SOUTH KOREA EVENTS 2008

1970s View of Osan AB (USAF Photo)

SOUTH KOREA DOMESTIC EVENTS

January 2008

Year of the Rat (Jan 2008) The Year of the Rat? What can we possibly have to look forward to in 2008? Nowadays rats are considered dirty, nasty animals; yet our ancestors saw abundance and hope in the rodents. The Chosun Ilbo takes a look at what they symbolize.

-- Diligence and fecundity: Rats have long whiskers and well-developed sensory organs. They adapt to a new environment and breed rapidly. Their ability to overcome difficulties and survive in any environment makes them a symbol of diligence, wealth and affluence.

-- Foreboding dangers: According to the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms", it did not snow in the fifth year of King Hyegong (A.D. 763) in Shilla, and just before that, the unusual migration of some 8,000 rats had been observed in Chiak Prefecture. This is an example of rats’ capability to anticipate dangers. Our ancestors predicted dangers or prepared for accidents by observing the migration of rats.

-- Shrewd and clever: Rats are the first among 12 animals in the Zodiac. According to a fable, the king of Heaven wanted to give ranks to animals. The Lord decided to rank animals in the order of their arrival at the gates of Heaven on the first day of the year. Upon the delightful news, animals trained to get there faster than the others. Among them, the cow worked hardest to win the race. Watching other animals, the mouse realized that winning the race would be impossible for such a little animal like him, so he got on the back of the cow. On the day of the race, the diligent cow was first to reach the goal. However, on arrival, the mouse jumped off the back of the cow and entered the gates of Heaven before all others.

-- Traditions: The 15th day of the first month of the Lunar calendar is the day of jwibulnori, a traditional folk game to kill the mice leaving their holes and exterminate insects that infest the dry paddy fields with fire. In old times, women chanted, "Burn out the mouth of rats" while parching beans, in the belief that they could eradicate rats that way. In the Chosun dynasty era, there were many paintings depicting the life of rats. In a work by the leading female artist Shin Saimdang, a rat nibbles at a watermelon in a field. Our ancestors clearly saw rats as common animals easily understood in everyday life. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)


Year of the Rat Statue at Haeundae Beach in Pusan (24 Dec 07) (Korea Times)

---

National Pension System to be Overhauled (Jan 2008) Twenty years after it was launched, Korea's national pension system is going to be overhauled. Instead of receiving payouts in proportion to the amount that subscribers paid into the plan according to their income, almost all people will be enrolled in a basic pension scheme under which the government will pay retirees a certain amount. (SITE NOTE: The National Assembly learned early on about it could "borrow" from the pension system -- like the Social Security System in the US -- and left it penniless in the 1990s. Then if forced the increase in payments to attempt to refill the coffers -- and again pilaged the funds. The most basic of reforms is to keep the funds inviolate from the National Assembly use.)

Government officials and president-elect Lee Myung-bak's Transition Committee members said the government had been reluctant to introduce a basic pension scheme due to lack of funds, but now they plan to reform the system. The Ministry of Health and Welfare, the government agency in charge of the national pension, will present a report on introducing a basic pension scheme to the committee.

After the new government is inaugurated in February and a new National Assembly is formed following general elections in April, the debate over the national pension reform, an issue that was temporarily patched up after a fierce debate last year, will likely flare up again. The current government launched the controversial basic pension scheme, in which 60 percent of all senior citizens 65 years or older receive up to W84,000 monthly beginning this year. Transition Committee members said that the current pension scheme is not enough to support people's post-retirement lives. (SITE NOTE: The amount given to seniors currently is not enough to survive and many depend on the "soup kitchens" set up by charitable organizations for at least one meal a day. The amounts are not enough for decent lodgings and many live in one room hovels if they do not have family to take care of them. In recent years, the old family system of children taking care of parents has disappeared -- especially after many fled the country for the US or other countries.)

Government officials and committee members said they would launch a task force charged with reforming the pension system this year. After working out payment and recipient plans, the task force will formulate a new national pension bill to be submitted to the National Assembly in 2009. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

---

Changing Diet: Koreans replace rice with meat and veggies (Jan 2008) Korea’s annual per-capita rice consumption dipped to its lowest level in 2007 as people opted to eat more meat and vegetables, according to a government survey. The National Statistical Office said in a release the average Korean consumed 76.9 kilograms (169.5 pounds) of rice last year, a decline of 2.4 percent, or 1.9 kilograms, from the year before. It said the decrease reflects the downward trend that has been going on since 1984 when annual per-capita rice consumption reached 130.1 kilograms. (SITE NOTE: This has political implications and a change in the rice storage surplus problems. During the Roh administration, there was a glut in the government rice stores under the process of buy high-sell low. The solution was to send the surplus to the North as "aid." Later the government cut the price supports to farmers to reduce the rice crop. The problem also deals with the Korean youth switching to a "western" diet (bread and hamburgers) -- and there is now appearing an obesity problem.)

The NSO, which has been surveying rice consumption since 1963, said that after peaking at 136.4 kilograms in 1970, overall consumption of rice has been going steadily downhill with only two moderate rebounds, one in 1979 and another in 1984. On a daily basis, the average Korean ate 210.9 grams of rice or about two bowls of rice, down 2.4 percent from the year before. Consumption of meat and vegetables, meanwhile, increased 5.3 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively, last year compared to 2006.

While Korea’s rice consumption has been decreasing over the years, it is still higher than in Japan and Taiwan. Japan’s annual per capita rice consumption was 61 kilograms in 2006, while Taiwanese on average ate 48 kilograms of rice in the same year. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

---

Spymaster Resigns Over Leak (Jan 2008) National Intelligence Service Director Kim Man-bok on 15 Jan resigned after admitting that he leaked the transcript of a purported conversation he had with North Korea's head of clandestine activities in the South, Kim Yang-gon. The leak to the JoongAng Ilbo of a strikingly innocuous conversation between the two Kims in Pyongyang on Dec. 18 came earlier last week; Kim Man-bok's admission that he leaked a confidential state document is the first by a South Korean intelligence chief. (SITE NOTE: Supposedly the transcript was released as an "off-the-record" release but instead appeared in print. To be truthful, the whole schpiel doesn't jive. He explained that the report had been written to dispel suspicions that the NIS tried to influence the presidential election. He said he had wanted to prove that the agency had remained strictly neutral in the election. The NIS chief met with the head of the North's spy service before and only spoke up after he was discovered to have made the trip. To me it would be more reasonable that he fabricated entire conversation in hopes of deflecting attention -- or to keep from answering what he REALLY discussed. His resignation will close the book -- but there are still lots of questions of the collusion between the NIS and the North Koreans -- part of the Roh legacy. I feel that Roh has allowed North Korean sympathizers to infiltrate government, unions, and academia -- and a more likely conversation would be how to protect the DPRK moles that will be under scrutiny once the Lee Myeong-bak administration takes over. But thinking something and proving it are two different things.)

"As the chief of the state intelligence agency, I intend to resign to assume the responsibility for causing trouble over a recent newspaper report on details of the transcript of a conversation I had with Kim Yang-gon, director of the United Front Department of the North Korean Workers' Party. I also apologize to the people," Kim said in a press conference at the NIS building. A member of the presidential Transition Committee said, "This was an incident caused by NIS chief Kim out of an overweening desire to assume a role even in the new government's implementation of North Korea policy. We had our doubts when we first heard the rumor. But we were shocked to hear his own confession today."

Why did Kim go to Pyongyang? The NIS claims Kim visited Pyongyang to erect a monument to mark the planting of a pine tree by President Roh Moo-hyun at the Pyongyang Central Botanical Garden during the inter-Korean summit in October. Asked why he went there on the eve of the presidential election, the NIS said if he had gone much earlier, he could have caused the misunderstanding that he was trying to influence the election with the help of the North. But Kim did not wait until after the election because he feared it would by then be impossible. (SITE NOTE: The NIS explanation stinks!!! However, best to sweep it under the carpet -- get Lee into office and a new head of the NIS in place to start cleaning house. Kim later wanted a one-on-one meeting with Lee Myeong bak as he had "something to report in person." Then Cheong Wa Dae stated that they would have to weigh Kim's resignation against any damage that could be caused by an investigation. A North Korea expert said, "Cheong Wa Dae will have to weigh the acceptance of Kim’s resignation against the possible disclosure of confidential information that the investigation on Kim could dig up." ) (Source: Chosun Ilbo.) (SITE NOTE: The answer was revealed in Feb 2008 when it was found that Kim was the bearer of a stone marker to replace the larger stone that the DPRK refused to install. It was all for the ego of Roh Moo-hyun in installing his name in North Korea in front of a tree that was planted. However, this in turn made Kim's remarks a lie. (See Roh Disgraced in North Korea during Summit: All This Fuss Just to Leave Roh's Name in North Korea (Feb 2008).) )

The prosecution is investigating the "leak" with the attitude that if the material was classified confidential or higher, they would prosecute. But if it wasn't, there is no case. All the other conjectures about the real reason for his visits to the North are simply non-players.

---

Owners, captains of two ships indicted for negligence in oil spill (Jan 2008) On 21 Jan prosecutors indicted the owners of the two ships that crashed and caused the worst oil spill in South Korean history last month, while the government started providing belated compensation to residents on the west coast. The Dec. 7 crash was "a case of mutual negligence" by Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. and the Hong Kong-registered Hebei Spirit Shipping Co., said Oh In-seo, a senior prosecutor in the prosecutors' office in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province. (SITE NOTE: See Environmental Disaster at Taean: Tanker Spill (Dec 2007) for details of the spill. Cleanup still continued in Jan 2008 with the wiping down of rocks though the major slicks supposedly were contained. What the government is leaving unsaid is that a previous spill in Yeosu should have alerted it to the national needs for disaster preparedness. It had failed to prepare and as a result, foreign countries had to ship in absorbant materials to contain the spread. The government has tried from the start to blame the tanker for not moving out of the way, though it takes a tanker at a dead stop more than the ten minutes given it to move out of the way. This was BEFORE the cables snapped. It is apparent the Samsung crane is the one at fault, but this is going to be a battle in the courts. The way the government is trying to shirk their responsibility in the matter is to make the tanker responsible for the moneys and then let them sue the Samsung Heavy co.)

Over 12,000 tons of crude oil leaked into the West Sea off Taean County, South Chungcheong Province, when a Samsung barge carrying a crane separated from its tugboats and struck the oil tanker named the Heibei Spirit in bad weather. The massive spill from the tanker destroyed fish farms and natural parks in the ecologically pristine region, devastating the livelihoods of about 40,000 residents in the fisheries and tourism sectors. (SITE NOTE: Again the Korean government delayed assistance to the affected populace as they struggled to make ends meet. Their incomes fell to zero instantly and the government took until January to provide any sort of financial aid. It will have to be seen if this aid is adequate or just whitewash. Insurance companies are also very slow in providing money to policy holders.)

The prosecution also indicted three South Korean captains from the Samsung barge and the oil tanker's captain and its navigator, both Indian nationals, for negligence and violations of South Korea's maritime pollution prevention law, Oh said. But only two of the Samsung captains were physically detained. The suspects' names were all withheld because the investigation is underway.

Announcing the interim results of the probe, the prosecution said it was too early to determine which side should bear more responsibility for the accident. "We've been searching for and confiscating evidence to find new facts, but it is difficult at this moment to clearly say which side is more responsible and to what extent," a prosecutor said. (SITE NOTE: The first folks to check on is the disaster preparedness folks of the Roh administration before they all skip town.)

With no payment from insurers yet, three residents of Taean, devastated by the destruction of their livelihoods, have committed suicide. The tragic deaths spurred an outpouring of private donations, while the Korean government was pushed to take money out of its state coffers. Lee One-koo, governor of South Chungcheong Province, said 55.8 billion won (US$59 million) -- 30 billion won from individual donations -- will be delivered to the residents "over the next three to four days." Six counties and towns will divide the funds, with Taean County taking about 70 percent of the compensation, Lee said.

According to international law on maritime pollution accidents, the 146,000-ton super tanker Hebei Spirit is directly responsible for the oil leak and paying compensation. The Hebei Spirit then can raise a compensation claim to Samsung Heavy, whose barge was the initial cause of the collision. Assuranceforeningen Skuld, the insurer of the Hong Kong-registered supertanker, will pay as much as US$12 billion toward labor costs for cleaning up the shoreline, Bloomberg reported, quoting the insurer's e-mailed statement. Other compensation should also come from the International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds, an intergovernmental organization.

Samsung Heavy planned to issue a public apology on 22 Jan following the interim result of the probe. According to its insurance policy, Samsung Heavy is legally responsible for no more than 3.4 billion won (US$3.6 million) in damage compensation, but public calls have mounted on Samsung to take "unlimited responsibility" beyond its legal burden. Samsung Heavy has expressed reservations about the public demand. (SITE NOTE: ``Samsung should take `unlimited responsibility' for the accident,'' Yoon Sang-hoon, an official from the Green Korea United, said. ``But to avoid further delay in damage compensation, the government should first compensate residents in the damaged regions and get the money back from the company.'' Protestors showed up at Samsung Headquarters in Seoul on 23 Jan claiming the apology was insufficient.)

Korean legislators are pushing for the legislation of a bill under which the government would compensate the victims first and recoup the funds via insurance payments from the companies responsible. The legislation also seeks to put more burden on Samsung Heavy for the environmental damage. (Source: Yonhap News.)


Oil Spill Cleanup Taean Beach (24 Dec 2007)

On Dec. 28, the government offered 30 billion won in emergency aid to the residents but the regional government in South Chungcheong Province has not distributed the funds, citing it insufficient and demanding an additional 30 billion won. As the criticism on the delay, the regional government has finally decided to disburse a total of 55.8 billion won, consisting of the 30 billion in government aid, its own reserve fund and donation by residents to residents of six cities and counties hit hardest by the accident.

But even if some compensation is ready for residents, there are still many problems unsolved -- how much money will be given to whom and according to what criteria. The amount of compensation will be far from enough for them to completely recover. As the nation has no legal grounds for the imposition of punitive damages for the responsible party, the total amount of compensation for the catastrophe will end up being too small for the residents in the disaster-hit regions to get their lives back to normal.

On 24 Jan a large demonstration in Seoul was held by those affected by the oil spill demanded compensation. The protestors blamed Samsung Heavy for the disaster.

Samsung Heavy eyes fund for oil spill victims (Feb 2008) Samsung Heavy Industries Co., partly blamed for South Korea's worst-ever oil spill last December, said Friday it will set up a 100-billion-won ($107 million) fund to help affected people and restore devastated areas. The fund is in addition to the compensation the world's second-largest shipyard should pay depending on a court ruling, according to the shipbuilder.

On December 7, a Samsung Heavy barge that became separated from two tugboats in rough seas rammed an anchored supertanker owned by Hong Kong-registered Hebei Spirit Shipping Co., resulting in the leak of more than 10,000 tons of crude oil into the Yellow Sea off South Korea's western coast. Last month, the companies were indicted by South Korean prosecutors for polluting the ocean. (Source: Yonhap News.)

Oil spill trial calls Samsung Heavy (Mar 2008) The third and fourth sessions of the trial to determine responsibility for the oil spill in the Yellow Sea off the Taean Peninsula are scheduled to be held today and tomorrow at the Daejeon District Court. The spill was caused by the Dec. 7 crash of a barge owned by Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and a Hong Kong-based oil tanker.

For the first time, the session will be attended by seven suspects, including representatives from Samsung Heavy and Hebei Ocean Shipping Co., the owner of the tanker. The captains of the Samsung barge, a tugboat and the oil tanker Hebei Spirit will also attend, the court said. Ahead of the court session, Samsung Heavy announced on 29 Feb a donation of $100 billion won ($106.5 million) for development projects to assist residents in Taean. Samsung Heavy and Hebei were charged with violating Korea's maritime pollution prevention law for causing the country's worst oil spill. According to prosecutors, the Samsung Heavy Industries' barge ignored its duty to take shelter in bad weather and crashed into the oil tanker. The Hong Kong shipping company failed to respond to an emergency call from a coastal control center and is also at fault, say prosecutors. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

Taean Damage Report Triggers Disputes (Mar 2008) An estimate by the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund (IOPCF) on the cost of damage caused by the nation's worst oil spill off Taean, South Chungcheong Province has provoked anger among residents of the area. The IOPCF estimated the damage at 424 billion won ($450 million), far less than the trillions of won of losses projected by the residents. They are rejecting the announcement and calling for a reevaluation. The organization's estimate breaks down to 110 billion won for the clean-up, 170 billion won to revive fisheries and 72-144 billion won for tourism and others. The organization said the figure was based on the residents' income reported to the government, but some of the data was omitted and was hard to ascertain.

On Dec. 7, 2007, about 10,500 tons of crude oil were spilled in seas off Taean after a Samsung owned barge collided with the anchored Heibei Spirit oil tanker carrying Hyundai Oil Bank oil in bad weather. The spill almost destroyed the ecologically pristine region as well as damaging the southwestern coastline. It also ruined about 500 abalone and oyster farms.

The government said it was satisfied with the report saying it indicated how much was required to restore the area. Additional costs will be covered by the government, and the ship and barge owners if they are found guilty of negligence and slapped with fines Meanwhile, the residents of Taean were angered by the report that is to be announced in Monaco today. They said they themselves haven't come up with an exact estimate and that the IOPCF's figure must have omitted many people. ``For tourism, you need years to attract tourists back. In the summer the oil underneath the sand will surface, creating a bad smell and force people away. I wonder whether the IOPCF is aware of that. Do they know when exactly we will get our tourists back?'' Lee Yong-hee, a representative of the residents, said. ``I went to the oyster farm yesterday and found nothing alive. I do not know when we will be able to resume farming,'' Lee Won-jae, a fisherman, said.

Even the local government is dissatisfied. ``We have not yet figured out the exact cost of the damage to the fishery industries in the region. How did they come up with the figure?'' a county office staff member said. ``It is unacceptable for the residents,'' he added. A spokesman for the owners of the Heibei Spirit would not comment on any damage estimates they have made. Samsung Heavy Industries, the barge owner, has offered a 100 billion won to those affected by the oil spill, to be managed by an outside agency designated by the government and separate from official compensation to be paid by insurance companies. (Source: Korea Times.)

Fishing OK, but Taean's beaches still are polluted (Apr 2008) More than 1 million volunteers have scrubbed rocks in the Taean area since the country's worst-ever oil spill more than four months ago. The job's not over yet. A government ministry announced on 18 Apr that half of the beaches in the area are still too polluted to open. "We need more volunteers to clean the contaminated places and open the beaches in time for the summer season," said Lee Jang-jo, a Taean County official. Lee said more volunteer scrubbers could speed up the openings. The number of volunteers each day is declining, officials said. An average of about 1,000 people a day now volunteer to scrub rocks, down from a peak of about 40,000.

Despite the condition of the beaches, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs yesterday reopened fishing and crabbing in the area following three months of research. "Fishermen are now allowed to catch any fish, except shellfish, because the ones that we caught in those areas are all clean," said an official who declined to be named. "However, shellfish — including oysters — remain contaminated." Fishermen celebrated. "From now on, we can catch fish again!" said a fisherman who declined to be named. "Taean will be full of vigor soon."

Still, the land ministry said in a statement that nearly half of beaches in Taean could be closed this summer. Out of the 28 beaches in Taean, 141 kilometers (87 miles) southwest of Seoul, the water pollution level at 13 beaches, including major attractions Guryepo and Cheonripo, still exceeds safety standards, the ministry said. "The concentration of total petroleum hydrocarbon in the 13 beaches is as high as 17 parts per billion. It is 1.5 times higher than standards," said an official of the ministry. "We will decide on the reopening schedule soon." The Dec. 7 oil spill of about 66,000 barrels of crude oil contaminated more than 300 kilometers of shoreline in the area. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

Samsung Crew Guilty in Korea's Worst Oil Spill (Jun 2008) A district court has found Samsung Heavy Industries guilty but the supertanker Hebei Spirit not guilty in connection with Korea's worst oil spill in waters off Taean, South Chungcheong Province on Dec. 7 last year. Samsung Heavy Industries is expected to face enormous costs in future civil proceedings between local victims, Samsung and Hebei Spirit.

The Daejeon District Court on Monday sentenced a 51-year-old master of Samsung Heavy Industries' tugboats identified as Cho to three years in prison and a fine of W2 million (US$1=W1,039) for violating the Maritime Pollution Prevention Act. The court sentenced a 45-year-old tugboat master identified as Kim to one year in jail, ordering him arrested in court and taken into custody. The court fined Samsung Heavy Industries W30 million as prosecutors had demanded. The 39-year-old master of the sea crane barge was acquitted, as were the 36-year-old master, a 31-year-old navigator and the owner of the Hebei Spirit, the Hong Kong-registered supertanker that collided with Samsung's tugboats.

In its ruling, the court said, "While tugging a super sea crane, the tugboat masters Cho and Kim were negligent in their duties and caused the accident, doing enormous damage to local residents. The court is levying severe punishment on them because they have shown no remorse but blamed bad weather or the supertanker."

But the court said it was difficult to argue that crew of the supertanker and Hebei Ocean Shipping “should have maintained higher-level vigilance than in normal times or that a single-hull tanker posed excessively high-level danger of colliding." The court also found Kim, the master of the sea crane barge, not guilty, saying, "The court is rejecting the prosecutors' demand, considering that the crane barge is a motorless boat tugged by tug boats, so its master was not in a position to control its navigation."

Cho and the others were indicted on Jan. 21 for causing the worst oil spill in Korean history. The tugboats were tugging the 11,800-ton barge carrying a Samsung Heavy Industries crane around 7:06 a.m. on Dec. 7, 2007 from Incheon Port to Geoje Island, when the barge drifted and collided with the 146,000-ton supertanker in waters five miles northwest of Mallipo, Taean County, South Chungcheong Province, and caused the tanker to spill 12,547kl of crude oil into the sea. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.)

---

Number of Job Seekers Hits Record-High (Jan 2008) The number of college graduates looking for employment has increased to an all-time high with more students seeking to obtain so-called ``decent jobs'' after additional study amid a tight labor market. Also, many workers have quit their jobs to find more secure careers with higher salaries and social status.

According to the National Statistical Office Monday, those who study or train to acquire jobs in government agencies, public schools and large companies totaled 546,000 as of the end of last year, the highest since 2003 when the statistical office began compiling data. In 2006, it rose to 525,000 from 457,000 in 2005, 383,000 in 2004 and 345,000 in 2003.

Individuals preparing for employment are currently classified as part of the economically inactive population because they are not directly engaged in job-hunting activities, according to the statistical office. But in reality, they fall into the category of job seekers and should be as regarded jobless, which would push up the country's unemployment rate substantially higher.

Among people preparing for jobs, 220,000 were found to have taken classes at private institutes for the bar exam and other state-administered tests, and at vocational training centers in 2007, down 2.7 percent from a year earlier. The remaining 299,000 were studying at home, up 9 percent from 2006.

``The number of university graduates preparing for employment has continued to increase over the years as more are willing to study longer to get decent works that offer higher salaries and greater job security. Also, many white-collar employees have quit work to study again to become lawyers, civil servants, doctors and other occupations with high social status,'' said Sohn Min-jung, researcher at Samsung Economic Research Institute, said. However, the number of such jobs has decreased or become harder to get because of intensifying competition among college graduates and workers, pushing up the number of people preparing for work, he said.

``Local manufacturers have generated fewer decent jobs as the economy has become a more capital and technology-centered one and companies have expanded operations overseas rather than here. Instead, a number of manual and low paying positions in the services sector have been created,'' Sohn said. (Source: Korea Times.)

Number of people without jobs climbs to over 3 million (Mar 2008) The number of people who are voluntarily unemployed has exceeded 1.6 million for the first time. This category is defined by the government as including people who have no specific reason for being unemployed, and who are not sick or aged, but are capable of working. With the inclusion of job seekers, who are defined as people actively preparing to take exams for employment in companies or government agencies, and people who are involuntarily unemployed, the number of people without jobs has climbed to above three million.

According to a report released by the National Statistical Office on March 13, the number of people categorized by the government as people who are voluntarily unemployed, or "people who are just taking a break," rose to 1,628,000 last month, accounting for 4.1 percent of the economically active population above the age of 15, or 39.42 million. This number is not reflected in the government’s unemployment data because these people are categorized as being economically inactive.

This figure has increased sharply since 2003. It stood at 977,000 in February 2003; 1,474,000 in February 2005; and 1,589,000 in February 2007. The growth rate has stood at 66.6 percent over the past five years, more than 10 times higher than the population growth rate for people over the age of 15. As the job market has increasingly decreased, the number of people who have "quit job hunting" has increased at a faster pace, the data indicated. (SITE NOTE: It appears that someone is trying to shift the blame to Roh who took office in 2003...which I personally think is true.)

In addition, the number of job seekers, or people who are actively preparing for exams with the hope of finding employment in companies or government agencies, rose to 607,000 in February. In Korea, it is customary for employers to require an employment exam as a way to weed out job applicants prior to conducting formal job interviews.

Including the 819,000 people categorized as being involuntarily unemployed, the total number of people without jobs stood at 3,054,000 last month. Meanwhile, the proportion of people over age 15 without jobs rose to 7.74 percent last month, compared to 5.82 percent in February 2003.

Of the total number of people without jobs, 2,229,000 were men, accounting for 11.6 percent of the male population aged above 15, or 19,232,000. This means that one out of nine men who are capable of working is unemployed. The number of women without jobs was 827,000, or 4.1 percent of the female population above the age of 15. (Source: Hankyoreh News.) (SITE NOTE: When you have 3 million in a population of 45 million out of work -- and not counting retired old folks -- you have some serious problems.)

---

First jury to sit next month (Jan 2008) A jury will sit isn a criminal trial next month for the first time in the nations history, although its role will be limited to giving the judge its recommendation. The trial marks a major reform in court proceedings, which have been conducted exclusively by judges since the inception of the modern judicial system in 1895. The new jury system is part of the judicial reform measures aimed at increasing the fairness of verdicts, and improving human rights protection. The law took effect on Jan. 1.

The jury will hear a robbery case in Daegu District Court on Feb. 12. The presence of a jury was requested on Jan. 10 by the defendant, surnamed Lee. He is charged with battering and wounding a 70-year-old lady while robbing her home in Daegu in December 2007.

At the outset of such a new system, the success of it hinges on citizens active participation, Eom Jong-kyu, a senior judge with the court, told The Korea Herald. The jurors decision will not be legally binding, but will have an advisory effect on the judges final ruling. Participatory trials will be confined mainly to felony cases, including murder, burglary, rape, bribery and others which are subject to heavy sentences such as life imprisonment. The jurys verdict is, in principle, to be unanimous. If not, a majority decision will be accepted.

All Korean citizens aged 20 or older are eligible, except for those in certain professions including lawyers, soldiers and law-enforcement officials, and people with criminal records. Each juror will be paid 100,000 won ($105) per day. Anyone who fails to report for jury duty without specifying a reason will be fined 2 million won.

On 21 Jan, the Daegu district court sent a notice to 230 randomly chosen candidates out of the registered eligible 7,473 citizens under its jurisdiction. From this pool, the court will choose 30 to 40 candidates by considering various criteria, including their gender, age and occupation. On the day of the trial, the defense lawyer and prosecutors will reject the candidates who they believe could unfairly influence the court ruling. Nine jurors and three substitutes will eventually be chosen. (Source: Korea Herald.)

Korea's first jury reaches a verdict (Feb 2008) For the first time in the country's history, a jury sat in judgment of a peer yesterday. The process is part of Korea's efforts to change from a mostly closed legal system that relies heavily on paperwork to a more open system, which relies more on testimony and evidence. The regional court sent notice letters last month to 230 candidates, selected at random among residents of the district. Prosecutors and defense lawyers picked the nine official jurors, with three substitutes, from among 86 potential jurors.

"I am surprised that more citizens than expected appeared in court to participate in the first trial by jury," said Um Jong-gyu, a judge of the Daegu District Court. "Many people have expressed an interest in the new system and more and more people want to take part in a trial." The trial in Daegu District Court involved a 27-year-old man accused of assaulting a 70-year-woman in her home in December. The suspect's lawyer, Chun Jung-ho, requested the jury trial. The jurors played an advisory role only, as the judge made the final decision. Judge Yun Jong-gu presided over the trial.

The jury selection took about two hours. The trial started at 2 p.m. Yun told the jury, "All suspects are innocent until proven guilty. The prosecutors are responsible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the suspect committed the crime. Just because the suspect has been indicted and is standing trial, you should not have prejudice." After listening to the defense lawyer and the prosecution's arguments, the jury deliberated about two hours before deciding the accused was guilty. Upholding the jury's recommendation, Judge Yun gave the man a suspended sentence of two years and six months, plus 80 hours of community service. (SITE NOTE: The jury unanimously found the defendant guilty of the assault of a 70-year-old woman during an attempted burglary. But in a passionate closing argument, the defence counsel urged leniency, saying the defendant had taken his victim to hospital and turned himself in, said Korean news agency Yonhap. After a two-hour deliberation the jury recommended a suspended sentence of 30 months and 80 hours' community service, and the judge agreed.)

Hwang Young-mok, president of the district court, said, "This is a significant step to not only improve human rights, but also win the public's trust." After the trial, Chun, the defense attorney, said he believed the jury system had worked in favor of his client. "If it was a normal trial, he would have received an actual prison term of about two years," Chun said.

The National Assembly decided to introduce a U.S.-style trial-by-jury system last May. It was the first substantial change to criminal trials, investigations and indictments since 1954. All Korean citizens over 20 are eligible to be a juror. Skipping jury duty could lead to a fine of up to 2 million won ($2,100) and bribing a jury member can lead to a jail sentence. More than 100 criminal cases will be tried under the new system this year. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

---

Gov't ordered to issue passport to N. Korean defector (Jan 2008) The Supreme Court on 28 Jan ruled in favor of a high-profile North Korean defector, Kim Tok-hong, who has been repeatedly denied a passport to travel to the United States, citing the need to protect the defector's basic right. (SITE NOTE: Ding-dong the witch is dead -- or almost. During the Roh administration, Hwang Jang-yop, the highest ranked defector to date, was prevented from speaking in America. When the US agreed to guarantee his safety, he was allowed to speak in a forum, but even then the ROK government refused to allow him to speak to anyone without a ROK "guard" present. Roh feared harm to his rapproachment process if Kim spoke out too harshly against the North. HOWEVER, Kim Tok-hong has always been viewed as a minor defector. For example, Kim's children did not get the perks that Hwang's kids did in the DPRK system. As such, it simply did not make sense for him to be denied a passport -- but because of his linkage to Hwang, he was denied.)

The highest court's edict dismissed an appeal by the Foreign Ministry, which warned that the defector could be a target of North Korean assassination attempts in the U.S. and that his planned trip could cause diplomatic friction. Kim Tok-hong, 69, filed a petition in 2004 against the Foreign Ministry that twice denied his passport applications. Before defecting to Seoul in 1997, Kim was president of North Korea's Yogwang General Trading Company and an aide to Hwang Jang-yop, former secretary of the North Korean Workers' Party and the highest-ranking North Korean to defect to Seoul so far. The two defected together.

---

Numerical Designations to be Removed from National Treasures (Jan 2008) The government has decided to remove the numerical designations from national treasures, such as in the case of Namdaemun Gate, which is currently called "National Treasure No. 1." The Cultural Heritage Administration held a news conference Jan. 10 to announce the regulation as a way to improve the classification of national treasures. Under the new regulation, all national treasures will lose their serial numbers. The administration will also designate as national treasures historical relics and natural monuments. Currently, only tangible assets such as buildings and monuments can be designated as national treasures. The government is also considering simplifying the classification of significant items into national treasures, intangible assets, natural monuments and famous spots. (Source: KBS Global.)

---

February 2008

Rising consumer prices and education costs squeeze middle class households (Feb 2008) Consumer prices have soared in recent weeks, putting a crimp on the livelihoods of many ordinary South Korean people. An increase in spending on private education has also imposed a burden on the middle class, with the incoming administration’s new education polices adding fuel to the fire.

Meanwhile, a spike in the prices of agricultural products in global markets has sent local food makers rushing to raise the prices of their products. The price of ramyeon rose from between 50 to 100 won (US$1 = KRW942.798), and prices for snacks, bean curd and beverages also followed suit. The price of beer, which increased last year due to hikes in its raw ingredients, is also showing signs of going up again, while pulp prices will likely rise by 5 percent soon.

Restaurants have also joined in the move to increase prices. Due to soaring flour costs, restaurants have raised the prices of their most popular Chinese dishes by between 500 to 1,000 won in the past month alone. A kimbap shop owner in central Seoul said, "Last year, flour prices jumped twice, but we didn’t reflect that in the prices of dishes containing products made of flour. Now, we have decided to raise the prices of these items by 500 won as we cannot shoulder the burden of the raw material price hikes any more." A toast sandwich seller said, "After raising our prices from 1000 won to 1300 won, I saw the number of customers decrease by more than half." (Source: Hankyoreh News.)

S. Koreans spend nearly 7 pct of income on private education (Feb 2008) South Korean parents spent around 7 percent of their monthly incomes in 2007 to send their children to private education institutes, a government report showed on 22 Feb. According to the report by the Korea National Statistical Office, South Korean parents' private education spending amounted to 20.04 trillion won (US$21.13 billion) last year.

Based on that figure and other reports, South Korean parents spent a monthly average of 222,000 won per child on private education, which accounted for 6.8 percent of the nation's average household monthly income. In 2007, South Koreans spent 2.22 million won on average for that purpose.

South Korea is known for its enthusiasm for education, with many parents taking on an extra job to pay for their children's private institute fees. Dissatisfied with the government's public education polices, parents tend to opt for private education for their children, mostly for subjects such as mathematics and English and other subjects important on college-entrance exams. (Source: Yonhap News.)

Inflation Challenges for a Middle-Income Household (Feb 2008) Prices are unstable now. If prices increase, you get less goods and services with the same amount of money. That explains why households are sensitive to inflation. The Dong-A Ilbo analyzed the household budget of a middle class family in January 2007 to estimate how much money is needed in January 2008 to live exactly the same as the previous year.

Mrs. A, 40, lives in Nowon-gu, Seoul, with her husband, a son in first grade, and a daughter in kindergarten. They earn a dual income and the combined household yearly income is about 90 million won pre-tax. The Dong-A Ilbo team divided expenditures into six major categories, including food and dining, housing and communications, daily necessities and cultural activities, childcare and education, transportation, and others, and 83 subcategories. The team also analyzed the current prices of products Mrs. A bought by actually visiting discount retail stores or by phone. Mrs. A spent 2,965,000 won (excluding investment in financial products and interest payment) last January, but she needs 3,249,000 won to maintain the same quality of life this year. In a year, real consumer prices have risen by 9.6 percent.

Given the fact that the increased rate of consumer prices was 2.5 percent, real prices have risen more dramatically. Compared to the price hikes, their income rose only 0.8 percent from 7,758,000 won to 7,818,000 won. Mrs. A buys food at discount retail store B near her home. Prices for vegetables rose dramatically over a one-year period. The price of chili peppers per 100 gram rose by 76.5 percent from 850 won to 1,500 won. To buy the same amount of peppers worth 1,000 won last year, you must pay 1,760 won today. A kilo of green onions costs 5,300 won now compared with 4,000 won last year. The price of a cabbage skyrocketed 125 percent from 2,000 won to 4,500 won. The price increase in flour products has also been remarkable. Mrs. A paid 4,640 for two bundles of five Ramen noodles last year. Now, she has to pay 5,140 won.

When all food expenditures are combined, Mrs. A's family must spend 5.9 percent more to enjoy the same meals they enjoyed a year ago. Mrs. A said, "I was surprised to find the price of flour rose so much, when I bought flour powder last month. The prices of snacks remain the same, but their weights are lighter. Though reducing net weight can be counted as inflation, it was not included in this analysis.

The biggest part of expenditures last January was education fees for their two children. The family spent 1,007,000 won or 34 percent of their total expenditure. The son is weak, so he learns swimming and Taekwondo, and goes to a private cram school. The fees for swimming lessons rose from 85,000 won to 90,000 won and for the cram school, the cost rose from 130,000 won to 150,000 won. The daughter's kindergarten tuition rose by 10 percent. In addition, she needs new clothes for a school event, as well as paper and crayons for class, which all cost a significant amount.

Gas prices are the most burdensome. Mrs. A, who goes to work by car, spent 280,000 won last January, but she now has to pay 344,000 won for the same distance this year. The apartment maintenance fee rose from 224,000 to 257,000 won and her husband's transportation fees rose from 40,000 won to 45,000 won.

Gold prices rose as well. A year ago, she bought a gold ring for her nephew's first birthday for 84,000 won. Now, she needs 127,000 won to buy the same ring. A year ago, she bought three children's books about Chinese characters at 18,000 won, but she has to pay 26,000 won now. Inflation indices tend to be slightly exaggerated because people buy the cheapest items.

Mr. and Mrs. A said they feel like their worth is declining while everything else is getting more expensive. The household revenue remains the same, but prices are rising. Mrs. A said she has not yet balanced the book for January this year, but she reduced or plans to reduce some spending. She is considering making snacks at home because snacks and ice cream are expensive. She recently bought ingredients for making snacks and a sorbet machine. She can reduce spending on food but she is helpless to rising oil prices. She often works outside, so she cannot give up driving her car. "I should refrain from driving the car on weekends or I have to find cheap gas stations. Given the rising college tuition, I have to get my children education insurance," she said. (Source: Donga Ilbo.)

Educational Spending Reaches 12% of Household Spending & 10% of Koreans over Age 65 (Feb 2008) Educational spending of urban households has more than doubled in the past decade. As private education spending has grown much faster than the household income every year, a total educational spending claimed a record 12 percent of monthly spending at an urban household in 2007. The share was 10.9 percent back in 1997. The figures come from a report titled "Korean Society's Index in 2007" released by the Korea National Statistical Office.

Spending 160,000 Won per Month on Private Education

The statistical agency announced on 28 Feb that an average Korean household in urban areas earned 3.67 million won a month and spent 2.84 million won. Also, its monthly education spending reached 272,391 won.

The money spent on private education (private institution fees, study facility fees, costs for overseas study, and expenses for purchasing learning materials required by private institutions) reached 162,839 won a month, or 7.2 percent of a household's monthly spending. In other words, spending on private education is 1.5 times larger than that on public education (tuition fees, expenses for learning materials and stationery).

In 1997, a household spent 1.48 million won per month. Its monthly educational spending reached 160,000 won and its spending on private education amounted to 70,000 won. In short, spending on private education accounted for a mere 4.9 percent of the entire household spending.

Tuition fees have increased by approximately 30,000 won from 65,526 won to 97,356 won in the past decade, but its share in household spending has rarely changed from 4.4 percent to 4.3 percent.

Expenses for learning materials have rather decreased from 20,561 won to 8,936 won and those for stationery have also fallen from 3,789 won to 3,260 won for the past ten years.

Statistics also showed that 82.8 percent of high school graduates went to university last year. The figure stood at 60.1 percent ten years ago. In 2007, 99.9 percent of grade schoolers and 99.6 percent of middle school students advanced to higher learning institution.

10 Percent of Korean People is Aged 65 or Over

Out of 48.45 million Koreans, 48.1 million (9.9 percent) were aged 65 or over as of last year, the report showed. Life expectancy also went up by 0.6 year from 78.6 in 2005 to 79.2 in 2006.

The ratio of population aged 65 or over reached 7.2 percent in 2000. Since the Korean society became an aged society where more than 7 percent of its population is aged 65 or over, the ratio of the aged has gradually increased. If the recent trend remains unchanged, the aged will account for more than 20 percent of the Korean population by 2026.

The age at which men and women in Korea first marry has gradually increased: men's age at first marriage increased by 2.5 years to 30.9 and women's age at first marriage increased by 2.3 years to 27.8 in 2006. The age at which average women give birth to their first baby also increased by 2.5 years to 29.2 in 2006. Even though the share of population aged 65 or over has grown by 2.7 percentage points from 7.2 percent to 9.9 percent between 2000 and 2007, the share of economically active population among the total population older than 55 increased a mere 0.5 percentage point from 45.5 percent to 46 percent over the same period.

The average sales price of urban housing jumped 3.1 percent from a year ago in 2007. The average price of low-rise housing also climbed 8.3 percent, that of detached houses jumped 2.9 percent and that of apartments grew 2.2 percent. In general, both the sales price and rent of urban housing have increased more than 40 percent over the same period. In the meanwhile, consumer prices soared 34 percent for the past ten years. The biggest cause of death was cancer in 2006 when 134.8 out of 100,000 Koreans died of cancer. Lung cancer took most lives (28.8).

The report also showed that 40.19 million Koreans subscribed to mobile phone services in 2006. That means 83.2 out of 100 Koreans had mobile handsets. For the year, 23.12 million Koreans subscribed to fixed-line services. In 2006, 108 Korean movies and 237 imported movies were released in Korea. But Korean movies drew 40 million more in audience in 2006 since the audience watching Korean movies reached 97.91 million while those watching foreign movies amounted to 55.49 million. (Source: Donga Ilbo.)

Businesses Use Tricks to Hike Prices (Mar 2008) Kim Min-ja runs a noodle eatery in Namdaemun Market's famous ``kalguksu'' (knife-cut noodles) street. She said prices of all menu items -- mostly made out of flour ? were recently fixed up by 500 won, more so by peer pressure than rising costs. ``The whole street was resetting the price from 3,500 won to 4,000 won, so you're pretty much left with no choice,'' said Kim, who has for the past 15 years been in business on the street lined up with 20 some similar joints.

The world's biggest commodity crops, such as wheat, corn and soybean, have been selling at record highs since last year, pushing up flour prices by about 65 percent. A 20-kilogram pack of flour for restaurant-use went from 13,500 won to 22,166 won, according to market data. Kim says although rising costs leave less profit for businesses, the sudden price change can easily repel customers. ``I'd rather pick lower profit over fewer customers,'' she said, adding that many restaurant owners seem to use this opportunity to raise prices a bit more than needed.

A National Statistical Office data showed last week that Chinese restaurants have been charging eaters 9.2 percent more than they did in December due to flour shortages. Analysts say owners not only used the opportunity to reset ``jjajangmyeon'' (black bean paste noodle) prices but also other dishes unrelated to flour. Lim Ok-hee, who runs a Chinese restaurant in Myeongdong, central Seoul, said a bowl of her jjajangmyeon edged up from 2,500 won to 3,500 won, while other dishes like ``tangsuyuk'' (sweet-sour pork) saw similar changes. She said many small restaurants in Myeong-dong, which is dense with cheap eateries, are seeing this as a good excuse to modify their prices. ``Ramyeon'' (instant noodles) used to cost 1,500 won but 2,000 won is becoming the new market standard. Owners say it's because of the rise in costs, but ramyeon prices, in fact, only went up by 100 won.

Businesses should be more honest with their price modifications, says the Korea Consumer Agency, adding that today's consumers are smart, so ``They won't take such unfair practices for long.'' (Source: Korea Times.) (SITE NOTE: Yes, they will take the unfair practices because the price increase is modest -- and in their services, they will increase the cost as well. This has happened worldwide since the dawn of business -- prices go up, but never come down. That's the way it works, stupid.)

---

Presidential office denies allegation that aide took bribe (Feb 2008) South Korea's presidential office acknowledged 2 Feb one of its ranking officials was offered a bribe four years ago, but claimed he immediately rejected it, as the prosecution began its latest investigation involving top presidential aides. The denial comes after Yonhap News Agency reported earlier in the day that prosecutors have acquired a list government officials, including presidential secretary Jung Sang-moon, who were allegedly bribed by a local maritime shipping company in an attempt to avoid tax evasion charges.

Jung, 62, who oversees general affairs at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, denied the allegation he received a bribe of about 100 million won (US$105,000) from a former son-in-law who worked for the company. Presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon backed Jung's claim. "It is true that the former son-in-law of secretary Jung came to him and offered a bag apparently containing money, saying it could be used to pay his debts," Cheon told reporters. "Jung was infuriated and sent him away." The shipping company, which has only been identified as "S," has declined to comment.

The case is the latest in a string of cases involving Cheong Wa Dae officials. A trial is underway to clarify the link between Byeon Yang-kyoon, a former presidential policy coordinator who resigned in September, and Shin Jeong-ah, a controversial former art professor who allegedly secured career-related favors from Byeon in a forgery case that rocked the nation last year. In October, a former presidential protocol secretary, Jung Yun-jae, was arrested on charges of taking bribes from a local businessman who sought to win a lucrative construction bid. (Source: Yonhap News.) (SITE NOTE: This is just the tip of the iceberg as the Lee administration has made it clear that they are going to go after the former Roh administrators -- and what we have observed over the past five years -- corruption was rampant from the highest levels and wound its way down the chain. Lee is starting with the battle in the GNP to run in the April 2008 elections only those candidates without previous convictions as part of his overall scheme to show that his party has clean hands -- and thus are ok in going after the other previously corrupt officials.)

---

Prosecution charges nearly 100 with draft evasion (Feb 2008) The prosecution has discovered that scores of people, including professional football players, may have purposely injured themselves and had surgery to avoid mandatory military service, prosecution officials said Sunday. The prosecution indicted 92 suspected draft dodgers, including 15 who are either active or former players in the Korean professional football league, officials said, noting 50 of them play in the minor K-2 or K-3 leagues. The rest are either university football players or ordinary citizens. (Source: Yonhap News.) (See Sports Figures, Children of Top Officials Avoid Military Service (May-Jun 2007) for details of draft evasion scandals in 2007.)

---

Drug-related arrests top 10,000 last year (Feb 2008) The number of drug-related arrests in South Korea rose again sharply last year threatening the country's "drug-clean" status, the top prosecutors' office said on 3 Feb. Arrests increased by 38 percent from 7,711 in 2006 to 10,649 last year mainly due to the increase in methamphetamine and marijuana users, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office said in a news release. (SITE NOTE: The media has been playing up the FOREIGN teachers and soldiers involved in mailing marijuana into Korea which is a rather small number. However, the 10,000 arrests were mostly Korean which is something that is not seen in Korean news.) (Source: Yonhap News.)

---

Roh Disgraced in North Korea during Summit: All This Fuss Just to Leave Roh's Name in North Korea (Feb 2008) Full details are coming to light over a row over a stone monument which former National Intelligence Service chief Kim Man-bok famously carried to Pyongyang on Dec. 18, the eve of presidential elections in South Korea. During last year's inter-Korean summit, the leaders of the two countries planted a tree to commemorate the meeting and agreed to place a 250 kg memorial stone there. But it didn't happen. Some news media reported that the North rejected the stone, saying it was too large, while Cheong Wa Dae said it was the failure of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to turn up at the tree planting -- the monument bore the names of both President Roh Moo-hyun and Kim. (SITE NOTE: The monument was a 250-kg stone with the names of President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il inscribed. It is not North Korean custom to place a monument in front of a commemorative tree. But Seoul asked Pyongyang to make an exception for this occasion and the North accepted the request. However, Kim did not keep a promise to appear at the tree-planting event and sent Kim Yong-nam, the largely ceremonial president of the Supreme People's Assembly, instead. As a result, the stone with the names of the two leaders was not placed and South Korea took it back home. (Chosun Ilbo.))


Above is the original 250-kg stone slab which South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun wanted to set up in front of a commemorative tree he planted at a botanical garden in Pyongyang to mark his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il there in early October. The stone was replaced with a 70-kg one apparently due to North Korean objections. (Yonhap)

The office of President Roh Moo-hyun has come under fire for lying about a humiliating incident during Roh's trip to North Korean trip last October for his summit talks with the North's leader Kim Jong-il.

A vernacular newspaper disclosed on Thursday that the South Korean summit delegation was forced to cancel its plan to install Roh's inscribed stone slab in front of a commemorative tree planted by the president at a botanic garden in downtown Pyongyang on Oct. 4, due to the objection of North Korean authorities over the size of the stone weighing 250 kilograms.

North Korean officials opposed the installation of Roh's commemorative stone, contending that giant stone monuments on North Korean soil can be erected only in the name of its leader and his deceased father, Kim Il-sung, according to the report carried by the Munhwa Ilbo. Yielding to the North's opinion, the embarrassed South Korean delegation brought the giant stone slab back to Seoul, the report said. (Source: Yonhap News

What is pathetic is that the presidential office was so fixated on the stone that the head of South Korea's intelligence service had to put all of his duties on hold to travel all the way to North Korea with another rock after Seoul spent two months negotiating with Pyongyang over this issue. The monument was downsized to 70 kg and now just bears a message hoping for unification from Roh alone. (SITE NOTE: Later, former National Intelligence Service Director Kim Man-bok, in a now-notorious visit to Pyongyang on the eve of the presidential election here, placed a stone marking President Roh’s visit to the North, not the inter-Korean summit, in Pyongyang. The stone was smaller, weighing 75 kg and now reading, "Wishing for a unified nation, President of the Republic of Korea Roh Moo-hyun, October 2-4 2007." (Chosun Ilbo.))

The stone has otherwise had no noticeable impact on inter-Korean relations. We weren't even allowed to commemorate the summit on it. As things were going, Roh Moo-hyun should have realized how pathetic things had become and should have given up trying to leave traces of his accomplishments. But the former NIS chief traveled to the North Korean capital with the stone a day before the presidential elections: presumably he went because Roh told him to. There can be no government in the world that mobilizes its intelligence chief to handle the placement of a memorial stone next to a commemorative tree.

It is laughable that the NIS chief traveled all the way to North Korea a day before the presidential elections to meet with his Northern counterpart to talk about a rock. It is an embarrassment for the country. But we cannot simply laugh and forget about this matter. If it is true that the South Korean leader and his intelligence chief were so fixated on a cornerstone bearing his name, then it is a national tragedy, the pitiful result of an abnormal relationship between Seoul and Pyongyang between 2003 and 2008.

Roh refused to accept Kim Man-bok's resignation and sat on it for 27 days. Now we know why. (Source: Chosun Ilbo.) (SITE NOTE: Roh also left a stone marker when he rode across the DMZ to ride to the North -- instead of his hoped for railroad ride. Instead of serving as a symbolic unification milestone, it simply drew yawns.)

---

Fire Destroys Historic Seoul Landmark (Feb 2008) Fire destroyed perhaps Seoul’s most famous landmark on Sunday night when flames engulfed the Sungnyemun, more commonly known as Namdaemun or South Gate, the nation’s no.1 national treasure. The landmark, officially called Sungnyemun, or "gate of exalted ceremonies," was the southern gate of the walls that surrounded Seoul during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). It currently serves as a gateway to Namdaemun market, a traditional market that has been operating for centuries. Construction of the gate began in 1395 and was finished in 1398 during the reign of King Taejo, who founded the Joseon Dynasty. The structure was renovated several times, most recently in 1962. The oldest wooden structure in Seoul, the gate was designated a National Treasure in 1962.



A fire engulfed a six-century-old gate in the heart of Seoul overnight, with police suspecting it was caused by arson. The wooden structure on the top of the stone gate was burnt down several hours after it caught fire on 10 Feb. The blaze appeared to be under control at one point, but it flared up again a few minutes later, spreading quickly as firefighters tried to salvage what they could. Police officials are still trying to find the cause of the fire, but believe it was arson. A taxi driver who reported the fire told police investigators that he saw a man in his 50s go up the stairs to the gate shortly before the blaze started. (SITE NOTE: The police yesterday questioned an employee of the Jung-gu district office, which looks over cultural properties in the area, regarding possible negligence in management and surveillance. Sungnyemun is left unguarded between 8 p.m. and 10 a.m. It is watched only by 24-hour security cameras and a surveillance system that detects unauthorized access. The alarm goes off when someone enters the gate or climbs on top of the gate, said Oh Jae-rok, spokesman of the surveillance company KT Telecop. When we got there nine minutes after the alarm went off, at 8:47 p.m. on 10 Feb, the firefighters were already there, and we informed the district office of Jung-gu about the situation. Three district office employees keep an eye on the site during the day, and only one person works on holidays. (Source: Korea Herald.))

Police took into custody on 11 Feb a man suspected of causing the fire that destroyed South Korea’s No. 1 national treasure. Chae Jong-gi, 69, a former fortune teller, confessed to setting the fire that destroyed the 610-year-old gate. He told police he chose the site because security there was light. He was apprehended at Ganghwa Island, west of Seoul, night near his ex-wife’s house. Investigators found at his home clothes and a bag similar to those described by witnesses who told police they saw a man appearing to be in his 60s near Namdaemun, the site of the fire, with a backpack and a ladder. He confessed 30 minutes after his apprehension. [Source: Yonhap.]


Namdaemun Gate in 1904

According to police, Chae’s crime was premeditated. The suspect surveyed Namdaemun in July and December of last year. Chae said, "I did it because I was angry about the compensation issue and my previous arson conviction at Changgyeong Palace," Chae was quoted as telling police. "I chose Namdaemun because it was easy to approach and poorly guarded." Chae arrived at Namdaemun around 8:35 p.m. on Sunday, carrying an aluminum ladder and three 1.5-liter bottles of paint thinner. He wore a mountain climbing outfit and carried two lighters. Chae climbed up the western wall of the gate carrying the ladder. Then he used the ladder to enter the tower. Once there, he walked up the center stairwell to the second floor. Chae sprinkled the floor with the paint thinner and started the fire, the police said. After confirming the gate was in flames, Chae left and got into a taxi. He visited his son’s house in Ilsan afterward, police said, then went to meet his ex-wife that night. Based on witnesses’ reports and his previous arson conviction, the police tracked Chae to Ganghwa Island. Nam said a paint thinner container and leather gloves he used at the time of the arson were sent to the crime lab.

"The suspect had even considered terror attacks on the public transportation system, including a plan to overturn a train, but decided not to due to the risk of high casualties," according to police. Chae set the Namdaemun fire because he was angry about the amount of compensation he received for his house from a construction company that carried out a development project from 1997 to 1998. Chae filed formal complaints with the government, Nam said, but they were ignored.

Chae is the same man who attempted to light Changgyeonggung Palace’s Munjeongjeon Hall alight in 2006. After setting fire to one building inside Changgyeong Palace, damaging a wall and a small gate in 2006, Chae was nabbed by witnesses and handed over to the police. He initially admitted to the arson charge, but changed his position as the trial proceeded. During the trial, Chae again admitted to the arson. The Seoul District Court convicted him but showed leniency, saying he is elderly and had repented. Chae received an 18-month suspended sentence and a 13 million won ($13,800) fine. If convicted of the Namdaemun fire, he could be sentenced to up to life in prison.

According to the police, Chae continued to deny responsibility for the 2006 palace fire. The police also made public a three-page memo that Chae wrote a year ago, in which he insisted on his innocence. "I asked the judge to conduct a scientific investigation, but he didn’t," Chae wrote, adding that his lawyer and family forced him to make a false confession. "I feel victimized," Chae continued in the letter. "I am weak in society and the burden of the heavy crime is on my shoulders. I was divorced. My children persuaded me to make a false confession, but later blamed me for the crime. I hate the world. My only wish is that my children will not see me as a criminal." Chae has four children. Chae has no record of mental illness, at least two experts said he appeared to be suffering from antisocial personality disorder. (Source: Joongang Ilbo.)

Thirty-nine fire engines and 88 firefighters rushed to the scene at shortly before 9 p.m. on Sunday. The destruction of a six-century-old national treasure is being blamed on the misjudgment of firefighters and inept attempts to bring the fire under control at the initial stage. At 10:30 p.m., firefighters believed they had extinguished the flames, but it rekindled on the second floor and engulfed the gate. A taxi driver identified as Lee Sang-gon said he saw a man entering Namdaemun with a bag in his hand while waiting for a fare. "Several minutes later, a fire broke out on the second floor of the gate. I immediately reported it to police."


Fighting the Fire (11 Feb 2008)

Firefighters fought the blaze with ladders and fire hoses at 8:55 p.m. and by 10: 30 p.m. thought the fire was under control and focused on putting out smaller flames. But the blaze rekindled at 10:40 p.m. and burnt the roof out. It collapsed at 12:40 a.m. on 11 Feb. At 12:00 a.m., firefighters belatedly tried to take the roof apart and douse the gate with water inside, but the effort failed and firefighters were reduced to watching the gate collapse while they sprinkled water around it at ground level. The Seoul Metropolitan Fire & Disaster Management Department and the Cultural Heritage Administration explained the technical difficulties in extinguishing the fire to reporters on 10 Feb. Roof tiles could not be removed because they were frozen, and water didn't reach the wooden beams that caught fire underneath the tiles, they said. There were no sprinklers or fire censors on Sungnyemun because it takes only about a minute for a fire crew to reach it, the authorities explained. Firefighters said there were only eight fire extinguishers at the six-century gate.

The loss of the national treasure is expected to lead to severe criticism of the Cultural Heritage Administration, the government office in charge of maintaining cultural and historical artifacts, including national treasures. Experts blamed poor safety precautions and misjudgment by authorities for the destruction of a 610-year-old landmark gate of Sungnyemun during an overnight fire. Despite the possibility of a flashover, or the near simultaneous ignition of all combustible material in an enclosed area, the fire crew was not aggressive in the early stages of the fire because they feared damaging the cultural property, experts said. They should have taken a more aggressive approach from the beginning, said Lee Soo-kyung, professor of safety engineering at Seoul National University of Technology. Parts of the wooden structure had to be removed for a complete extinguishing of the blaze, but the firefighters merely resorted to spraying water in the beginning, as they were reportedly advised by the Cultural Heritage Administration to be careful not to harm the national treasure.


Namdaemun Ruins (11 Feb 2008) (Yonhap News)

Government bodies immediately pointed their fingers at each other as public criticism intensifies about the failure to save the nation’s top historical landmark from destruction. While the Jung District Office and the Seoul Central District Fire Department are also taking heat, Yoo Hong-jun, head of the Cultural Heritage Administration, tendered his resignation. Yoo blamed the firefighting authorities’ incompetence, while the firefighters claimed the officials wanted them to act passively at first to prevent damage to the structure. Only later did it state that the structure was to be saved at all costs. An internal report from the Jung District Office, which has administrative jurisdiction over Namdaemun, prompted angry protests from the fire department. The report, issued on 11 Feb, said the extent and amount of damage were larger than it should have been because firefighters reacted slowly. "It took 72 minutes from the time the fire started for the fire department to begin spraying water on the gate," the report said. Fire officials disagreed. (Source: Chosun Ilbo and Joongang Ilbo and Korea Herald.)

Finger Pointing continues (Feb 2008) The condemnation continues and people continued to visit the destroyed gate. Investigators on 15 Feb raided a local security company for failing to prevent the arson attack that destroyed Sunggnyemun, a 610-year-old historic gate and South Korea's national treasure No. 1, police said. The agents searched KT Telecop's head office in western Seoul, officers at the Namdaemun Police Station said. The company has provided unmanned security services for the gate with an intrusion detection system and surveillance cameras under a contract with the government since January. However, the Jung-gu district did not specify the need for a fire alarm system in the contract -- leading to claims of its negligence.

Later, the Police confirmed that when the Jung-gu District Office proposed to establish fire fighting facilities for the cultural heritage in June 2006, the administration refused. The CHA explained that the reason it did not establish necessary facilities is because it thought fire trucks could reach the location quickly as the cultural heritage was located in the middle of downtown.


Namdaemun Ruins (11 Feb 2008) (Yonhap News)

Thus the finger-pointing reached full circle back to the fire department which claimed the CHA gave confusing instructions. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Management Department’s record on the measures taken by hour, administration officers talked to fire authorities over the phone for four minutes from 9:40 p.m. when the fire broke out. During the initial phone conversation, they said, "Be careful in putting out the fire," "You can ruin Sungnyemun. Just extinguish the fire," and "When the fire is likely to spread, destroy Sungnyemun," clearly showing they were also very confused about how to deal with the situation. (Source: Donga Ilbo.)

Namdaemun Gate Gathering Place for Homeless (Feb 2008) A Korean newspaper ran a story that homeless people used the Gate as a sleeping and drinking place in the summer. Entrance was through the use of a ladder and the people congregated in a blind spot in the cameras. Homeless people stated that the KT Telecop personnel knew of their presence but simply disregarded them after alarms were set off in previous incidents. The Gate was also used as a restroom by the homeless. The homeless informant stated that in the winter the Gate was used by the "newcomers" of the homeless at Seoul Station across the street as a place to cook ramien. The major point was that the Gate was unsecure and open to any arson attempt all along. In fact, the arsonist Chae chose the Gate as his target because of this.

Koreans Humanize Namdaemun Gate (Feb 2008) As a traditional Korean requiem blared, thousands of people mourned in front of a historic gate recently demolished by alleged arson, many kneeling before what remained of their foremost national treasure. "I feel as if I had lost a family member," said Kim Jin-hwa, who runs a small shop near the 610-year-old Sungnyemun gate, now blackened by fire and filled with charred debris.


Shaman Ritual in front of Namdaemun Gate (11 Feb 2008) (Yonhap News)

"I shed many tears when I saw the gate burn on television," said 12-year-old Im Myeong-ryu, who travelled here with her family from the southern port city of Busan. "I came here to say good-bye." "The gate has stayed with us through centuries of war and invasion," Soh Yeh-soon, 84, said in tears. "I never thought it would leave us so unexpectedly." (SITE NOTE: This phenomenon is peculiar to Korea where it becomes a fashionable thing to do -- most recently it was the Taean Beach oil spill where a million volunteers showed up to clean the beach. The cleanup became a media event. The Namdaemun gate was previously simply a tourist attraction that was posted on post cards -- but recognized as a symbol of Seoul by all. Thus when it burned down, the symbol that it held as a part of their common history was lost. But it has become a media event to "mourn" the loss of Namdaemun. One of my students went up to Seoul one evening with his parents specifically to see the ruins. Children do school projects on the item and the media is filled every day with people in front of it. Like the Taean Beach tragedy, it will be slowly pushed out of sight -- and like Taean Beach on the ruins will remain. This is the Korean way when the media gets involved.)

---

Six held, 209 indicted for fake degrees (Feb 2008) It was reported on 11 Feb that prosecutors said they had arrested six people for allegedly helping scores of people get degrees from unaccredited universities abroad in order to gain teaching jobs or employment as commissioned officers in the military here. Prosecutors also indicted 209 others without physical detention, accusing them of holding fake certificates for Buddhist monks, Toeic English proficiency and Oriental medicine practitioners.

The indictment comes after a five-month intensive crackdown on "those who encroached upon people’s trust in society," prompted by the scandal last summer in which former Dongguk University professor Shin Jeong-ah was found to have used a fake degree from Yale University in the United States to get the teaching job and a position as co-director of the Gwangju Biennale, Korea’s biggest contemporary art exhibition.

A suspect identified only by his surname Lee was put behind bars for allegedly helping 27 people get degrees from an accredited university in the Philippines to help them get awarded military commissions. 13 officers were court martialed and given dishonorable discharges in Oct 2007.

Another suspect, known only as Cho, is also detained for allegedly establishing Nobel University, which is unaccredited, to release scores of fake degrees. "Cho" established a university in the United States without official permission and advertised the school in Korea. He offered degrees equivalent to those of regular universities. Cho received 34.5 million won in entrance fees from 17 students who applied after seeing the ad. He also opened a training course for natural therapists and bilked 52.5 million won from 21 people in tuition fees. The con artist was arrested at the end of last year after one of his victims reported him.

"Kim" ran a gynecological clinic in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province. Seeking a higher income, Kim pretended to be a medical doctor on the clinic’s Web site from 2006, when Kim only had a specialist’s license. Kim was indicted without detention for violating medical law. Prosecutors also indicted 123 persons on the charge of posing as doctors of Oriental medicine, architects or lawyers or performing jobs with forged qualifications. (Source: Joongang Ilbo and Donga Ilbo.)

---

North Korean Cheering Section Demands Leave Football Match in Limbo (Feb 2008) Chosun Ilbo on 13 Feb reported that Pyongyang is scheduled to host on March 26 a third regional preliminary between the two Koreas for the 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa. But the DPRK says it will not allow the visit of an ROK cheerleader team, the public display of the ROK's national flag and the playing of the ROK national anthem. Instead the DPRK demands that the ROK replace its national anthem and flag with the traditional folk song "Arirang" and a flag representing the Korean Peninsula "for the sake of unity and harmony." (SITE NOTE: The FIFA should have already considered this would happen with the unpredictable North. Under the regulations of the Federation Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA, flying national flags and playing national anthems of the participating nations are normal events. What has happened is that the North as a host has decided to interject politics into the sport by making the conditions. It has tried to resurrect the reunification fever that has been squelched since Lee Myeong-bak was elected. Though foreigners were outraged as reflected by internet comments, the reaction in the ROK seemed rather muted. More than anything else, the North's decision to allow the United States to play its anthem by the NY Philharmonic Orchestra, while rejecting South Korea, shows its hypocracy. (SEE International Events 2008, Feb 2008) If the North does not change its attitude, the two Koreas will inevitably hold the match in a third country.)

Red Devils Fans Skip World Qualifier (Feb 2008) Donga Ilbo on 14 Feb reported that the ROK soccer fan group Red Devils will not attend the March 26 World Cup qualifier between the two Koreas in Pyongyang. On its official homepage, the group said Wednesday that it decided not to go citing the inability to use the cheering method of its choice. "Using our national symbol is a must for us and at the core of our Red Devil tradition. If another country threatens to dictate our tradition, there is no point in us taking a long journey for cheering," a member of the Red Devils' operating committee said. Later the head of the ROK Soccer Association condemned the act saying the national flag and anthem should be allowed.

N. Korea seeks to play S. Korea in Shenyang: report (Feb 2008) Joongang Ilbo on 29 Feb reported that the DPRK prefers to hold its World Cup qualifier against the ROK next month in the PRC rather than in Pyongyang, an ROK broadcaster was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency. The SBS television network said the North hopes to hold the March 24 qualifier for the 2010 World Cup finals in Shenyang.

In response, the ROK's Korea Football Association KFA requested FIFA arbitration without additional negotiations, KFA Public Relations Director Yoo Young-cheol said. "FIFA shares the view with us that the match should be held as stipulated in its regulations. I expect FIFA will make a decision in favor of us," Yoo said.

Qualifier Match in Shanghai (Mar 2008) The world's governing football body ruled that the World Cup qualifier match between the two Koreas will be held in Shanghai instead of Pyongyang, the Korea Football Association (KFA) said on 7 Mar. The football association said FIFA proposed a compromise on the site of the match venue after the two Koreas disagreed on whether South Korea would be allowed to play its national anthem and hoist its flag. On 26 Mar North Korea restricted South Korea to a scoreless draw in an Asian qualifier for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, keeping the Cold War rivalry alive on the pitch. The third-round regional qualifier was held in the city's 35-thousand-seat Hongkou Soccer Stadium. With its record of one win and one draw, the South Korean team will play against Jordan on May 31st.

---

Report on Sexual Abuse of Athletes by Coaches Stirs Uproar (Feb 2008) A state television's in-depth report on sexual harassment, and even alleged rape by sports coaches of female athletes is causing an outrage across the nation. The KBS ``Ssam'' investigative program on Monday aired its ``Report on Human Rights in Sports and Sexual Assaults'' showing perpetrators with their reputations and social status remaining intact, and their female victims suffering from long-time trauma.

In the program, a sports insider testified that many of his fellow trainers said, ``Having a sexual relationship is the first way to gain control of female athletes; violence is the second.'' These ``control methods'' are rampant in sports such as football, swimming, volleyball and basketball, to name just a few, where 90 percent of the training staff are men. The victims ranged from elementary school students to professional athletes, and they spoke of the effects not only on themselves, but also on their families and friends.

The sport authorities, schools or even players and parents, have covered up most of these cases, one father said. ``Revealing the case in public is like destroying one's career, as most training staff share information about players between themselves and will not accept people who make a large fuss.'' The program introduced the one time captain of a professional volleyball team who was warned to keep silent about the team's coach raping nearly all of her teammates. She was told they would not be accepted in other teams if they raised the incident. The team was eventually dissolved. Another almost identical case involved basketball players at a high school who had to keep silent about their coaches. After they testified, the coaches banned them playing or assaulted them. In some cases, though the charges made by the players are heard and accepted by the authorities, the new staff often conduct the same acts of violence on them, assuring victims that the systematic problem will never change. The female victims have all suffered from trauma -- one of them confessed to hurting herself -- but the male perpetrators, in many cases, led ordinary lives. The program reported that among the list of those accused, some are prominent figures in sports.

After the program, its Web site was inundated with angry viewers asking for severe punishment for the sexual offenders. Parents with would-be sports player children expressed concerns over the safety of their daughters. ``My daughter plays football, but I am not sure whether I cannot let her to go through this,'' the mother of a soccer player said.

The typical sports circle is a hierarchical and male dominant world, where order-and-obey is systemized under the name of fighting for victory, Prof. Jeong Hee-jun of Dong-A University said. ``These players know nothing beyond their sports, and therefore, don't risk their playing career.'' ``They have no friends, hobbies, professions, knowledge outside of sports and what would they do once they quit? That's the basis of the fear and what these sexual-assaulters are taking advantage of,'' he said. After Woori Bank basketball team coach Park Myung-su had to resign over a sex scandal last year, rumors that female players are habitually sexually abused by male coaches and others began being confirmed. Now, the viewers and other people have called for a thorough investigation into the serious scandal and the government to institute prevention programs. The basketball and other sports associations have yet to comment on the program 's allegations. (Source: Korea Times.) (SITE NOTE: What made this whole scenario disgusting was that the North allowed the NY Philharmonic play the US National Anthem in its Feb concert. This was much more political. However, it may be that the DPRK is fearful of the spread of the idea of national unity spearheaded by the South -- instead of by the North under the unification banner from the Roh Moo-hyun days.)

NHRC to Investigate Allegations (Feb 2008) The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said on 14 Feb that it would investigate allegations of sexual abuse and rape of female athletes by their coaches. The commission had already told the sports authorities and the government to ensure the human rights of young female athletes last year. According to an NHRC survey in 2006, 14.9 percent of elementary school sports players said they had experienced sexual harassment mostly from their coaches or teachers. ``This is getting more serious day by day and the commission decided that the government and other authorities must act to halt this,'' a spokesman said. (SITE NOTE: The NHRC has over the past five years been denigrated into a joke. It's recommendations carry no legal force. Nothing will change. The only time anyone paid attention to their rulings were when it supported their agenda. The NHRC did not force an agenda item. In Korea, the NHRC has lost its voice as a moral force -- as Roh Moo-hyun turned it into a government mouthpiece -- and its refusal to condemn the North for its human rights violations reinforced it as a Roh administration tool. That the UN would object to Lee Myeong-bak's move to realign it under the President's office because it would lose its "independence" made it all the more laughable. Though Lee has backed down because of the problems passing the reorganization plan prior to his inauguration, it may surface again after the April 2008 elections when the conservatives take control.)

Coaches Having Hard Time Recruiting (Mar 2008) A Sports Hankook writer recently assessed the situation and called for the WKBL to grab hold of the situation by implementing reforms including stronger punishments. Last May Lee Sang-yun, head coach of Keumho Life Insurance in the WKBL, seemed to have no need to make up new business cards, because at the time the scandal over Woori Bank head coach Park Myeong-su’s sexual assaults of his players had not yet broken and no wary eyes had fallen over the coaches in women’s basketball.

Those wary eyes now continue their gaze. With the broadcast of "Sports and Sexual Assault Human Rights Report" revealing the situation of sexual assault in sports, coaches being recruited to women’s basketball teams are worried and confused. The actions of a few immoral coaches have thrown a harsh light onto all the rest and they are not happy about it. Parents are reluctant to let their children join a team and middle school girls’ basketball teams are having trouble filling their rosters. The foundations of women’s basketball are melting away.

Samsung Life Insurance head coach Jeong Deok-hwa said, "the more watched we are the more difficult things get. I worry that when I have individual meetings with players I have to do it in the open to avoid misunderstandings and lawsuits." People ask him, "you think I’m going to let my kids play basketball?", making him feel like a criminal.

Keumho Life Insurance head coach Lee Sang-yun feels the same. Currently in his debut season in the WKBL, he said, "one day my wife told me her friends jokingly told her to be careful about her husband. I was worried that they thought I’m just like coach Park Myeong-su." But middle school coaches are feeling the heat even more. Parents who watched the broadcast don’t want their daughters playing basketball, and teams are having trouble recrutiing enough players.

Shim Jae-gyun, coach of the basketball team at Hongnong Middle School in Yeonggwang, said, "I scout the players but it’s getting tough. There are good players among the kids graduating from elementary school but to scout them I have to spend six months persuading their parents… since the broadcast older people treat me like a criminal."

Kim Jin-hong, who until February was a basketball coach at Sungui Girls’ High School, said, "parents want to have a female coach so many players have moved to Seonil Girls’ Middle school because they have one. Many limits are put on my scouting of players. I can’t really disagree with the feelings of the parents."

Lee Ho-geun, who has been coaching for seven years and is currently with Dongkuk University, has two daughters who play basketball. His 12-year old daughter Min-ji plays forward at Seonil Girls’ Middle School. He said, "if the parents can’t trust the coaches there is no way they can let their kids play."

But there have been parents who trusted wrongly, and athletes bearing the pain of sexual assault. But everything cannot change at once. Sexual violence has not been eradicated from a sports world un-meddled in by teams, leagues, organizations and society itself and coaches who have not committed a crime will continue to be treated as if they have.

The teams, which have put highest priority on protecting their images, have to come up with an effective way to reduce sexual violence. If they can’t come up with a concrete anti-sexual violence policy immediately then it will appear they are doing the bare minimum required. Keomho Life Insurance recently hired 52-year old Jeong Mi-ra as top coach. She has a teenaged daughter and was hired not only for her basketball skill — she first appeared as a guard on the national team — but to be a counselor for the athletes.

The WKBL must prepare effective systems. After putting in place a "hotline" for sexual assault victims to get advice, they will be able to say to those who are looking on from outside that "we have done all we can" and then should carry out punishments and reforms according to the results of their investigation. Even though rumors will not go away there needs to be a way to verify them.

The Korea Sports Council and the National Human Rights Commission recently agreed to: investigate the situation of sexual violence and human rights violations committed against athletes; pursue punishment of confirmed human rights violations; implement human rights education for athletes, coaches, and parents; and prepare plans to ameliorate the situation. This partnership should be properly understood as being the first step.

The law is a problem, too. Former Woori Bank coach Park Myeong-su received two years’ probation after being accused of molesting an athlete. The reasons he received such a light sentence compared to the 18 months in prison requested by prosecutors, the judge said, were that "he has no prior convictions, served women’s basketball for over 10 years including as coach of the women’s national team, and was highly intoxicated at the time of his crime." It is not easy to understand why he should be punished lightly because of his prior accomplishments and drunkenness at the time of a first offense. The judge needs to be aware that more sexual assaults will result from such a ruling. (Source: Sports Hankooki: Translated by Korea Beat.)

HRC Begins Investigation (Apr 2008) On the 7th the National Human Rights Commission announced that it has begun its special investigation into the scandal over sexual assault and other human rights violations in the world of sports. Victims of the assaults and people who know information about them can call from anywhere in the country to make reports about incidents by dialing 1331, and also communicate with the NHRC through its homepage or via e-mail. The NHRC announced, “in cases where the statute of limitations has expired and victims agree to cooperate we promise a speedy, complete, and official investigation.” “If our investigation determines that a serious human rights violation has taken place we will recommend that offenders be punished, those responsible censured and fundamental reforms carried out, and will consider substantial protection and aid policies for the victims.” (Source: Naver.com.Translated by Korea Beat.)

---

Mental illness cases climb in past 5 years (Feb 2008) The number of mental illness cases reported in South Korea rose by 35 percent in 2006 compared to 2001, a state-run health insurer said on 14 Feb. The National Health Insurance Corp. said there were slightly more than 1.80 million people undergoing treatment for mental diseases as of 2006, up sharply from 1.34 million five years earlier.

New statistics have come out according to which the number of patients seeking treatment for mental illnesses has increased every year. According to the data of the National Health Insurance Corporation released on the 14th, 1,807,762 patients were treated for mentall illness in 2006. This is a 35% increase compared to 2001, when 1,343,900 patients did so.

The main illnesses treated were dementia, which increased 185% from 31,158 to 88,804; delayed mental development increased 79.6% from 9,470 to 17,004; and mood disorders (including depression and mood swings) increased 47.6% from 431,507 to 638,115.

Those with mental or physical impairment due to alcohol use increased 44.9%, from 41,385 to 59,979. By year there were 1,343,900 mental patients in 2001, 1,514,506 in 2002, 1,482,198 in 2003, 1,551,008 in 2004, 1,655,963 in 2005, and 1,807,762 in 2006. In 2001 a total of 447,007,000,000 won was spent to treat these patients, and that figure increased 93% to reach a total of 863,069,000,000 won. Spending on dementia increased the most — 324.2% — going from 31,054,000,000 to 133,063,000,000 won.

Also, per 1,000 people over the age of 69, the number in treatment for dementia was 10.7 in 2001, 14.9 in 2002, 15.5 in 2003, 17.8 in 2004, 21.1 in 2005, and 27.8 in 2006, showing a significant upward trend. And across every age group from 20s through 50s the rate of treatment for alcohol-related problems was increasing faster among women than men. (Source: Naver.com.)

---

South Korea Wins Kurdistan Oil Contract (Feb 2008) The Financial Times on 14 Feb reported that the ROK signed a deal to explore and develop four oil fields in Kurdistan, an agreement that would give it a foothold in the untapped northern region of Iraq. The deal comes as the ROK, the world's fourth biggest oil importer, aggressively steps up its resource diplomacy. But it could be a political and legal minefield - the deal is with the Kurdish regional government so is likely to be disputed by the Iraqi national government. According to the deal, the consortium - which also includes SK Energy and Daesung Industrial - will have the right to explore and develop four oil fields in Kurdistan, thought to contain reserves of at least 1bn barrels. That would be a fifth more than the ROK's annual oil consumption of 800m barrels.



The Ministry of