South Korea - The Korea Times

Jeju to revoke license of Korea's 1st for-profit hospital

Aerial photo of Greenland International Medical Center, the country's first for-profit hospital, on Jeju Island / YonhapBy Kim Hyun-binThe provincial government of Jeju Island has begun a process to revoke the operating license of the nation's first for-profit hospital as the institute failed to open by the date designated by law.The Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Government announced, Monday, it would hold a public hearing as soon as the first step to nullify its approval of Greenland International Medical Center, invested by Shanghai-based Greenland Group.The process comes after the investor filed a lawsuit last month to demand a court lift the local government's ban on offering medical services to Korean patients.“The medical center was granted the operating license on Dec. 5, and under the country's medical law, it needed to open within 90 days by March 4. But it was not able to and the deadline has expired,” Ahn Dong-woo, vice governor of Jeju, said during a press briefing.According to the same law, the approval can be annulled if a hospital fails to meet the

Mar 4, 2019By Kim Hyun-bin

Jeju to revoke license of Korea's 1st for-profit hospital

PHOTOS Ex-comfort woman Kwak Ye-nam laid to rest

The framed portrait of late Kwak Ye-nam, forced into sexual slavery for Japanese troops during World War II, lies next to a bronze statue symbolizing “comfort women,” during a memorial service in Damyang, South Jeolla Province, Monday. Kwak died on Saturday, aged 94, after suffering from chronic pneumonia since 2015. Kwak was forced into sexual slavery in 1944 at age 19, during Japan's occupation of the Korean Peninsula (1910-45) and returned to Korea in 2004 after living in China for 60 years. Her death has reduced the number of surviving victims of the Japan-led sexual slavery system to 22. YonhapMourners lay chrysanthemums before Kwak's portrait while paying tribute to her. YonhapYonhapYonhapYonhapA human rights activist sobs while speaking to mourners. YonhapA memorial alter at a funeral parlor in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, MondayA wreath from President Moon Jae-in stands next to the altar. YonhapKwak Ye-nam talks with President Moon Jae-in at her residence in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, last August. Yonhap

Mar 4, 2019

Ex-comfort woman Kwak Ye-nam laid to rest [PHOTOS]

Several diseases linked to ringing in the ears

By Kim Hyun-binMost people may have experienced tinnitus, or the sensation of noise or ringing in the ears without an external source at least once in their lives, at least once in their life. For most, it's just a ringing sound, while for others it could come in the form of whistling, buzzing, chirping, hissing, humming, roaring or even shrieking.The course of chronic tinnitus is unpredictable. Sometimes the symptoms remain the same, but in other cases they can get worse. In about 10 percent of sufferers, the condition interferes with everyday life so much that they need to seek professional help.Over 90% experience tinnitusThe sound may seem to come from inside the head from one ear or both, or could feel like it's from a distance.According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service report, there has been a gradual increase in tinnitus patients in Korea from 281,351 in 2013 to 310,895 in 2016.Tinnitus may be constant or intermittent, steady or pulsating, though sometimes it serves as a warning of another disease.People may show signs after being exposed to extremely loud

Mar 3, 2019By Kim Hyun-bin

Several diseases linked to ringing in the ears

1,520 kindergartens to defer opening in protest against 'unjust state intervention'

An association of South Korea's private preschools said Sunday it would press ahead with a plan to postpone the opening of the spring semester, slated for the following day, despite the government's warning of stern punitive measures.The Korea Kindergarten Association (KKA) claimed that the education authorities are putting unjust pressure on its members nationwide and even made false claims about the number of preschools to postpone the start of the semester.The group is fiercely protesting against the government's drive to reform private preschools that receive state subsidies.There have been continued reports of corruption and other irregularities involving the use of taxpayers' money by a number of local preschool operators.The government plans to introduce Edufine, a state-managed accounting system, for all major preschools. It earlier announced that only around 190 of more than 3,800 private preschools are scheduled to join the association's move to put off the start of the semester.But the KKA said that a total of 1,533 schools will take part.It urged the government to stop tr

Mar 3, 2019

1,520 kindergartens to defer opening in protest against 'unjust state intervention'

'Baby box is last resort to parents, newborns in Korea '

Lee Jong-rak, a pastor of Jusarang Community Church, has been taking care of abandoned babies through baby box since 2009, saving more than 1,500 newborns. Korea Times photo by Jung Hae-myoungBy Jung Hae-myoungLee Jong-rak, the pastor of Jusarang Community Church, received a desperate phone call at 3:20 a.m. in April 2007.“Over the phone, a woman kept apologizing and saying she left her baby in front of the church door,” Lee said. When he went outside, a cat jumped from a fish box in front of the door. Inside the box was a baby with a cold body. Lee said she died when he hugged her to his chest. “Until 2009, many babies were abandoned in places like garbage boxes, bathrooms and subway station lockers,” Lee said. “One day I saw a news article that the Czech Republic has a baby box for discarded babies.” Lee immediately adopted the idea and became the first to establish a baby box in Korea. He started in 2009 and has been running it for over 10 years so that parents who cannot afford to raise a child can put babies in a safe place as a last resort.&l

Feb 26, 2019

'Baby box is last resort to parents, newborns in Korea '

Court orders to compensate MERS patient's family 100 mil.

Samsung Medical Center. / YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunThe Seoul Central District Court said, Monday, it has ordered the government and Samsung Medical Center to pay 100 million won ($89,000) in compensation to the bereaved family of a man who died from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2015.The court ruled that the government failed to properly carry out an epidemiologic investigation into the disease in the early stages of the epidemic and thus failed to prevent the man from coming into contact with another MERS patient who was hospitalized at the medical center in Seoul. It ruled the hospital also failed to properly screen those who came into contact with the first MERS patient.The man contracted MERS from the 14th confirmed patient, when he brought his wife and daughter to the emergency room at the hospital. He died 18 days after he was diagnosed. The bereaved family filed a lawsuit against the country and the hospital for neglecting their responsibility to warn other people at the medical institution of the risk of exposure to MERS and failing to prevent the epidemic from sprea

Feb 26, 2019By Kim Jae-heun

Court orders to compensate MERS patient's family 100 mil.

Half of women give up having child due to financial reasons

Expectant mothers and their husbands learn yoga for pregnant women in Seoul. Korea Times fileBy Kim Hyun-binNearly half of women in Korea are not willing to have a child ― or an additional child if they already have one or more ― due to financial pressure from childcare and education costs, a report showed Monday.According to the report by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, which was based on a 2018 survey of females aged between 15 and 49 years old, 84.8 percent of them said they had no plan to have a child in the future; 10 percent said they were, while 4.8 percent stated they were not sure.Nearly half, or 47.1 percent, cited the economic burden as their main reason, including overwhelming education fees (16.8 percent), childcare expenses (14.2 percent), low income and unstable job status (7.9 percent), difficulty in both raising a child and remaining at work (6.9 percent), and not having a proper house to raise a child (1.3 percent).“I have a child but we are not planning for a second one, as the cost for the first child is huge,” Lee, a Seoul resident

Feb 25, 2019By Kim Hyun-bin

Half of women give up having child due to financial reasons

Women give up having children for financial reasons: report

Many married women give up on having children because of the cost of child rearing, according to a recent report. gettyimagesbankMarried women typically want to have two children but give up on their plans because of the cost of child rearing, a report said Monday.The Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs canvassed approximately 11,000 women nationwide aged 15 to 49 for the report. Results said women on average wanted 2.16 children and had planned on having two children at the time of marriage. However, they actually had an average of 1.75 children.A total of 84.8 percent of the polled women, when asked if they planned on having more children, answered no compared with 10.4 percent who said yes. Another 4.8 percent said they were undecided.Among those who were not expecting more childbirths, 16.8 percent said they decided so because of the financial burden of educating children. A similar 14.2 percent cited the cost of raising children, 7.9 percent job and income instability, and 6.9 percent difficulties in balancing work with family. In sum, 47.1 percent of them based their

Feb 25, 2019

Women give up having children for financial reasons: report

1 out of 3 Koreans diagnosed with latent tuberculosis

By Kim Hyun-binIt is believed that one out of every three Koreans are deemed to have latent tuberculosis (LTB), while 76.8 people out of every 100,000 are diagnosed with active TB, which is the highest rate among the OECD member states. Each year in the country, 30,000 people on average are newly diagnosed with the disease and some 2,000 people die from it.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) notes, “The bacteria that cause TB are spread through the air from person to person when a patient with the disease coughs, speaks or sings. People nearby may breathe in these bacteria and become infected. People with TB usually have symptoms and may spread the TB bacteria to others.”Experts say checkup is important to diagnose and manage LTB, which is neither infectious nor symptomatic but could turn active. Active TB can be contagious while LTB is not, and it is therefore not possible to contract TB from someone with LTB. However, the main risk is that approximately 10 percent of these people will go on to develop active tuberculosis. LTB patients who are young or have a weak

Feb 24, 2019By Kim Hyun-bin

1 out of 3 Koreans diagnosed with latent tuberculosis

Don't lock asylum seekers in 'prison-like' facilities, says watchdog

The National Human Rights Commission of KoreaBy Park Si-sooThe state human rights watchdog urges the justice ministry not to lock asylum seekers in a “prison-like” facility while their asylum applications are under examination. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea also called on the ministry to treat asylum seekers “in ways that better respect their human rights” and conduct pre-detention physical and mental health checkups thoroughly. The watchdog made the suggestion after inspecting three immigration processing centers ― in Hwaseong, Cheongju and Yeosu ― and interviewing asylum seekers there. Thirty-six foreigners seeking asylum are being detained, including some locked up for more than three years, the commission said. It said the asylum seekers spent most of their time inside a “cell,” so many were suffering a chronic sense of loss or helplessness. To tackle this, the commission asked the ministry to give them “freedom” ― at least in a designated area ― to talk and interact with others. The watchdog also discovered the cent

Feb 22, 2019

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