The Korea Times

5th grader pours detergent on her friend

By Lee Kyung-minThe police arrested a 5th grader who took her friend down to the ground, and kicked her in the head, and pour detergent saying, “You’ve got dirt in your hair. I’ll wash it off.”She did so because she allegedly thought that her friend was talking about her behind her back, the police said. The victim allegedly said that she has footage of her being beaten.The school found out about the incident and asked for an investigation.Since the students are minors, the police called in parents to start the investigation.There might be more similar victims like herself, said the beaten girl. Based on that, the police plan to expand the investigation.   

Apr 23, 2013By Lee Kyung-min

South Korea

Old habits die hard

By Lee Kyung-minA thief-turned-security expert-turned-missionary never got over his stealing habits.The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office charged Cho Se-hyung, 75, once infamously known for his robbery of the rich and famous in the 1970-80s, for theft.He was arrested in 1982 and was in jail for 15 years. With a kind of epiphany, he became a missionary, and met a woman and got married.Valuable experience became an asset and served him well as he worked as a senior adviser at a security company. But his old habit didn’t die.Travelling around Japan in 2001 on a mission, he got caught stealing again, and in 2005 he served time for breaking into a dentist’s house.In 2011, he was arrested again for robbing a jewelry shop and injuring the shop owner.  He filed for a people’s participation trial, and got off clean.Until recently, he was preaching to the homeless, according to a police report.  He broke into a house in the Seocho district in southern Seoul, on April 3, and stole valuables worth 29 million won ($26,000).  

Apr 22, 2013By Lee Kyung-min

South Korea

Graphic pictures deter smoking, study shows

 By Lee Kyung-minGraphic pictures of smoking-related cancer on cigarette boxes deter smoking, Ministry of Health and Welfare said Monday. Canada, Brazil, and Singapore have proven that the policy actually reduced the smoking rate in every demographic by 2-5 percent since it first introduced the approach against smoking, according to WHO report. Korea is also bound by a treaty to fight tobacco epidemic, which is Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of World Health Organization (WTO).FCTC code 11 dictates that every cigarette box be covered with a clear warning of smoking.Also the size of the note should be larger than 50 percent that of the whole package.Pictures rather than words are recommended to strengthen the deterrence effect, according to the FCTC.Korea, however, falls far behind by the international standard.The warning is written, which is far less effective than photos, and only 30 percent of the total package is assigned.Ministry of Strategy and Finance is known to disagree with the proposed amendment.The tobacco business might be harmed, it worried

Apr 22, 2013By Lee Kyung-min

Graphic pictures deter smoking, study shows

South Korea

Sungnyemun to reopen May 4

 By Lee Kyung-min The number one national treasure Sungnyemun, or South Gate, in downtown Seoul is to come back May 4. It has been four years and two months since it burnt down.On Feb. 10 2009, a disgruntled man, Chae Jong-gi, set on fire to the architecture using a bottle of thinner. He said that he didn’t get enough government compensation for his land, and took it out on Sungnyemun.The lax security on the treasure at the time was to blame, the police concluded. He was arrested 23 hours after the crime, and sentenced 10 years in prison. Architects deemed the reconstruction possible, but not entirely so as major segments had gone up in flames.The name, Sungnyemun, was written in Chinese on the signboard, and it was damaged while being taken down.Many experts estimated the process would take more than five years, but the work is being completed earlier than expected, the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) said.The reconstruction will be done by April 30, it added. The date for a re-opening ceremony at Gwanghwamun Square on Sejong street, and Sungnyemun is May 4 at

Apr 21, 2013By Lee Kyung-min

Lifestyle

Gangnam registers most female suicides

By Lee Kyung-min Gangnam-gu in the affluent district of southern Seoul was where the most women committed suicide _ 62 _ according to a government survey released Sunday.Gwanak-gu, where Seoul National University is located had the largest number of men taking their own lives at 127.Twice as many men committed suicide, according to the National Youth Policy Institute.Unlike women who used pills, men resorted to instruments, which made the death far more certain, the survey said.In 25 districts in Seoul, an average of 109 people committed suicide last year.The numbers of incidents, however, varied by region.Seongbuk-gu in northern Seoul was where the most suicides happened, whereas Seocho-gu in the southern area had the least number of cases.Analysis show that education, income, and environment all affect the quality of life, said Park Yu-mi, a Seoul city government official from the department of public health.“To reduce the rate of suicide, Seoul will introduce a ‘private sector- government governance’ as a preventive measure and provide assistance to the fami

Apr 21, 2013By Lee Kyung-min

South Korea

Robber pretends to be a cashier

By Lee Kyung-min The police arrested a Hong, 34, who robbed a convenience store after midnight, and then pretended to be a cashier for 40 minutes.With the cashier locked in the backroom, Hong casually attended to customers, the police in Gangseo, south western Seoul said.He robbed three other convenience stores in the area April 4-9, and took some 700,000 won and ran away.Hong allegedly called the shift worker not to report, but that was the point where the police started the investigation. At the time he was arrested, he was already listed as a fraud suspect.From August last year until last February, he pretended to be a worker at a bank near Suwon and Bucheon, and lied that he would offer bank loan. He then asked for the commission fees, and took off with it.Hong said that he was hiding in motels and steam rooms, and committed the crime as he needed the money for daily necessities. 

Apr 18, 2013By Lee Kyung-min

South Korea

College students demand investigation on admission irregularities

By Lee Kyung-minRecent busted cases of illegal admissions to universities have led the police to expand their investigation on similar crimes.Students from Yonsei, Korea and Seoul National University demanded an investigation on admission irregularities, as some of their fellow students were obviously not smart enough to be there in their opinion, the Gwanak police said.This move comes after a slew of recent crackdowns on irregularities of English tests such as TOEIC, TOEFL and TEPS.Those scores matter to many people to the point that sometimes one point gained is a step closer to the dream job people want, according to the police report.Various universities, law schools, and companies require such English test scores for evaluation.On Wednesday, the police arrested a group of law school students and English language instructors on charges of methodical collaboration with tech savvies to earn high scores, and selling it to job applicants, and university applicants.Among the arrested were a law school student named Park and six others are now under police custody.They allege

Apr 18, 2013By Lee Kyung-min

College students demand investigation on admission irregularities

South Korea

Extra credit to be introduced for 'mom applicants'

By Lee Kyung-minThe Environment and Labor Committee of the National Assembly is to deliberate on introducing a law which provides extra credit for female job applicants with children.This law comes as a way to deal with increasing discontinuance of female workforce as a result of pregnancies.According to Statistics Korea, up until June 2011, 986,600 married women aged between 15-54 left work because of pregnancy, which accounts for almost 20 percent of all married working moms.Saenuri Party lawmaker Shin Eui-jin suggested the law on “gender equality on employment for maintaining both work and family” be passed last December, and the law is to now going through an evaluation by both the Democratic United Party and Saenuri lawmakers.If a mom had stopped working because of pregnancy and raising the child but wishes to come back to work, 2 percentage points of the total score will be added, Shin explained.However, some measures will be added to balance out the criticism, she added.The women who will benefit from the new law will be limited in number of up to 20 percent of tho

Apr 16, 2013By Lee Kyung-min

South Korea

Single parents' income only a half that of the two parents'

By Lee Kyung-minSingle parents’ income is only about a half that of the two parents’, and 80 percent of them are without child support, according to government survey released Tuesday.The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family asked 2,522 single-parent households from October last year to last February.Based on the survey, the ministry estimated that there would be 570,000 households of single parents raising a minor.Mother raising a child took up about 63 percent of the total, and the rest 36 percent was cases of father raising a child. Their average income was 1.7 million won ($1,500), 48 percent that of the regular household’s.Even though the court ordered that the child support be paid, 83 percent of the single parents were without them, and 72 percent said that they do not keep in touch with the ex-spouses.Most of them, 82 percent, were hired, but the job security wasn’t guaranteed as they were mostly temporary workers ,or had one-off jobs.Almost twice as many single parents were suffering from depression than the regular parents, the survey showed.When a

Apr 16, 2013By Lee Kyung-min

Single parents' income only a half that of the two parents'

South Korea

Listing students as bullies tagged as form of violence in itself

By Lee Kyung-minListing students as bullies on record is a form of violence in itself, said the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union on Monday.Teachers held a press conference at the Central Government Complex on Sejong street, and demanded that the recent measure to enter such records be retracted.“The zero-tolerance policy of the Ministry of Education bruises students. It breeds a culture of tit-for-tat, not of forgiveness and understanding,” said one teacher who participated in the rally.Others criticized that the current policy is only for distracting the public. “The Ministry of Education is just trying to avoid the core of the problem. Leaving a record won’t change the situation. It’s only a shallow ploy to blind people from seeing the truth,“ said another participant in the rally.They said that unless their demands are met, the union will draft a “Declaration of teachers’ refusal against leaving the record.” 

Apr 15, 2013By Lee Kyung-min

Lee Kyung-min

Read more

5th grader pours detergent on her friend

Old habits die hard

Graphic pictures deter smoking, study shows

Sungnyemun to reopen May 4

Gangnam registers most female suicides

Robber pretends to be a cashier

College students demand investigation on admission irregularities

Extra credit to be introduced for 'mom applicants'

Single parents' income only a half that of the two parents'

Listing students as bullies tagged as form of violence in itself

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