South Korea - The Korea Times

Welfare subsidies to expand for 890,000 low wage earners

 By Lee Kyung-min The government will expand its state welfare subsidy program for some 890,000 people in the lowest income bracket beginning next year.The Ministry of Health and Welfare unveiled a three-year (2018-2020) comprehensive welfare program Thursday to better protect the most vulnerable including the elderly and children.The overhaul measure is part of President Moon Jae-in’s drive to better protect those who have been neglected thus far, increase access to quality welfare services and root out welfare fraud.The ministry said up to 2.52 million people (1.61 million households) will be eligible to receive the welfare subsidy, up 890,000 from the current 1.63 million.A total of 4.8 percent will be eligible for the basic welfare program, up 1.6 percent from the current 3.2 percent. Under the basic welfare program, households earning less than 30 percent of the median income are given a monthly state subsidy. The amount is calculated based on the number of family members and whether they are on other state support programs.  Under the plan, the ministry wil

Aug 10, 2017

Moon vows to expand health insurance coverage to more diseases

W30 tril. required over next 5 yearsBy Choi Ha-youngPresident Moon Jae-in pledged Wednesday to expand the coverage of national health insurance to almost all diseases by 2022 to “free the people from concerns about medical expenses.”“Currently, the national health insurance’s average coverage rate is 60 percent, well below the average 80 percent of OECD member countries,” Moon said during a visit to Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital. “I will free people from concerns of medical expenses and help them have any disease treated without paying by the end of my term.”Particularly, he touched on medical fees not covered by national health insurance, such as so-called “special medical services” at university-affiliated hospitals, wards for one or two patients and charges paid to caregivers.“I will abolish the special medical treatment at some hospitals. The single- or double-bedroom wards, which were excluded from insurance, will be covered by the new system as well. Expenses to hire caregivers will also be covered, which will free f

Aug 9, 2017

Gov't social media posts reflect gender stereotypes

By Kim Bo-eunGovernment institutions’ posts on social media contain underlying gender stereotypes, according to a recent study.The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family conducted an examination on 1,261 videos and images posted on the Facebook pages of 20 government institutions earlier this year.It identified problems in 17 posts of 12 institutions. The ministry did not disclose the names of the institutions.The examination is part of a comprehensive study of laws, policies and projects of the central and regional governments and governmental institutions concerning gender issues. It was the government’s first look into social media content.A large number of posts propagated gender stereotypes.In a picture on preventing industrial accidents, a male figure represents the construction and manufacturing industries and a female one the service industry.In a video from the same institution on occupational safety, the CEO is portrayed as a man, and a woman as being in charge of kitchen affairs.“These posts can make people develop the prejudice that jobs are gender-deter

Aug 9, 2017

Gov't social media posts reflect gender stereotypes

Smoking at home faces crackdown

/ Korea Times file By Park Si-sooSmokers in collective residences will face a crackdown from early next year after the parliament approved a tough anti-smoking bill to fight secondhand smoke.The bill, drawn up by Rep. Choi Myung-gil of the opposition People’s Party of Korea, won approval on Wednesday. The law will take effect from January.Under existing laws, smoking is banned in collective residences’ stairways, corridors and elevators. But smoking at home is not regulated, leaving people vulnerable to toxic smoke coming from next door.When the new law goes into effect, wardens will be authorized to visit a suspect house on request. They won’t be given the right to force smokers to stop puffing, but they will be able to warn them.The revision bill once contained an article justifying the environment regulator’s intervention for settlement, but it was edited out due to privacy concerns. 

Aug 9, 2017

Suicides severely affect family members' health

 By Lee Kyung-min Three out of four people who lost loved ones to suicide suffer from depression, government data showed Monday.Statistics were released amid increased awareness following recent online messages posted by Choi Jun-hee, the 14-year-old daughter of Choi Jin-sil who committed suicide in 2008.The girl posted numerous comments on social media, alleging that her maternal grandmother had been physically and verbally abusing her since she was in elementary school.According to the study conducted by Seoul National University commissioned by the Ministry of Health and Welfare of 72 family members of people who have committed suicide, when multiple answers were allowed, 75 percent said they were depressed and had no interest in life.They suffered from insomnia (69 percent), anxiety attacks (65 percent), rage (65 percent) and difficulty concentrating (60 percent). Of the total, 11 people were admitted to hospital due to mental distress.They also suffered physical manifestations of the distress.Of the total, three out of five had heart palpitations or shortness of breath

Aug 7, 2017

Man fights for abandoned Kopino families

Courtesy of Koo Bon-changKorean gov’t urged to recognize victim children, Filipina womenBy Kim Se-jeong Koo Bon-changKoo Bon-chang, 55, moved to the Philippines 10 years ago for his children’s English education. There he has run a small business.Koo is now an activist for Korean-Filipino children ― known as Kopinos ― abandoned by their Korean fathers.It began with one of his friends who was trying to find her son’s Korean father. “The father left her a fake address. When she showed me the paper with the address, I knew immediately it was fake,” he recalled.He founded “We Love Kopino (WLK),” an NGO, in 2015. Early last year, his Facebook postings of photos featuring the fathers triggered a nationwide discussion on the issue.Earlier this year, together with his friends and associates, he started a new project, the Dream Come True. The members of this association work to provide the mothers in the Philippines with financial help so they can start new businesses. The association is currently raising funds in Korea.“This will

Aug 6, 2017

Man fights for abandoned Kopino families

Regular eye exam required for diabetic patients

By Lee Kyung-minDiabetic patients should regularly visit an ophthalmologist for an eye exam at least once a year, to monitor possible development of complications, experts said Sunday.One such complication is diabetic retinopathy, in which damage occurs to a part of the back of the eye called the retina, the blood vessels of the light-sensitive tissue.Doctors say undergoing a regular eye examination is crucial for early diagnosis of the disease as it has no symptoms or only mild vision problems at first. However, it can result in vision loss eventually.“Most patients come to us after they have blurred vision, which is too late. The symptoms begin to appear after the disease has progressed to about 60 or 70 percent,” said Sung Min-chul, an ophthalmologist at Sungmo Eye Center in southern Seoul. “The exam can help diagnose other diabetes-related eye complications such as cataracts.”According to 2015 data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, of 2.39 million diabetic patients in Korea, about 15 percent had diabetic retinopathy.While only 1 or 2

Aug 6, 2017

Regular eye exam required for diabetic patients

Gov't flip-flops over mad cow disease

By Park Jae-hyukThe Korean government comes under criticism for reversing its previous stance on mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Friday that it has never considered atypical mad cow disease to be “safe to humans”, in response to lawyer Song Ki-ho’s requests to give the reason why the ministry has claimed the disease as “safe.”However, the ministry has said atypical mad cow disease, which was discovered last month in the United States, is “not dangerous,” although it has never mentioned the word “safe.”“The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) considers atypical BSE to be less dangerous, because the disease naturally occurs among some aged cows, unlike typical BSE transmitted through contaminated feed,” the ministry said in its press release published a day after the BSE outbreak in Alabama last month.President Moon Jae-in also said in the Cabinet Meeting last week that “Although it is not dangerous to us, you should try your

Aug 4, 2017By Park Jae-hyuk

단독 4억 들인 정부 재난대비 앱, 실전에서는 무용지물

소방방재청이 개발하고 행정안전부에서 관리하고 있는 '안전디딤돌' 앱 / 구글 플레이스토어-재난대비 앱 ‘안전디딤돌’, 정작 효율성에는 의문-정부 공식앱 말고도 기관마다 기능 중복되는 앱 많아(서울=코리아타임스) 박시수 기자, 우지원 인턴기자 = 국민에게 재난 발생 정보를 신속하게 알린다는 취지로 소방방재청이 개발한 ‘안전디딤돌’ 앱이 실전에서는 무용지물인 것으로 드러났다.다른 정부기관이 만든 유사한 앱들과 기능이 중복되는 것은 물론, 제공되는 정보의 신뢰도가 낮은 것으로 본지 취재결과 확인됐다. 때문에 앱 개발에 4억 원이 넘는 세금이 투입됐음에도 불구하고 실제로 이 앱을 활용하는 사람은 그리 많지 않은 것으로 알려졌다. 우후죽순 개발된 정부의 재난대비 앱대한민국정부 공식 사이트 '포털24'에 따르면 올해 3월을 기준으로 행정, 공공기관에서 운영중인 공공앱은 총 1,090개다. 지난해 정부 산하 기관의 무차별적인 앱 출시가 보여주기 식의 무의미한 정책이라는 비판이 잇따르자 정부는 올해 초 문제점 개선에 착수했다. 그 결과 기존 출시된 앱들을 성과를 중심으로 보완하거나 폐지하는 등 정비하기로 했다.그럼에도 불구하고 기능의 중복성은 여전히 해결되지 않았다. 안전디딤돌 앱에는 미세먼지와 산사태, 기상정보 등의 출처를 기상청과 산림청 등으로 밝히고 있다. 그러나 산림청과 기상청은 각각 ‘산사태정보’, ‘지진정보알리미’, 한국환경공단에서는 ‘우리동네대기질’ 등 개별 서비스를 제공한다. 미세먼지의 경우 기상청에서 제공하는 수치와 안전디딤돌 앱에 뜨는 수치가 각각 ‘보통’과 ‘주의’로 뜨는 등 차이가 났다. 사용자로서는 어느 것을 믿어야 할 지 난감한 상황이다. 이뿐만이 아니다. 코리아타임스가 확인한 결과, 해당 앱에서는 여러 문제가 확인됐다. 주요 기능인 기상정보는 기상이 악화되는 날이면 사용자 수가 많아 하루 종일 접속이 지연돼 제 기능을 하지 못했다. 앱이 제공하는 정보가 제멋대로인 것도 정보의 신뢰성에 의문을 자아내는 부분이다. 특정일에는 전국의 감시카메라가 26개로 뜨는가 하면 이튿날에는 단

Aug 3, 2017

Food ministry approves 1st Korea-made surgical robot

 By Lee Kyung-min Revo-i, the first surgical robot made in Korea, won approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Thursday.The robot, manufactured by meerecompany, will help a doctor perform an endoscopy using 3D imagery to remove the gallbladder or prostate gland.The doctor will be able to use a control arm to move the robot’s four arms.The four arms _ three instrument arms and one camera arm _ go inside a patient’s body and locate where surgery is required.The three surgical equipment-tipped instrument arms then will incise the point, ligate, secure and suture the wound.  The doctor will be able to see the whole process on a monitor.The company said the surgical robot will help reduce fatigue of doctors which in turn improves accuracy of surgery.It also helps doctors maximize surgical effectiveness using 3D imaging systems and advanced instruments, and reduces both side effects and patient recovery time.The ministry said the first domestically produced robot will help reduce the medical costs here, given most such equipment is imported.Korea spent

Aug 3, 2017

Health

Health

Welfare subsidies to expand for 890,000 low wage earners

Moon vows to expand health insurance coverage to more diseases

Gov't social media posts reflect gender stereotypes

Smoking at home faces crackdown

Suicides severely affect family members' health

Man fights for abandoned Kopino families

Regular eye exam required for diabetic patients

Gov't flip-flops over mad cow disease

단독 4억 들인 정부 재난대비 앱, 실전에서는 무용지물

Food ministry approves 1st Korea-made surgical robot

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