Opposition’s rise in Busan alerts ruling party

Opposition’s rise in Busan alerts ruling party

By Chung Min-uck The main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) is outmaneuvering the ruling Saenuri Party in some electoral districts of Busan and South Gyeongsang Province, the ruling camp’s long-held home turf, in the lead up to the April 11 general election. In a survey of 500 adults in selective districts conducted by a local daily and pollster Embrain from Tuesday to Friday, potential DUP candidates led in possible races by 8 percentage points. Moon Jae-in, a senior advisor of the DUP and Roh Moo-hyun Foundation chairman, received 42.3 percent from voters in Busan’s Sasang District. His potential competitor Kwon Chul-hyeon, a former ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker, received 34.7 percent coming in second place. “I am glad that I am leading. But the race is still unpredictable,” Moon said Monday. “Public opinion is favorable to us but there are many swing voters in the Sasang district.” In the survey, around 20 percent of respondents said they have not decided who to pick. “I will change politics in Busan, which will lead to victory in the general election and eventually the presidential election,” added Moon. Sasang District has recently been making headlines as Moon, an opposition dark horse for the December presidential election, earlier declared his candidacy there. The general election is considered a litmus test for presidential candidates such as Rep. Park Geun-hye, chairwoman of the Saenuri Party, and Moon. Observers say if Moon is elected on the Saenuri Party’s home turf, he will likely be in frontrunner position for the presidential race. Moon’s popularity rose recently, putting him ahead of Park and IT mogul Ahn Cheol-soo in some polls. Meanwhile, Moon Sung-keun, a DUP Supreme Council member and head of the civic group Power to the People, also led Rep. Huh Tae-yeol of the Saenuri Party by 9.4 percentage points in the Gangseo B District, Busan. They had 41.9 and 32.5 percent, respectively. Huh is currently the lawmaker representing the district. In one surprise result, Kim Gyeong-su, a senior director of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, earned 40.9 percent in a survey of voters in the Gimhae B District, South Gyeongsang Province. He was ahead of Saenuri Party first-term-lawmaker Kim Tae-ho who received 34 percent. Gimhae is the hometown of the late President Roh. Following the outcome of these surveys, the Saenuri Party is anxious over whom to select as candidates in order to turn the tide in the region. The troubled ruling party is wavering between fielding high-profile figures to go head-to-head with popular opposition candidates, or those who have low nationwide popularity but who are familiar with the area. The Saenuri Party is reportedly considering figures such as former party Chairman Hong Joon-pyo and Moon Dae-sung, a taekwondo gold medalist and member of the IOC Athletes Commission, to face Moon. “If Moon wins in the upcoming general election, his approval rating for presidency will jump by 10 percent. Then Park Geun-hye will lose for sure in the presidential election,” said Hong, Monday. The former party chairman earlier said he will run in any constituencies where the party orders him to. However, there are voices within the party that the strategic selection of political heavyweights in the region will only cement Moon’s position as the opposition’s strongest presidential candidate.

Supreme Court slaps six-month suspension on judge

Supreme Court slaps six-month suspension on judge

The Supreme Court's disciplinary committee on Monday ordered a six-month suspension of duties for a judge who illegally released inside information on a controversial case ruling. The committee, headed by a Supreme Court justice and made up of seven judges, lawyers and scholars, ruled that Lee Jeong-ryeol, a senior judge on the Changwon District Court, intentionally broke the law and compromised the dignity of the court. "The disciplinary action has been decided because Lee failed to adhere to elementary rules that aim to uphold the trust and confidence in a judge and ensure the independence of the bench," a spokesperson for the Supreme Court said. Lee, who gained notoriety for his outspoken criticism and parody of President Lee Myung-bak on social network services (SNS), had been the presiding judge in a high profile 2007 appeals case involving a dismissed university professor. The case has fueled public criticism of the judiciary as a whole in recent weeks, with some attacks centered on Lee and other judges involved in the ruling. A surprise box-office hit about the case released this year helped to renew interest in the incident. In a memo released on an internal Internet bulletin site that can only be accessed by court workers, the senior judge claimed that initially the court wanted to rule in favor of the ex-Sungkyunkwan University professor, yet discovered serious discrepancies in his claims. By making public the deliberation process in the case, he violated rules that only permit the Supreme Court to comment on the judicial deliberation process. The case involved Kim Myeong-ho, who was dismissed from his university post after he divulged an error in the school's admissions test in 1995. He was subsequently fired from his post, and was unsuccessful in his legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court. Kim, however, initiated another legal struggle in 2005, but the court again rejected his claim. This failure caused the former professor to attack Park Hong-woo, then a Seoul High Court judge, with a crossbow in 2007. Kim was sentenced to four years in prison after the incident. (Yonhap) The Supreme Court said the latest disciplinary measure reflects the need to censure breach of rules, and pointed out that Lee was aware of the consequences of his actions. The senior judge did not show up at the disciplinary committee meeting even though he was asked to do so. Others on the bench, however, said that the actions taken against Lee were harsher than the violation warranted, and hinted it may have been due to his ridicule of President Lee, which had already earned him a formal reprimand for his superior. "The six-month suspension is too severe and this view is shared by many," a Seoul judge, who declined to be identified, said. He pointed out that another judge who had been convicted of personal wrongdoing only received a five month suspension. The disciplinary action, in particular, has attracted attention because it comes on the heels of a decision by the Supreme Court last week not to reinstate Seo Ki-ho, a judge for the Seoul Northern District Court, who openly lampooned the president on various SNS. Under South Korean law, judges have their job performance reviewed by the Supreme Court every 10 years, and those considered "unfit" for the job are dismissed. Related to the decision not to reinstate Seo, some front-line judges said they will hold a meeting on Friday to discuss the expulsion. Some judges claimed that the Supreme Court must explain why Seo was not reinstated to his post and called for transparency in the decision making process.

Maintenance cost for F-15K soars 10-fold over 4 years

Maintenance cost for F-15K soars 10-fold over 4 years

F-15K fighter jet By Lee Tae-hoon The maintenance cost for Korea’s F-15Ks has jumped nearly 10-fold over the past four years, becoming a financial burden to the nation’s defense budget, multiple sources said Monday. Seoul has purchased 60 of the high-end multirole aircraft from American aerospace giant Boeing since 2002. It took delivery of 40 by 2008 and 13 more as of the end of 2011. An F-15K crashed during a night training flight in June 2006 off the east coast, raising doubts over the reliability of the aircraft. “We only had to spend 9.7 billion won ($8.61 million) to maintain an operational rate of 82 percent for the 40 F-15Ks in 2008,” a senior Air Force official said on condition of anonymity. “However, the maintenance cost for the jets jumped to 39 billion won in 2009, 82.28 billion won in 2010, and 95.82 billion won in 2011.” Rep. Song Young-sun of the governing Saenuri Party noted that despite the surge in maintenance costs, the low operational rate of the F-15Ks has hardly improved over the past several years. She said the rate rose to 83 percent in 2009 and 86 percent in 2010 before dropping to 84 percent in the first half of 2011 due largely to constant delays in the supply of spare parts from Boeing. The Air Force official pointed out that it was no surprise to hear that the annual maintenance cost has begun to exceed 90 billion won, which is about the price of a new jet. “Boeing officials estimate that keeping an F-15K or another fighter jet for 20 years would cost 2.3 times the cost of the actual aircraft,” he said. The unit cost for the first lot of 40 F-15K airframes and engines (fly away cost) was 75.3 billion won ($84.4 million). This rose to 87.66 billion won for the second lot of 20, according to a classified National Assembly document. Another ranking military official said the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) will sign a performance based logistics (PBL) deal worth $310 million with Boeing as early as by the end of the month to curb the snowballing maintenance cost. If signed, Boeing will guarantee supply of some 948 key components, which excludes engines and some spare parts, within a day and an 85 percent operational rate for F-15Ks for the next five years. “We believe Korea will be able to save at least $100 million in maintenance of the F-15Ks through the PBL, while maintaining a higher operational readiness,” he said. Under the PBL, he said, Korea would provide a maximum of 1 percent of the PBL cost as a financial incentive if Boeing exceeds the mutually agreed expectations. The U.S. company will pay back up to 4 percent of the cost as a penalty for poor performance. Beside the PBL budget, Korea has set aside another 86.6 billion won for the supply of non-PBL components for F-15Ks for 2012. The Assembly approved a separate budget of 68 billion won for the acquisition of spares parts for electronic warfare systems in 2009, but DAPA has yet to spend the money due to difficulties in signing agreements.

Wi in lead as Tiger charges

PEBBLE BEACH, California (AP) ― Charlie Wi played bogey-free at Spyglass Hill for a 3-under 69 to build a three-shot lead Saturday in the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. Now it’s time for him to face his demons of self-doubt ― along with a familiar force in golf.

Tiger Woods took another step toward showing his game is nearly back. He ran off five birdies in a six-hole stretch early in his round at Pebble Beach and had a 5-under 67 that put him four shots behind going into the final round, the closest he has been to the 54-hole lead in a regular PGA Tour event since the 2010 Masters.

With a new swing, it’s starting to look like the old Tiger.

“But the scenario doesn’t change,” Woods said. “The ultimate goal is to win a golf tournament.”

That’s something Wi has never done in 162 previous PGA Tour events.

Wi, who was at 15-under 199, has a 54-hole lead for only the second time on tour. He had a one-shot lead at Colonial last year and was runner-up to David Toms.

Korea’s Charlie Wi hits off the third tee on Saturday. (AP-Yonhap News)

This time, Wi will be in the last group with someone in a familiar spot. Ken Duke, who is winless in 142 starts on the PGA Tour, shot a 65 at Monterey Peninsula.

The last two weeks haven’t been too kind to 54-hole leaders. Kyle Stanley lost a five-shot lead at Torrey Pines, and Spencer Levin blew a six-shot lead the following week in the Phoenix Open. Both were going for their first PGA Tour win.

Your turn, Charlie.

“I haven’t really thought about that,” Wi said, when asked if it were a blessing or a burden to be in front.

“But I enjoy being in the lead. It’s a lot more fun than trying to come from behind. I know that tonight is going to be very exciting, and I’m sure I won’t sleep as well as if I’m in 50th place. But that’s what we play for, and I’m really excited.”

Along with Woods in the hunt, Phil Mickelson managed to stay in contention despite playing the par 5s at Pebble Beach in 1-over par. He saved par on the 18th for a 70. That put him in a tie for fourth, six shots behind, and a possible date in the final round with Woods.

Padraig Harrington was chasing the lead until a sloppy finish at Spyglass Hill ― a bogey on the par-5 seventh, and a double bogey on the eighth.

He had to settle for a 72 and dropped seven shots behind in a tie for ninth.

Even so, it served up quite the finale for Sunday.

Wi is No. 175 in the world, while Duke is at No. 258.

They have combined for 304 starts without a win.

Right behind them are Woods and Mickelson, who have combined for 18 majors and 110 PGA Tour wins.

Whitney Houston, superstar of records, films, dies

Whitney Houston, who reigned as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48.

Publicist Kristen Foster said Saturday that the singer had died, but the cause and the location of her death were unknown.

At her peak, Houston was the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.

(AP-Yonhap News)

Her success carried her beyond music to movies, where she starred in hits like ``The Bodyguard'' and ``Waiting to Exhale.''

She had the perfect voice and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise.

She influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey, who when she first came out sounded so much like Houston that many thought it was Houston.

But by the end of her career, Houston became a stunning cautionary tale of the toll of drug use. Her album sales plummeted and the hits stopped coming; her once serene image was shattered by a wild demeanor and bizarre public appearances. She confessed to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her once pristine voice became raspy and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she had during her prime.

``The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy,'' Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an infamous 2002 interview with then-husband Brown by her side.

It was a tragic fall for a superstar who was one of the top-selling artists in pop music history, with more than 55 million records sold in the United States alone.

She seemed to be born into greatness. She was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of 1960s pop diva Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin.

Houston first started singing in the church as a child. In her teens, she sang backup for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson and others, in addition to modeling. It was around that time when music mogul Clive Davis first heard Houston perform.

``The time that I first saw her singing in her mother's act in a club ... it was such a stunning impact,'' Davis told ``Good Morning America.''

``To hear this young girl breathe such fire into this song. I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine,'' he added.

Before long, the rest of the country would feel it, too. Houston made her album debut in 1985 with ``Whitney Houston,'' which sold millions and spawned hit after hit. ``Saving All My Love for You'' brought her her first Grammy, for best female pop vocal. ``How Will I Know,'' ``You Give Good Love'' and ``The Greatest Love of All'' also became hit singles.

Another multiplatinum album, ``Whitney,'' came out in 1987 and included hits like ``Where Do Broken Hearts Go'' and ``I Wanna Dance With Somebody.''

The New York Times wrote that Houston ``possesses one of her generation's most powerful gospel-trained voices, but she eschews many of the churchier mannerisms of her forerunners. She uses ornamental gospel phrasing only sparingly, and instead of projecting an earthy, tearful vulnerability, communicates cool self-assurance and strength, building pop ballads to majestic, sustained peaks of intensity.''

Her decision not to follow the more soulful inflections of singers like Franklin drew criticism by some who saw her as playing down her black roots to go pop and reach white audiences. The criticism would become a constant refrain through much of her career. She was even booed during the ``Soul Train Awards'' in 1989.

``Sometimes it gets down to that, you know?'' she told Katie Couric in 1996. ``You're not black enough for them. I don't know. You're not R&B enough. You're very pop. The white audience has taken you away from them.''

Some saw her 1992 marriage to former New Edition member and soul crooner Bobby Brown as an attempt to refute those critics. It seemed to be an odd union; she was seen as pop's pure princess while he had a bad-boy image, and already had children of his own. (The couple had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, in 1993.) Over the years, he would be arrested several times, on charges ranging from DUI to failure to pay child support.

But Houston said their true personalities were not as far apart as people may have believed.

``When you love, you love. I mean, do you stop loving somebody because you have different images? You know, Bobby and I basically come from the same place,'' she told Rolling Stone in 1993. ``You see somebody, and you deal with their image, that's their image. It's part of them, it's not the whole picture. I am not always in a sequined gown. I am nobody's angel. I can get down and dirty. I can get raunchy.''

It would take several years, however, for the public to see that side of Houston. Her moving 1991 rendition of ``The Star Spangled Banner'' at the Super Bowl, amid the first Gulf War, set a new standard and once again reaffirmed her as America's sweetheart.

In 1992, she became a star in the acting world with ``The Bodyguard.'' Despite mixed reviews, the story of a singer (Houston) guarded by a former Secret Service agent (Kevin Costner) was an international success.

It also gave her perhaps her most memorable hit: a searing, stunning rendition of Dolly Parton's ``I Will Always Love You,'' which sat atop the charts for weeks. It was Grammy's record of the year and best female pop vocal, and the ``Bodyguard'' soundtrack was named album of the year.

She returned to the big screen in 1995-96 with ``Waiting to Exhale'' and ``The Preacher's Wife.'' Both spawned soundtrack albums, and another hit studio album, ``My Love Is Your Love,'' in 1998, brought her a Grammy for best female R&B vocal for the cut ``It's Not Right But It's Okay.''

But during these career and personal highs, Houston was using drugs. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2010, she said by the time ``The Preacher's Wife'' was released, ``(doing drugs) was an everyday thing. ... I would do my work, but after I did my work, for a whole year or two, it was every day. ... I wasn't happy by that point in time. I was losing myself.''

In the interview, Houston blamed her rocky marriage to Brown, which included a charge of domestic abuse against Brown in 1993. They divorced in 2007.

Houston would go to rehab twice before she would declare herself drug-free to Winfrey in 2010. But in the interim, there were missed concert dates, a stop at an airport due to drugs, and public meltdowns.

She was so startlingly thin during a 2001 Michael Jackson tribute concert that rumors spread she had died the next day. Her crude behavior and jittery appearance on Brown's reality show, ``Being Bobby Brown,'' was an example of her sad decline. Her Sawyer interview, where she declared ``crack is whack,'' was often parodied. She dropped out of the spotlight for a few years.

Houston staged what seemed to be a successful comeback with the 2009 album ``I Look To You.'' The album debuted on the top of the charts, and would eventually go platinum.

Things soon fell apart. A concert to promote the album on ``Good Morning America'' went awry as Houston's voice sounded ragged and off-key. She blamed an interview with Winfrey for straining her voice.

A world tour launched overseas, however, only confirmed suspicions that Houston had lost her treasured gift, as she failed to hit notes and left many fans unimpressed; some walked out. Canceled concert dates raised speculation that she may have been abusing drugs, but she denied those claims and said she was in great shape, blaming illness for cancellations.

Why is K-pop going to America?

Although Asia-centric, major entertainment companies seek to reap U.S. benefits


Since Girls’ Generation appeared in two major U.S. talk shows and Wonder Girls launched their TeenNick television movie, “The Wonder Girls,” last week, the buzz has been overwhelming.

Yet, underneath all the hype lies a question: Why is Korean pop looking to America?

“Insofar as America is the world’s biggest music market, we, as a company and for our artists, want to take it on,”said an S,M. Entertainment representative.

“If we succeed, it is a market which can earn us massive side benefits,” the representative explained via e-mail. A significant boost in the name value of a musician or group internationally once they achieve success in the U.S. market is an obvious example.

For YG Entertainment, the collaborative work with The Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am on a forthcoming English album is not solely about broaching the U.S. market.

“We decided that we need (an official U.S. album) because English is the most effective language to convey the message of 2NE1’s music to overseas fans who want to understand it but who do not know Korean,” said YG Entertainment PR team leader Hwang Min-hee.

Right now, S.M. Entertainment’s Girls’ Generation and YG Entertainment’s 2NE1 are still in the fledging stages of entering the American market.

After releasing their U.S. debut single “The Boys” last December, the nine-member Girls’ Generation appeared on “The Late Show with David Letterman” and “LIVE! With Kelly Ripa” last week.

Meanwhile, 2NE1 started working with will.i.am in 2010 on an album whose release date has yet to be set.

JYPE’s Wonder Girls were the first Korean group to make foray into the United States in 2009, touring with Disney Channel-stars, the Jonas Brothers, and made history by being the first Korean act to get on the Billboard Hot 100. The following year, the group launched a 20-show tour in the United States.

2NE1 performs at the MTV Iggy’s Best New Band 2011 concert which was streamed live in Times Square, New York in December. (YG Entertainment)

Last month Wonder Girls launched the original soundtrack single, “The DJ is Mine,” for the TeenNick TV movie in which they star. The first episode of the movie aired last week.

Patrick St. Michel, a journalist who wrote an online piece, “Does Korean Pop Actually Have a Shot at Success in the U.S.?,” for American publication The Atlantic, thinks Wonder Girls is on the right track by “trying to woo one of the most profitable pop-music demographics, tweens and early teens.”

“Considering how fragmented the American pop market is, turning attention to the tween market is extremely smart,” St. Michel said in an e-mail interview.

“We see it as a demographic that is the least likely to have formed many biases,” a JYPE representative said on why Wonder Girls is targeting the tween demographic.“Also it is a market that really knows how to enjoy music and culture and avidly consumes pop music.”

Having started off by touring with loved-by-tween hotties, the Jonas Brothers, Wonder Girls is now targeting their market more aggressively with the eponymous TeenNick movie.

“From a tween/teen perspective, I think it would be a success,” said St. Michel of the movie.“The movie introduces the group, establishes personalities and loads up on song-and-dance scenes.”

“More importantly, it treated Wonder Girls like real protagonists,” he added.

In regards to Girls’ Generation’s U.S.-based activity, he said, “They got a big boost from landing on ‘The Late Show with David Letterman’ last week.”

Girls’ Generation’s U.S. debut single and talk show appearances are, in fact, part of a larger, carefully-planned promotional strategy focused on differentiating themselves from the crowd, according to S.M. Entertainment.

“From the very beginning we planned on carrying out a promotional strategy different from the norm,” said a company representative, emphasizing the successfully heightened awareness of the S.M. Entertainment brand through YouTube, Facebook and overseas concerts like those in Paris and New York,

“One can confirm the influential power of Girls’ Generation and of our strategy through the group’s appearances on major American television network talk shows,” said the representative.

Furthermore, according to the representative, in regards to Girls’ Generation, specifically, the group’s U.S. activity including signing with Interscope Records, is part of a bigger global plan that is primarily focused on Asia, not America.

“Not just for Girls’ Generation but for all S.M. Entertainment artists, the most important market is Asia.”

No doubt, Asia is a crucial market for Korean pop, which is why the unprecedented popularity of S.M. Entertainment artists in Europe made headline news last year.

Given that, one cannot ignore the possibility of K-pop catching on in a major way in America, and in St. Michel’s opinion it will not be so much about how Korean pop groups like 2NE1 and Girls’ Generation style themselves as it will be about the music.

“It will come down to how their English songs sound, whether they embrace the maximalist rush present in their Korean singles that has prompted all this media coverage in the first place or they bend to American trends.”

K-pop stars enthrall French audience

K-pop stars including Girls’ Generation, 2PM and BEAST captivated an audience of about 10,000 at a joint show at Bercy Stadium, one of the biggest concert venues in Paris.

Eight K-pop stars, who also included boyband SHINee and girl groups 4 Minute and SISTAR, performed on “Music Bank in Paris,” a music show produced and distributed by Korea Broadcasting System.

It was the second concert by K-pop stars in the French capital -- SM Town concert featuring musicians from SM Entertainment took the place at the Zenith of Paris in June last year.

Despite the cold weather in Paris, K-pop fans from all over Europe including Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom came to Paris to meet their Korean stars, according to reports.

Starting with U-KISS, the show lasted three hours, according to reports.

Girls’ Generation, which made its TV debut in the United States last week, highlighted the show with “The Boys.”

The group also appeared on a popular French talk show on Thursday, ahead of its first album release in Europe early next week.

The Music Bank show featuring K-pop stars in Paris will air on Feb. 18 in 72 countries through KBS World, an international broadcasting service provided by KBS.

Korea vows to take all measures for release of kidnapped citizens in Egypt

Korea's foreign ministry will do all it can to secure the release of three Korean citizens kidnapped by a group of armed tribesmen in Egypt, a official source said Saturday.

"The Korean Embassy in Egypt launched an on-site emergency team to handle the issue immediately after recognizing the kidnapping and requested the country's foreign ministry and police to take all possible measures, including a quick and fair investigation, necessary to secure the safety of the kidnapped Korean nationals," a ministry source said, requesting not to be named.

Negotiations are currently underway to win the release of the four, the official said, adding they were not believed to be in any danger.

In this Wednesday, Jan. 7, 1998 file photo, the shadow of Mount Sinai stretches across the valley at the foot of the Greek Orthodox Monastery of St. Catherine in the Sinai peninsula some 240 miles southeast of Cairo, Egypt. (AP-Yonhap News)

According to the ministry, Bedouin tribesmen on Egypt's Sinai Peninsula kidnapped two South Korean tourists and their two tour guides -- one Korean and one Egyptian -- while they were traveling by bus near the Saint Catherine monastery in the south of the peninsula at 4:30 p.m. Friday (Egyptian standard time).

The exact motive of the kidnapping remains unknown but Egyptian officials were quoted as saying tribesmen often abduct foreign tourists to use in negotiations with the government over the release of imprisoned colleagues. The tourists are usually released unharmed, they added.

The Korean foreign ministry called an emergency meeting of related offices early Saturday to discuss measures to deal with the incident and to protect South Korean nationals in Egypt from further such kidnappings.

The ministry is considering raising its alert level on travel to Egypt from its current level of two to three -- just one level short of a full travel ban, officials said. (Yonhap News)

Gold mine contamination kills 400 Nigerian children

The hunt for gold in northern Nigeria has left 400 children dead of lead poisoning and many more ill in the past two years, a human rights organization says.

A doctor from Medecins sans Frontiers (MSF), right, takes a blood sample to determine a young girl's lead level at a clinic in the village of Abare, northern Nigeria, on Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010. At least 284 children under the age of five have died from lead poisoning in eight villages in Nigeria's Zamfara state as a result of small-scale gold mining, according to government officials. (Bloomberg)

Human Rights Watch said in a release Tuesday thousands of Nigerian children need immediate medical treatment and dozens of villages are contaminated by pollution from artisanal gold mines throughout Zamfara state.

The organizations says children are exposed to lead dust when they process ore in the mines, when relatives return home from working in the mines covered with lead dust and when the lead-filled ore is manually or mechanically crushed at home. Children can also come in contact with lead in contaminated water and food.

Healthcare workers in Zamfara state say there also have been high rates of infertility and miscarriage among adults, the rights group said.

"Zamfara's gold brought hope for prosperity, but resulted in death and backbreaking labor for its children," said Babatunde Olugboji, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch. "People living in Zamfara state should not have to trade their lives, or their children's lives, for the chance to mine gold and make a living."

The group said more than 1,500 children have been treated for acute lead poisoning but thousands more have gone without the chelation therapy treatment that removes lead from the body.

Efforts to decontaminate the affected villages also have fallen short, Human Rights Watch said. (UPI)

Girls’ Generation captivates U.S. talk shows

K-pop girl group debuts on major American TV networks with “The Boys”

Amidst overseas and domestic press interest in the mainstream appeal of K-pop in the U.S., nine-member girl group Girls’ Generation made their American TV network debut on CBS’ “The Late Show with David Letterman” on Jan. 31 (Feb. 1 in Seoul) and followed it up with an appearance on ABC’s “LIVE! With Kelly Ripa.”

 

Nine-member South Korean girl group Girls’ Generation made their major American broadcast TV network debut on CBS’ "Late Show with David Letterman" on Tuesday, Jan. 31 (Wednesday, Feb. 2 Seoul time) (Photo credit: S.M. Entertainment)

Fans hoping for a lengthy appearance might have been disappointed by the relatively brief showing the popular K-pop idols made on both talk shows.

Sans interview, Girls’ Generation performed the Teddy Riley-produced remix of their U.S. debut single “The Boys” to a live band in the Ed Sullivan Theater.

Decked out in skin-baring black outfits, the girls worked the stage with slinky moves and perfectly in sync choreography. Guest Bill Murray joined them on stage for the closing.

The following morning, the group performed their single on “LIVE! With Kelly Ripa” followed by a brief, casual interview with host Kelly Ripa and guest co-host Howie Mandel.

Ripa appeared pleasantly surprised by the warm audience response to Girls’ Generation, saying: “I’ve never seen such audience participation in my life, congratulations.”

“We were just saying you are such a gorgeous group of women,” Ripa praised the girls.

Guest co-host Mandel had the audience and the girls laughing when he said, “I loved the dancing. Your moves were tremendous. It reminded me of me.”

A representative of Girls’ Generation’s agency S.M. Entertainment said that the talk show appearances were not about targeting an adult audience so much as introducing the group to “general viewers.”

“Those in their teens can learn about Girls’ Generation through various channels like the Internet,” the representative explained over the phone.

According to the representative, plans for an official U.S. debut have yet to be made as well as future plans with their U.S. label Interscope Records.

“I think we will continue to do promotions,” the representative said regarding working with Interscope. 　

Meanwhile, K-pop continues to hit American TV this week with South Korean girl group the Wonder Girls’ upcoming TV movie, which is scheduled to start airing on TeenNick on Feb. 2 in the States and the following day in Korea.

Soldiers to be blocked from accessing 'harmful' apps

Soldiers to be blocked from accessing 'harmful' apps

By Yi Whan-woo The Ministry of National Defense began censoring smartphone applications deemed “harmful” to service members. It will set up its own criterion and take steps in preventing the apps from being downloaded once they are classified as inappropriate. “We’re looking to sort out sites that could have a negative impact on our soldiers,” a ministry official said. “At the same time, we will come up with appropriate countermeasures, including restrictions on downloading or forceful removal of the apps,” the official added. The ministry will first pinpoint content considered “pro-North Korean” or that slandering the president, the commander-in-chief and other top military brass. A total of 11 apps are on the list, which subordinate military units have already ruled as harmful. The ministry will also look at other apps which instigate social disorder, praise North Korea, or spread groundless rumors. “We will consider blocking the apps from the start or uninstalling programs upon agreement with the soldiers,” the ministry official said. To come up with detailed guidelines for the classification of harmful apps, the ministry will refer to its own standards and the ones set by the Korea Communication Commission, the country’s governing body on broadcasting and telecommunications. This is the first time that the ministry has taken action to regulate smartphone applications. The move comes after the Sixth Army Corps and other military units ordered troops to refrain from downloading pro-North Korean applications. One of the apps deemed pro-North Korea was the popular political podcast, “Naneun Ggomsuda,” a weekly Internet radio talk show specialized in lampooning President Lee Myung-bak. The show has been downloaded by millions. A military unit has banned its soldiers from downloading the podcast, also known as “Naggomsu.” At a session of the National Assembly on Tuesday, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin said the ban on Naggomsu was “justifiable.” The ministry’s censorship is drawing protest from civic groups. The Center for Military Human Rights said the ministry’s move to censor and forcibly remove what it calls harmful apps violates basic human rights. It filed a petition Tuesday with the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, asking the watchdog to look into the case. In 2008, the ministry banned soldiers from reading books deemed “seditious and harmful.” Among the 23 books was one written by U.S author Noam Chomsky, and the decision brought opposition, even within the military. Some military law officers submitted a petition with the Constitutional Court, saying the ban infringed on soldiers’ rights to pursue happiness.

Women quota draws backlash in DUP

Women quota draws backlash in DUP

By Kang Hyun-kyung The main opposition Democratic United Party’s (DUP) plan for a 15 percent quota for women in the selection of candidates to run in the April general election on its ticket is being opposed by some male potential candidates. On Tuesday, 10 aspiring politicians who had applied for DUP candidacy in the election, held a news conference at the National Assembly to urge the leadership to scrap the quota. They claim the rule constitutes reverse discrimination, questioning whether placing more women in politics was such an urgent issue. They say the majority of women who have applied for party selection are either sitting lawmakers or renowned politicians who are already in advantageous positions, compared to political novices. According to them, the 15 percent quota will hurt male candidates. They have sent a protest letter to the DUP leadership signed by 30 male politicians. They also plan to visit senior DUP members to urge them to reverse their decision on the quota. Proponents said the liberal party adopted the rule in order to encourage more women to join politics to better represent their interests. The current rate of women in politics _ 13.7 percent in the legislature _ is insufficient to represent the best interests of women, they said. The debate comes as the DUP leadership pushed the quota Monday. Members of the selection committee will pick a total of 246 candidates who will run in the National Assembly elections on April 11 on the DUP ticket. Of these, the DUP leadership will pick 74 (30 percent) in a top-down manner, meaning senior members will place who they believe are competent candidates in certain districts. These are dubbed “strategic constituencies.” The remaining 70 percent of candidates will be determined through competitions where people who have expressed willingness to join the campaign as delegates via phone or the Internet, will cast votes for their preferred choice. These delegates can either cast their votes by voting in the districts or via mobile phone. But voting through mobile phones remains uncertain as it requires a revision of the current Election Law which prohibits it. The ruling Saenuri Party is opposed to mobile voting as it is concerned about possible fraud. Currently, 39 female candidates have registered as DUP candidates. If the 15-percent quota is applied, two women will be eliminated. This indicates competition among women candidates is easier than that of their male counterparts. Previously the liberal party adopted a female quota of 8 percent in the selection of candidates in the previous National Assembly election in 2008.

New economics of tying the knot

New economics of tying the knot

When singledom becomes greater problem than unemployment By Kim Da-ye Last year on New Year’s Day, Kim Sang-ki, a 29-year-old working at a games company, was asked in a large family gathering, like most other single in their late 20s or early 30s, when he would marry. He said he would like to marry within a year and is working hard for that goal. He repeated the same answer this New Year’s Day. Kim has been dating his 24-year-old girlfriend for four years, and knows she’s the one. He says they often discuss getting married. But he won’t pop the question until his savings of 30 million won swell to at least 40 million won, which is likely to take another year. In Korea, men are expected to arrange housing — those with wealthy parents or exceptionally well-paying jobs may consider buying one but most rely on rent, specifically “jeonse.” Jeonse requires the tenant to deposit a large amount of money with the landlord. Instead of collecting rent monthly, the landlord uses the deposit to turn a profit and returns the same amount when the contract ends. This system, however, has taken a toll on Kim whose parents just make ends meet running a small restaurant on the outskirts of Seoul, while the average jeonse deposit for an apartment jumped more than 15 percent over a year. Determined not to rely on his parents for the wedding, Kim continues saving. “I don’t like alcohol. I do not have any expensive hobbies apart from gaming. And I’ve got just two pairs of pants including these,” he said, patting his knees. In fact, his girlfriend’s parents have never made any specific demands, but Kim doesn’t want to ask them for approval empty handed. He knows that’s the norm for society. Kim, with a degree from a two-year polytechnic college, hasn’t had an easy career path. After a brief stint as a butcher, he worked a contract job at his current employer — contract positions are in general shunned in Korea for insecurity. After two years, he won a permanent position thanks to his strong skills and work ethic. When asked which has been more difficult for him — getting employed or hitched — he answers without hesitation, “For me, getting married has been a lot harder. I don’t know how long it will take me to save enough and how long I will be able to hold on to this job. I have no control over the situation.” Welcome to modern society where singledom has become a greater problem than unemployment not because people have failed to meet the right one but because they do not have enough economic power to get married. New economics of marriage Economic factors have always played an important role in many societies when men and women find their life-time partners. Korea is no exception, but the pursuit of economic interests in marriage has become somewhat exceptional. According to marriage consultancy Duo, over 34 percent of 1,446 women surveyed prioritized financial capability and job in choosing a future husband, followed by 30 percent putting importance on personality and 9 percent on looks. In the case of men, 31 percent of 1,482 respondents put personality before other values, followed by 22.27 percent placing priority on physical appearance. Less than 10 percent of them picked women’s jobs as the most important value while 7 percent focused on their partners’ financial capability. What’s interesting about such preferences for the partner’s economic qualification is that they don’t come from conservative parents or rigid social structure but independent, young individuals. Korea is to a large extent a free society where individuals’ feelings and opinions are respected. People date freely anyone they like, but turn extremely conservative when it comes to marriage. Hwang Sang-min, a professor of psychology at Yonsei University, said in his popular book “Partner, Love” that the young generation’s “formula” for choosing their life-time partners is much more complicated than that of their parents’ generation. The formula involves assessments of various “specs,” an abbreviation of specifications and the expression Koreans use to talk about a person’s different qualities. “It’s no longer unusual to separate dating from marriage,” Hwang said. “A couple who like each other and end up marrying after spending a long period time together is now an old story.” How did Korean become such heartless realists in choosing partners? At the end of the day, Koreans want to get hitched. The latest survey by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2009 showed that 75.7 percent of over 3,300 single males desired to marry, compared to 73.1 percent of nearly 3,600 women wishing the same. The figures are down from 82.5 and 73.8 percent respectively from the same survey done in 2005. Acknowledging that tying the knot has become more difficult than passing the bar exam or finding a job, Hwang points out that matchmaking companies that rate spouse seekers by specs have fueled materialism. “Matchmaking companies have subdivided criteria for choosing a partner and match couples according to those criteria. They constantly promote the belief that a couple with matching criteria would have a happier married life,” Hwang said. For evaluating a client and matching him or her to someone with a similar or better rating, these firms charge a huge amount in fees. The cheapest annual package provided by Duo, the largest marriage consultancy by the number of members, is just under 1 million won exclusive of VAT. Designed for those of marriageable age with no divorce in their history, the services include a personal meeting with a “manager” and five meetings a year with matching members. For divorcees and “platinum” members, the fees are higher. Not surprisingly, the condition of utmost importance is “money,” Hwang claims. “It’s not you, an individual, who gets evaluated in finding the right partner. It should be something general that applies to everyone. Nowadays, that standard has become money,” Hwang said. Make it or break it Economic factors make or break marriages throughout various stages. At the earliest stage, they dictate men and women’s deciding whom to meet and even whether to get permanently committed or stay single. One female marketing manager at a foreign company recently said over lunch that she hasn’t married because she doesn’t feel the need for it. She is financially independent and many of her friends have stayed single. She may marry if she meets the one, but does not want to force herself into matrimony. In her late 30s, she dates younger men, so do many of her friends. On the next stage, where those hoping to marry have found their partners, economic factors play a major role in their decision to take the plunge or not. Kim, the IT worker, belongs to this corner. He is postponing his proposal until he saves enough money but feels uncomfortable whenever he sees some of his colleagues who passed their marrying age in the process of preparing the modern-day dowry. “I see many who worked hard to qualify as eligible bachelors. By the time they have bought their own home, they have gotten huge bellies or lost too much hair,” Kim says. He admits that if his girlfriend was as worldly as an average Korean woman, he would never be able to marry. He cites a case of how his friend’s girlfriend changed over time and now clearly set out a minimum amount of money he would need to prepare to tie the knot with her. Kim’s story is a reminder of today’s buzzword “Sampo” generation which indicates a 30-something who has given up dating, marrying and giving birth because of the lack of financial means. Even after engagement, issues related to money keep harassing even the most determined souls who should be by this time be indulging in rosy expectations over a happily married life. In modern Korea, the culture of dowry has become more rigid than ever. Arranging a home is a groom’s job while a bride is expected to fill up the home with furniture and appliances as well as preparing gifts for in-laws and their relatives such as hanbok, the traditional Korean costume. The Korea Wedding Culture Research Center that belongs to matchmaking firm Sunwoo found in a survey of more than 350 newly-wedded couples in 2009 that the average cost of getting married was 175.42 million won, up from 128.53 million won in 2005 and 82.78 million won in 2000. Housing costs the newlyweds the most — it accounts for 72.5 percent of the total at an average of 127.14 million won, compared to 10.53 million won spent on the wedding ceremony and 4.54 million won on the honeymoon. Interestingly, 87 percent of the spending on housing came from husbands and their families, meaning the bride’s side contributed only 13 percent on average. Furthermore, the actual couples were responsible for 50.1 percent of the housing costs, their parents paid 43.1 percent and loans accounted for 6.8 percent, the survey showed. Such a trend puts much financial and emotional burden on parents who try to delay their retirement although they are increasingly forced to quit early. This reporter’s landlady expressed her mounting concerns last Tuesday that she has two sons who have approached marriageable ages and she doesn’t know how she will manage to come up with hundreds of millions of won. Her eldest son and his future bride are both doctors, highly-prized professions in terms of social status and the income they bring in. It’s not unusual to see conflicts between families during wedding prepartion caused by money. A survey of 356 newlywed couples showed that 36.8 percent of the respondents experienced trouble while preparing for their wedding and the biggest cause of most conflicts was housing. One manager-level bachelor working at a large conglomerate told this reporter that he and his fiancee broke up while searching for an apartment. Both wanted to live in Seoul, and his fiancee demanded a recently built apartment in proper condition. The jeonse deposit for a modern apartment with two bedrooms — the size most sought after by newlyweds — ranges between 250 and 400 million won, which is a huge sum of money for people in their early and mid 30s. As the fiancee insisted her terms, they ended up having a big fight, which upset the mother of the groom-to-be. She couldn’t understand why her son had to be treated that way, he said. The near obsession with fine lifestyle is a contrast to the attitude of the baby boomer generation, many of whom used to say that they can start from a small rented room. When asked why the younger generation isn’t willing make such a humble start, Lee, a single woman in her mid-30s working at a media firm, said, “Back then, amid fast economic growth, people had hoped that they would be able to climb up the social ladder and afford a bigger place in the future. Nowadays, people feel that if they start in a small room, they will be stuck there for the rest of their lives.” The high cost of getting married naturally leads to some couples to be heavily indebted after the honeymoon ends. In addition to the Sampo generation, another phrase linked to both the economy and marriage has emerged — “honeymoon poor.” Is better economy solution? If money can make or break relationships, can financial help promote more marriages? The Korean government is anxiously observing as the number of men and women wanting to marry drop. Stable marriages have been perceived as the driving force that stabilizes society and boosts the economy. The country is already concerned with low birthrates as married women find it difficult to maintain both a family and career. Kim said he wants to get married, but he doesn’t want any children. He says having children in his financial circumstances would be a sin. “Poverty gets inherited,” Kim says. The Samsung Economic Research Institute (SERI) said in a report in 2010 that persistent low birthrates could shrink the population to 24.68 million by 2100 — half the current level — and a third of a million by 2500, threatening the survival of the Korean race. Furthermore, the lack of a labor force will cause the economic contraction beginning in 2029. The SERI suggested several economic measures to increase marriages and births. They include paying out larger pensions and giving inheritance tax exemptions to families with multiple children, exempting taxes on education expenses, providing housing for newlyweds and encouraging the public sector to hire more working mothers. While the government presses businesses to improve the working environment for women, some companies have actively started matchmaking for their employees as part of society-wide initiatives to boost marriage. LG Display is among the most active employers that promote “colleague couples” under the “making a happy workplace” initiative. A total of 349 couples at LG Display got married by September 2010, according to the firm. Former CEO Kwon Young-soo even let couples use his vehicle as a wedding car. Between June and October 2010, 55 couples took advantage of this. Kim Bong-soo, CEO of the Korea Exchange, also said in a year-end meeting with journalists that his two goals for 2012 were expanding corporate social responsibility programs and matchmaking employees. The increasing population of career women combined with long working hours has resulted in dating at workplaces. A survey by Job Korea, a recruiting website, found last November that 44.2 percent of respondents have dated a colleague and 13.9 percent of those got married. Hwang, the author of Partner, Love, however, said that economic measures cannot improve low birthrates and that people won’t have a happy married life when they have chosen their spouses on specs, not on what they truly want. He claimed that married people shun giving birth because they no longer enjoy raising children together and lack trust in each other. The psychologist said that the specs considered in tying the knot can change and the illusion over the marriage could fade away over the time. He asserted that people should understand and trust themselves to find the right partner. “The idea that pursuing realistic specs will lead to perfect happiness is dominant. Unfortunately, this is nothing more than a belief and an expectation,” Hwang said.

Girls' Generation to appear on France's popular TV talk show

02-08-2012 11:20 Girls' Generation to appear on France's popular TV talk show

K-pop group Girls' Generation will appear on a popular French talk show ahead of its first release of a music album in Europe early next week, the group's entertainment agency said Wednesday. The group will be on the "Le Grand Journal," a talk show program of the French pay-TV channel "CANAL plus" on Friday (on Paris time), S.M. Entertainment Co. said. "Le Grand Journal," which airs at 7 p.m. from Monday to Friday, is one of France's most popular talk shows, where many of the world's top stars have appeared as guests. Girls' Generation will be the first Korean pop stars to appear on the show, according to the agency. The appearance comes ahead of the group's official release slated for Monday of its special album titled "The Boys" through Polydor, the French music label under Universal Music Group. It is rare for South Korean singers to release an album in Europe. In the show, the group will give a live performance of the album's title song with the same name, according to the agency. It will be the group's third appearance on a popular foreign talk show in about two weeks following appearances on CBS's late-night talk show "Late Show with David Letterman" on Jan. 31 and ABC's morning talk show "Live! With Kelly" on Feb. 1. The group will also have an interview with France's terrestrial TV channel "France2" for broadcasting on the channel's main evening news program on Thursday, according to the agency. During the interview, the K-pop sensation will introduce the new album and express thanks for its devoted European fans, the agency said. The group arrived in Paris on Tuesday for local promotion of the new album. (Yonhap)

Living in Korea becomes poor bargain

Living in Korea becomes poor bargain

Jobseekers wait at the Seoul Employment and Labor Center last month to apply for unemployment benefits. / Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han Surveys show Seoul one of worst places to live; income rise hardly affects quality of living By Kim Tong-hyung Korea is becoming a place that requires people to pay a premium for a lifetime of mediocrity. The widening wealth gap, decreasing social mobility and deteriorating family finances suggest that the country’s gross national happiness will continue to sink like stone, experts say. Surveys conducted by researchers here and abroad in recent years have suggested that Korea is indeed becoming one of the worst places to live among industrialized nations. And beating the metaphorical dead horse is Seoul-based Hyundai Research Institute (HRI), which studied economic data dating back to the mid-1990s to conclude that the link between income growth and living standards here has been irrevocably damaged. The average Korean took home 21.31 million won (about $19,000) for the whole year 2010, nearly an 80 percent increase from the levels of 1995, when income per head came in just below 12 million won. However, during the same 15-year span, living conditions measured by Hyundai’s independent quality of life index (Hyundai Quality of Life Index: HQLI) improved by just 32 points from the base year’s 100 to 132.3. The index is based on assessments of economic stability, social integration, health and welfare levels, and housing and environmental conditions. Unemployment and inequality provide the easy explanations for why the quality of life has been lagging income growth. The jobless rate rose from 2.1 percent in 1995 to 3.7 percent in 2010. The Gini coefficient, which is used to measure the concentration of wealth, with zero signifying perfect equality and 1 meaning complete inequality, aggravated from 0.251 to 0.289 during the period. ``The inconsistency between the growth in income and quality of life is becoming profound. To improve the situation, Korea must regain its ability to create more quality jobs and distribute the fruits of growth more broadly across the population, which will help restore stability in family finances. There is also an urgent need for policies designed to better support family life,’’ said HRI senior researcher Kim Dong-yeol. ``While it’s hard to deny that the level of health and welfare has improved over the years, the country needs to get more bang for the buck from its welfare spending and find ways to increase financial resources to make welfare systems more sustainable.’’ HRI’s sub-index for health and welfare jumped dramatically from 20 in 1995 to 41.5 in 2010, thanks to the advancement in medical services and longer life expectancies. Another index on living conditions improved from 30 to 41.6 due to better housing and transportation conditions and a cleaner environment. However, an index on economic stability worsened from 20 to 18 as the on-and-off economic turmoil during the years deteriorated the job market and accelerated the concentration of wealth toward high-end income earners. The social integration index also worsened from 31.2 to 30 with the improvement in information access and spending on culture and leisure offset by the increase in crime, divorces and suicides. The number of divorces increased from 1.5 per 1000 people to 2.3 in the 15 years to 2010, while the number of suicides per 10,000 people increased from 10.8 to a staggering 31.2. The rapidly-growing rich-poor gap and a diminishing belief in social mobility have some observers wondering whether the country is entering a perfect storm of civil discontent. With parliamentary and presidential elections approaching, politicians are expecting people to express their frustration in the voting booths first and are competing to create more welfare promises and up the ante in their bashing of large businesses to massage voters’ egos. The alarming lack of happiness in Korean life has been obvious since the financial crisis of the late-1990s and the recent recession triggered by the collapse of the Lehman Brothers only widened the chasm between the wealthiest and the rest. Average Koreans continue to see their living standards deteriorate as wages fail to keep up with the rising cost of living. Workers’ share of national income was safely above 60 percent in the early-to-mid 1990s, but fell to 58 percent in 2000 and only rose to 59.2 percent in 2010, according to government figures, as the country’s economic policies continue to put exports before consumption. The country’s historically-high household debt, at near one quadrillion won, matches an entire year’s gross domestic product (GDP), while an alarmingly large portion of working-age Koreans remain sidelined from the labor market. The Korea Development Institute’s (KDI) quality-of-life survey last year placed Korea 27th among the 39 industrialized nations that make up the OECD and the Group of 20, based on data for 2008. The country only managed middle rankings in the three other categories analyzed ― economic growth potential, infrastructure and environment. In an annual report analyzing Korea’s national competitiveness in comparison to other industrialized nations last month, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance concluded that Korea may soon be facing considerable challenges stemming from its social divisiveness. The increasing disparity between the wealthiest Koreans and the rest was mentioned as a key reason the country is failing to provide the glue for social cohesion. The ministry’s report was based on the evaluation of 259 indicators in the areas of the economy, social cohesion, environment and infrastructure, where Korea was measured against other members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Based on official data for 2008, Korea ranked 20th among OECD countries in equality based on the Gini coefficient, down from 17th the previous year, while the country’s poverty rate was sixth highest in the table. Poor working conditions were also cited as a problem, with the country’s employees topping the table with 2,193 working hours a year.

In Philippines, there’s life after prostitution

As the night grows older, this part of the city becomes more alive. Women in low-cut, body-hugging clothes start appearing on the streets of Quezon City’s red light district in Metro Manila. Some make their move on potential customers.

Also in the area are other women dressed more conservatively in jeans and shirt. They are not around to earn money for the night. Belonging to Bagong Kamalayan Collective Inc. (BKCI), they have come to talk to their scantily clad “sisters” about their rights and to try to inspire them to rebuild their lives.

Liza Gonzales, recounting the scene to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, knows what life is like in the red light district. She was once one of those scantily clad women working in that neighborhood.

Most of the BKCI staff “used to ‘gimmick’ in Cubao and Quezon Avenue,” Gonzales said in a recent interview.

With the help of the Coalition against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific (CATW-AP), Gonzales and four other “survivors of prostitution” got out of the trade and formed BKCI in 2004.

“We want prostituted women to see that they can have a stable livelihood even if they quit,” Gonzales said.

Today, BKCI’s original five members have grown to 50. They have found a source of income not just for themselves but for other victims of prostitution. BKCI recently opened a cooperative canteen.

“Hopefully our canteen becomes a big, big restaurant so we can help more women,” Gonzales said in Filipino.

The place is barely half the size of the other eateries along a street in Quezon City, but BKCI members talk about it with pride.

What they have now is a far cry from what they had when the Inquirer first met the group in 2005.

They had no canteen then. Engaged in food catering, all they had were a few utensils for cooking meals which they delivered to meetings of various other advocacy groups. To reheat the dishes, they would bring along a “super kalan” (liquefied petroleum gas tank with a built-in burner).

For a time, they also offered laundry service, washing clothes with bare hands. Having no weighing scale, they would go to a nearby market to weigh their clients’ laundry.

They also ventured into small businesses, such as selling homemade soap, but these didn’t bring in much money. Three years ago, their money problems worsened.

“We didn’t even have a centavo in the bank,” Gonzales said.

Gina (not her real name), one of the “survivors” that the BKCI had plucked from the streets, recalled a time when she could not even pay the rent for her family’s apartment and she had beg the landlord not to throw them out into the streets.

In those hard times, other members lived in the CATW-AP office. One of them, Rem (also a pseudonym), was attending high school and had to sleep in the director’s office, where CATW-AP employees also worked.

There were times when they had no money to buy food.

“When you have nothing to feed your children, it’s tempting to turn to prostitution for fast money but because of our good foundation, we remained strong. We survived without going back,” Gonzales said.

Even as they struggled to live, they still conducted educational seminars and scoured red light districts in Quezon City and elsewhere on the chance they might help other women trapped in prostitution. Support from allied NGOs and their strong belief that “there is life after prostitution” kept them going, Gonzales said.

Eventually members learned skills from livelihood training seminars. Some even attended baking classes at Miriam College. Initially, they thought of setting up a bakeshop.

But they settled for a canteen because the girls found it difficult to make bread, Gonzales said.

With their personal savings and donations from CATW-AP and other supporters, the group earlier this year finally managed to open their 9-square-meter canteen.

Their profit and donations help them pursue their mission, support their families and send themselves and their children to school.

Gina has five children who are all studying. Her eldest is now in college.

Rem, 25, said: “Before, I could not even imagine myself going back to school. It seemed impossible.”

She is now pursuing a bachelor degree in cooperatives at Polytechnic University of the Philippines. Her sister, 20-year-old Rose (also not her real name) and also a survivor from prostitution, is now a fourth year high school student at Miriam College for adult education.

The two sisters want to take up courses on social development so they can better assist victims of sex trafficking.

Continuing the fight

With diplomas and newly acquired skills, some members have left BKCI to focus on their own lives. But others have remained because “we need to continue fighting for the rights of other victims of prostitution and be their voice while they are still in the trade,” Gonzales said.

Gonzales is the only founder left in the organization.

Carrying thermos, packets of instant coffee and bread, BKCI members still pound the streets of red light districts.

Over coffee, they would talk with prostitution victims about laws protecting women’s rights and other issues.

“Most of them are not aware of their rights. When authorities take them to the precinct, they assume that cases are already filed against them even without any inquest,” Gonzales said.

Afraid to stay behind bars, women simply give cash and their cell phones or, worse, give cops sexual favors in exchange for their freedom.

Gina said: “When cops like the apprehended woman, she is forced to have sex with them.”

Nowadays, “kotong” (bribe) ranges from 3,000 pesos to 4,500 pesos (US$68 to US$102) , and transactions begin even before they reach the precinct, she said.

Fighting for rights

BKCI and CATW-AP are lobbying for the passage of the antiprostitution bill, which shifts criminal liabilities from prostituted persons to customers, pimps, brothel and nightclub owners and law enforcement officers.

The measure has been pending in Congress for 11 years.

Gonzales resents calling women in prostitution sex workers or prostitutes. “We call them ‘prostituted women’ because prostitution is not a job but a violation of human rights.”

Women in this field are often looked at as sinners and home wreckers. “But we are not criminals…We are actually victims,” Gonzales said.

“Some are victims of rape or incest. Some are girls from rural areas who were fooled by illegal recruiters…We are victims of different circumstances, but we all fell into prostitution,” she said.

Gonzales said her group did not force women to leave their trade. “They have to reach the point when they no longer want to be there.”

“We have healed our wounds,” Gonzales said. “We may not be able to forgive those who abused us, those who raped us. But to be able to heal, to go back to the community and freely express ourselves and fight for our rights, we feel blessed.”

Said Gina: “I am most fulfilled because I am no longer on the streets.”

By Rima Jessamine M. Granali

(Philippine Daily Inquirer)

English institute caught copying exam questions

Prosecutors are investigating Hackers Education Group, a local English education franchise, on suspicion of illegally copying and redistributing copyrighted English test questions.

Investigators of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said Monday that they had indicted six management members of the company including chairman identified by his surname Cho without detention on charges of copyright violation.

The group’s language education and research units have also been indicted on the same charges.

Hackers is well known for its accurate prediction of English proficiency tests and currently operates a nationwide academy franchise, publishing companies and other educational subsidiaries.

According to the investigators, Cho ordered 50 of his staff workers to apply for and take the two most popular English proficiency tests here from 2007 to early this year. The two tests are Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), administered by the U.S.-based Educational Testing Service (ETS), and Test of English Proficiency (TEPS) developed by Seoul National University.

The employees, assigned to cover different sections of the tests, were given tiny video and audio recorders to capture and record the questions on TOEIC 49 times and on TEPS 57 times. Questions of the recently adopted National English Ability Test were also copied in the same way using specially designed recorders, the prosecutors said.

The stolen questions were forwarded to the company, which were solved by native English speakers there, and then uploaded on Hackers subsidiaries’ website to share with students.

In order to evade being caught for copyright violation, the questions were deleted the following day. Instead, similar questions were released in its textbooks. Hackers instructors at classes used the actual questions.

The investigators believe that such copying of questions has helped the private education company to rake in 100 billion won ($89.1 million) in revenue in 2010 alone, and 36 billion won in net profit.

“There have been cases where test takers tried to memorize questions and later used them. But never have there been such organized irregularities using employees and state-of-the-art devices,” an officer said.

“The Educational Testing Service, the organizer of TOEIC, has recently developed a test tailored for Koreans due to worries about leaked questions and the actual English language proficiency of Koreans,” he added.

Hackers has reportedly claimed that their recording of questions was a simple research method.

“The questions we have published on our textbooks were inspired by the test problems but were not copied. We did not violate copyright law,” it has reportedly said.

Cho, an English professor at a national university since 2001, also is accused of violating the law banning public officials from pursuing profit-seeking practices. He gained reputation when his English teaching method became popular among students.

Diners can’t do without smartphones, so restaurants tapping into the spirit

Ding. Bzzzt. Bap. Beep. That’s the sound of conversation in restaurants these days. Where cellphones once posed a nuisance as people chatted loudly into them during meals, smartphones now present a whole new set of etiquette issues as entire tables disappear into the Internet via small glowing screens.

Like an analog world-munching Pac-Man, the modern smartphone has morphed into instant messenger, mailbox, camera, flashlight, computer, map, dictionary, newspaper, personal assistant and social media portal. And as such its use at the table has become so prevalent that “restaurants are now forced to incorporate how to deal with them into the sequence of service and table maintenance,” says Eric Rosenfeld, the general manager of the lush trattoria Il Covo, in Mid-City Los Angeles, which has begun offering diners small plates to hold their phones in order to shield them from potential spills and dinner debris.

Some fine dining restaurants frown upon cellphone use ― at Patina, the menu requests, “This restaurant is a quiet haven from the stress and tumult of everyday life. Please help us by turning your cell phone to vibrate while dining.” And a few places, such as Sushi Nozawa, go as far as to post “no cellphone” signs. But most restaurants, like Il Covo, are finding ways to address what many consider the new reality of our fast-paced digital era while at the same time working to encourage diners to stay involved with their dining companions.

“If a diner would like to have their phone on the table, we want to protect it as much as possible,” Rosenfeld explains, adding that many restaurants in Los Angeles even keep a discreet stash of iPhone and BlackBerry chargers on hand and train servers on how and when to approach a diner on a phone and what to do if a phone is in the way when it comes time to deliver a plate. (The hard and fast rule is never put your hands on another man’s phone.)

That’s the practical side. There is also the matter of manners, and when it comes to that thorny issue, most people will tell you that using a phone at the table is not polite while simultaneously admitting to being guilty of having used their phone at the table. It’s a form of digital hypocrisy that has foodies chatting, both online and off.

Or so it seemed to friends John Purcell, a lawyer, and Katie Sticksell, a restaurant manager, who recently coined the term “reciprocell” in the Urban Dictionary. Reciprocell refers to the behavior that opens the door to all of that tableside chirping, humming and busy cellphone buzzing.

“We noticed that once one person at the table took out their phone, instead of complaining, everyone else sort of did it,” Purcell says of the word and its definition, which is, “The act of checking one’s email after a companion has pulled his or her BlackBerry or iPhone out first. Often used when one is initially afraid of being criticized for checking the phone.”

A few restaurants try to discourage the use of cellphones, but the rise of the smartphone, with its multiple functions, has made accommodation more practical for some restaurant owners. (Los Angeles Times/MCT)

The blithe wink-and-nod conjured by the word “reciprocell” pretty much sums up most people’s feeling about the issue: It’s simply part of the wireless fabric of 21st century living, one worthy of examination and in dire need of a digital-era Emily Post.

“It’s a busy world now, so it’s hard to tell people to not text when they have so much business going on and so many business dinners,” says celebrity chef Kerry Simon of Simon L.A. and Simon Restaurant & Lounge at Palms Casino in Las Vegas. “What are you going to do? You can’t dictate to diners how to behave.”

That’s why an outright cellphone ban at restaurants is unlikely, says Christian Page, the chef of Short Order at the original Farmers Market in L.A.

“The phone is part of the place setting now,” Page says. “When people sit down, they put their phone down somewhere too.”

Page says that what people do at his restaurant on their own time is their own business, but when he’s out with someone, particularly a date, he’d prefer she keep her phone out of sight.

“I operate on two rules: the golden rule, and whatever my mom would tell me to do,” he says. “Get that door open before the girl gets to it, stand up when she leaves the table and don’t be on your phone at dinner. It’s rude.”

In fact, the phone can be a great indicator of how a date is going, says Joe Brooke, a former Next Door Lounge bartender who was runner-up in L.A.’s Best Bartender competition.

“If it’s good, they’re completely focused on the other person,” he says. “But when someone gets up to go to the bathroom, the phone comes out and they get their fix.”

Using your phone here and there at the bar is one thing, but actually placing it on a coaster for the duration is another.

“It’s the equivalent of a kid being told to put their video game controller down and go outside,” Brooke says. “If a customer is focusing on it too much, I’ll say something like, ‘Is the Internet still working?’ Just a gentle suggestion. If liquor is involved, you never want to be direct.”

Plus, if a diner is constantly submerged in his or her phone, it’s difficult to provide good service, which by its very definition must be interactive, says Paige Reilly, the manager of the beer program at Echo Park’s Mohawk Bend and Tony’s Darts Away in Burbank, Calif. She relates a story about two men she once saw who did not talk to each other at dinner more than once but constantly showed each other text messages that they were sending to other people.

“I think by the time it was over, I was laughing out loud,” she says.

Cellphones aren’t always a distraction, though, says Jerry Garbus, general manager of M.B. Post in Manhattan Beach, Calif. They can also provide a useful way of connecting with others while dining.

“The cellphone in our dining room is a seamless thing,” Garbus says. “We’ve had guests literally reading a review on Yelp and ordering what was in the review during service.”

Diners at M.B. Post also regularly check in at the restaurant on Facebook via their phones (the restaurant has nearly 1,500 Facebook check-ins).

“It creates a unique and fun environment. I’m friends with many of our guests, and when someone checks in I can see it on my phone and go and say hello,” Garbus says.

M.B. Post’s chef, David LeFevre, also keeps an active Twitter feed on which he regularly posts pictures of food.

“He tweeted this photo of him holding a sheet tray of bacon as it came out of the oven and posted a photo of our sticky buns on Facebook, and it just blew up and everybody left comments and wanted to be a part of it,” Garbus says.

Deodeok-saengchae (Deodeok salad)

Deodeok-saengchae (Institute of Traditional Korean Food)

Deodeok-saengchae is thinly ripped deodeok roots mixed with spicy and sour seasonings. Deodeok is referred to as sasam (ginseng from sand). It is high in saponin like ginseng and bellflower roots. In Oriental medicine, it is considered a health food that is good for the stomach and strengthens the lungs, intestines and kidney.

Ingredients

● 300g deodeok roots, 2 cups water, 1/2 tbsp salt

● Seasoning sauce: 1 tbsp sugar, 2 1/2 tsp red pepper paste, 2 tsp ground red pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tbsp minced green onion, 1 tsp minced garlic, 1 tsp sesame salt, 1 tbsp vinegar

1. Trim and wash the deodeok roots, skin, and thinly slice them.

2. Soak the sliced roots in salt water for 20 minutes to get rid of the bitter taste. Pat dry with cloths.

3. Press and roll the roots with a wooden roller and rip into long, thin strips.

4. Blend seasoned red pepper paste.

5. Mix the deodeok roots with seasoning sauce.

Tip

● Deodeok roots may be pounded with a wooden mallet after pat drying.

(Adapted from the Institute of Traditional Korean Food)

Commission adopts scheme for profit-sharing

A panel on shared growth of large and small businesses agreed Thursday to adopt a new system to give extra points to companies that share benefits with their suppliers starting next year.

The panel, headed by former Prime Minister Chung Un-chan, grades large enterprises based on their support of smaller partner companies so that those with higher marks get more government incentives and have an advantage in winning public orders.

The nation’s largest businesses had locked horns with Chung over his proposal to make them share profits exceeding their targets with suppliers.

Chung Un-chan

A much watered-down version named “cooperation benefit sharing” was introduced at the panel meeting on Thursday to be voluntarily adopted by conglomerates, Chung said in a press briefing.

Under the new system, large firms can choose to share profits reaped through cooperation with suppliers based on prior bilateral agreements.

As it is not mandatory, it does not appear much different from the “benefit sharing” programs already being carried out by some companies.

The Commission on Shared Growth for Large Corporations and Small and Medium Enterprises said it will look into large companies’ adjustment of prices paid for suppliers’ products depending on the fluctuation of raw material prices, possible unfair price cuts and liquidity support for partner firms.

The panel also agreed to organize an arbitration committee to mediate conflicts over large companies’ scouting for people from small firms.

The conglomerates agreed to refrain from taking away smaller companies’ staff, and when they can’t avoid hiring from suppliers, to help the firms find new employees.

The Federation of Korean Industries, a business lobby representing the nation’s largest companies, had refused to attend the panel’s regular meetings in December and January in protest of the idea that conglomerates should share profits beyond their targets.

The FKI claimed that the panel was forcing profit-sharing. The commission consists of nine representatives of large and small companies each, four professors, two think tank heads and Chung, former president of Seoul National University.

In addition to rating companies based on their efforts for mutual growth with partner firms, the panel, launched a year ago, selects business areas that should be left for only small and medium-sized companies. President Lee Myung-bak named Chung as head of the panel.

Chaebol’s economic dominance increases

Top 10 conglomerates take up 52.8% in listed firms’ output: report


Korea has seen an unprecedented concentration of wealth in the nation’s top 10 family-owned conglomerates since the global financial crisis in 2008, industry reports showed Monday.

Their combined market capitalization and sales reached their highest-ever last year, according to separate reports by Chaebul.com, FnGuide and the Economic Reform Research Institute.

The top 10 owner groups saw the market cap of their 90 listed affiliates increase to 648 trillion won ($577 billion) as of January, about 52.83 percent of the total 1,227 trillion won of the nation’s main bourse.


The figure has continued to grow from 44.87 percent in late 2008 to 46.59 percent in 2009 and 51.9 percent in 2010.

Even when the stock market suffered due to the sluggish U.S. economy and the widening financial crisis in Europe over the past six months, the figure rose from 52.06 percent to 52.83 percent.

Hyundai Motor Group recorded the highest increase from 3.81 percent in 2008 to 12.29 percent last month, while Samsung Group further increased its market dominance from 18.86 percent to 22.23 percent.

Sales at chaebol affiliates were also dominant across industries.

When including POSCO instead of Doosan in the top 10 conglomerates, the combined sales at their 82 listed affiliates amounted to 471 trillion won in the third quarter.

The figure made up 52.27 percent of the 901 trillion won in total sales of the nation’s listed companies. The number increased from 47.18 percent in 2008 to 51.86 percent in 2010.

Such an economic concentration may be the result of their efforts to strengthen competitiveness in diverse sectors.

Major companies, however, have been criticized for abusing their market dominance without making efforts to share profits with the whole of society.

In a report by the Fair Trade Commission that analyzed the internal transactions among 55 top companies, 88 percent of the deals were secretly made among affiliates without competition.

More recently in early January, the antitrust regulator fined Samsung and LG, local electronics that have more than 90 percent of the market share, for fixing prices of their home appliance products.

“If the economic power is concentrated on a business group, the company could suffer more severely when hit by a crisis,” said Chung Un-chan, the former prime minister who is currently heading a panel on shared growth between large and smaller companies.

He warned of weakening of diversity and creativity with excessive economic concentration.

“It’s much better that 100 people produce products rather than only five dominate production activities. Companies should grow together.”

Chung, has pressed large corporations to share their “excess profits” with the small firms in their supply chains.

Industry watchers say chaebol may face more pressure for management reform efforts in the coming months amid moves in the political community to impose investment caps and more tax ahead of major elections.