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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.

Kwangdong Pharm boasts success via business portfolio diversification

Kwangdong employees pose for a photo after watching a musical performance held at the company office in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul. / Courtesy of KwangdongBy Lee Kyung-min Kwangdong Pharmaceutical Vice Chairman Choi Sung-wonKwangdong Pharmaceutical has successfully diversified its business portfolio, leading the industry in which many struggle to find a sustainable growth engine amid growing pressure to develop high-quality products, the company said Wednesday.Led by Vice Chairman Choi Sung-won, the firm is confident about achieving its vision of “2020 Triple 1,” which stands for 1 trillion won ($879 million) in company value, 1 trillion won in sales and a 10 percent operating profit by 2020, when measured by separate financial statements.“Not many companies have managed to successfully pursue both the drug business and other businesses too,” said Choi.“Kwangdong has established a virtuous cycle of new business-derived profit being put into continued investment for high-quality products while minimizing the market fluctuation risk,” he add

Jun 28, 2017
Kwangdong Pharm boasts success via business portfolio diversification

Victims of S. Korea's dark history still searching for justice

Six victims of abuse at the Brothers Home give testimony, Tuesday, during a conference at the National Assembly. Han Jong-sun, left, led the calls for an investigation into abuses at the former government-funded juvenile detention center. / Korea Times photo by You Soo-sunIn pursuit of truth, child victims demand government investigationBy You Soo-sunThirty years after the atrocities of the Brothers Home were brought to light, much still remains in the dark, its former inmates said during a conference, Tuesday, at the National Assembly. Six survivors from the detention center spoke of the horrors ― forced labor, beatings, rapes and killings ― that continue to haunt them, as they pleaded for justice.The victims urged the Moon Jae-in administration to help enact a special act, proposed by 73 lawmakers including Rep. Jin Sun-mi of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), to identify and punish those accountable, including those still in the government, and compensate the victims. Brothers Home was a government-funded detention center that trafficked in people for hard labor b

Jun 28, 2017
Victims of S. Korea's dark history still searching for justice

Forum discusses protection for single mothers

A speaker makes a presentation at the forum on helping single mothers held at the National Assembly, Monday./ Korea Times photo by Kim Se-jeongBy Kim Se-jeong Last week, police in Busan found two dead babies in a refrigerator in a couple뭩 apartment. The woman living in the apartment was the mother of the babies. However, they had different fathers, other than her current live-in boyfriend. The woman told police that she had killed them out of fear the now ex-boyfriends would break up with her.Scholars, lawmakers and activists said the incident demonstrated the failing government policies for single mothers. During a forum at the National Assembly, Monday, they cited the need for legislative efforts to bring about robust protection for them.Korea is not a good place for single mothers. The stigma against them is strong; and this also contributes to the high rate of overseas adoptions.According to government statistics from 2016 ― the first such attempt to count single mothers ― there were a reported 25,000 such women. There are laws to protect the women but they’r

Jun 26, 2017
Forum discusses protection for single mothers

Entrepreneur solves residential problems

By Kim Bo-eun Toad Housing CEO Kim Mi-jungWhen Toad Housing launched in 2010, Seoul had an estimated 80,000 empty houses.The houses were mainly 40- to 50-year-old buildings which were abandoned because the owners failed to sell them and remodeling costs were too pricy.The empty houses were contributing to crime rates.“The houses either needed to be removed or remodeled,” Toad Housing CEO Kim Mi-jung said.Meanwhile, young people in Seoul faced soaring rental fees, which forced them into housing in dire conditions _ such as tiny studio rooms.Toad Housing’s idea was to remodel the old houses to provide young people with affordable homes.After the Seoul Metropolitan Government initiated related policies, Toad Housing was able to carry out its project with government support.The first remodeled house opened in 2014 in Jeungsan-dong, northwestern Seoul, and Toad Housing now has 10 such houses. It is in the process of opening its 11th home.The monthly rents for rooms in these houses range from 200,000 won to 400,000 won, which is 60 to 70 percent of market rates.With

Jun 23, 2017
Entrepreneur solves residential problems

Rage rises as people grapple with economic inequality

 By Kim Ji-sooA recent series of incidents is raising a red flag about the rising tide of rage in South Korea, a country where some 51 million live under hyper-competition in all aspects of life, including education and housing.On Sunday, police in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, said they were questioning a 55-year-old man for stabbing an internet services repair man multiple times June 16 over his slow internet speed.The incident follows the shocking death of a 46-year-old man surnamed Kim in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, who died while he painted a 15-story-high apartment building June 8. A 41-year-old resident surnamed Seo said he was annoyed by the loud music Kim was playing and used an industrial cutter to cut the rope anchored to the roof of the apartment building. Seo later apologized, saying he committed the crime after drinking. Kim left behind a family of five children, his wife and his mother.“There were seven lives hanging on that rope,” said Kwak Keum-joo, professor of psychology at Seoul National University. “Korean society has gotten

Jun 23, 2017
Rage rises as people grapple with economic inequality

3 medical professors win cancer research award

Kim Jeong-seonLee HyuckLim Myong-cheol Three medical professors have won the Kwangdong Award for Cancer Research for their achievement in the study of oncology, Kwangdong Pharmaceutical said Thursday.The awardees are Kim Jeong-seon, oncology professor at the National Cancer Center; Lee Hyuck, international medicine professor at the Samsung Medical Center; and Lim Myong-cheol, gynecology professor at the National Cancer Center.The company said the Korea Cancer Association has selected the recipients of the sixth annual Kwangdong Award in recognition of their extensive cancer research.The selection was based on the number of times they were referenced in journals listed on the Science Citation Index (SCI).The awards ceremony was held during the 24th Asia Pacific Cancer Conference and the association’s general meeting at the COEX in southern Seoul. Each recipient received a 5 million won cash prize.Kwangdong and the association co-initiated the award in 2012.

Jun 22, 2017
3 medical professors win cancer research award

Unwanted name for namesakes: Park Geun-hye

In Seoul alone, 18 people have changed their name from Park Geun-hye this year. / YonhapBy Lee Han-sooPeople with the same name as Park Geun-hye, the former president who is now on trial for corruption after being impeached in March, are flocking to the district Family Court to have their names changed.In Seoul alone, 18 people have changed their name from Park Geun-hye this year.“Even before the Choi Soon-sil scandal, people would say ‘you have the same name as our president’ or ‘maybe you will become a politician someday,’” said Park Geun-hye, who recently applied to change her name, told Chosun Ilbo, a Korean news outlet.The court accepts most applications for renaming after a Supreme Court precedent in 2005 that states: "Unless there is a special reason, an individual can change their name in order to guarantee their rights."A court official said: "Every time there is a social uproar over an incident, people with the same name as the person involved tend to apply for a new name at once." 

Jun 22, 2017
Unwanted name for namesakes: Park Geun-hye

S. Korea likely to raise electricity bill as it retires nuclear reactors

South Korea is poised to follow Germany and Japan in raising power rates as it retires old nuclear power reactors and makes a switch to eco-friendly renewable energy, industry sources said Thursday.South Korea shut down its oldest Gori-1 nuclear power plant in the southeastern port city of Busan Monday as the newly launched liberal Moon Jae-in administration has pledged to close aged nuclear reactors and coal-fired power plants. The move is popular with many people and environmentalists but has raised worries of high electricity bills and even power shortages going forward.Moon's election campaign also includes scrapping the ongoing projects to build six new nuclear power plants and the shutting down of several aged nuclear plants including the Wolsong No. 1 Reactor with a lifespan that has been extended to 2022 after its initial 30-year cycle ended in 2012.South Korea has 23 nuclear reactors in operation, generating about 30 percent of the country's total power supply.The chief executive has, in addition, ordered the temporary shutdown of several aged thermal power plants and pledge

Jun 22, 2017
S. Korea likely to raise electricity bill as it retires nuclear reactors

'Happy Balloons' face tough crackdown

The Ministry of Environment is set to ban the inhalation of nitrous oxide -- better known as laughing gas. / Courtesy of PixabayBy Lee Han-sooThe Ministry of Environment is set to ban the inhalation of nitrous oxide -- better known as laughing gas.It said it will announce legislation this month that designates the gas as a hallucinogen, bans inhalation for non-medical purposes and stops its sale for entertainment.The legislation comes after the death of a man in Suwon from inhaling too much nitrous oxide from a balloon -- also known as a “happy balloon” -- in April.Selling and buying nitrous oxide now does not violate Korean law, according to police.Nitrous oxide is a colorless, sweet-tasting gas that has been mainly used medically. Doctors and dentists use it as an anesthetic, a tranquilizer and a painkiller.More Koreans are inhaling nitrous oxide from happy balloons at parties to experience euphoria.The balloons are priced at 2,000 won ($1.75) and can be easily bought.Experts say overuse of the gas can lead to oxygen deprivation, resulting in a blood pressure drop, fain

Jun 21, 2017
'Happy Balloons' face tough crackdown

Nearly all Korean AIDS patients face daily discrimination

By Lee Han-sooMore than nine out of 10 AIDS patients in Korea experience serious discrimination daily, according to  National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) research published Wednesday.This reflects a deep-rooted stigma associated with the once-incurable disease despite the development of antiretroviral therapy in the 1990s that allows sufferers to have a normal life.The findings were based on the commission’s survey of 208 AIDS patients in Korea. In the research, 93 percent of the patients said discrimination in public areas was “common.” Nearly 92 percent said they faced discrimination at work, while the figure was 83.2 percent at schools and 79 percent at medical institutions.More than a quarter (26.4 percent) said they had been denied treatment at hospitals after revealing they had AIDS. The smaller the hospital, the harsher the discrimination, according to the research.Only 9 percent filed a complaint with health authorities after being denied treatment. Most patients didn’t because they feared their health secret would be leaked to others."With the

Jun 21, 2017
Nearly all Korean AIDS patients face daily discrimination
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