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S. Korea confirms 20th Zika virus infection

South Korea has confirmed another case of the Zika virus, raising the number of people infected here to 20, health authorities said Friday.A 33-year-old Korean woman was confirmed to have been infected with the mosquito-borne virus after visiting the Maldives, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).She is presumed to have been bitten by a mosquito during her stay in the country earlier this month, the authorities said.The woman, whose identity has been withheld, received treatment at a hospital after showing symptoms of skin rash and muscle ache, KCDC officials said.The disease control center said it is conducting an epidemiological investigation into another person who had traveled with the woman.The KCDC advises pregnant women and their partners who are worried about potential exposure to reconsider travelling to countries where Zika virus cases have been reported. Those who have traveled to affected regions in the past two months are advised to avoid any sexual contact or use contraceptives.The virus, first discovered in Africa, is not life-threat

Jun 2, 2017

Maternity leave pay to double

By Kim Se-jeong The presidential committee on job creation said Thursday it will double the maternity leave pay as early as this year, one of President Moon Jae-in’s pledges.In a press conference, committee chief Lee Yong-sup said the government will submit the plan to the National Assembly next week to be included in a discussion on a supplementary budget proposal.If approved, female employees on maternity leave will receive 80 percent of their monthly pay, up from the 40 percent they now receive.Thursday’s announcement was part of the new government’s first 100-day plan to create jobs and improve the quality of lives for workers.“The priority is to create quality jobs. With that, I believe we can restore the healthy cycle of growth, jobs and fair distribution,” said Lee.He added that the government will also launch a nationwide allowance program for young job seekers. With no details given, Lee said the program is designed to lessen their financial worries while seeking jobs. The Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province bega

Jun 1, 2017

1 in 3 firefighters suffer from PTSD

One out of every 3 firefighters in South Korea suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a report showed Thursday, underscoring the mental health issue facing emergency workers.The report showed that 34.4 percent of the firefighters showed some symptoms of the disease, the report by the National Center for Mental Health said. The report was based on a survey conducted on 212 firefighters with an average age of 41.4.PTSD occurs when a person is exposed to traumatic events and represents symptoms that include depression, anxiety and insomnia. These symptoms can also occur up to three months after the experiences.The report showed that a firefighter experienced or witnessed an average of two traumatic incidents every year.PTSD has been studied extensively among other jobs, including war veterans, however, there has been a lack of research for civilians, such as firefighters, the report said."The result of the survey showed that traumatic experiences related to co-workers or other indirect experiences increase the risk of triggering PTSD," said Shim Min-young, a psychologist in

Jun 1, 2017

Adoptees struggle to find mental aid

Flowers sent by adoptee support organizations are lined up in commemoration of Phillip Clay, a deported adoptee. His funeral was held at Myongji University Hospital, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, after his alleged suicide on May 21. / Courtesy of Simone Eun MiBy You Soo-sunAdoptees struggle to find mental assistance in Korea, where it is practically nonexistent for those who have returned to their birth country after spending decades overseas. The lack of attention has allegedly led to dramatic results in the last two weeks ― one deported adoptee, Phillip Clay, committed suicide, May 21; another is locked up at a detention center in Seoul awaiting his trial set for Friday. Both suffered from mental anxiety and other problems that were not adequately addressed.The cases of these two adoptees bring to light the failures of the existent system in meeting their diverse needs. Korea Adoption Services, an organization directly under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, has worked with both of these men, but says it is extremely difficult to assist them under the current system.While adopt

May 31, 2017

Quit while you can: ex-smoker

 By Lee Kyung-min Former heavy smoker Huh Tae-won said Tuesday that smoking is not worth losing your health over, urging others to immediately quit smoking.“I cannot walk for more than 50 meters as I become severely out of breath. Visiting the hospital emergency room almost every week has become a new normal for me,” said Huh, who smoked a pack and a half of cigarettes a day for the past 40 years.“I only weigh 38 kilograms now as my muscles all shrunk after I was not able to exercise. I cannot go outside without a bronchodilator and portable canned oxygen.”Huh attended an anti-smoking seminar organized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare at the Korea Health Promotion Foundation in Seoul, a day before World No Tobacco Day (May 31), created by the World Health Organization in 1987 to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic.Huh was diagnosed in 2014 with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a form of progressive lung diseases including emphysema, chronic bronchitis, refractory asthma and bronchiectasis. The disease is characterized

May 30, 2017

'I wasted my 20s in mental hospital'

By Lee Kyung-minA woman surnamed Ahn, 34, was admitted to a mental hospital in Gyeonggi Province in 2006 and stayed there for eight years until 2014.“One day, when I was in my dormitory near my work, I heard my mother’s voice, calling me to come home,” Ahn said. “I rushed home and asked my mom about it. But she said, with a worried look on her face, she did not call me.”Ahn and her mother went to a psychiatric hospital and a doctor diagnosed her with schizophrenia, symptoms of which include auditory hallucinations, saying she needed immediate hospitalization.“There was nothing I could do. All I remember was how embarrassed, ashamed and guilty my mom looked in front of the doctor. I didn’t want my mom being that way to another person because of me.”At the confinement facility that housed about 100 women, all she hoped for was to go outside to see the sunlight, to leave just for a short while from behind the cold, rusty iron bars.“Patients were allowed outdoors once in a while, only the well-behaved ones. We would go outside for abo

May 28, 2017

Holt criticized for 'irresponsible' funeral for ill-fated adoptee

A clay rose made by Korean adoptees in memory of Phillip Clay protests Holt Korea's "irresponsibility."By You Soo-sun  Holt Children’s Services in Korea is being criticized by the Korean adoptee community, after the funeral service it held for Phillip Clay — a deported Korean adoptee — Tuesday and Wednesday. The remarks made by its chairwoman, Molly Holt, about Clay are at the height of the criticism; adoptees have described her comments as “insensitive” and “irresponsible,” and they highlight the agency’s disregard of the adoptee community.Adoptees, at the service Wednesday, raised issues with Holt regarding its handling of Clay’s funeral, which may be summed up in three arguments.First, they argue that Holt Children’s Services had resisted holding the funeral for Clay until the Korea Adoption Services intervened and said it was necessary and co-hosted the event.Secondly, the agency refused to have the service in English, the common language for the adoptee community. Even when an official from the Ministry of Health a

May 25, 2017

Holt criticized for 'irresponsible' funeral for ill-fated adoptee

1 in 7 adolescents addicted to internet or smartphone

One in seven adolescents is addicted either to the internet or their smartphone, according to a recent survey.The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family’s survey on 1.41 million adolescents across the country showed 14.3 percent were categorized as “at risk” or “in need of caution” regarding their internet and smartphone use.The “at risk” group is defined as showing serious difficulty in their daily life without the internet or a smartphone to the extent that they need help from experts. The caution group is defined as people having difficulty in controlling use.The survey was conducted on fourth grade students in elementary school, and first year students in middle and high school.The group of first year middle school students had the largest number addicted to the internet, while the group of first year students in high school had the largest number addicted to smartphones.The survey showed addiction levels are increasingly being found in younger students. The number of fourth grade students addicted to smartphones increased by more than 10

May 25, 2017

Lifeguards to be posted across Korea

Children have fun at Yeouido Hangang Park in Seoul, Sunday. More than 13,000 lifeguards will be posted at beaches, valleys and swimming pools across the country this summer. / YonhapBy Jung Min-hoMore than 13,000 lifeguards will be posted at beaches, valleys and swimming pools across the country this summer, the government said Monday.According to the Ministry of Public Safety and Security, 13,751 lifeguards will be posted at 5,490 beaches, valleys and swimming pools beginning this month for safety supervision as many people are getting ready for their summer vacations.Provincial governments will manage the lifeguards flexibly, depending on the circumstances.According to the ministry, 157 people drowned over the past five years. Inexperience with swimming (51) is the biggest cause, followed by carelessness in the water (50) and swimming while intoxicated (22).From July to August, the ministry will strengthen its crackdown on people who use personal boats and other water craft without licenses. Drunk drivers will also be penalized.Provincial governments are required to check the safet

May 22, 2017

Korean adoptee finding families for more children

Susan Soon-keum Cox, right, poses with other Korean adoptees in front of a “baby box” in Seoul where unwanted babies are given up for adoption. / Courtesy of Susan Soon-keum CoxBy You Soo-sunA Korean adoptee wants to make international adoption a more viable option for orphans.Every year, Susan Soon-keum Cox visits Korea to change negative perspectives about the adoption practice and push policymakers to ease regulations that make the work of adoption agencies extremely difficult. A couple from Oregon adopted Cox in 1956. She was among the first Koreans to be adopted abroad and grew up as the only Korean and adoptee in her community. She found her birth parents in 1993 with the support of her adoptive mother who raised her. To her, international adoption was what gave her a loving family.“International adoption is not about placing children from one country to another,” she said. “It’s about giving them a family.”As vice president of policy at Holt International, a leading international adoption agency in America, Cox is well aware of th

May 22, 2017

Health

Health

S. Korea confirms 20th Zika virus infection

Maternity leave pay to double

1 in 3 firefighters suffer from PTSD

Adoptees struggle to find mental aid

Quit while you can: ex-smoker

'I wasted my 20s in mental hospital'

Holt criticized for 'irresponsible' funeral for ill-fated adoptee

1 in 7 adolescents addicted to internet or smartphone

Lifeguards to be posted across Korea

Korean adoptee finding families for more children

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