The Korea Times

Man commits murder because of noise from upstairs

By Lee Kyung-minA landlord set fire to his tenant’s house as he couldn’t bear the noise from downstairs, police in Incheon said Tuesday. The tenant was hitting his punching bag for practice at 5:47 p.m. The noise was allegedly too much that the landlord went downstairs with a hammer, according to the police report. Unable to reach agreement, he poured inflammatory liquid, supposedly gasoline, and set fire on the house. The daughter of the tenant and her boyfriend died as a result. In February, two others were stabbed to death, and in March a man knifed a neighbor from upstairs. Another drunken man was embroiled in a similar brawl. Their reason was all the same: noise from upstairs.

May 14, 2013By Lee Kyung-min

South Korea

Smoking near cultural heritage will be fined

By Lee Kyung-minSeoul City Government has set the goal of not repeating the tragedy of Namdaemun.Those smoking near the cultural property will be fined up to 100,000 won ($90) starting next year, Seoul City Government said Monday. The city will amend ordinances accordingly. Preventing both arson and fire by accident are of their concern.Signs for the smoking-ban will be posted in 94 places by the end of this year. Entrances and exits, where people usually smoke, are primary spots, an official said. Places such as public bathrooms and garbage cans will also be included.Posting signages of smoking bans are mandatory near wooden properties or places with fire risk according to the cultural heritage protection law.  

May 13, 2013By Lee Kyung-min

Others

Blood ties stressed by parents

By Lee Kyung-minBlood ties trumps the yearning to be parents, a study showed Monday. Couples that have difficulty conceiving stay so rather than opt for adoption, according to a study by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. When asked whether they would love and raise an adopted child as their biological one, out of 8,236 women aged between 15 to 64, more than half, 57.9 percent said no. The rate rose by 12 percentage point from 45 percent last year. To the same question, men’s response wasn’t much different. Out of 1,811 men, 56.7 percent said no. Some 12 percent women aged between 20 and 44, said they have considered adoption, but few actually acted on it _ only 0.6 percent of them actually adopted a child _ the study showed. When it comes to women who suffer from infertility, the rate went up to 29.7 percent. But the cases with those women were not so different. Only 0.8 percent of them adopted. The culture that emphasizes blood ties leads to many parents to shun adoption, one expert said. “Adoption, domestic or international, is very unusual choice for Korea

May 13, 2013By Lee Kyung-min

South Korea

Homeless to redeem themselves as hoteliers

By Lee Kyung-minTwenty homeless people will redeem themselves as hoteliers, Seoul City government said Sunday.The city, in collaboration with the Westin Chosun and Silla hotels, will select 10 men and 10 women residing in Seongdong-gu, Eastern Seoul.This move by the city is a follow-up on the social services program “Support for the homeless” October last year. Managers of Chosun Hotel will instruct the program.They will train the selected people for 10 days to make them fit for employment.The applicants should be healthy with strong will to work, a city official said.Their identification should be checked out by official registration, and delinquent borrower will be excluded, he added.Twofold sessions are to be provided: learning theories and field training.The employees-in-waiting will prepare themselves by the programs given: managing emotions, rebuilding self-confidence, cleaning, handling tools, waxing floor, operating dish washers.The working hours will be Monday to Friday from 9 a.m to 6 p.m.The payment will be 1.4 million won ($1,260).Chosun said it will carry &nb

May 12, 2013By Lee Kyung-min

Others

School uniforms to be cheaper

By Lee Kyung-minParents with middle- and high-school students will take some of the burden off on buying school uniforms as the price will be lowered through bidding, said the Ministry of Education Thursday.Only public schools will be under this regulation.  The company with the lowest bid will be allowed to sell their clothing exclusively to the whole student body in any one school.When this goes into effect, the ministry expects about 30 percent in price reduction of uniforms.There will be a hearing to let the parents voice their opinions, and have the measure officially put in place schools by next month, an official said.Low price doesn’t necessarily mean that the quality of the clothing would be compromised, he said.Standardization guidelines from the government will help manage the quality of the uniforms, he added. “The makers will have to use specific material and accessories designated in the guideline,” he said. Students can evaluate the company through surveys.Also, the ministry will implement a report system as a measure to prevent collaboration amo

May 9, 2013By Lee Kyung-min

South Korea

Caffeine drink smugglers caught

By Lee Kyung-min Gangdong police in southeastern Seoul arrested a group of caffeine drink smugglers on Wednesday.A Kang, 46, allegedly bought 10,000 cans of drinks from foreign website and sold them here online and in bars, according to the police. The cheaper price of the beverage abroad motivated him.Cocktails made with the beverage were great sell, he said during the investigation. He knew the huge popularity of the drinks, and that they went with alcohol, according to the police report. The owner of the bar which sold the cocktails is also facing charges.The owner, a Jung, allegedly mixed the drinks and sold them knowing that they came here through illegal channels, according to the police report.Their profit is deemed irresponsible since it might have caused health risks to the public, according to the police.The caffeine drinks sold overseas are two or three times stronger than those sold here. Casually selling the mix without proper warning or restriction can cause death in worst cases.There have been 13 deaths caused by caffeine drinks in the U.S. last year, sobering up

May 8, 2013By Lee Kyung-min

South Korea

Nowon police to take care of underprivileged families

By Lee Kyung-minNorth Korean defectors and multicultural families won’t have to keep quiet suffering from bullies anymore.Nowon police in northern Seoul on Wednesday said that an all-women patrol _ the Police Women Doodrim team _ will take care of the underprivileged from now on.The six members of the patrol said that their primary concerns are issues on violence: sexual, domestic and school.With daily review of crimes, they plan to accumulate data to help officers better deal with the situations.Also, the introduction of a hotline system is designed to speed up communication among the police, school, social services and the victims, the police said.One-on-one counseling, mentoring, study sessions after school, and psychological therapy will all help the prevention of school violence, it added.Nowon police implemented this measure since there are more North Korean defectors and multicultural families residing there than the rest of the areas in Seoul, said an official.“Victims usually feel more open to women. That’s why we decided to designate women officers,&r

May 8, 2013By Lee Kyung-min

Nowon police to take care of underprivileged families

South Korea

Court annuls fake marriage

By Lee Kyung-minThe court annulled a marriage Monday, which started off as a cost-saving measure then turned into a job-saving one. Since 2006, a woman started cohabitating with her long-time friend to save housing expenses. It was right after their college graduation. She thought that it was no big deal since the man’s sister was going to live together with them, she said in a court statement. Then, four years ago, the man landed a job at a big corporation. The company asked him about his marital status. He said he was single, but the company saw it otherwise. The man’s argument weakened when he was found to have been living with a woman for a prolonged period.The company said that a penalty was in order if he didn’t clarify the situation, according to the court statement.Terrified, he asked the woman to register themselves as a married couple. Out of sympathy, she said yes. Her effort was in vain, as he quit his job in less than a year. She said that she regretted having been rash in making such a serious decision.  &nb

May 6, 2013By Lee Kyung-min

South Korea

School unaware of exam paper leak

By Lee Kyung-minA middle school in Gyeonggi Province accidentally leaked six questions for the mid-term exam, and remained unaware until an instructor from private institute with a guilty conscience came forward.The school in Icheon admitted that their English exam papers had six moral education questions that was exposed on May 1, said Gyeonggi Provincial office of Education Monday. Students didn’t report the accident to school authorities. Instead they took the papers to the instructor of their private institutes. Then the questions were distributed to 30 students via text messages. The school will be subject to punishment for not keeping up with the code of management of the exam procedure, according to the office of Education. Everybody in the management system is responsible, it added.The officials in charge of printing the exam papers, teachers who counted and bound them, and the supervisor of the exam were all negligent, the authorities said.They were supposed to make sure that there was no mistake in print.The vice principal claimed that they followed due proc

May 6, 2013By Lee Kyung-min

Others

Seoul is great place for film PR

 By Lee Kyung-min  Many Hollywood big-budget-movies have their premier in Korea.Megastars come to the country to meet the fans and hold their hands.Robert Downey Jr. of Iron Man 3 was one of them.He came here April 3. before the opening on April 25.He specifically asked that Seoul be the first place to start off the opening of his movie, he said in an interview.Why is Korea one of their first choices?Wise _ moneywise that is _ movie productions have it calculated already.They are gunning for word-of-mouth effect.“It is important to catch viewers’ attention at the beginning of the opening. Words spread fast. Especially so in Korea,” said Shin Dong-hyuk, a representative from Sony Pictures Korea. “Koreans are very much interested in movies, considering its small population,” he added.The director of the movie, Independence day, Roland Emmerich, said in an interview last February that if the movie production sees it fit, they do whatever it takes.“To draw attention from the public, who are viable moviegoers in their opinion, the pr

May 5, 2013By Lee Kyung-min

Lee Kyung-min

Read more

Man commits murder because of noise from upstairs

Smoking near cultural heritage will be fined

Blood ties stressed by parents

Homeless to redeem themselves as hoteliers

School uniforms to be cheaper

Caffeine drink smugglers caught

Nowon police to take care of underprivileged families

Court annuls fake marriage

School unaware of exam paper leak

Seoul is great place for film PR

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