South Korea - The Korea Times

Two Koreas to restart medical exchange

By Kim Hyun-binThe third inter-Korean summit in mid-September has opened a wide array of possibilities to enhance relations between the two Koreas. Among them, the two countries agreed to strengthen cooperation in quarantine and healthcare to prevent an influx of diseases that could spread through frequent interactions.Healthcare issues in general have been relatively free from politics and ideology, but tensions on the Korean Peninsula have virtually frozen any exchanges, even in the medical sector, since 2008. However, with the recent reconciliatory atmosphere, healthcare and medical exchanges could become one of the first inter-Korean cooperation projects.“The two Koreas are afraid of the diseases each has, so it will be easier for the two sides to enhance cooperation in healthcare and the medical field. The South's diseases could be spread in the North and vice versa,” Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said during a National Assembly government audit session, Oct. 10. “If the two sides agree to increase medical exchanges to better deal with disease prevention, we n

Oct 21, 2018By Kim Hyun-bin

Controversy rises over leniency for criminals with 'mental instability'

By Jung Hae-myoung A long-standing controversy has been reignited recently over whether it is proper for an "unstable mental condition” to be a valid reason for leniency shown toward criminals. The issue reemerged following a murder committed by a man suffering from depression. The suspect, 30, stabbed a 21-year-old part-time worker in an internet cafe in western Seoul Oct. 14. The man was arrested three days later, but told officers that he had been suffering from depression for 10 years and was on medication, according to police. This led many people up to protest the leniency of criminal law, under which judges can reduce prison terms when the crime is committed by a “mentally unstable” person. “Mentally unstable” people are defined as those incapable of making proper decisions for various reasons, including those with mental disorders or who were under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The latter two “reasons” are no longer recognized for sex crimes.More than 510,000 people have called for harsher punishment for such cases on Cheong Wa D

Oct 19, 2018

Controversy rises over leniency for criminals with 'mental instability'

'Hallasan' soju in dispute over E.coli contamination

Hallasan products. Captured from Hallasan websiteBy Lee Min-youngHallasan, Jeju's leading soju-maker, is in hot water after it was revealed that its signature product, Hallasan soju, is made with water inappropriate for drinking, despite the company's immediate clarification of the situation.The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said on its website Thursday that the soju maker had failed to pass the water quality test and that the ministry had ordered the company to repair its manufacturing facilities as of Oct. 11.This was a good slap in the face to loyal customers of the Hallasan soju, given that the brand was popular for its clean and pure image created through advertisements claiming that natural bedrock water was the base for its product.But tests showed that the PH concentration in the underground water used in the soju product was 8.7, exceeding acceptable standards that should fall between 5.8 and 8.5. The test also detected E.coli bacteria.Within a few hours, the company said in an official statement that its products on sale now had no hygiene issues. It said the test result

Oct 19, 2018By Lee Min-young

'Hallasan' soju in dispute over E.coli contamination

Graphic warnings help reduce smoking rate

By Jung Hae-myoung The smoking rate among male adults decreased in 2017 from the previous year with cigarette sales slipping by over 200 million packs, helped by graphic warnings on cigarette packets, the health ministry said Thursday.According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, last year's smoking rate posted a sharp decline compared with that of 2016 ― although it failed to elaborate on the figure. The ministry, along with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), plans to come up with a report on national health and nutrition, including the smoking rate, in November.Cigarette sales decreased to 3.4 billion packs in 2017 from 3.6 billion packs in 2016 ― in 2015, 3.3 billion packs were sold.The ministry said making graphic warnings compulsory for tobacco companies has proven effective, as well as decreasing the number of smoking areas in public facilities. Adding graphic warnings to cigarette packages has been mandatory for all manufacturers since 2016.Expanding non-smoking areas also affected the smoking rate. In 2011, 47 percent of the population were smoker

Oct 18, 2018

Korean adoptee looking for birth mother

Johannes Lindgren (Kang Min-ho) with his Korean foster mother Lee Chang-soon in 1981 / Courtesy of LindgrenA reunion with his foster mother in Seoul after 36 years / Courtesy of LindgrenBy Jung Min-hoIt took more than three decades for Johannes Lindgren to decide to return to Korea, the land of his birth, after a Swedish couple adopted him when he was barely a year old.After his disappointing first trip here in 2012, Lindgren (whose Korean name is Kang Min-ho), now 37, is visiting the country again with his wife and children to find his biological parents.“My biggest fear is to die without meeting my birth parents,” Lindgren told The Korea Times in Seoul, Tuesday. “I'm not angry at them. No hard feelings. I just want to meet them.”That dream almost came true in 2012, when the Korea Adoption Services found the address of his father. But the father rejected the agency's offer to meet him, citing personal reasons.“I was very disappointed and sad when I was told about his decision,” Lindgren said. “I'm still hoping he will change his mind.”

Oct 18, 2018By Jung Min-ho

The missing piece: A Korean adoptee's new life in Sweden

Stricter rule introduced over leftover food reuse at restaurants

By Kang Seung-wooBuffet restaurants will be strictly banned from reusing leftover food even if the food was only displayed and was not taken by customers, the nation's food regulator said, Tuesday.But they will be allowed to reuse some leftover food that will not cause hygiene-related problems, such as raw vegetables, unpeeled fruit and even kimchi.The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety plans to roll out sanitation guidelines for buffet and other restaurants by the end of this month, outlining what can be reused and what cannot. The instruction comes after a Todai Korea store in Pyeongchon, Gyeonggi Province, was found, in August, to have reused leftover sushi to make rolls and fried dishes. Controversy rose at the time because reusing displayed food was not illegal.According to the new guideline, restaurant operators cannot reuse the food which customers did not finish as well as food that has been displayed. It also bans the reuse of food that is seasoned or peeled.Leftover raw fish, sushi and gimbap and sliced fruit still cannot be reused, while cakes, cream-stuffed breads and fried

Oct 16, 2018By Kang Seung-woo

Centenary of 20th century's worst pandemic

Influenza victims crowd into an emergency hospital near Fort Riley, Kansas, in this 1918 file photo. APSpanish flu wiped out up to 100 million lives. Experts warn it could happen againBy Jung Min-hoHakim DjaballahOne hundred years ago, a deadly infectious disease spread across the globe, infecting 500 million people ― about one-third of the world's population at the time ― and killing at least 50 million.At minimum, the Spanish flu killed three times as many as died in World War I (17 million). At worst (100 million), it was more lethal than World War II (60 million) ― and even both wars put together.As historians mark the centenary of the flu outbreak, two important questions arise today: is any similar outbreak possible and, if so, how much are we prepared?According to Hakim Djaballah, former CEO of Institut Pasteur Korea, it is foolish to think that the world is now safe from another pandemic on that scale.“As an example, there are still many war-torn regions in the world, where the viral/pathogen landscape must be thriving and evolving,” Djaballah told The K

Oct 16, 2018By Jung Min-ho

Centenary of 20th century's worst pandemic

Korea announces end to MERS outbreak

South Korea on Tuesday officially declared an end to the country's first Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak in three years, health authorities here said.The announcement made at midnight is in line with guidelines set by the World Health Organization that requires no new infections for a minimum of 28 days, which is twice the length of the virus' incubation period, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said.On Sept. 8, a single person was diagnosed with MERS after returning home from a three-week business trip to Kuwait via the United Arab Emirates. It was the first confirmed case of the disease in the country since 2015.On Sept. 21, the KCDC lowered its alert level to its lowest readiness posture, as 21 people who came into close contact with the patient all tested negative for the disease.MERS is a viral respiratory disease with a fatality rate of 20-46 percent. It is caused by a novel coronavirus carried by camels and can be spread when someone is in close contact with a patient for a sustained period.The first MERS case was recorded in Saudi Ar

Oct 16, 2018

More students commit suicide due to excessive stress

By Kim Hyun-binEducation officials are on high alert as more students are committing suicide due to excessive stress from study and strained relations with family or friends, among other reasons. Some students as young as elementary school first grade have attempted suicide. The Ministry of Education conducted a psychoanalysis of suicidal students and formed a situation report to better counter the issue.According to the report, 37 grade school students attempted suicide in 2011 and that number jumped drastically to 258 in 2015 and last year reached a record high of 451.The statistics were based on students' reports to their schools, so many experts believe the number of unreported cases will far exceed the disclosed number.Along with the rising number of suicide attempts, that of students actually killing themselves has been also on the rise in recent years, from 93 in 2015 to 108 in 2016 and 114 in 2017.Experts say many children in the country are suffering from a psychological crisis.Elementary students attempt suicideSince 2014, Hallym University, on the request of the education

Oct 14, 2018By Kim Hyun-bin

More students commit suicide due to excessive stress

Korean prisons crowded 15 percent over capacity: lawmaker

Prisons across South Korea house an average 15 percent more inmates than their legal capacity, a lawmaker said Friday, citing a justice ministry report.Rep. Chang Je-won of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party also said few measures have been taken to address overcrowding at correctional facilities, which the Constitutional Court in 2016 deemed unconstitutional.The country's prisons are supposed to accommodate 47,000 people but 54,000 people were serving terms as of August, Chang said.Prisons in major cities are more overcrowded than those in other regions. Facilities in Incheon, west of Seoul, were operating at 134.6 percent of capacity, the highest across the country. That was followed by Seoul with 130.9 percent and the southeastern coastal city of Busan with 130.4 percent.In 2016, the Constitutional Court said the accommodation of inmates in a crowded space infringes on their dignity and value as human beings and violates the Constitution.The court also recommended that prisons offer a minimum 2.58 square meters of space per prisoner. (Yonhap)

Oct 12, 2018

Health