South Korea - The Korea Times

Government vows for “safer Korea”

By Jhoo Dong-chanThe government announced plans to make Korea safer, following a recent series of man-made disasters including the deadly fires that took place in Jecheon and a Jongno motel.“Today’s main topic is public safety,” Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon said during the joint media conference at the Sejong Convention Center in Sejong City, Wednesday.“According to Statistics Korea, only 13 out of 100 citizens say they feel safe in Korea. A series of man-made disasters took place last year, and yet still continue this year. It should stop now.”The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport unveiled plans to halve the deaths from traffic accidents by 2022.“The number of traffic accident casualties has consistently gone down, but there is still a long way to go before the nation’s roads become as safe as other advanced countries,” it said in a press release.“The ministry will switch to a pedestrian-first traffic system from the current vehicle-first system. The in-city speed limit will be reduced to 50 kilometers per hour from t

Jan 23, 2018

Korea has emergency contraception in name only

Ministry’s inaction forces women to have “illegal-yet-common” abortionBy Lee Kyung-min A Nepalese woman in her 20s had an abortion a couple of months ago. The foreign worker who works at a farm in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province, paid 2 million won ($1,870) to terminate the pregnancy at an obstetrics and gynecology clinic (ob/gyn) in the region. “I had no choice but to pay the cost that was much higher than my monthly wage,” said the woman who makes 1.4 million won per month. She and her Nepalese boyfriend who also works at the farm paid 1 million won each. “After I had an unprotected sex with my boyfriend, I got worried and went to a pharmacy to buy emergency contraception. But the pharmacist kept saying that the pill was sold only with doctor’s prescription. There was nothing I could do.”  It was Friday evening and there were no ob/gyn clinics near where she worked. Levonorgestrel-based emergency contraceptives can be taken within 72 hours of having unprotected sex, but its effectiveness decreases if taken more than 12 ho

Jan 21, 2018

Korea has emergency contraception in name only

Koreans cut back on binge and heavy drinking

By Park Si-sooKorea is infamous for its binge and heavy drinking culture. But this trend is sinking, with the focus on wellbeing and a healthy lifestyle rather than on work and social networking. In 2016, the combined amount of alcohol unloaded from domestic liquor suppliers’ warehouses was 3.995 million kiloliters, according to Statistics Korea data. This was a 1.9 percent down from a year earlier. The fall was led by reduced consumption of popular alcoholic beverages such as soju (down 2.6 percent), beer (down 3.7 percent) and makgeolli (down 7.2 percent). Whisky consumption has fallen nine years in a row. In 2016, nearly 1.669 million boxes of whisky were sold, down 41 percent from 2008. OECD data shows this trend is not limited to Korea. In 2007, member countries’ annual alcohol consumption per capita was 9.8 liters. It slipped to 9.2 liters in 2010 and nine in 2015. The continued decline has taken a toll on domestic liquor makers’ bottom lines and also forced them to cut staff. The nation’s biggest liquor maker, OB Brewery, is in talks with its labor unio

Jan 15, 2018

Koreans cut back on binge and heavy drinking

Caution required over side effects of oral contraceptives

 By Lee Kyung-minA 26-year old woman surnamed Han gave up taking oral contraceptives after experiencing severe migraine and nausea. The combination birth control pill that contains two hormones _ estrogen and progestin _ to prevent pregnancy _ is known to be a safe and effective method of birth control for most women, and is also used to help the regulation of periods. She decided to take what seemed to be a bothersome daily routine, to help treat her irregular menstrual cycle. “I always had irregular menstrual cycles since I was in high school,” she said. “Doctors told me that I was too stressed out over study for the university entrance exam, adding that my condition should get better once the exam was over, but it didn’t get any better long after I graduated university. That is why I tried taking the pills.”Soon after she began the 28-day regimen that required her to take 21 pills _ one pill per day _ she had migraines, which made it impossible for her to do anything, let alone concentrate on her studies.  “Having a headache

Jan 14, 2018

Four newborns died from blood poisoning: police

Police search Ewha Womans University Medical Center in southwestern Seoul on Dec. 19 after the deaths of four newborns. / Korea Times fileBy Kim Hyun-binThe deaths of four newborns last month, in an intensive care unit at a hospital in Seoul, were caused by blood poisoning from a bacterial infection, police said Friday.“Blood tests on the infants showed all four were infected with Citobacter freundii, which could be fatal to immunocompromised patients, including premature babies,” the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said, quoting a final autopsy report from the National Forensic Service.Citrobacter freundii is a type of gram-negative bacterium commonly found in a healthy human gut, but can often cause respiratory, blood-related or urinary symptoms in immunocompromised patients, including premature babies. The bacterium can also be antibiotic-resistant, raising speculation of overuse, which could have contributed to the four babies’ deaths, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said.Forensics officials raised the possibility the babies were inf

Jan 12, 2018

Four newborns died from blood poisoning: police

Triplets born two months apart

Mother of triplets poses for a picture with Seoul National University medical personnel who helped her deliver three healthy boys, Wednesday / YonhapBy Kim Hyun-binMost people are aware that giving birth is an intense experience, but giving birth to triplets is another story.The brave mother Son Ji-young, 35, naturally gave birth to three healthy boys. However, it was not an average delivery process.The triplets were born in different months, the first in November and the other two in January. Most triplets are born minutes apart.“We have succeeded in using delayed interval delivery,” Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) said.Son was considered a high-risk patient, as she was pregnant with triplets at an older than average age.Last November, Son felt intense stomach pain, which brought her to the hospital. She gave premature birth to her first son, but no imminent signs were present the other two were coming out. A C-section was an option, but doctors felt it best to conduct a delayed interval delivery so the babies would have more time to develop in the mother&rsquo

Jan 12, 2018

Dirty air degrades Korea's quality of life

By Kim Se-jeongThe exposure to air pollutants at the PM 2.5 density level and an insufficient water supply will undermine the quality of lives for Koreans, according to the OECD. In “How’s Life 2017?” released by the organization, high household debt and low trust in the national government also affect people’s life satisfaction.The OECD conducts the study every two years using statistical data provided by individual countries and compares these against standard indicators. Seven non-OECD states were also studied for reference purposes. Regarding exposure to PM 2.5, the average exposure level outdoors was 27.9 micrograms per cubic meter in 2013, double the OECD average at 13.9 micrograms. Korea had the worst exposure among 41 states whose records were compared.The second worst country was South Africa with 21.6 micrograms while Poland, another non-OCED member state, was third worst with 22.1 micrograms. The countries with the best air quality were Iceland with 3 micrograms, followed by Finland with 4.6, New Zealand with 4.9 and Australia with 5.2. The study fo

Jan 7, 2018

Dirty air degrades Korea's quality of life

Long-term childcare measures to help working moms

By Lee Kyung-min  More working moms will be able to concentrate on their work without the anxiety about hiring and keeping a nanny following a government measure to increase the number of state-run workplace childcare centers. Stay-at-home moms will be able to send their children to daycare centers that are not only affordable but also just as competent as private kindergartens.The Ministry of Health and Welfare unveiled a long-term measure to strengthen its role in providing childcare services amid growing demand from women, many of whom are much more likely to quit work than men. They are forced to comply with the social perception that childrearing responsibilities fall almost exclusively on women.A special committee — led by the vice health minister and comprised of ministry officials, daycare center representatives, a childrearing policy institute, daycare instructors and parents — deliberated on issues concerning the government’s realistic role in a country marked by a rapidly graying population and low birthrate. The committee agreed childrearing is

Jan 5, 2018

BBQ vows to actively counter BHC lawsuit

By Kim Se-jeongGenesis BBQ has pledged to more actively counter a lawsuit filed by chicken franchiser BHC over a disputed supply contract. One of Korea’s leading fried chicken franchisers also plans to bolster communication between its headquarters and franchisees to better deal with a range of pending issues.Yoon Kyung-joo, who became the company CEO last June, recently sent a message to franchisees explaining two major scandals involving the company in an effort to drum up support from them. Yoon wrote, “I am sure what has recently happened disappointed you. I would like to clear up a couple of things.”One big scandal is an ongoing legal battle with BHC, a rapidly-emerging fried chicken franchiser and a former Genesis BBQ franchise. The mother company Genesis BBQ owns 12 franchise brands with more than 3,800 stores across the country. “Bhc stole important information from us. The police investigation is under way, which is necessary to prevent the same thing from happening again,” Yoon said. In 2013, Genesis BBQ sold BHC to the Rohatyn Group, a U.S.-ba

Jan 4, 2018

Corruption scandals take toll on Korea's spirit of giving

A Salvation Army bell ringer in raincoat sits idle in rain near a red kettle in Gwanghwamun, downtown Seoul, on Dec. 30. / YonhapBy Park Si-soo The spirit of giving that warms Korean society this time of the year seems to be losing its steam rapidly in the wake of the protracted economic slowdown and corruption scandals involving charities. The number of people who seek the tax deduction given to donors has plunged in recent years, state data showed. A total of 715,260 received the deduction in 2016, the latest data available, down 8.8 percent from a year earlier, the National Tax Service said. It was a 28.6 percent drop from 2012 when 886,617 people benefited from the tax cut. The downturn continued in 2017. Major charities are said to be falling well short of their fundraising targets. The Community Chest of Korea, one of the biggest charities, said as of December 31 its fundraising reached 65 percent of its goal of 399.4 billion won. At the same time in previous years, the rate hovered around 70 percent, it said. The Salvation Army of Korea, another major charity, is also wrestlin