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Foreign Grand Prize Foreign Workers to Sharpen Korea’s Edge

Seoul Needs to Expand Hiring of Highly Skilled Internatinoal Employees By Rim El Khoury Sogang University The Korean economy is a puzzle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Korean economic growth is one of the great success stories of the last half-century. A growth rate averaging 8 percent per annum over the period fundamentally transformed the country and the lives of its citizens. From a starting point as one of the very poorest countries, South Korea is now the 13th largest economy in the world; it is a member of the OECD; and it is known around the world as a producer of high-quality vehicles, consumer electronics and other goods. The Korean pop culture is also sweeping Asia. Currently, Korea is one of the fastest growing economies in the OECD area on its high technology strength. So, it is hard to imagine a more dramatic success story. At the same time, the labor market is undergoing new changes, facing new challenges. Although Korea was one of the nations exporting laborers in the 1960s and 1970s, it has turned into a country importing labor force. This w

Oct 31, 2007

Runner-up Will Korea Keep on Roaring?

By Lisa Tullus Yonsei University Korea is a diverse country with a culture strongly influenced both by traditional, conservative Korean Confucianism and liberal, Western thoughts and ideas. From a foreigner's point these contradictory movements are very challenging to deal with. Korean culture is lively, interesting and multifaceted and in many respects it makes the nation the wonderful country it is. However, Korean culture also holds some difficulties and impediments for a co-operation with other people from other countries and cultures. Korea shares these problems with booming economies, such as Dubai and United Arab Emirates. Economical growth generates from exogenous factors, such as increase in working population, technological process, investments and consumption. The OECD report International Migration Outlook 2007 underlines the growing importance of highly qualified workers, industrial workers and students. Human capital is considered one of the major factors in explaining Korea's remarkable growth. As one of the fastest growing countries in the OECD, Korea

Oct 31, 2007

Commendation Awards Let Foreign Workers Help Open Up Society

By Jussi Heikkola University of Vaasa, Finland The Republic of Korea has achieved tremendous growth in the last 30 years. During this time Korea has developed from rural society to industrial economy. The growth has been significant economically as well as socially. The World Economic forum ranks Korea 24th in its 2006-2007 Global Competitiveness Report. Well done! Best way to simply define the level of economical development of a country is to use the per capita GDP indicator. According to International Monetary Fund, Korea ranked 34th in the World and stands at over $18,000 in 2006, a little bit less than Slovenia, Portugal and Bahamas. Now Korean leaders have set a goal for reaching the $30,000 mark, an achievement that acts like a standard for 21st century leading economies. In order to reach the aspired GDP level, the economy needs to have serious support from foreign workers. There are two types of foreign help needed; high class international experts to boost the technological and social growth of the economy & low-salary workforce to carry out the har

Oct 31, 2007

Commendation Awards Fair Competition Essential for Income Balance

By Lee Ho Jun Kyunghee University Economic polarization has always been a subject of controversy, and many politicians and governments have shown a tendency to shy away from this thorny issue. Economic disparity has been widening significantly in Korea since the Asian financial crisis of 1997. After the unforgettable financial damage, the government and corporate institutions had no other option to remedy the economic situation but to accept the neo-capitalist economic system led by the United States and the United Kingdom. Economists and nations are convinced that greater polarization imposes a burden upon governments and poses a serious obstacle to societies in their pursuit of sustainable growth, and integration between the rich and the poor. Ironically, when those governments or companies tried to promote growth, economic polarization seemed to become worse under the neo-capitalist system. This is the single biggest disadvantage of this system. There are many examples relating to this issue such as the widespread income gap between the rich and the poor. There

Oct 31, 2007

Commendation Awards Education to Provide Key to Narrowing Gap Between Rich and Poor

By Park Hyun-ju Yonsei University Economic polarization describes the increasing gap between the rich and the poor in society that arises from determinants such as income inequality, real-estate fluctuations and displacements in economic choices. If the middle class disappears, more people living under the poverty line increases and the rich only become wealthier, creating a burden on the economy. In Korea, the increase of the price of real estate had a large impact on the middle class who had to spend most of their savings on purchasing their apartments. With more people who could not afford the prices, people had to rent homes or spend most of their incomes on it. This had a negative effect on the nation's economy and placed more people under the poverty line. The saying, ``the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer,'' has recently been an issue as studies have explored the fact that the gap between the incomes of highly skilled workers and low skilled workers is increasing. Since this is a heavy weight on the economy, it is vital to focus on th

Oct 31, 2007

Shim Named Best Person for 2007

By Park Si-soo Staff Reporter The comedian-turned-movie director Shim Hyung-rae will receive an award from the Korea Magazine Association (KMA). The association announced Tuesday it has selected Shim as the best person of the year for 2007. Including Shim, a total of 14 people will receive medals in recognition of their contributions to developing the magazine industry in Korea. The KMA will host an awards ceremony on Thursday in Seoul to celebrate the 42nd anniversary of ``Magazine Day.'' ``Magazine Day,'' which falls Nov. 1, was established in 1965 to commemorate the first publication of ``Children'' ㅡ the first modern magazine in Korea ㅡ on Nov. 1, 1908. pss@koreatimes.co.kr

Oct 30, 2007

Star Couples Divorce Turns Nasty

By Chung Ah-young Staff Reporter Star couple ― Park Chul and Ok So-ri ― are seeing their divorce fight take a nasty turn. Park said on Monday that he had filed a criminal suit against Ok for adultery. In Korea, adultery is against the law. Park's disclosure followed Ok's press conference held Sunday. Breaking her silence since the news of their divorce became public, Ok denied certain rumors around her and divulged the couple's marital problems to the public. . Ok said that it was untrue that she cheated on Park through having inappropriate relations with an Italian chef working at a five-star hotel in Seoul. She said that she just learned English and cooking from him. But Ok admitted that she had an affair with a vocalist, identified with Chung, for three months in 2006. She said she she ended the relationship because Chung asked to borrow a large sum of money from her. Ok also said that she was not happy in her marriage life because she had many financial and other private problems resulting from Park's inability from the beginning of the marriage. When asked abo

Oct 29, 2007

Second-Generation Korean Earns Tenure at Harvard

By Park Si-soo Staff Reporter A Korean-American professor was designated as a tenured professor at Harvard Business School (HBS). Prof. Moon Young-me, 43, earned tenure as a professor of business administration in marketing at HBS. The second-generation Korean teaches a number of executive education programs including consumer marketing strategy, strategic marketing management, and marketing innovative technologies. She was born in 1964 in Atlanta, the U.S. and spent her secondary school years in Seoul. Moon earned her bachelors degree in political science at Yale University. Following completing a master's degree in politics at Stanford University, she worked between 1985 and 1990 as a news producer at the U.S.-based broadcasting company NBC. She went back to do her Ph.D. in communication at Stanford University in 1993. The professor received the HBS Student Association Faculty Award for teaching excellence in both first-year marketing and in her elective course on several occasions for two consecutive years from 2005. Moon currently lives in Brooklyne,

Oct 29, 2007

Envoy Han Seung-soo Publishes Memoir on UN

By Park Si-soo Staff Reporter Han Seung-soo, the U.N. special envoy for climate change, has published his memoirs featuring various behind the scenes experiences he had while serving as the president of the United Nations General Assembly. The book, written in English, is titled ``Beyond the Shadow of 9/11.'' The nation's former foreign minister held a book launching ceremony Monday at a bookstore in the U.N. headquarters in New York City. The event was attended by around 200 distinguished guests including Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general of the United Nations, and many foreign diplomats. ``Before I took office as the president of the U.N. General Assembly, I couldn't find any memoir telling the hidden histories of the international organization, written by my predecessors,'' Han said. ``So I penned this book to help my successors by publishing stories containing diverse stories regarding the U.N.'' He was elected president of the assembly's 56th session in September 2001. Han wrote the memoir based on a draft made between September 2001 and September 2002

Oct 24, 2007

Actress Choi Kang-hee Donates Bone-Marrow

By Park Si-soo Staff Reporter The Korea Marrow Donor Program (KMDP) said Monday that entertainer Choi Kang-hee performed an act of charity by contributing her bone marrow last Wednesday to a child patient suffering from leukemia. This is the first case of a Korean celebrity donating marrow to an unknown patient. Reportedly, the 30-year-old movie star went to a Seoul-based hospital last Tuesday and donated the marrow on Wednesday. ``After learning that we found a patient who has a completely compatible genetic code with her, Choi stopped shooting her film and promptly visited the hospital to undergo a physical check-up in order to confirm a biological match with the recipient,'' the KMDP said. Her management agency said she is in good health now. ``We tried to discourage her from doing it for fear of harming her health. But Choi was adamant in donating to the patient so we accepted her proposal.'' Bone marrow is the soft tissue found in the hollow interior of bones especially the hip and thighbones. It contains immature cells, called stem cells, which develop int

Oct 23, 2007
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