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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

Gov't hit for egg coding oversight failure

By Lee Kyung-minThe government has failed to oversee whether eggs were properly coded to identify which out of 17 provincial areas they came from, over the last seven years, data showed Sunday.  The oversight is further enraging the public over food safety following a government inspection that found insecticide-tainted eggs had wrong coding on them or had no coding at all. The eggs were mostly contaminated with either fipronil or bifenthrin, both of which are insecticides used to kill pest infestations.Under related regulations set up in 2010, distributors who buy eggs from farmers, should code every egg to track the distribution process to help ensure consumers know where they came from. Farmers that distribute eggs themselves must also comply with the regulation.First-time violators are punished with a verbal warning, second-time and third-time violators with a seven-day and 15-day suspension of business operations, respectively.However, data from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety showed no record of punishment on six violators between 2015 and 2016. There is no record of

Aug 20, 2017
  • Egg sales drop by 40% amid contamination scandal
  • 'Tainted eggs pose no major health concern'

Egg sales drop by 40% amid contamination scandal

Sales of eggs in South Korea sharply declined last week amid safety concerns sparked after eggs from local farms were found to be contaminated with banned chemicals, industry data showed Sunday.Egg sales at the country's largest discount store chain E-Mart from Wednesday to Saturday declined 40 percent compared to the same period the previous week, its operator E-Mart Inc. said.Lotte Mart, another major hypermarket chain, also saw its sales from Wednesday to Friday decline 45 percent during the same period, according to its operator Lotte Shopping Co.The retailers declined to provide details on the actual amount of revenue.The country has been gripped by a fiasco over eggs polluted with insecticides.After carrying out a nationwide inspection, the government said 49 out of 1,239 egg farms in the country had used illegal insecticides, including fipronil.The same pesticide has been at the center of a massive health scare that erupted in Europe last month.Despite the government's swift measures to quell public health concerns, the authorities have been criticized for failing to thoroughl

Aug 20, 2017
  • Gov't hit for egg coding oversight failure
  • 'Tainted eggs pose no major health concern'

Healthcare revision to benefit low-income earners

 By Lee Kyung-minA revised healthcare plan announced by President Moon Jae-in is expected to help low-income earners, the elderly and children. The President said the revision will prevent household bankruptcy caused by heavy medical costs.Under the plan, the government will spend 30.6 trillion won ($27.2 billion) by 2022 to reduce out-of-pocket household medical spending to less than 30 percent, down 6.8 percentage points from the current 36.8 percent.According to 2014 data from The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), out-of-pocket household medical spending in Korea was the second largest after Mexico where households have to pay more than 40 percent of the cost. Koreans pay more than twice the OECD average (19.6 percent).Other than cosmetic surgery procedures, the government will have about 3,800 treatments insured under the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound.This is to stop hospitals from profiting by recommending such expensive treatments, something a sick person cannot afford to

Aug 20, 2017
Healthcare revision to benefit low-income earners

Outcome of tainted eggs inspection to be announced later this week

South Korean health authorities said Saturday they will announce the outcome of the inspection into eggs tainted with the insecticide fipronil later this week amid an unfolding egg contamination scandal in Europe.Details such as how the contaminated eggs could harm human organs when ingested, and how many contaminated eggs have been collected or destroyed will be disclosed as early as Sunday, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said."The result of the analysis and the total amount will be announced tomorrow," said a ministry official, who asked not to be named.The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs recently completed inspections on 1,239 egg farms and related facilities nationwide that showed 49 farms had used illegal insecticides.The farms used fipronil on their hens, prompting the government to halt egg production in South Korea.The same insecticide has been at the center of the massive health scare that erupted in Europe last month. A total of 17 countries on the continent have received eggs or egg products tainted with fipronil. (Yonhap)

Aug 20, 2017
  • PM orders crackdown on egg farms ignoring food safety rules amid pesticide scare

PM orders crackdown on egg farms ignoring food safety rules amid pesticide scare

South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon on Saturday said local authorities should deal strictly with egg producers who are not complying with the government's food safety standards as he conducted on-site inspections to handle an insecticide-contaminated egg crisis in the country."I strongly think those who poorly manage food that is consumed by the majority of people should not be forgiven," Lee said at the agriculture ministry's office in Sejong. "There could be elements threatening food safety at every stage of production, so we must get rid of those problems this time."For his on-site inspections, Lee first headed to Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, for the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's briefing on the distribution of the tainted eggs and its countermeasures. He then moved to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' office building in Sejong to check its reports. He also visited a large discount store to listen to people's opinions.As of Saturday, the agriculture ministry's inspection results showed 49 farms had used illegal insecticides, and some 624.51 mil

Aug 20, 2017
PM orders crackdown on egg farms ignoring food safety rules amid pesticide scare
  • Outcome of tainted eggs inspection to be announced later this week

New exhibition to raise awareness about criminals' children

By Kim Se-jeong A calligraphy exhibition is scheduled to open Friday at Seoul City Hall, with the aim to raise awareness about the tough lives of the children of convicted criminals.one of the 60 works to be exhibitedThe three-day exhibition will feature 10 child artists and 50 adults who won a contest for the exhibition.“People talk about people in prison, but hardly talk about their children and what they go through,” said Lee Kyung-rim, the director of Seum, an NGO which is organizing the exhibition. “It’s important to remind people these children have the right to healthy and happy lives, despite the disgrace attached to their parents. And we’re hoping to spread this message through the exhibition.”She said many of these children suffer from poverty, mainly because they’re being raised by one parent, and have depression. Prejudice against them is rampant and crime rates among them are quite high, she added.Lee said the estimated number of such children is between 50,000 and 60,000. “There’s no official figure, which indic

Aug 18, 2017
New exhibition to raise awareness about criminals' children

Efforts to begin next month to get 2 Austrian nurses Nobel Peace Prize

 By Lee Kyung-min A special committee will be up next month to help two Austrian nurses win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for their more than 40 years of dedication to treating leprosy patients on Sorok island, South Jeolla Province, the government said Friday.The government confirmed former Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik will lead the committee, along with first lady Kim Jung-sook. The nomination process for this year’s prize starts in September.  Marianne Stoeger, 83, and Margaritha Pissarek, 81, came to the island in 1962 and 1966, respectively, and left for their home country on Nov. 11, 2005. They are called “angels of Sorok Island.”In April, “Marianne and Margaret,” a two-hour documentary was released, and Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon who was moved by the film came up with the initiative.Leprosy patients were exiled to the remote island and were subjected to alleged abuses as well as social stigmatization.  While most Korean medical service professionals shunned the patients, the two nurses stayed there until 2005. It is said

Aug 18, 2017

49 farms sold 'unsellable' eggs

 Contaminated eggs to be destroyed by tomorrow By Lee Kyung-min A total of 49 farms sold eggs that were so contaminated with high levels of harmful chemicals that they should have been banned from being sold, the government said Friday. They were among 86 farms with eggs contaminated even with permissible levels of insecticides.The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said its inspection of 1,239 farms _ 683 organic farms and 556 non-organic ones _ nationwide was complete. Eggs from the remaining 1,190 farms are safe to eat, it added.The 49 farms used either fipronil or bifenthrin, both of which are insecticides used to kill pest infestations, at higher levels than deemed permissible. Eggs from the farms will be all recalled and destroyed by tomorrow.Of them, 31 were government-approved “organic” farms that used substances at permissible levels for sales. Their organic licenses were revoked.This was due to the failure to meet safety standards according to which their eggs should have been free of any harmful substances including insecticides.Eggs

Aug 18, 2017
  • Egg scandal draws attention to the way poultry is raised

General contractors to face heavier punishment for industrial deaths

By Kim Se-jeong General contractors will face up to seven years in jail or a maximum 100 million won in fines in the event of an industrial death that occurs due to lax implementation of safety guidelines.Currently, they only face up to one year in jail or 10 million won in fines. Labor safety experts criticized that the current punishment is too lenient to curb the rate of industrial deaths in Korea. Experts said the lenient punishment also made the contractors grow ignorant of health and safety for construction site workers.The measure announced on Thursday was a follow-up on President Moon Jae-in’s speech in July in which he stressed “nothing can be more important at a construction site than workers’ safety and health.”The tougher punishment was among other measures announced Thursday to ensure labor safety at construction sites.General contractors will be banned from subcontracting 14 highly dangerous processes, including smelting mercury. Currently, there’s no such regulation.Also, general contractors will be required to make safety and health

Aug 17, 2017

66 egg farms contaminated with pesticide: gov't

Agriculture ministry under fire for oversight failureBy Lee Kyung-minEggs contaminated with possibly harmful chemicals have now been found on 66 farms here, the government said Thursday. Of the total, 62 were government-approved “organic” farms, further enraging the public over the government’s lax regulation.The eggs were mostly contaminated with either fipronil or bifenthrin, both of which are insecticides used to kill pest infestations.This is the latest development in the “eggs scare” triggered Tuesday after a government inspection raised the issue and a sales ban on eggs was enacted.The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said the 66 farms were among 876 they inspected. The inspection is ongoing at 363 other farms nationwide.Of the 876 inspected farms, 683, or 78 percent, were “organic” farms, which according to safety standards should sell eggs free of any harmful substance including insecticides.Eggs from such farms cost up to twice the price of those that come from 193 “non-or

Aug 17, 2017
66 egg farms contaminated with pesticide: gov't
  • All eggs from insecticide-tainted farms to be destroyed
  • Four more egg farms found contaminated
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