Big bashes ring in the New Year

Where, how to hail the Year of Dragon


Every year has witnessed a progressive growth in the scale and breadth of Seoul’s countdown parties.

Single and double star events gave way to multiple act showdowns, then, last year, two game-changers busted out the big guns.

Countdown Seoul 2011 transformed the massive Yeongdeungpo shopping complex, Times Square, into a multi-floor over 15-act music bonanza featuring former Daft Punk manager-and-Ed Banger Records’ head Pedro Winter a.k.a. Busy P, the late DJ Mehdi and South Korean boy band 2PM.

The Seoul Electronic Music Festival catered to hard-core revelers with 25 artists in two venues ― Sheraton Grande Walkerhill’s Walkerhill Theatre and Vista Hall ― for a seven-hour fiesta.

Both are slated to return this winter, with a strong round-up of high profile acts.

While Countdown Seoul is sticking to the same venue and date, the Seoul Electronic Music Festival has nudged its date to Jan. 14, leaving Walkerhill Theatre and Vista Hall open to takers.

Apparently the double venue was simply too good to pass up and has attracted a brand new party, the HIGH LIGHT FESTIVAL, whose acts include the Billboard chart-topping group, Far East Movement, and former K-pop boy band member-gone-solo Jay Park.

Meanwhile, neighboring WooBar is staying faithful to its long tradition of putting out a DJ-fronted countdown party.

At last year’s Countdown Seoul 2011 at Times Square thousands of balloons showered down on partygoers. This year’s fiesta promises to top that. (LOCKSMITH by SHYOSHYO type)

Countdown Seoul 2012 at Times Square
Bigger is not always better, but it is when it comes to Countdown Seoul’s second installment.

Co-organizer LOCKSMITH by SHYOSHYO type’s planning team head Kim Soo-hyang said the upcoming party has expanded to an extra floor of the shopping complex.

Kim also promises to top last year’s balloon shower, only going so far as to say “an amazing countdown show is in the works.”

Amped-up nosh and drinks will include vodka cocktails, beer and coffee, and a special menu served up on the fifth floor at the Seoul New Rave stage.

When it comes to the 10-hour, 20-act bash itself, no doubt, Korean spoof heavy duo UV will be one of the most-anticipated acts of the night.

Thanks, in part, to the duo’s ability to seamlessly meld parody-driven humor with pseudo reality on cable TV while continuously churning out catchy, retro singles like their more recent “Itaewon Freedom” (ft. music mogul Park Jin-young), comedian Yoo Sae-yoon and artist-friend Muzie have skyrocketed to fame since their 2010 tongue-in-cheek, R&B debut “No Cool, I’m Sorry” ― a riot that came complete with a guffaw-inducing music video.

Korean spoof heavy duo UV (Muzie on the left, Yoo Sae-yoon on the right) will be performing at Countdown Seoul 2012. (LOCKSMITH by SHYOSHYO type)

While UV is sure to bring the laughs, French DJ-producer Breakbot will have partygoers chilling to his addictive infusion of a ‘70s-style groove into songs and remixes like “Baby I’m Yours” and Metronomy’s “A Thing For Me.”

Joining Breakbot is fellow Ed Banger Records label artist and art director SO ME, French duo Housse de Racket and Japanese electronic act 80kidz. Two-man indie band Goonamguayeoridingstella will also be bringing their dreamy, guitar strumming, soft vocal-laden sound to the show.

Countdown Seoul 2012 runs from Dec. 31 to Jan. 1 from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. at Times Square in Yeongdeungpo. Tickets cost 77,000 won if purchased in advance and 99,000 won at the door. For more information visit www.countdownseoul.com
 

Billboard chart-topping group Far East Movement is coming to perform at the HIGH LIGHT FESTIVAL 2012. (CJ E&M)

HIGH LIGHT FESTIVAL 2012
Far East Movement, need we say more?

Surely the group, whose single “Like a G6” topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2010 and made them the first Asian-American act to do so, holds enough clout to attract plenty of fans to this party.

According to organizer CJ E&M’s music business division marketing team deputy chief Lee Jae-hyang not only are all four members (Kev Nish, Prohgress, J-Splif, and DJ Virman) coming to perform but K-pop idol Jay Park will be joining them at W Seoul-Walkerhill’s Vista Hall.

Both acts have fresh singles out, Far East Movement’s “Jello” featuring rapper Rye Rye and Park’s R&B charmer “Girlfriend,” meaning those tracks might be featured on their set lists.

At Walkerhill Theatre, French DJ-producer SebastiAn will be putting his aggressive, ear-splitting, staccato flavor to his mixes and tracks.

The line-up for both venues will also feature French DJ Feadz and Korean electronic artists IDIOTAPE.

The HIGH LIGHT FESTIVAL 2012 runs from Dec. 31 to Jan. 1 from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. at the Sheraton Grande Walkerhill’s Walkerhill Theatre and Vista Hall. Tickets for both venues cost 132,000 won in advance and 143,000 won at the door. For more information visit highlightfestival.mnet.com

Seoul Electronic Music Festival 2012
Last year, the fledgling event brought in Etienne de Crecy, the DJ who has been credited with pioneering French house music. This year the Seoul Electronic Music Festival sends a nod to trance with Above & Beyond. The over decade-old group nabbed fifth place in the DJ Mag 2011 Top 100 DJs poll, cementing their status in the disc jockey firmament.

Joining them is French duo Justice of Grammy Award fame. Ready to unleash tracks off their sophomore album “Audio, Video, Disco” (surely they will), Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Auge are returning to South Korean soil for a “full live set.”

Hot property Crystal Castles ― the Canada-based two-member band ― is also set to perform. Vocalist Alice Glass’ reported stage-diving tendencies promise that this act will be anything but boring.

All action can be caught at Ilsan’s KINTEX, but why the change in venue?

“The first event was a pilot indoor fest so we did it as a countdown,” said a representative of organizer VU Entertainment. “This time we want to do it for real and make it a big indoor festival, and KINTEX is the most appropriate space for that.“

The Seoul Electronic Music Festival 2012 will run on Jan. 14 from 3 p.m. to 4 a.m. the following day at Ilsan’s KINTEX. Tickets cost 121,000 at the door. For more information visit www.semf.co.kr

New Year Party with DJ Belzebass
This year, Italy-based duo Belzebass will be sending partygoers into the New Year with an ear-blasting concoction of pulsating mixes at the W Seoul-Walkerhill’s WooBar.

Loud and fast-paced seems to be this act’s calling card. So for those who want to hang onto their cocktails and go for a beat-driven joyride, this might be the bash for you.

The party will run from Dec. 31 to Jan. 1 from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. Tickets cost 50,000 won in advance and 60,000 won at the door. One free drink included. For more information call (02) 2022-0333.

By Jean Oh (oh_jean@heraldm.com)

Lee, Hyun delegations return to Seoul

Lee briefly spoke with Kim Jong-un, Hyun only expressed condolences

The widows of former President Kim Dae-jung and former Hyundai Asan chairman Chung Mong-hun returned home on Tuesday after their high-profile trip to Pyongyang to express condolences over the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

Lee Hee-ho, widow of former President Kim Dae-jung, shakes hands with Kim Jong-un at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang on Monday. (The North’s Korean Central Television

In the morning, former First Lady Lee Hee-ho and Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun met the North’s titular head Kim Yong-nam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly, and expressed “deep condolences” over Kim’s demise, according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.

During the meeting at the Mansudae Assembly Hall, the two women expressed hope the joint declarations signed during inter-Korean summits in June 2000 and October 2007 will be implemented, and said that they will make efforts for this, the KCNA reported.

On Monday, they met Kim Jong-il’s heir, Jong-un, and paid tributes to the late leader at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace where his body is laid in a glass coffin ahead of his funeral set for Wednesday.

There, Lee talked with Jong-un for about 10 minutes while Hyun said she had no private talks with the heir, who state media in the North have referred to as the top leader both in the military and ruling Workers’ Party.

“(Kim Jong-un) thanked her for visiting (the North) from far away,” Yun Cheol-gu, secretary general of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center, told reporters on behalf of the 89-year-old Lee at the Dorasan immigration office near the border.

“(To mourn his death, she) waited for 40-50 minutes and then talked with (Jong-un) for about 10 minutes.”

Hyun stressed that her visit to Pyongyang was “purely for the mourning purpose,” dismissing speculation that there might have been talks with Pyongyang officials over cross-border businesses.

“(I) just expressed my sympathy. I had no separate talks (with Jong-un) and did not meet him separately,” she said.

“We (Hyun and Kim Yong-nam) talked about general issues as I visited the North purely for the purpose of mourning.”

The two delegations they led crossed the heavily fortified border on Monday for a two-day visit. Seoul allowed only them to visit Pyongyang to reciprocate the North’s delegations that attended the funerals for Kim and Chung in 2009 and 2003, respectively.

Their visit drew keen attention here as the heir, currently serving as vice chairman of the ruling party’s Central Military Commission, could convey a significant message to South Korea.

Observers attached special meaning to their visits to the grieving country as their late husbands were a symbol of inter-Korean cooperation. Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il held the first-ever North-South summit in 2000, and the Hyundai Group pioneered business exchanges between the two Koreas.

Before returning to Seoul, the two delegations also toured the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, the last remaining symbol of bilateral cooperation. Ties between the two Koreas have soured since the two deadly attacks by the North killed 50 South Koreans last year including two civilians.

After meeting Jong-un on Monday, the two women wrote messages of condolence, according to the North’s state media.

“Although Kim Jong-il, chairman of the National Defense Commission, has passed away, I hope that we can achieve national reunification at an early date by upholding the spirit of the June 15 inter-Korean declaration (signed in 2000 during the first inter-Korean summit),” Lee said in her message.

Hyun’s message read: “The National Defense Commission chairman who has made efforts for inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation will be remembered in our hearts for good.”

The North Korean media reported in detail their visits as top stories. The article on the South Korean mourning delegations appeared on the front page of the Rodong Sinmun, the official daily publication of the ruling party, on Tuesday. Its television also showed footage of the two shaking hands with the sad-looking Jong-un.

The North announced last Monday that Kim, who ruled the state with an iron fist for some 17 years, died of a heart attack on a train ride on Dec. 17.

South Korea has decided not to send a government delegation to the North to prevent an ideological division of public opinion over the issue. It has expressed “consolation” to the North Korean people, but fallen short of offering condolences to Pyongyang.

By Song Sang-ho
(sshluck@heraldm.com)

Liberal party picks 9 candidates for leadership

Podcast star politician gets jail term over rumors about Lee

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against Chung Bong-ju, former opposition lawmaker and popular podcast host, for spreading false rumors about President Lee Myung-bak during the 2007 presidential election.

The ruling makes him ineligible to run for an elected office for the next 10 years. The ex-lawmaker from the Democratic Party, which preceded the Democratic Unified Party, had already registered his candidacy for April general elections, but he will instead go behind bars.

(Yonhap News)

  The top court upheld the Seoul High Court’s one year prison term for Chung, who was accused of distributing false information in 2007 that then presidential candidate Lee led a large-scale stock manipulation and other financial fraud in 2001.

During the presidential election campaign period, Chung suggested documents, photos and other evidence as what he claims to be proof showing Lee co-owned BBK and LKE investment banks, which were later caught for stock manipulation.

Lee denied the accusation, saying he had terminated his ownership before the breakout of the fraud. The “BBK scandal” was one of the most controversial issues questioning Lee’s morality. A local court and a special prosecutor appointed by the National Assembly cleared Lee of charges before he took office in February 2008.

Currently, Kim Kyung-joon, Lee’s former business partner and the core culprit behind the financial fraud, has been imprisoned. Kim also alleged that Lee took a major role in his scam.

Chung, who served at the National Assembly from 2004 to 2008, shot to overnight stardom when he sat on the panel of “Naneun Ggomsuda, (I am a slacker),” this May. The podcast program reveals the alleged shoddy aspects of the Lee Myung-bak administration. Favored by people frustrated with the administration, the program is one of the most frequently downloaded political shows on iTunes.

On Thursday, hundreds of his fans waited for the ruling outside the Supreme Court. They said they will struggle for his pardon and reinstatement. 

“This ruling is monumental because it shows the court still being influenced by the administration,” said Kim Eo-jun, co-host of the podcast program.

On Thursday, the top court also convicted Rep. Kang Ki-gap, leader of the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party, for interfering in the execution of parliamentary officials’ duties.

Justice Lee Sang-hoon confirmed a lower court’s ruling of a 3 million won ($2,600) fine for grabbing a parliamentary guard by the collar and destroying property of the National Assembly at its secretary-general’s office in 2009 while Kang was protesting against the passage of the Media Law revision.

He opposed the bill that allowed newspaper companies to run broadcasting networks and gained a moniker of “yogic flier” for jumping up on a table.

But Kang will be able to maintain his seat in the parliament since he did not violate the Election Law, which strips violators of elected seats if they get a more than 1 million won fine or a more severe penalty.

The top court also upheld an appellate court’s decision to slap a 3 million won fine against social critic Chin Jung-kwon for defaming another critic, Byun Hee-jae, by calling him, “No one knows who he is.”

In 2009, he wrote on an online bulletin: “Why is the conservative newspaper Chosun Ilbo so keen on this ‘no one knows who he is’?” He also degraded Byun for making sloppy business decisions and used other aggressive expressions.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldm.com)

'Naggomsu' host put behind bars

S. Korean Park Hee-young gets maiden win in final LPGA event of year

SEOUL, Nov. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korean Park Hee-young has scored her first career LPGA Tour title in the season's final event, holding off Sandra Gal of Germany and Paula Creamer of the U.S. by two strokes at the CME Group Titleholders.

At Grand Cypress Resort in Orlando, Park fired a two-under 70 in the final round to finish at nine-under for the tournament.

Gal, who shared the third-round lead with the Korean, ended in a tie for second after a final round of 72. Creamer shot a 70 on the final day to pull even with Gal.

The 24-year-old Park took home $500,000 for her maiden victory in her fourth LPGA season and her 96th start. She jumped from 32nd to 12th on the money list.

"A lot of people would say, 'Why can't you win?'" Park said.

"Now I can say I can win any time. Dreams come true."


 

South Korean golfer Park Hee-young poses after winning the CME Group Titleholders(Yonhap)

Park put up three birdies against a bogey over her first eight holes, and then parred the rest of the way to hold on for the win.

Gal made the turn two strokes behind Park and couldn't get any closer when her two back-nine birdies were negated by two bogeys.

Park is the third South Korean to win on the LPGA Tour this year. Ryu So-yeon won the U.S. Women's Open in July and Choi Na-yeon triumphed at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia in October.

Among other South Koreans in Orlando, Choi tied for fourth at six-under and Pak Se-ri and Kim In-kyung shared 10th place at even par.

Entertainment stocks stage rally amid K-pop boom

As South Korean pop idol groups make a splash on stages across Asia and Europe, shares of local talent agencies are on a roll, luring both investors and companies wishing to seize a golden opportunity to jump on the “Korean pop” (K-pop) bandwagon.

The power of “hallyu”, or the Korean wave, in the music industry has done wonders for the local entertainment industry. The combined net income of the country’s three major music entertainment agencies ― SM Entertainment Co., JYP Entertainment Corp. and YG Entertainment Co. ― grew more than eight-fold from a year earlier to 32.5 billion won (US$28.6 million) in 2010.

Their revenue hit 152.9 billion won last year and is forecast to trend higher this year on the back of increased profits from royalties and overseas concerts.

SM, the pop music powerhouse with a lucrative roster including Girls’ Generation, Super Junior and SHINee, is the industry front-runner. Since making its debut on the secondary KOSDAQ bourse more than a decade ago in 2000, the leading entertainment agency now trades at 53,600 won per share and has grown nearly three-fold from 17,900 won in the beginning of the year.

The blue chip saw its share price soar by a daily limit of 15 percent after a successful Paris tour, in which 14,000 European fans flocked to see the SM clan’s two-day concert. Some 300 fans even did a group dance in front of the Louvre, demanding tickets to the show after they sold out in 15 minutes.

Illustration by Park Gee-young

JYP, the brainchild of singer-songwriter Park Jin-young, is another KOSDAQ favorite.

Shares of the pop music agency, which is home to girl groups Wonder Girls as well as boy bands 2AM and 2PM, more than doubled this year to 8,340 won from 3,105 won.

Loen Entertainment Inc., which offers K-pop streaming services, and Keyeast Co., whose major shareholder is Bae Yong-joon, the hero of the wildly popular drama “Winter Sonata,” are also some other entertainment stocks that have stepped into the limelight.

“It’s very positive how talent agencies are aggressively tapping into overseas markets. Efforts to collaborate with local agencies are under way, which will be engines to keep hallyu going,” said Kim Shi-woo, an entertainment and media analyst at Korea Investment & Securities Co.

“They have big potential, especially in Japan. Profit is virtually guaranteed,” Kim said.

While listed talent agencies and companies are enjoying their heydays, YG, one of the country’s top three pop music agencies, is preparing to go public on Wednesday.

YG, established by Yang Hyun-suk, a member of the legendary ‘90s K-pop band “Seo Taiji and Boys,” plans to use the proceeds from the listing to further extend its stardom in Asia.

“YG aims to improve its strengths. There are plans to launch new subsidiaries in China and the surrounding region,” YG Chief Executive Officer Yang Min-suk said in a press conference earlier this month.

Yang also emphasized the market’s interest in South Korean talent agencies’ trainee management system, adding YG has plans to export this system via an academy.

“The content market in South Korea is rapidly growing and eyeing new opportunities. If the first-generation Korean wave started with TV series 10 years ago, pop music is leading the trend now,” Yang said.

Market watchers, however, warn that the outlook is not all shine for talent agencies. There have been doubts over the industry’s sustainability and anti-hallyu movements have emerged recently in Japan.

Since August, a number of Japanese nationalist groups have held protests demanding that broadcasting stations there slash airtime for Korean TV series and entertainment. Others raised doubts on whether the whole entertainment industry is benefiting from the K-pop craze.

“The economic impact of anti-hallyu may be more trivial than expected. But potential investors should always bear in mind that only a minority of companies are actually earning money from the K-pop wave,” said Kim Chang-kwon of Daewoo Securities Co.

“After all, overseas debuts aren’t always successful,” he said.

Analysts, meanwhile, point out that a tarnished reputation or an abrupt scandal can easily mar earnings and cause share prices to plummet.

“The bigger the star power, the bigger the fallout from an unexpected event will be. It’s inevitable,” said Kim of Korea Investment.

YG, for instance, faced a hurdle when G-Dragon, one of its flagship artists, muddied his image with a drug scandal.

The agency released a statement upon the incident ― in which the rapper said he accidentally smoked marijuana, which is highly illegal in Korea ― and set up a management team to prevent such mishaps. But nonetheless, YG scaled back its prospective IPO price band by some 10 percent, citing the scandal’s potential impact on earnings.

Despite doubts and concerns, investors in search of high-yielding investments are eager to bank on talent agencies’

shares amid a dearth of profitable investments.

YG saw its IPO price settle at 34,000 won, higher than the proposed band of 22,100-28,800 won, painting a rosy picture of its future in spite of tepid IPO market sentiment.

“K-pop is here to stay. The stars will keep changing, but the genre has clearly settled down,” said Kim of Daewoo Securities.

The YG CEO agrees. “There are risks. But as much as there are risks, this industry is full of new opportunities.”

(Yonhap News)

Google expands cooperationwith Korean companies

U.S. search giant signs pact with POSCO, joins forces with Samsung, LG for Google TV


Google Inc. is expanding cooperation with Korean companies, signing a preliminary deal with POSCO to provide technological support to upgrade the steelmaker’s operations.

The world’s third largest steelmaker inked a memorandum of understanding with the IT giant on Wednesday to share Google’s info-tech and corporate values.

Google’s advanced technologies can be used for three-dimensional modeling before building steel mills, for example, POSCO said.

The MOU stemmed from POSCO chairman Chung Joon-yang’s meeting with Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt early this month in Seoul.

The steelmaker had initially wanted Google’s cloud computing technology, which is used to save and retrieve data and software from a virtual data center on the Internet.

Chung ordered his executives to review introducing the cloud computing technology a year ago after receiving a working-level report that the company’s digital data use in 2020 would be 44 times the level of 2009.

During his meeting with Schmidt two weeks ago, the scope of cooperation expanded to adopting Google’s innovative corporate culture.

“In this era of convergence, it would be meaningful for POSCO to create synergy with Google, which is famous for its managerial speed, collaboration and openness,” Chung said.

“Once we complete the info-tech reform at the steel mills based on the cooperation between POSCO and Google, it would be an innovation in the manufacturing industry as well as a transition to a new high-tech period.”

POSCO chairman Chung Joon-yang (right) talks with Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt after signing a memorandum of understanding on sharing Google’s info-tech and corporate values at a meeting held early this month in Seoul. (POSCO)

POSCO plans to establish a new management system using Google’s map functions to check inventory in its steel mills around the world, 3-D technology to simulate steel mill designs and translating and interpreting systems to help employees communicate better.

Google’s technical staff are scheduled to visit POSCO later this month to implement the plans.

POSCO and Google also organized a future technology committee which will host joint workshops at least twice a year and push for personnel exchanges.

“We will adopt elements of Google’s corporate culture such as its communication style, working hours management and community systems in addition to its technologies,” a POSCO official said.

Korean electronics companies are also in talks with Google to churn out Internet-connected television sets called Google TVs.

Samsung Electronics is in the final stage of negotiations with Google to manufacture smart television sets powered by the U.S. search engine.

LG Electronics, the world’s second largest maker of flat-screen TVs, plans to unveil its Google TV at a January consumer electronics show in Las Vegas.

Samsung and LG have manufactured smart TVs that run on their own in-house operating system, which offer video-on-demand, Internet surfing and search services and other functions through applications.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldm.com)

S&P may downgrade Japan

Standard and Poor’s said Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s administration hasn’t made progress in tackling the public debt burden, an indication it may be preparing to lower the nation’s sovereign grade.

“Japan’s finances are getting worse and worse every day, every second,” Takahira Ogawa, Singapore-based director of sovereign ratings at S&P, said in an interview Thursday. Asked if this means he’s closer to cutting Japan, he said it “may be right in saying that we’re closer to a downgrade. But the deterioration has been gradual so far, and it’s not like we’re going to move today.”

S&P rates Japan at “AA-” and has had a negative outlook on the rating since April. Ogawa said Japan needs a “comprehensive approach” to containing its debt burden, which the government projects will exceed 1 quadrillion yen ($13 trillion) in the year through March as the nation pays for reconstruction costs from March’s record earthquake.

Japan’s lower house of parliament Thursday approved legislation that would add an additional 2.1 percent levy to an individual’s annual payment. Lawmakers revised the government’s proposal to extend the period of the measure to 25 years, from 10 years, to help pay for earthquake rebuilding. The measure takes effect in 2013.

“Just because this passes doesn’t mean that it’s positive for public finances,” Ogawa said. “Politicians are squabbling over the minute details, while avoiding what’s most important.”

While Japan’s policy makers have signaled they will double the nation’s sales tax from 5 percent by around 2015, a bill has yet to be enacted.

Moody’s Investors Service cut the nation’s debt rating by one step to “Aa3” on Aug. 24. S&P lowered Japan to “AA-” in January. Fitch Ratings also has Japan at “AA-” with a negative outlook.

(Bloomberg)

Cyber community jolted by FTA rumors

Quelling of online discussion of FTA criticized as counter-productive

As Korea looks to ratify a Free Trade Agreement with the United States, rumors continue to spread on the Internet about disastrous consequences experienced by other countries that have sealed trade pacts with the U.S.

The main claim is that the trade deal, once it takes effect, will raise medical expenses.

According to the claims, simple operations such as appendectomies will cost as much as 9 million won ($7,993) and cough medicine up to 100,000 won.

They argue Mexico became a de facto subject of the U.S. after ratifying the North American Free Trade Agreement, and spread false rumors that the Mexican president had to flee for his life.

Others said that Bolivia suffered from rapid growth in water bills and that its people had to save rainwater for their daily use. The U.S. and Bolivia, however, have never ratified a free trade agreement with one another. Bolivia’s third-largest city, Cochabamba, did experience a drastic increase in water rates, but due to an issue unconnected with U.S. trade.

Anti-U.S. FTA protest (Yonhap News)

As the range and intensity of these stories showed no sign of abating the prosecutors’ office declared last week it would regulate the circulation of FTA-related myths as well as protests it deemed excessive.

Officials said they would arrest those who intentionally circulate false information through social networking services, considering the magnitude of its influence.

Government departments also rushed to deny the rumors about the FTA.

“Medicine is not subject to the FTA and will not be affected by its ratification,” said the Health Ministry’s spokesperson.

The government’s responses, however, faced harsh criticism from opponents of the trade deal.

“Should the FTA be ratified, the medical expenses of for-profit hospitals in free economic zones are expected to soar by up to 400 percent,” said Seoul National University veterinary professor Woo Hee-jong.

“The 8-million-won-for-appendectomies story is therefore not totally groundless.”

He also blasted the government for attempting to stifle such stories, without offering any solutions to calm public fears.

“The FTA talks should be laid out and discussed in an open forum,” said Han Sang-hee, professor at Konkuk University’s Law School.

“It is against the principles of democracy for authorities to attack such discussions using criminal penalties.”

Many citizens were intimidated and infuriated by the rumors.

“I usually have little interest in progressive groups’ claims and was not much involved in the FTA debates,” said Lee Jung-ho, a 55-year-old Seoul citizen who supports the conservative camp.

“However, I started to doubt the trade deal as these rumors, should they turn out to be true, would directly affect my life.”

Internet experts also expressed concerns about the influence of online rumors, especially on Twitter.

“I am familiar with the adverse effects of the internet but am nevertheless worried about the use of Twitter these days,” said Kim Yu-sik, head of DC Inside, a representative online community.

“The online bulletin boards, despite their mudslinging and malicious responses, involve a minimum level of two-way communication, that is claims and rebuttals.”

He said Twitter allowed rapid and efficient delivery of information and opinion, but did not offer much ground to dissenters. But he added that attempts to stifle debate were counter-productive.

“A tightly regulated society is easily carried away by urban myths, which explains why there are so many horror stories related to schools and college entrance exams in Korea,” Kim said.

“Regardless of the veracity of the stories, these ominous online rumors will continue to spread, should authorities curb them without offering people the chance to properly exchange opinions about the issue.“

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldm.com)

Capitalism in paradigm shift

E-Mart to sell MVNO phones

Sinseollo (Royal casserole)

Sinseollo (Institute of Traditional Korean Food)

Sinseollo is a casserole containing different types of meats, fish and vegetables in broth. The ingredients are placed around the pot according to color. Nuts and other delicacies accompany the meat, fish and vegetables in one pot. It provides an array of flavors and nutrients.

Ingredients
● Broth: 200g beef (brisket, shank), 100g radish, 8 cups water

● Seasoning sauce ① : 1 tsp clear soy sauce, 1/2 tsp minced green onion, 1/4 tsp minced garlic, 1 tsp clear soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp salt

● 100g beef (top round)

● For dumplings : 50g minced beef (top round), 20g tofu

● Seasoning sauce ②: 1/2 tsp clear soy sauce, 1/2 tsp minced green onion, 1/4 tsp minced garlic, 1/2 tsp sesame salt, 0.1g ground black pepper, 1 tsp sesame oil

● 30g tripe, 1 tsp salt, 3 tbsp wheat flour, 30g liver, 1/2 cups milk

● 50g spinal cord, 50g white flesh fish

● Seasoning for tripe, liver, spinal cord, white flesh fish : 1 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp ground black pepper

● 30g soaked sea slug, 2 sheets brown oak mushrooms

● 30g carrot, 2 cups water, 1 tsp salt

● 20g watercress, 4 egg, 1/2 cup wheat flour, 5 tbsp edible oil

● 2 walnut, 4 gingko, 1 tsp pine nuts


1. Clean off blood of broth beef. Put the beef and water into the pot, heat it up for 9 min. on high heat. Lower the heat to medium, simmer for 20 min. Add radish and continue to simmer for 20 min. Take out the beef and radish, cut them into pieces. Season with seasoning sauce ① (radish 80g, beef 130g). Filter the broth through a cotton cloth and season with clear soy sauce and salt (1.2kg).

2. Clean blood of beef, shred, season with 2/3 of seasoning ②.

3. Clean blood of minced beef. Wrap the tofu with cotton and mash by squeezing. Season the beef and tofu together with remained 1/3 of seasoning sauce ②, knead it, shape dumplings into 1.5 cm-diameter. Add salt and wheat flour to the tripe, clean, put some knife slits on it. Peel thin skin of the liver, slice, marinate in the milk for 10 min. Uncoil the spinal cord and cut into pieces. Slice the white flesh of the fish into strips.

4. Season the tripe, liver, spinal cord and fish flesh with salt and ground black pepper.

5. Cut the soaked sea slug into pieces.

6. Soak the dried brown oak mushrooms in water for 1 hour. remove stems, wipe water off. Shred them into same size as sea slug. Trim and wash carrot, cut into 2 cm-wide, 6 cm-long and 0.4 cm-thick.

7. Panfry egg for garnish, and panfry watercress after coating with wheat flour and beaten egg. Cut them into strips

8. Soak the walnut in hot water, and skin. Preheat the frying pan and oil. Stir-fry gingko for 2 min. on medium heat, then skin. Remove tops of the pine nuts and wipe the nuts with dry cotton cloths.

9. Coat the dumplings with wheat flour and beaten egg. Preheat the frying pan and oil, panfry the dumplings for 2 minutes on medium heat with rolling over.

10. Coat the tripe, liver, spinal cord and fish flesh with wheat flour and beaten egg. Preheat the frying pan, oil, panfry them on medium heat for 2 min. for each side. Cut them into strips.

11. Pour water into the pot, heat it up for 2 min. on high heat. When it boils, put the carrot and salt, scald for 20 sec.

12. Place the seasoned beef, shred radish and beef on the bottom of the Sinseollo pot. Decorate with prepared stuffs on the pot, and put the dumplings, walnuts, gingko and pine nuts on it.

13. Pour the broth into the Sinseollo pot, cover the lid. Place blazing charcoal under the funnel, boil it for 3 min.

Tips
● You can also put the fried ingredients at the bottom of the pot.

● Solidified alcohol can be substituted for charcoal.


(Adapted from the Institute of Traditional Korean Food)

Italian president tries to calm markets

A man checks a stock exchange monitor in Milan on Wednesday. (AP-Yonhap News)

ROME (AP) ― With markets tumbling around the globe, Italy’s president promised emphatically that Silvio Berlusconi will step down soon as premier and lavished honors on a leading economist, who instantly became Berlusconi’s presumed successor.

Across the Ionian Sea, the debt crisis in Greece deepened Wednesday with the breakdown of talks aimed at creating a power-sharing government to prevent the country from slipping into bankruptcy. The collapse came just minutes after the prime minister delivered a farewell speech to the nation.

The chaos reverberated around the world, and investors pulled money out of Europe. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged more than 3 percent, the euro slipped 2 percent against the dollar, and Italy’s key borrowing rate spiked at a dizzying high of 7.4 percent.

Investors fear Italy might follow Portugal and Greece into begging for a bailout from its partners in the euro. But Italy’s 1.9 trillion euro ($2.6 trillion) debt is far too great for Europe to cover.

On Tuesday, Berlusconi announced he would step down after Parliament passes a series of economic reforms to stave off financial ruin in Italy. But there was growing fear he doesn’t have the will or the clout to push the measures through. And some worry the wily premier will try to stay in power.

On Wednesday, with the markets in turmoil, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano in effect put Berlusconi on notice that he and the world’s markets are expecting Berlusconi to keep his word and leave soon.

Parliamentary whips feverishly worked out a timetable to ensure that the Italian Senate would give final approval Friday to the package of measures, aimed at stimulating growth and reining in debt, according to state TV. It said the lower house would do the same on Saturday, meaning Berlusconi could be out before the weekend is over.

Berlusconi’s top political aide, Angelino Alfano, confirmed the scenario, saying on a TV talk show Wednesday night that Berlusconi would resign sometime between Saturday and Monday, as soon as the economic reform law is passed.

In a surprise move, Napolitano named Mario Monti, who runs the prestigious Bocconi University in Milan, as senator-for-life, an honor given to notable figures that bestows voting privileges in the upper house of Parliament.

Monti was already being eagerly touted by market analysts, political commentators and some Italian politicians as having the international respectability and economic know-how to guide the country through the financial storm. His new title appeared intended to move him into position to try to form a post-Berlusconi government.

The elegant, gray-haired Monti, 68, made his reputation as a strong-willed economist when, as the European Union’s competition commissioner, he blocked General Electric’s takeover of Honeywell.

Senate President Renato Schifani told Monti in a congratulatory note that he was “sure that your deep experience will be of useful help to all of us,” the Italian news agency LaPresse reported.

In Greece, fresh political squabbling threatened what had appeared to be an emerging deal to end a week of political chaos. Tortuous power-sharing talks among Greece’s main parties broke down, with political leaders failing to pick a new prime minister to lead an interim government.

Outgoing Prime Minister George Papandreou addressed the nation on TV, saying Greece’s political parties are joining forces to save the country from bankruptcy.

“I want to wish every success to the new prime minister and the new government,” he said, without naming his successor. “I will stand at their side and will back this national effort to the utmost of my ability.”

But less than an hour later, one party chief stormed out of the talks, complaining of “trickery.” And Papandreou’s main rival complained that the prime minister had made no concrete proposal.

The president’s office scheduled another meeting for Thursday morning, but a deal seemed as far away as ever.

In Italy, industrialists soured on Berlusconi after he failed to jump-start the economy. Italy’s economy is hampered by high wage costs, low productivity, fat government payrolls, excessive taxes and bureaucratic obstacles.

The reform measures being voted on in Parliament are relatively modest. They include a plan to sell government assets, and tax breaks to reduce youth unemployment and to get more women into the work force. The legislation would also allow stores to stay open on Sundays and open up closed professions. Berlusconi also pledged to raise the retirement age to 67 for all workers.

Investors fear Berlusconi will try to get out of his pledge to resign.

“Berlusconi is the supreme political maneuverer,’’ said Jan Randolph, head of sovereign risk analysis at IHS Global Insight. “No one will believe he has resigned until, yes, he has done so. Simple as that.’’

Greece, Italy turn to experts on debt

ATHENS (AP) ― Europe’s financial crisis eased as Greece installed a respected economist to replace its prime minister and Italy appeared poised to do the same ― both hoping that monetary experts can do better than the politicians who drove their nations so deeply into debt.

The announcement Thursday in Athens ― coupled with the prospect that volatile Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will be ushered out soon ― quieted market fears, at least for now, that turmoil in Europe could threaten the global economy.

But significant challenges remain in both debt-heavy Mediterranean countries.

Greece’s new prime minister, Lucas Papademos, a former vice president of the European Central Bank, must quickly secure the crucial loan installment without which his country will go bankrupt before Christmas, and approve the EU’s $177 billion (130 billion euros) bailout deal.

In Italy, lawmakers have to pass new austerity measures over the next few days. However, expectations that respected economist Mario Monti will lead an interim technocratic government after Berlusconi goes helped lift the gloom.

Italy’s borrowing costs shot up alarmingly Wednesday to 7.4 percent on fears that Berlusconi would linger in office. But the markets calmed Thursday when it appeared that Italian lawmakers would approve the latest government austerity plans in the next few days and Berlusconi would resign after that.

Monti, 68, now heads Milan’s Bocconi University, but he made his reputation as the European Union competition commissioner who blocked General Electric’s takeover of Honeywell.

European stock markets rose on the twin Greek and Italian developments, while in the U.S. the Dow Jones industrial average was up 113 points, or 1 percent, a day after shedding nearly 400 points. The euro was also in demand, trading 0.5 percent higher at $1.3609.

Still, the European Union warned that the 17-nation eurozone could slip back into “a deep and prolonged” recession next year amid the debt crisis. The European Commission predicted the eurozone will grow a pallid 0.5 percent in 2012 ― much less than its earlier forecast of 1.8 percent. EU unemployment was forecast to be stuck at 9.5 percent.

Europe has already bailed out Greece, Portugal and Ireland ― but together they make up only about 6 percent of the eurozone’s economic output, in contrast to Italy’s 17 percent. Italy, the eurozone’s third-largest economy, is considered too big for Europe to bail out. It has a mountain of debt ― $2.6 trillion (1.9 trillion euros) ― and a substantial portion of that needs to be refinanced in the next few years.

In Greece, Papademos called for unity and promised to seek cross-party cooperation to keep Greece firmly in the 17-nation eurozone.

“The participation of our country in the eurozone is a guarantee for the country’s monetary stability. It is a driver of financial prosperity,” Papademos said after getting the mandate to form a Cabinet. “I am not a politician, but I have dedicated most of my professional life to exercising financial policy both in Greece and in Europe.”

The 64-year-old Papademos, who also served as Bank of Greece governor, will lead a government backed by both Greece’s governing Socialists and the opposition conservatives until early elections, tentatively set for February. He replaces outgoing Prime Minister George Papandreou midway through his four-year term, ending a family dynasty that has dominated Greek politics for decades.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner welcomed Papademos’ appointment and “the consensus that’s been reached in Greece over the need to implement the country’s reform commitments to the IMF as well as the European Union.”

The new Greek cabinet will be sworn in Friday. There has been no announcement on its composition, and officials said negotiations continued late Thursday.

However, two government officials and two opposition lawmakers, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue, said Evangelos Venizelos was expected to remain finance minister. Venizelos was deeply involved in negotiating the European rescue plan.

Greek analyst Platon Monokroussos said hopes have been raised that the new prime minister will help the country regain its lost international credibility.

“Of course, the new government will fight an uphill battle to implement a very austere adjustment program in Greece, very significant structural reforms, and this creates a lot of challenges,” said Monokroussos, who heads financial market research at Eurobank. “But overall, today’s outcome is positive.”

European officials greeted the Greek news with relief.

“The agreement to form a government of national unity opens a new chapter for Greece,” said a joint statement by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy.

They stressed that “it is important for Greece’s new government to send a strong cross-party message of reassurance to its European partners that it is committed to doing what it takes to set its debt on a steady downward path.”

The interim government’s mandate includes passing the $177 billion (130 billion euros) European debt deal that took months to work out, and ensuring the country receives the next $11 billion (8 billion euros) installment of its initial 110 billion euros bailout.

Under the new deal, private bondholders will forgive 50 percent ― or some 100 billion euros ― of their Greek debt holdings.

Eurozone officials are withholding the next loan installment until Athens formally approves the rescue package. They have also demanded a written pledge from Papademos, Papandreou, opposition party leader Antonis Samaras, the head of Greece’s central bank and the finance minister.

Many Greeks are angry after 20 months of government austerity measures, including repeated salary and pension cuts and tax hikes to meet the conditions of the country’s first bailout. Despite the belt-tightening, the Socialist government repeatedly missed its financial targets as Greece fell into a deep recession, amid rapidly rising unemployment that surged to 18.4 percent in August ― close to double the EU average.

Papademos’ appointment followed 10 days of political turmoil triggered by Papandreou’s shock announcement that he wanted to put the latest European bailout deal to a referendum. Fears that the agreement would be defeated led to mayhem on international markets and angered both European leaders and his own Socialist lawmakers.

Bowing to pressure, Papandreou agreed to resign and reached a historic power-sharing deal with Samaras on Sunday to form a transitional government.

Papademos, who is not a member of any party, has been operating lately as an adviser to the prime minister.

He taught at Columbia University and worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston before returning to Greece, where he headed the central bank from 1994 to 2002 after helping fend off a speculative attack on the drachma, Greece’s pre-euro currency.

At the Bank of Greece’s helm, Papademos presided over an era of increasing independence from the government that was crucial in helping Greece secure membership in the eurozone. He then spent eight years at the European Central Bank.

Boxing: Boxer "Smokin" Joe Frazier dies of cancer

Joe Frazier, who battled Muhammad Ali in a famed 1970s boxing trilogy, has died after a battle with liver cancer, his family said Monday. He was 67.

The family issued a news release confirming the boxer's death on Monday night.

Boxer Joe Frazier poses for a photo. Frazier, the former heavyweight champion who handed Muhammad Ali his first defeat yet had to live forever in his shadow, has died after a brief final fight with liver cancer. He was 67. The family issued a release confirming the boxer's death on Monday night, Nov. 7, 2011. (AP-Yonhap News)

Frazier took on Ali in three dynamic fights in the 1970s, including the epic "Thrilla in Manila".

He had been under home care after being diagnosed a couple of weeks ago with the advanced liver cancer that took his life, a family friend said.

Frazier was the first man to defeat the legendary Ali, with a unanimous 15-round decision over Ali in 1971 at Madison Square Garden in what was dubbed the "Fight of the Century".

Ali won a unanimous 12-round decision in a 1974 rematch and famously completed the trilogy with a victory in 1975 at the "Thrilla in Manila" by stopping Frazier after 14 rounds in their epic slugfest in the Philippines.

A year later "Smokin' Joe" lost for the fourth and final time in his career when George Foreman knocked him down twice before the fight was stopped in the fifth round.

Frazier won the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association heavyweight titles in February 1970 by stopping Jimmy Ellis in the fifth round of their fight at Madison Square Garden.

He defended the title four times before running into the bigger and stronger Foreman in their first fight in 1973.

Frazier began his career with 29 consecutive wins before suffering his first loss, and losing his heavyweight title, when he was knocked down six times in two rounds by Foreman in 1973 in Kingston, Jamaica.

He retired following the second Foreman fight in 1976 but returned for one more bout in 1981 at age 37.

In recent years, Frazier had turned to singing, forming a back-up group called the Knockouts. (AFP

Dubu jeongol (Tofu hot pot)

Dubu jeongol (Institute of Traditional Korean Food)

Dubu jeongol is a hotpot of tofu, beef, and vegetables in broth. Dubu-jeongol is rich in protein and soft in texture. Jeongol (hotpot) is a communal dish that fits in ideally with Korean dining culture in which several people around the table enjoy food from a large pot in the center.

Ingredients
● 250g tofu, ¼ tsp salt, 2 tbsp starch, 2 tbsp vegetable oil

● 150g beef (top round or sirloin) for broth : 300g beef (brisket), 6 cups water

● For fragrant seasoning: 20g green onion, 10g garlic

● For seasoning sauce: 2/3 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp minced green onion, 1/2 tsp minced garlic, 1/2 tsp sesame salt, 1/8 tsp ground black pepper, 1 tsp sesame oil

● 1/2 tsp clear soy sauce, 1 tsp salt

● 3 sheets brown oak mushrooms, 5 agaric mushrooms, 2 cups water, 1 tsp salt

● 30g watercress, 1 cup water, 1/2 tsp salt

● 60g bamboo shoot, 100 g mung bean sprouts, 30 g carrot, 2 ea egg

1. Cut the tofu into cubes and sprinkle with salt.

2. Clean the beef for the broth and add to a pot with water. Put on high heat until it boils, then simmer on medium heat for 30 minutes. Add the fragrant seasoning, and simmer for another 25 minutes.

3. Clean the brisket and shred 2/3 of it into strips, season with 2/3 of seasoning sauce. Chop the rest and season with the remaining sauce.

4. Soak brown oak mushrooms in water for 1 hour, remove the stems and dry. Cut them into slivers. Remove heads and tails of mung bean sprouts.

5. Trim and wash carrot, cut into narrow strips. Cut the bamboo shoot in the same way. Trim and wash watercress.

6. Fry eggs and cut into broad strips.

7. Coat tofu with starch. Making sure the pan is hot, panfry tofu in oil for 5 min. on medium heat.

8. Scald agaric mushrooms with salt for 1 min. then rip up into 1 cm pieces

9. Scald watercress with salt for 1 minute. Rinse, dry and rip up thinly.

10. Place chopped beef on the fried tofu evenly, fold one side of tofu over, then bind it in the middle with watercress.

11. Put the seasoned beef on the bottom of a serving pot, and place tofu and other vegetables over the beef. Pour broth over it, heat it up for 3 minutes on a high heat. When it boils, lower the heat to medium, boil for another 15 minutes. Season with clear soy sauce and salt, bring it to the boil.

Tips
● Tofu may be coated with wheat flour instead of starch.

● Do not boil stew for too long. Serve as soon as the meat is lightly cooked.



(Adapted from the Instituteof Traditional Korean Food)

NEXON to join venture with China game firm

Executives from NEXON and Perfect World Co. pose after announcing a plan to set up a joint venture on Thursday. (NEXON)

BUSAN ― NEXON announced Thursday that it will set up a joint venture in Korea with Chinese online game developer Perfect World Co.

NGL, an abbreviation of Next Game Life, will be headed by NEXON’s Cho Sung-won and will be given priority when choosing among a pool of the Chinese developer’s games to service, Cho said at a press conference held on the sidelines of G-Star 2011.

“NGL will be in charge of localizing the contents of games chosen to release by NEXON along with its operations and customer services,” he said.

The first two games that will be released in the Korean market are Perfect World’s already-popular 3-D massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) “Forsaken World” and “Swords Man,” based on a martial arts novel.

“The first title to be unveiled through the new joint venture is ‘Forsaken World’ and it is scheduled to go public by the latter half of next year,” said Cho.

Noting that the partnership will be limited to providing services in Korea for the moment, Cho said the key aim of the joint venture is to successfully convey the needs of Korean users to the game developing team.

Zhu Qi, senior vice president of Perfect World, said the Chinese firm will set up a support organization in China and dispatch a competitive team of developers to NGL.

“We’ve put an emphasis on the Korea online game market in the past and we believe it’s one of the most advanced markets,” Zhu said. “The most critical point in entering the Korean market is the quality of the game and we aim to give the most satisfying games that come in a variety of choices.”

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldm.com)

Seoul Mayor Park’s FTA report for Seoul citizen !

Critics say that local government chief excessively intervened in foreign affairs

The government on Tuesday rebuffed Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon’s concerns about the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, giving little credence to Park’s claims.

“Many exaggerated concerns with little basis in facts were found (in the Seoul mayor’s statement). Among Seoul City’s claims there were many distortions and misunderstandings about ISD,” Deputy Trade Minister for FTA negotiations Choi Seok-young said at a briefing conducted by five concerned ministries.

He added that under the Constitution, the central government has sole rights regarding foreign policy, defense and other policies that have nationwide implications, rejecting Park’s claims regarding the exclusion of regional governing bodies in discussing related matters.

Along with Choi, high-level officials from the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Public Administration and Security took part in the briefing.

On Monday, Park released a statement that in effect expressed his opposition to implementing the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.

President Lee Myung-bak greets liberal Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon at a Cabinet meeting composed of conservatives at Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday. (Yonhap News)

On Tuesday, Park revealed his intention to set up a civic-government collaborative group to handle related issues, raising further criticism that he was going beyond the boundaries of a regional government’s role.

In the statement, Park said that regional governments should be included in the central government’s committee on issues regarding the investor-state dispute or ISD clause and that it could bring significant financial costs for Seoul city government if its policies are found to have damaged investors’ interests.

The ISD settlement clause allows disputes between the Korean government and foreign investors to be settled under the mediation of an international third party such as the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes.

Choi, however, said that such claims were groundless.

“If a violation (of FTA clauses regarding investment) occurs, the investor can bring a case against the central government, so regional governments are not directly involved,” Choi said. He added that the case holds even if a violation of the pact is incurred by policies implemented by a regional government.

“The fact that there are a large number of cases where the ISD clause is invoked involving the U.S. is because a number of developing countries have many violations. Claiming that we (Korea) will also see an increase in the number of such cases is excessive speculation.”

Regarding the trade pact in general, Park said that its implementation would cause Seoul city’s tax revenues to drop, and that mechanisms to prevent utilities rates from being pushed up by foreign investors holding stakes in state-run electricity and gas providers are required.

The statement also calls for the central government to work with his office to analyze the effects of the pact on the lives of Seoul citizens and argues the central government should not process the pact without conferring with Seoul City.

Choi and other officials also dismissed such claims, saying that the Finance Ministry has already drawn up measures to provide additional subsidies to local governments to make up for reductions in their tax revenues, and that the Korea-U.S. FTA includes several layers of protection to guarantee Korea autonomy in public policy.

By Choi He-suk  (cheesuk@heraldm.com)

SKT becomes sole bidder for Hynix

SK Telecom, the nation’s top mobile carrier, submitted its final bid on Thursday to take over Hynix Semiconductor, becoming a sole bidder, creditors said.

Credit Suisse, one of the co-sale brokers for the deal, received SKT’s bid to acquire a 15 percent stake in the world’s No. 2 memory chip maker, said officials at Korea Exchange Bank, the main creditor.

The creditors plan to select a preferred bidder on Friday and conduct price negotiations with the selected company.

SKT tendered the last-minute application just before the 5 p.m. deadline after hours of heated in-house debate over whether to bid amid turmoil following the prosecution’s probe of the SK Group chairman.

After STX Group dropped out of the M&A competition in September, Credit Suisse had tried to tap other investors’ intention on whether they are interested in joining the takeover process for Hynix but to no positive response.

In a bid to promote competition, creditors extended the deadline for the final bidding by a week to Nov. 10, in the hope that other buyers would emerge to vie with SK Telecom. But they failed to find additional bidders.

In July, STX Group, a Korean shipping and shipbuilding conglomerate, and SK Telecom submitted letters of intent to purchase the stake in the chipmaker, with an estimated value of about 3 trillion won ($2.6 billion), and did seven weeks of due diligence.

The sale hit a snag as STX pulled out of the bidding due to global uncertainty and the huge investment burden, leaving SKT as the sole bidder for the controlling stake.

This is not the first time Hynix creditors have made attempts to sell their shares of the chipmaker. Creditors tried to make a sale to a U.S.-based company in 2002, but plans were scrapped.

Then Hynix was put up for sale again in 2009, with the plan falling apart over concerns that the sole bidder Hyosung Group was given preferential treatment.

The sale of Hynix is projected to be finalized by early next year under the condition that the price negotiation is carried out smoothly.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldm.com)

Probe targets chaebol heiresses’ bakery businesses

The Fair Trade Commission has launched a probe into allegations that some bakery businesses run by heiresses of conglomerate families have received preferential treatment from those business groups’ affiliates.

Industry sources said Friday that antitrust authorities raided the head office of Bliss, owned by Jang Sun-yoon, daughter of Lotte Shopping president Shin Yong-ja, on Oct. 16 and probed transaction details.

The Korean license of the French gourmet food company Fauchon has opened 12 shops at Lotte department stores nationwide and is suspected of having paid lower commission fees for floor space.

Also under investigation are Chosun Hotel Bakery, in which the largest shareholder is Chung Yoo-kyung, Shinsegae Department Store vice president and daughter of Shinsegae owner Lee Myung-hee, and Bonabi, a caf and restaurant chain of Hotel Shilla whose president is Lee Boo-jin, the eldest daughter of Samsung owner Lee Kun-hee.

“In June, some lawmakers raised speculation that the bakery chains may have received benefits or unfair assistance from the groups’ other subsidiaries,” said an FTC official.

“The recent investigation is considered a follow-up measure after FTC chief Kim Dong-soo expressed willingness to launch a probe at the time.”

The FTC has been investigating unfair business trade among subsidiaries of larger companies and plans to announce punitive measures within the year.

Amid concern about slowing sales at smaller neighborhood bakeries, the chaebol heiresses have aggressively expanded their businesses this year.

Fauchon used to be operated by a smaller business for 15 years but the operating license was transferred to Jang in May. The monthly sales at the main branch of Lotte Department Store in central Seoul recently amounted to 1 billion won ($890,000).

Chosun Hotel Bakery, which recorded 160 million won in sales last year, has provided bread to E-Mart, the nation’s No. 1 supermarket chain of Shinsegae Group, under an exclusive contract. Bonabi also has opened a bakery chain Artisee Boulangerie at every location of Homeplus, a joint venture by U.K.-based Tesco and Samsung Group.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldm.com)

Ministry orders humidifier-sterilizer recall

Animal testing links six products to inflammation of lungs

The Ministry of Health and Welfare on Friday ordered a recall of six models of humidifier-sterilizer on suspicions they can cause life-threatening pneumonitis.
The government will designate all humidifier-sterilizers as quasi-drugs subject to monitoring and regulation. Currently, humidifier-sterilizers are classified as industrial products and are exempt from health regulations.

The six brands to be recalled are Oxi Ssakssak, Cefu, Wiselect, Homeplus PB, Ato Organic and Gaseupgi Clean Up. They all use polyhexamethylene guanidine phosphate or Oligo 2-(2-ethoxy) ethoxyethyl guanidinium chloride.

(Yonhap News)

The recall came alongside the ministry’s announcement of lab testing of humidifier sterilizers.

Researchers observed mice that inhaled vapor from humidifiers using each product for over a month. “Their lungs were found to have been inflamed, and idiopathic symptoms were detected. The same progress may have occurred among the pneumonitis patients who were exposed to sterilizer-humidifiers,” said Dr. Jang Se-jin of Asan Medical Center, who took control of the research.
The chemicals are contained in wet wipes, shampoo and other commodities, too, but the authorities believe that direct inhalation is the only route by which they damage the lungs. Other products containing the materials are safe, they said.

Humidifier sterilizers were first introduced in 1997. While other countries use sterilizers for cleaning, Korea is believed to be the only country where the agent is mixed with water and vaporized in the air for a long period of time. Small particles are believed to have been carried in to the lungs and gotten stuck, damaging the organs.

“Some of the victims have used the sterilizers for up to 10 hours a day. Long-term exposure to the substances must have caused many deaths,” a ministry official said.

The government decided to issue the recall order and tighten its monitoring on the sterilizers. “Since they were classified as industrial products, prior authorization was unnecessary before the manufacturing stage. But we will reclassify them as quasi-drugs to establish the legal basis to put them under tight control,” Jeon Byung-yool, chief of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said.

The manufacturers will have to make monthly reports on the recall progress to the Korea Food and Drug Administration.

According to the health authorities, there are about 13 distributors selling humidifier-sterilizers manufactured by three companies. They produce about 600,000 units a year and the market is worth around 2 billion won ($1.8 million). Industry insiders said it was likely that the three manufacturers would cease production.

The government acknowledged a possible link between the sterilizers and lung damage in August when six deaths, including two pregnant women in Asan Medical Center, were reported.

A group representing about 1,000 people who say they have family members who have been made sick by the sterilizers claimed Friday that the actual number of deaths could reach 28. They also urged the government to seek compensation from the manufacturers for the victims and their families.

“A lung transplant costs around 100 million won. Intensive care unit expenses is about 3.5 million won every month. Even so, people die,” said Lim Jong-chan, who lost his daughter and whose wife is unconscious in an intensive care unit after contracting pneumonitis.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldm.com)

Labor activist faces arrest

Kim Jin-suk, a labor activist who staged a sit-in protest for 309 days atop a giant tower crane at a local shipyard, faces arrest on charges of trespassing and obstruction of business.

The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency said Friday that they plan to seek an arrest warrant for the female activist and three others who participated in the crane-top rally to protest massive layoffs by Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co.

Kim climbed down from the 35-meter-high crane on Thursday after Hanjin workers approved a compromise deal with the management, ending their 11-month-old battle against layoffs.

For the 309 days, the female labor leader did not touch ground, relying on food and basic necessities sent by her supporters on the ground. Upon the descent, she was taken to a hospital for medical checkups.

The dispute at Hanjin began in December last year when the company announced a plan to lay off some 400 workers. Unionized workers staged a strike for nearly six months to protest the layoffs and the management responded with a lockout.

The labor dispute has become a social issue, bisecting liberal and conservative civic and political groups. Thousands of protesters marched through Busan in what they called the Hope of Bus rallies, demanding the management of Hanjin reverse the layoffs. Some protesters clashed with police, resulting in many arrests.

Under the deal approved Thursday, the company will rehire 94 laid-off workers within a year and pay then 200 million won ($176,000) each in compensation. During the months-long struggle, some 306 of the 400 who initially faced layoffs retired voluntarily.


By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldm.com)

Opposition parties again vow to block U.S. FTA bill

Five opposition parties on Friday reiterated their vehement disapproval of the free trade pact with the U.S., saying they would mobilize “all possible means” to block its parliamentary passage.

The main opposition Democratic Party also said that the removal of the clauses concerning the Investor-State Dispute Settlement is the “only condition” for its ratification.

Calling some of their worries “unfounded,” the ruling Grand National Party urged them to cooperate in ratifying the pact, which has been languishing in the National Assembly since the two governments signed it in 2007.

The U.S. Congress passed the deal while President Lee Myung-bak was visiting Washington for summit talks with President Barack Obama earlier this month.

“If the Lee government and the GNP should press ahead with the bill, the five parties will muster up our forces through a joint general meeting of all our lawmakers and use all possible means to block its passage,” a joint statement of the five parties said.

The statement was issued after DP leader Rep. Sohn Hak-kyu, Democratic Labor Party leader Lee Jung-hee, Creative Korea Party leader Gong Seong-kyeong, People Participation Party leader Ryu Si-min and Kim Hye-kyung of the New Progressive Party met earlier in the day to discuss their joint response.

The major bone of contention regards the Investor-State Dispute Settlement. Critics argue that the ISD could harm small firms and retailers. The ISD system allows U.S. investors to seek settlements on disputes with the Korean government in the courts of a third country.

“The ISD system allows (the U.S.) to file a suit even concerning (Seoul’s) public policies with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. The ruling will then be definitely in favor of the U.S.,” DP floor leader Rep. Kim Jin-pyo said during his party’s Supreme Council meeting.

The ICSID is an institution of the World Bank Group based in Washington D.C. It is dedicated to the conciliation and arbitration of investment disputes between member countries and individual investors.

Opposition parties also claim that the U.S. should recognize products manufactured in South Korean-run factories at North Korea’s Gaeseong Industrial Park as South Korean-made.

GNP floor leader Rep. Hwang Woo-yea stressed that the ISD system is an international standard, adopted in 81 of the total 85 trade agreements Korea has formed over the years.

“Regarding the 81 pacts with the ISD system in place, there has not been even a single case in which our government faced any lawsuit because of that,” Hwang said in a meeting with senior party officials.

“The opposition parties’ apprehension over that is groundless. Let’s not just fight over it. We should show the citizens that the ‘party politics’ and parliamentary democracy are functioning well.”

Meanwhile, DP leader Sohn said the bill to ratify the free trade pact should be dealt with next year following the April general elections, whose outcome he said would reflect public sentiment over the deal.

“We should take sufficient time to discuss it and see what judgment our citizens will deliver on the pact in the parliamentary elections,” Sohn said during his party’s Supreme Council meeting.

“If the content safeguarding our sovereignty and interests should not be included in the pact through a renegotiation, we will block the GNP attempt to pass it until the end.”

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldm.com)

GNP agrees with Park’s policy reform

A group of Grand National Party lawmakers demanding drastic change in the party and the government toned down its complaints to stand in line with former chairwoman Park Geun-hye.

“Policy reforms should come first,” they said during a luncheon on Wednesday. They thus expressed support for Park, who gave positive assessment on Tuesday to the group’s reform efforts.

“Reform should above all be about getting in touch with the people,” she told reporters. “The reformative members’ claim is worth listening to.”

Earlier on Sunday, a group of 25 GNP lawmakers delivered a letter to Cheong Wa Dae, urging the presidential office to apologize for its policy failure and also blaming the party’s leadership for the by-election result.

Some of the key members also claimed that the party should replace a large portion of the current lawmakers with political rookies.

However, they eased up somewhat on their stance, facing the need to get in line with Park.

During the party’s special meeting to brainstorm renovation strategies on Monday, the group apologized for acting rashly in delivering the disputed letter and causing controversies.

“We apologize that the given processes were not as appropriate as they should have been,” said Reps. Kim Song-sik and Jeong Tae-keun, offering to resign from the party’s policy committee vice chairman post.

“We should have taken more time and consideration in gathering various opinions within the party, before making the move.”

Rep. Chung Doo-un, head of the party’s policy think tank the Yoido Institute, also offered his apologies.

During the meeting, other members also spoke in favor of Park’s ideas.

“Our party came to face the current crisis because it failed to fulfill the basic values as a leading conservative party, such as job creation and economic growth,” said Rep. Lee Jong-heuk.

“We are to focus on fundamental policies and meet the people’s expectations in order to achieve reform.”

However, Rep. Chung Mong-joon yet maintained his claim that the party should first reshuffle most of its core members in order to renovate itself, despite the backlashes from the pro-Park group.


By Bae Hyun-jung
(tellme@heraldm.com)

Hong to visit Cheong Wa Dae for reform talks

Rep. Lim Hae-kyu (center) of the ruling Grand National Party speaks Wednesday at a lunch meeting of its lawmakers wanting drastic party reforms. (Yang Dong-chul/The Korea Herald)

The ruling Grand National Party’s chairman Rep. Hong Joon-pyo seeks to meet with President Lee Myung-bak to suggest reforms to Cheong Wa Dae.

“I shall talk directly with the president to discuss measures to innovate the administration,” said Rep. Hong in the party’s key officials’ meeting on Wednesday.

“If the government-ruling party consensus is a priority in achieving reforms, that is what I intend to focus on.”

Hong also pledged to open ears to all reform plans suggested from within the party and reflect them in the final map, according to officials.

The party leader effectively embraced, at least partly, the recent claims by members wanting drastic changes, following the right-wing’s defeat in last month’s Seoul mayoral by-election.

Earlier on Sunday, a group of 25 GNP lawmakers delivered a letter to Cheong Wa Dae, urging the presidential office to apologize for its policy failure. They also demanded that the party leadership press Lee for fundamental reforms.

Amid internal conflicts over the strength and direction of the party’s renewal, the GNP also held in the afternoon the first of its special weekly meetings to brainstorm renovation strategies, according to officials.

The party’s initial goal in next year’s general election is to win 130 or more parliamentary seats and more than 50 percent of the constituencies in Seoul.

Detailed plans, nevertheless, varied greatly.

Reps. Chung Moon-joon and Kim Moon-soo, both considered presidential hopefuls, claimed that the party needed a reshuffle, including of the current Supreme Council.

Kim even suggested that 50 percent of the lawmakers from Gangnam and Youngnam, or Gyeongsang, regions should be replaced, causing a backlash from members there.

Rep. Chung Doo-un, head of the party’s policy think tank the Youido Institute, also urged the party to recruit political rookies to appeal to voters in next year’s race.

Rep. Park Geun-hye, the frontrunner for the party’s presidential nomination, disapproved. She said policy reforms should be put before reform of candidate nomination.

“Lawmakers should not be preoccupied with the general election nomination at this point in time,” said Rep. Lee Jung-hyun, a close aide to Park.

“Policy deliberation should come before human resource changes.”

Rep. Kim Chung-kwon, the party’s secretary-general, also expressed concerns over the overheated nomination and reshuffle talks.

“Now is not the time to discuss the detailed contents of next year’s election but to focus further on imminent issues, such as the free trade deal,” he said.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldm.com)

Registration kicks off for overseas voters

Voter registration for next year’s general elections will kick off Sunday for Koreans living abroad, the National Election Commission said Friday. Registration will end on Feb. 11.

Overseas residents with Korean nationality or those living abroad temporarily though they have registered resident addresses in Korea, aged 19 and older, are eligible to register by visiting local designated diplomatic offices.

Based on information supplied, the commission will confirm the list of voters in March next year, then run voting proceedings from March 28 to April 2 at 158 stations across the world, officials said.

Diplomatic offices stationed in politically unstable countries such as Yemen, Afghanistan and Libya will not be used for overseas voting next year.

The first poll to allow Korean overseas citizens to cast ballots has emerged as an important factor for the general and presidential elections next year.

In 1999, the Constitutional Court ruled it illegal to exclude overseas Koreans from elections. In 2007, the court upheld petitioners’ claim that a law without rules on practical steps for overseas Koreans to exercise their voting rights is not in accord with the Constitution.

Upon the ruling, the National Assembly revised the related laws in 2009 for overseas residents with Korean nationality to exercise voting rights.

Currently, 2.79 million Korean nationals are living overseas and 1.15 million of them are permanent residents, according to the Foreign Ministry as of July.

Permanent residents may elect only proportional representatives in general elections because they have no resident registration address in Korea so they cannot be assigned to a specific constituency.

The commission last month launched the overseas election control center to keep open a direct 24-hour communication channel with all voting stations and voters. It also held two mock elections over the past year to detect problems in the system to be implemented for the first time.

“We will keep an eye on possible election irregularities and intervention by overseas pro-North Korean groups,” said an NEC official.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldm.com)

Master craftsmen struggle to make ends meet

Substantial support needed to bolster traditional craft industry


Although he has been hammering Korean traditional patterns on metal for nearly half a century, artisan Park Moon-yeol’s life only began looking rosy in 1993, when he figured out the secret of the seven-step lock.

Hearing about the existence of a peculiar Joseon Dynasty lock, he visited a folk museum in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, to take a look. It was tucked away in the back of the museum and the owner prohibited him from taking photos or sketching it. He could only stare at it for several minutes. After shutting himself up in his studio for four days, he figured out the secret. He was that desperate: Working as an impoverished metal craft artisan in Insadong, he needed a change in his life.

“There are only about 10 with the skill of engraving patterns on metal. But it is not difficult ― it takes about five years for one to learn. The problem is that it is hard to make a living doing it because it cannot be sold as an individual product but only as a part of furniture. That is why I searched all over the nation for something new, and the lock changed my life,” Park told The Korea Herald.

Metalwork artisan Park Moon-yeol hammers traditional patterns onto metal at his studio in Byeokje, Gyeonggi Province. (Ahn Hoon/The Korea Herald)

Being the only person in the country who can make the complex and exquisitely patterned lock, Park was awarded a prize at the Korea Annual Traditional Handicraft Art Exhibition in 1993 and was designated Intangible Cultural Property No. 64 seven years later. His acclaim has brought him a better life with opportunities such as repairing metal parts on treasured monuments such as Gwanghwamun.

Park’s career turnaround is a successful case. Life is not easy for master craftsmen in South Korea no matter how extraordinary their skills. Among the some 180 Intangible Cultural Properties, about 30 percent can hardly make ends meet.

“Demand significantly decreased ever since cheap Chinese products began to be imported. I heard that some of them are imported illegally, and some with very low tariffs. Naturally, artisans here suffer as a result,” said Yu Bae-geun, a hanji screen artisan and Intangible Cultural Property No. 31.

Consumers are not willing to buy the works not only because they have no interest in them but in some cases also because the crafts are too expensive due to pricy materials. Many artisans therefore are seeking to make changes to their professions, like Park, or even switching careers.

Kim Si-chul, one of the few who are able to perform “hwagakjang,” a technique used to grind cow’s horns as thin as paper and paint patterns on them, became a taxi driver seven years ago.

The former-engraver sold goods to a Korean antique furniture shop in Itaewon for nearly 25 years but could not make a living out of it.

“It takes long to finish one, the cow horns are expensive and rare, and moreover, the furniture was not popular. There are only about five experts left in the domain including three Intangible Cultural Properties. I’m sure that all of them are having a hard time supporting themselves,” said Kim.

“I earn better, and I am much more satisfied with my life now. I should have quit earlier. If I had devoted half my life to something else rather than hwagakjang, I could have earned much more money.”

Intangible Cultural Properties receive 1.3 million won per month at most in government support to pass on their skills to trainees. But the amount is not sufficient to support oneself, let alone pass on the skills.

Cho Dae-yong, a bamboo screen artisan and Intangible Cultural Property No. 114, for example, is teaching his son his skills but has no intention of forcing his son to succeed him. Cho is currently also running a dry cleaning shop to make a living.

The Cultural Heritage Administration pointed out that the purpose of the support fund is not to cover the artisans’ living expenses, as how most artisans regard it, but to help them pass down their skills.

“We currently have no regulation for supporting their living expenses. The support fund to transmit their skills, though, was frozen at the current level in 2004, so their argument that it is insufficient in that sense is true. We demanded an increase of the budget this year,” said Hwang Gwon-sun, an official at the Cultural Heritage Administration.

Insiders say that it is important for the government to give more realistic support to the artisans, and the public to show interest in waning traditional culture.

“Truthfully, exhibitions don’t help that much unless they are held by prestigious museums. The most effective solution right now is more substantial support from the government,” said Yu.

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldm.com)

MF Global’s dive shows few changes on Wall Street

WASHINGTON (AP) ― After countless new rules designed to make Wall Street safer, it’s come to this: Another securities firm has collapsed from risky, poorly disclosed bets.

Not enough, in other words, has changed since the U.S. financial system nearly toppled three years ago. The bankruptcy filing last week by MF Global Holdings Ltd. didn’t freeze lending and panic investors around the world, as Lehman Brothers’ did in 2008. But the rapid fall of the firm run by former Goldman Sachs chief Jon Corzine shows risky behavior persists, despite a vast regulatory overhaul.

As lenders abandon Italy this week and stocks plummet on fear that defaults in Europe are all but inevitable, those new rules are about to be put to the test. One question no one can answer: Is the financial system, with its expanding web of connections that even experts can’t trace, any safer?

“People are making the same dumb bets,” says investor Michael Lewitt of Harch Capital, who calls Washington’s new rules inadequate.

MF Global’s collapse suggests that:

Financial companies are making risky bets with borrowed money and hiding them off their balance sheets. In MF Global’s case, scant disclosure made it harder for people to see the danger until it was too late.

Those bets are being made with their own money, but threatening customers and trading partners. Dodd-Frank, the Wall Street overhaul passed last year, focused on big, complex financial companies whose failure could topple other firms. The law bans these “systemically important” companies from making such bets with their own money, called proprietary trading. But it does little about smaller financial firms like MF Global.

Many financial companies operate without coordinated oversight by regulators. MF Global was watched over by several regulators. But no one was in charge of coordinating them. Financial companies, aside from the biggest, face the same patchwork oversight that failed to stop risky bets before the financial crisis.

The bust of MF Global itself is not an indictment of the new rules. Dodd-Frank wasn’t designed to prevent all financial failures. In fact, some failures can be healthy if they discourage investors from taking on excessive risk.

But MF Global’s collapse brought heavy costs. It caused millions in losses for investors. It threw commodity markets into disarray. And it left customers confused and angry because $593 million of their money is missing.

“The question for regulators is, ‘How did this happen?’” says David Kotok, a money manager at Cumberland Advisors. “Could we have seen it coming?”

The answer: Yes ― but you had to look hard.

MF Global failed after buying billions of European government bonds on a hunch they were less risky than many investors assumed. The trouble wasn’t so much the bet itself. It was how the firm disclosed it and financed it.

MF Global didn’t recognize those bonds on its balance sheet for all to see. Instead, they were shunted “off-balance sheet,” their presence noted deep in its financial statements. Some separate filings with regulators excluded them entirely.

This sleight-of-hand was possible thanks to an accounting maneuver used by Lehman to hide its debt before it failed: Instead of holding onto the bonds it had just bought, MF Global “sold” them to other companies in exchange for cash ― with the promise to buy them back later.

In effect, it was borrowing the cash but not calling it that since technically it came from a “sale.” And because the bonds were off its books, MF Global didn’t have to acknowledge the risk they posed.

Other firms have struck similar off-balance-sheet deals, but poor disclosure makes them difficult to track.

The lack of detail about financial companies’ holdings can lead to panic selling. Fearing another MF Global, investors started dumping shares of broker Jefferies Group Inc. last month. The stock recovered after the company released details showing its bets were smaller and not funded by the same off-balance-sheet deals.