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Pets are property? Top court reviews pets' legal status

Dogs who were rescued from abuse await adoption at a center Seoul. Korea Times fileConstitutional Court may grant greater legal protection for animalsBy Lee Suh-yoonThe Constitutional Court is currently reviewing a civil code article that designates animals as property. It is expected to reach a decision later this month.The code classifies animals as objects without any basic rights or interests granted to human beings.Care, an animal rights group, said this classification has led to unjust rulings in cases involving animal abuse. The group filed the case with the court last June.Since pets are considered property, their owners or people who commit violence against them only face fines of up to what the animals are worth on the market.“Due to the legal perception of animals as objects, past court verdicts of animal abuse only led people to face light punishment,” Park So-youn, head of Care, told The Korea Times. “Instead of reviewing animal abuse cases as those between a perpetrator and victim, these are only seen as something between a human and an object.”O

Jul 10, 2018

Pets are property? Top court reviews pets' legal status

'Ask directly: Do you have suicidal thoughts?'

By Lee Kyung-min Directly asking if a person feels suicidal helps reduce the chances of someone killing themselves, a notion that seems counterintuitive to many who fear that the mentioning the word may trigger the tragedy, according to a government official. The Korea Suicide Prevention Center, supervised by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, held a “gatekeeper training” course that teaches ways to better “see, hear and speak” when encountering those who show signs of suicide. “Many people find it very difficult to even broach the issue. Understandably so. But by asking the question, we need to carefully listen to how much a person is distraught and in pain. This lending of an empathetic ear should be followed by showing support that their hardship is understood. We then need to emphasize they do have reasons to be hopeful about life by reminding them of important ties such as family, friends or other communities,” an instructor at the center said. Listening helps people get involved, the instructor said. Listening carefully and sincerely, and pu

Jul 8, 2018

Health warnings to be imprinted on HNB cigarettes

By Kim Jae-heunThe government has decided to implement pictorial health warnings on heat-not-burn (HNB) e-cigarette boxes as part of moves to raise awareness about the dangers of tobacco use.According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Monday, it has selected 12 pictorial warning labels and messages that will be printed on the packs starting Dec. 23, replacing previous graphic warnings.The ministry added the pictorial health warnings will include a picture of a cancer cell accompanied by a message saying “heat-not-burn e-cigarettes addict you to nicotine and expose you to carcinogens.”“According to the latest study by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, various cancer-causing agents like benzopyrene and benzene were detected in HNB cigarettes,” a ministry official said.“The ministry has concluded that the HNB cigarette companies' argument that their products are less harmful than traditional cigarettes lacks evidence.”The health ministry already revealed their new graphic warnings for HNB cigarette packs from May 14 until June 4 to gauge publ

Jul 6, 2018

Gov't to tackle 'dismally low' birthrate

By Lee Kyung-min About 50,000 low-income women will be given up to 1.5 million won ($1,300) each in a maternity payout, and the number of children eligible for state-run childcare services will be doubled. The payout ceiling for fathers who take paternity leave will be increased to 2.5 million won from the current 2 million and the medical cost for children aged under 12 months will be reduced by up to 66 percent. The Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy unveiled the measures to encourage couples between 20 and 49 to have children by subsidizing part of the childrearing costs amid the plummeting birthrate. The full implementation of the plan, however, will face an uphill battle as the 900 billion-won government initiative will require revision to the current laws, without which changes will remain minimal to none. The new measure seeks to induce change from the parents by helping increase the quality of life for caregivers, a major shift from the earlier drive which critics said “obsessed” over the rapidly falling birthrate. Statistics Korea showe

Jul 5, 2018

Gov't to tackle 'dismally low' birthrate

65% of singles think Korean children are unhappy

There is an unhappy outlook for Korea's birthrate. YonhapBy Jung Min-hoMore than 65 percent of single men and women think Korean children are unhappy, a survey showed Thursday.According to the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs' research, 65.5 percent of single men and women think children born in Korea are “very unhappy” or “somewhat unhappy.”Their perceptions bode ill for Korea's fertility rate, which is already among the lowest in the world.According to the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy, the fertility rate ― the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime ― is expected to fall below 1.0 this year, down from 1.05 last year.The committee said the number of babies ― born or to be born in 2018 ― is projected to be around 320,000, a drop from 357,700 in 2017. It noted that the number will hit 300,000 by 2022 if the current trend continues.

Jul 5, 2018

65% of singles think Korean children are unhappy

Air ambulance transfers 700th patient

Emergency medical workers at Dankook University Hospital escort a patient after unloading her from its air ambulance. Courtesy of Dankook University HospitalBy Jung Da-minDankook University Hospital transferred a patient in critical condition recently by its medical evacuation helicopter.The patient who is in her 50s was the 700th patient transferred by the hospital's so-called “doctor helicopter” since its deployment in January 2016.According to the hospital in South Chungcheong Province, 559 of the 700 patients transferred by the emergency helicopter have been discharged. A total of 577 patients, or 82 percent, survived. The remaining 125 patients died.“Thanks to rapid transportation by medical staff and first aid, it has been possible to reduce the mortality rate of patients including those with serious trauma, heart disease and cerebrovascular disease. The strengthened medical safety network in South Chungcheong Province also contributed,” said Cho Jong-tae, CEO of Dankook University Hospital. “We will expand the operation of air ambulances for emerg

Jul 5, 2018

Ajou to get 'doctor helicopter' soon

Korea's childbirths continue to decline in April

The number of newborns in South Korea fell again in April, government data showed Wednesday, in the latest sign of the chronic low birthrate that has plagued Asia's fourth-largest economy for more than a decade.About 27,700 babies were born in April, down 8.9 percent, from 30,400 tallied a year earlier, according to data by Statistics Korea.In the first four months of the year, the number of newborns fell 9.1 percent on-year to 117,000, official numbers showed.Monthly childbirths have decreased on-year every month since December 2015.Last year, the number of newborns dropped to a record low despite concerted efforts to tackle the problem.The number of babies born in all of 2017 reached 357,700, down 11.9 percent, or 48,500, from a year earlier.That figure was the lowest number of newborns tallied since the statistics agency started to compile such data in 1970.The crude birthrate, which refers to the number of births per 1,000 people per year, also came to an all-time low of 7 last year, down from the previous year's 7.9.In addition, the total fertility rate, or the number of babies

Jun 27, 2018

Korea's childbirths continue to decline in April

Indoor smoking lounges to be closed at airports

Indoor smoking lounges at airports will gradually be shut down and outdoor smoking areas will be relocated further away from zones with passenger traffic, authorities said Monday.Smoking areas will be rearranged at the country's 14 airports nationwide to reflect the changing social perception of smoking and second-hand smoke, according to the Korea Airports Corporation (KAC).Gimpo International Airport in Seoul will close the two indoor smoking lounges at its domestic terminal and renovate the two at the international terminal to better prevent smoke from leaking outside. The outdoor smoking lounges will be moved out from current locations a relocated a longer distance away from non-smoking airport users, it said.Jeju International Airport will likewise close its indoor smoking lounges in both the domestic and international terminals. The Jeju airport initially asked that it be excluded from the plan to better serve all passengers, given the high flight delay rate compared to other airports. The KAC denied the request. (Yonhap)

Jun 25, 2018

Indoor smoking lounges to be closed at airports

Health insurance reform to remove free-riders

By Lee Kyung-min Starting next month, people with high income or high-value assets will no longer be able to “free-ride” on the state-run health insurance program. A revised law set to take effect July 1 will disqualify them as dependents of their sons, daughters or siblings registered as salaried workers under an employer-sponsored program, which accounts for about 80 percent of the state-run National Health Insurance Service (NHIS). The remaining 20 percent non-employer-sponsored program is comprised of the self-employed and the underprivileged. The 350,000 people recognized thus far as dependents are among 840,000 households including the top 1 percent of income earners that will shoulder increased monthly premium. Over 5.89 million low-income households will see their monthly premiums drop by 22,000 won ($19.7). The measure is part of three-year welfare program reform spearheaded by President Moon Jae-in, who pledged to better protect those who have been neglected thus far, increase access to quality welfare services and root out welfare fraud. Salaried workers are au

Jun 24, 2018

Health insurance revised for underprivileged

Gov't boost quarantine efforts to prevent fire ant spread

  By Kim Hyun-binKorea will boost quarantine efforts to prevent the spread of foreign red fire ants that have been discovered in major ports of the country.The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced plans, Friday, to disinfect port areas in efforts to contain their spread.The quarantine officials will increase inspections on containers that are from high-risk areas, and increase promotions so workers can promptly report any encounters with the ants.The officials plan to thoroughly inspect all containers that carry 32 products likely to attract fire ants including coconuts and dried wood.Countries that have reported recent outbreaks will also be urged to carry out inspections.“We are urging 11 cities in China including Fujian that are categorized as red ant-infested areas to self quarantine the containers before import,” the agriculture ministry said. “If they fail to do so, we will double our quarantine efforts to thoroughly inspect the containers.”One June 18, 700 fire ants were discovered in concrete cracks at a container termina

Jun 22, 2018

Health

Health

Pets are property? Top court reviews pets' legal status

'Ask directly: Do you have suicidal thoughts?'

Health warnings to be imprinted on HNB cigarettes

Gov't to tackle 'dismally low' birthrate

65% of singles think Korean children are unhappy

Air ambulance transfers 700th patient

Korea's childbirths continue to decline in April

Indoor smoking lounges to be closed at airports

Health insurance reform to remove free-riders

Gov't boost quarantine efforts to prevent fire ant spread

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