users of subways and buses.Under the system, introduced in 2004, users with mass transit cards in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province can transfer from subway to bus, and vice versa, unlimited times for 1,050 won up to 10 kilometers, and 100 won for every additional kilometer.The measure helped commuters save mass transit fees, but put the three local governments under mounting debts. They are sharing the deficit from the discount system.According to SMG officials, the combined annual deficit of Seoul Metro and Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corp., the two subway operators of Seoul, was about 500 billion won ($448 million) last year. Bus firms in Seoul also suffered a loss of some 300 billion won.The situation is worse for mass transit firms in Incheon and Gyeonggi.Under the contract signed in 2004, 40 percent of deficit from the transfer discount system is covered by th

Dec 5, 2014By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Sandel becomes honorary Seoul citizen

By Lee Kyung-minMichael SandelHarvard professorMichael Sandel, a Harvard University professor famous for his worldwide bestselling book “Justice” has received an honorary Seoul citizenship, the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) said Friday.After a one-on-one meeting with Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon at City Hall Friday, Mayor Park awarded him with an honorary citizenship, the SMG said.Earlier, he gave a lecture to city officials under the theme of “the increasing income disparity between the haves and the have-nots.”Citing examples of Mayor Park’s campaign pledge of “tuition cut by half,” and chaebol, or major conglomerates in Korea, expanding businesses and forcing out small to medium-sized companies, he shared concerns about society losing the sense of community.Sandel praised Mayor Park’s policy of protecting traditional markets and his efforts to look out for the underprivileged.  This is his sixth visit to Korea, and Sandel came here at the invitation of Soongsil University. He gave a lecture Thursday there.Before meeting with

Dec 5, 2014By Lee Kyung-min
Sandel becomes honorary Seoul citizen
South Korea

Seoul to develop shanty town in Gangnam

Guryong Village, a shanty town in Seoul’s most affluent district, Gangnam, is seen against the backdrop of high-rise buildings. / Korea Times fileBy Lee Kyung-min  The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) and Gangnam District Office have agreed to resume a long-stalled project to develop a shanty town in the most affluent district in Seoul, officials said Friday.Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and Shin Yeon-hee, head of the district office, will hold a joint press conference next week to announce details of the agreement, an SMG official said.The SMG and the district office have long been at odds over how to develop Guryong Village, considered the last remaining urban slum in Seoul, and how to compensate the residents.“The SMG has decided to accept the district office’s demands regarding how to develop the area,” the SMG official said.The SMG’s change of stance was prompted by a fire in the village on Nov. 10 that left one person dead and destroyed the homes of 136 people. It was the eleventh fire in the village since 2009.“We understood the urg

Dec 5, 2014By Lee Kyung-min
Seoul to develop shanty town in Gangnam
South Korea

Korea University in hot water for accepting professor's resignation

By Lee Kyung-minStudents from Korea University are up in arms about the university’s acceptance of the resignation of an engineering professor who police are investigating over allegations he sexually harassed a graduate student for six months. They claim the university “let him off the hook” as by accepting the resignation the professor, surnamed Lee, he will be entitled to appropriate benefits.  Students from Korea University are up in arms about the university’s acceptance of the resignation of an engineering professor who police are investigating over allegations he sexually harassed a graduate student for six months.When police began their investigation in early November, after receiving a complaint from the student’s father, he tendered his resignation and the school accepted it on Nov. 28.Following this, the university’s internal inspection into his alleged wrongdoing was halted. With his career record remaining clean, he will be able to receive severance pay and a pension, and find a new teaching job, the students said.Strongly pr

Dec 4, 2014By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Incheon considers selling Asiad stadiums

By Lee Kyung-minStruggling with snowballing debt, the Incheon Metropolitan Government (IMG) is considering selling at least four of the 17 venues built for the recent Asian Games to private investors.In a recent policy report to the city council, the IMG said selling some venues is a viable option to address the debt.“We are open to talks with any investor interested in buying the stadiums,” the IMG said. “We think four stadiums ― Namdong, Gyeyang, Seonhak, and the main Incheon stadium ― can be sold.”Auctioning off the stadiums is part of the city government’s effort to counter growing financial difficulty in the wake of the Asian Games, held from Sept. 19 to Oct. 14.IMG spent 1.7 trillion won on building the venues, and apart from a 500 billion-won ($448 million) subsidy from the central government, it funded the projects by issuing municipal bonds.The repayment of the principal and interest alone is a huge burden, as well as huge maintenance costs estimated at 10 billion won annually.Incheon has not secured a budget for this, nor has it any p

Dec 1, 2014By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

LG Electronics to compensate former researcher for LTE technology development

By Lee Kyung-min A court has ordered LG Electronics to compensate a former employee with 166 million won ($144,000) for his contribution to the development of patented wireless data transmission technology a decade ago.The employee, surnamed Lee, belonged to a research team that invented the long term evolution (LTE) technology in 2005. LTE is currently used as the international standard for data transmission.In 2009, the company sold the technology to Pantech for 6.6 billion won ($5.9 million).Lee left LG Electronics the following year.Lee later filed a suit asking for 600 million won ($541,000) in compensation for his contribution.The Seoul Central District Court ruled Sunday that LG Electronics must pay Lee because he played a crucial role in inventing the technology. However, the court said Lee was demanding too much, saying the technology was the result of “team research.”“Lee invented the technology with the help of other research fellows, the accumulated research results, and the research center infrastructure,” the judge said during the ruling.&ld

Nov 30, 2014By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Seoul's human rights charter delayed

By Lee Kyung-min  The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) said Sunday it has dropped a plan to finalize the Charter of Human Rights for Seoul Citizens by the end of November due to protests from gay rights opponents.Initially, the city government planned to proclaim the charter on the occasion of World Human Rights Day, which falls on Dec. 10, but this has become impossible, SMG officials said. “However, it doesn’t mean that we will give up on the human rights charter project. We will continue our efforts to persuade the opponents,” an SMG official said.The SMG’s decision follows fierce debates over whether to include a clause protecting gay rights in the charter.“Given the significance of what the charter represents, we have been trying to finalize it by reaching a unanimous agreement rather than putting it to a vote,” the SMG official said.“Since coming to an agreement seems unlikely, we decided to gather opinions separately,” he added.The four-month citywide effort might turn out to be in vain, as the SMG does not plan to h

Nov 30, 2014By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

SNU professor resigns amid sexual harassment accusations

By Lee Kyung-minKang Seok-jinSeoul National University (SNU) Professor Kang Seok-jin has offered his resignation following allegations that he sexually abused dozens of his students for years, a school official said Thursday.“Kang has tendered his resignation,” the official said, without giving further details.Kang was recently questioned by the prosecution about his alleged molesting of a female intern who worked for him during the 2014 International Congress for Mathematicians in August, at which he was one of the speakers.After the case was reported, 21 other students spoke out claiming they were also sexually harassed by the math professor.The alleged victims shared their experiences on an online community site and formed a group named “Victims X.”The group issued a statement Thursday calling for a thorough investigation by the prosecution and criticizing school authorities for their negligence in handling the allegations.In the statement, they claimed they could not stay silent.“Kang abused his status as a professor to force students to keep contact

Nov 27, 2014By Lee Kyung-min
SNU professor resigns amid sexual harassment accusations
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