The Korea Times

Irked by tweeter, anchor Kim Ju-ha threatens suit

By Kwon Mee-yoo Kim Ju-ha, one of the most popular female anchors and tweeters, is making headlines as she is threatening to file a defamation suit against a tweeter who called her “brainless,” stirring up a dispute on Twitter. A Twitter user nicknamed Social Holic, who introduced himself as a full-time tweeter addicted to social media, wrote a line Friday that apparently targeted the anchor, deriding her as “brainless.” “There is a ‘brainless’ person on the Korean Twitter scene, who has been repeating ‘Ppaekkom’ and ‘Hands up if you are sleepy’ for months,” he tweeted. Though not directly mentioning Kim’s name, the phrases “ppaekkom” and “Hands up if you are sleepy” are frequently used by the leading anchor. “Ppaekkom” is a Korean mimetic word for sticking one’s head out through a gap. Kim has often used the expression in the opening lines on her Twitter account. The MBCTVanchor has about 140,000 followers, and is one of the most popular tweeters in Korea. Social Holic is also a power tweeter with some 57,000 followers. Social Holic said Twitter is a cultural pla

Oct 17, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Do not collect acorns

By Kwon Mee-yoo Beware of pocketing acorns fallen from trees at national parks — if you are caught collecting them, you will be fined or even jailed. The Korea National Park Service (KNPS) said Thursday it will impose a ban on picking from trees things such as acorns, nuts and berries in public places to protect wild animals. Acorns are a food source for wild animals living in the parks such as squirrels, wild boars and Manchurian black bears in the autumn. It is also a part of the ecological system as insects, including rice weevils, spawn in the nut. “The amount of acorns decreased this year and we have to protect the supply for the wild animals to feed on,” a KNPS official said. Under the regulations, those caught collecting acorns at the scene will face up to three years in prison or a maximum 30 million won ($27,000) fine, depending on the amount. Even those caught with a handful of acorns will be fined 100,000 won. “Some visitors pick up a handful of acorns without any sense of guilt. We ask them to stop doing so since even just one is connected to the

Oct 14, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Taekwang Group under probe

Illegal transfer of group control to son suspected By Kwon Mee-yoo Taekwang Group, the nation’s 40th largest chaebol, is under investigation by the prosecution on suspicion of creating some 300 billion won ($270 million) in slush funds and illegally transferring stocks to the chairman’s child. Seoul Seobu Prosecutors’ Office sent some 20 investigators to the conglomerate’s head office and its subsidiaries, Wednesday. The investigators seized accounting documents and computer discs from Taekwang Industrial, the flagship company specializing in petrochemicals. The prosecution suspects Taekwang Chairman Lee Ho-jin, 48, of creating slush funds in false-name accounts. He is also accused of having illegally transferred stakes of major affiliates to his 16-year-old son who is currently studying in the United States, the same scheme previously used by Samsung Group to carry out a father-to-son transfer of group control. In the same way that Samsung used an unlisted subsidiary as a vehicle for the power transfer, Taekwang, with 52 affiliates and total assets of 4.8 trillion won

Oct 14, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

W1 mil. fine for failure to remove snow

By Kwon Mee-yoo From this winter, people need to prepare shovels to remove snow piled up in front of your house, as a failure to do so could cost them up to a 1 million won ($870) fine. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said Wednesday it will enforce the fine to minimize problems caused by expected heavy snowfall. Park Yeon-soo, the administrator of NEMA, said he will submit a revised bill, with new regulations imposing a penalty for those who do not clear away snow on the paths in front of their properties to the National Assembly this month. The agency’s move came after Seoul had heavy snow in January of over 25 centimeters a day. The agency has complained that without the support of citizens, it cannot cope with heavier snowfall. “We expect more heavy snow this winter and it is impossible for the central and local governments to take care of small back alleys and streets. Citizens should take responsibility for their own area,” Park said. Residents in apartment blocks, who are unable to clear up snow, such as families with both adults working or pe

Oct 13, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Disabled children get together on stage

By Kwon Mee-yoo “Tarte au Chocolat,” or Chocolate Pie, performed by Erwin Slepcevic and Jean-Paul Ledun, is a play describing how an uncle and his mentally disabled nephew cooperate together to make a delicious, sweet chocolate pie. Organized by the Korea Children’s Culture and Arts Center, the eighth international festival for disabled children “The Way to the Theater” invited the dramatists to show handicapped people on stage. Erwin Slepcevic is a 34-year-old mentally disabled actor who plays the son in “Tarte au Chocolat.” He belongs to an artistic organization where he makes music and pottery. “For Slepcevic, it is important for him to perform in the show,” Martina Kolbinger-Reiner, the director of the show, said. She has been collaborating with disabled people in theater works for 15 years at the Mezzanin Theater. “Erwin doesn’t speak well, but he is a body speaker. He moves precisely and the idea of this show was to support his specialty,” the director said. Jean-Paul Ledun, who is actually Slepcevic’s uncle, both in the play and in real life, said the pe

Oct 11, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Climate change quicker than expected on Korean Peninsula

By Kwon Mee-yoo Average temperatures in Korea are climbing faster than the global average, gradually making that country warm enough so the streets in Seoul could be lined with tangerine trees by 2040. According to the Korea Climate Change Assessment Report 2010 released by the National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) Monday, tangerines, a subtropical fruit had only been cultivated in Jeju Island in the past, but the cultivation is shifting northward. “In 2040, the area for growing tangerines would be some 36 times greater than that of now,” a NIER official said. The cultivation areas for kiwis and figs will also increase as they move northward. The report said Korea is heating up faster than other countries. The average temperature of the globe in 2100 has been estimated to be some 1.4 to 5.8 degrees Celsius higher than that of 1990. The annual average temperature of Korea was 13.5 degrees Celsius from 1991 to 2000, a 1.5 degree jump from a 12 degrees Celsius average from 1912 to 1990. The rise is much higher than the change in global temperature of 0.6 degree

Oct 11, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

People & Events

Paraguayan model to propose publicly

By Kwon Mee-yoo Larissa Riquelme, 25, a Paraguayan model famous for cheering 2010 South Africa World Cup games with low-cut clothings, openly seeks for her lover from around the world. According to the matchmaking firm Sunoo, Riquelme recently uploaded her profile and photos at couple.net, Sunoo's website, through an introduction from a friend in Korea. Riquelme wants her boyfriend to be fluent in her mother tongue Spanish. The matchmaking company will receive applications from male members for a month and arrange meetings with Riquelme next month as she plans to visit Korea. "Riquelme wanted to meet a diversity of men from around the world and opened up the proposal through our global website," said Erica Oh, Sunoo's Global Team manager. The Paraguayan model promised to run the streets naked if Paraguay won the World Cup. , But it never happened as the South American country only reached quarterfinals.

Oct 10, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Injury due to lack of communication ruled industrial accident

By Kwon Mee-yoo A migrant worker who is not fluent in Korean and sustained an injury during a struggle with a Korean worker because of miscommunication is the victim of an industrial accident, a court ruled Sunday. The Seoul High Court issued a decision in favor of an ethnic Korean-Chinese worker, Kim, 29, who filed a complaint against the Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service (KWCWS). The right side of Kim’s body was paralyzed after he was hit on the head during an assault from another laborer who thought Kim insulted him. Kim was an assistant painter at a furniture factory and knocked down a wooden board by mistake in May 2008. He put it aside, but a colleague Lee told him to move it onto the worktable. However, Kim did not understand what Lee said and smiled awkwardly. Lee thought Kim sneered at him and was disobeying his instruction, and slapped Kim in the face. Kim hit Lee with a wooden stick and Lee struck Kim with an aluminum sprayer. Kim filed for recuperation with the KWCWS, but the organization denied him, resulting in the lawsuit. He lost the

Oct 10, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

100 injured in 7-vehicle collision

By Kwon Mee-yoo A seven-vehicle rear-end collision involving trucks, tour buses and a road repair vehicle occurred on Gyeongbu Expressway Thursday, injuring about 100 people. The accident happened on the southbound lane of the expressway near Ulsan, some 48 kilometers north of Busan. The expressway is the nation’s backbone connecting Seoul and Busan. The first collision occurred as a truck slowed down to avoid hitting a road repair vehicle and buses hit it from behind, creating a four-car pile-up. Police said three more trucks and buses collided in the next lane, as they tried to avoid the initial accident. Two bus passengers were seriously injured, while others were slightly hurt. They were immediately taken to nearby hospitals. The police said most passengers had fastened their safety belts preventing more casualties. The passengers were members of a women’s fraternity in Daegu, on their way to an excursion to the Tongdo Temple in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province. “I bumped my head against the front seat when the bus collided with another bus. I was scared of

Oct 7, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

South Korea

Fitting into Korean society through reporting

By Kwon Mee-yoo Vong Canh Va, 23, a married immigrant from Vietnam, is a guest reporter for Mapo Newsletter, the monthly newspaper in the northwestern district in Seoul. On Tuesday, Vong came out to cover a Korean language class held at Hapjeong Community Center. The four-month class started in August and runs through mid-December, teaching basic Korean for married immigrants from Vietnam, China and Japan. The course is supported by Mapo Health Family Support Center. Among nine students, she interviewed two Vietnamese students, using both Korean and Vietnamese. She eagerly took notes of their words. “When I asked about best things of Seoul, they said they liked public transportation system such as subway. There is no subway in Vietnam,” Vong told The Korea Times at an interview Tuesday. The Mapo Center also offers visiting education for married immigrants ― Korean language and child rearing. “Korean language course is quite popular among new immigrants as the instructors visit them personally. For those who delivered child, we teach them how to raise the child,” sai

Oct 6, 2010By Kwon Mee-yoo

Kwon Mee-yoo

Read more

Irked by tweeter, anchor Kim Ju-ha threatens suit

Do not collect acorns

Taekwang Group under probe

W1 mil. fine for failure to remove snow

Disabled children get together on stage

Climate change quicker than expected on Korean Peninsula

Paraguayan model to propose publicly

Injury due to lack of communication ruled industrial accident

100 injured in 7-vehicle collision

Fitting into Korean society through reporting

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