[Newsmaker] LG’s G2 phone garners rave reviews overseas

A wave of positive reviews overseas for LG Electronics’ newest smartphone, the G2, is fanning the company’s hopes for better luck in the market this year. CNET called it a “speed demon,” noting that the “menus flew by with almost blinding swiftness.” Trusted Reviews claimed it was not just LG’s best phone so far, but is “shaping up to be one of the best phones ever made.”  Ubergizmo raved about the decision to install power control buttons on the back of the device, saying they have become “beli

TechnologyAug. 14, 2013

[Newsmaker] Park’s team in hot seat over tax plan

Attention is being paid to whether President Park Geun-hye will replace her economic policymakers who devised a much-criticized tax code revision, after having already ordered a review of the proposal to contain the fallout. Speculation persists in political circles that Park could conduct a partial Cabinet reshuffle in the third quarter of the year to ease public anger.Some politicians started to call for the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok and senior pres

Aug. 13, 2013

[Newsmaker] Chun’s in-law may hold key to assets

Former President Chun Doo-hwan’s brother-in-law, known as one of the key figures who helped him conceal illegally accumulated assets, was questioned by the prosecution on Monday. Lee Chang-seok is the first member of Chun’s family to be summoned by the prosecution looking for the former president’s massive slush funds.Summoning Lee indicates that the authorities are not only searching for concealed assets but also seeking ways to prosecute Chun and his family, sources say.The younger brother of

Social AffairsAug. 12, 2013

[Newsmaker] Victim of Japan’s sexual slavery dies

Lee Yong-nyeo, one of the few surviving victims of Japan’s military sex slavery and a leading activist who sought for truth, an apology and compensation, has died Sunday.The House of Sharing, a shelter for the “comfort women” in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, said Lee died at a hospital early Sunday morning. She was 87.At the age of 16, Lee was shipped from Busan to Yangon, Myanmar, where she was forced to provide sexual services to Japanese soldiers during World War II.Since 1995, after moving to

Social AffairsAug. 11, 2013

[Newsmaker] Abe struggles to get a grip on Fukushima

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe indicated that his patience with the operator of the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant had worn out when it ordered his government to help with the clean up.Tokyo Electric Power Company announced last month that about 300 tons of radioactive groundwater had been flowing into the sea every day. It was criticized for its lack of openness and slowness to report the leaks or the risk of them happening. The announcement added to a growing consensus that TEPCO’s respo

Expat LivingAug. 8, 2013

[Newsmaker] DP chairman under pressure on two fronts

Democratic Party Chairman Rep. Kim Han-gil is facing his biggest challenge since his appointment in May, squeezed between the Saenuri Party and hard-liners in his own ranks in an escalating political row over the National Intelligence Service. Since he took office in May, the main opposition changed its name and its constitution has taken a more moderate direction.The revised version includes clauses regarding national security and North Korean human rights, which have been thorny issues for the

PoliticsAug. 7, 2013

[Newsmaker] Amazon founder jumps into paper business

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos announced on Monday he would buy the Washington Post for $250 million in a surprising move. For Bezos and the embattled U.S. newspaper, the question is whether the business genius has any tricks up his sleeve to revive the paper without drastically changing its journalistic status.Established in 1877, the influential newspaper has been owned by the Graham family for the last 80 years. The sales decision thus came as a shock, though not totally surprising given that

World BusinessAug. 6, 2013

[Newsmaker] Debt weighs heavily on college students

Korea may be the most costly country to parents, where most children rely partially or entirely on them for college tuition, living costs, rent and wedding expenses. The expression “deunggol breaker,” or spine breaker, is now a common nickname for children as heavy financial burdens tie down their parents.But Korean college students say it is not fair to blame kids for seeking economic support from their parents, as there is no way to afford college but to dive into heavy debt. It was not until

Aug. 5, 2013

[Newsmaker] Will Hyun's visit help break N.K. stalemate?

Expectations were high over the weekend for the resumption of stalled business projects in North Korea following the Hyundai Group chairwoman’s visit to the communist state. Hyun Jeong-eun visited the North for six hours on Saturday to hold a memorial service for her late husband and former Hyundai chairman Chung Mong-hun, who pioneered North Korean businesses in the early 2000s.After her brief visit, she received a personal letter from the North’s young leader Kim Jong-un who wished the company

IndustryAug. 4, 2013

[Newsmaker] Koreans garner attention in British Open

World No. 1 Park In-bee of South Korea is aiming to make headlines with her Korean rivals as the British Open kicks off its four-day run at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland, Thursday. Heavy favorite Park aims to make history at the course, regarded as the “home of golf,” where the sport was first played in the early 1400s, by adding a first British Open to her three major wins. The 25-year-old Seoul native captured titles at Kraft Nabisco, the LPGA Championship and U.S. Open. A win in the

GolfAug. 1, 2013

[Newsmaker] Nationalists further sour Korea-Japan ties

Buoyed by a recent election sweep, high-flying Japanese officials are again churning out inflammatory remarks and backing visits to a controversial war shrine, posing another stumbling block to defrosting relations between Seoul and Tokyo. At a lecture on Monday, Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Taro Aso called for a swift constitutional amendment, citing how the Nazis neutralized Germany’s Weimar Constitution in the 1930s. “It is a mistake to think that crying for a protection of the Constit

Foreign AffairsJuly 31, 2013

[Newsmaker] Tax service chiefs: A barrel of bad apples

The former heads of the National Tax Service collectively have one of the worst track records among high-level government officials for corruption. Of the 20 individuals to head the NTS since 1966, six have been penalized for it. Jeon Goon-pyo, who was the country’s top tax official from July 2006 to November 2007, served a prison term for taking 70 million won ($63,000) and $10,000 in cash from a subordinate in return for favorable treatment in a personnel reshuffle. Jeon is once again under th

PoliticsJuly 30, 2013

[Newsmaker] N.K. leader’s aunt back from sick leave

Kim Kyong-hui, the powerful aunt of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, returned to the public eye last week for the first time since May amid persistent speculation that she was in critical condition.On Thursday, the North’s official Korean Central Television showed Kim, 67, appearing at a ceremony marking the completion of a cemetery in Pyongyang where those killed during the Korean War were laid to rest.The younger sister of late strongman Kim Jong-il seemed to be in a relatively stable conditio

North KoreaJuly 29, 2013

[Newsmaker] California erects comfort women monument

A statue of a girl symbolizing the victims of sexual slavery by the Japanese imperial military during World War II will be unveiled in the city of Glendale, California, Tuesday.The girl, identical to the one that sits in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, will settle in front of the Glendale Central Library as a reminder of Korean comfort women that still face denial of their ordeal by the Japanese government.The statue will incorporate a slate to explain the history of the comfort women. T

Social AffairsJuly 28, 2013

[Newsmaker] Two Koreas, U.S. mark Korean War armistice

The two Koreas will hold separate ceremonies to mark the 60th anniversary of the armistice on Saturday with two very different aims. Seoul will use it to honor war veterans from home and abroad, while Pyongyang will seek to strengthen internal unity.The U.S. will also hold a ceremony in Washington, D.C., where President Barack Obama is expected to participate for the first time as an incumbent leader. During its ceremony, Pyongyang is to hold a massive military parade, which its young leader Kim

DefenseJuly 25, 2013

[Newsmaker] U.K. greets youngest celebrity

For British newspapers, a good story about the royal family sells, and they made the most of Monday’s birth of Prince William and Princess Kate’s new son. The Sun changed its “u” to an “o” to mark the birth, while three others splashed “It’s a Boy!” across their front pages.Fountains in London were lit up in blue, along with Niagara Falls and other landmarks in Canada and New Zealand.Away from the media scrum at the hospital, crowds flocked outside Buckingham Palace to catch a glimpse of an offi

Expat LivingJuly 24, 2013

[Newsmaker] Moon enmeshed in summit records controversy

The missing 2007 inter-Korean summit records have driven the main opposition Democratic Party on the defensive as the debate has shifted to how the transcript went missing.At the core of the dispute is Rep. Moon Jae-in, the former right-hand man to late President Roh Moo-hyun, who is alleged by the ruling camp of having ordered the transcript in question be deleted upon leaving office.Moon, supported by the pro-Roh forces against the current party leadership, had spearheaded the calls to view th

PoliticsJuly 23, 2013

[Newsmaker] Icon of peaceful protest tainted by violence

Two years ago, “Buses of Hope,” carrying thousands of people from different backgrounds, emerged as an icon for peaceful protest.The sympathy rally was launched in support of Kim Jin-suk, a female labor union member, who protested alone on a 35-meter-high crane for more than 300 days against Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction after the shipbuilder laid off more than 400 workers. Ferried in by buses, about 8,000 participants from across the country visited the shipyard in Busan on five occa

Social AffairsJuly 22, 2013

[Newsmaker] Crooked lobbyist back in spotlight

Prosecutors said Sunday they indicted lobbyist-turned-businessman Choi Kyu-sun for embezzlement. The chief executive of UI Energy Corp., a resources developer, and Hyundai P&C, a maker of coating and paint products, is suspected of misappropriating about 41.6 billion won ($34.2 million) in funds from the two companies. He was not detained. Choi was at the center of a series of influence-peddling scandals in 2002 including one involving then President Kim Dae-jung’s third son Kim Hong-gul. He ser

Social AffairsJuly 21, 2013

[Newsmaker] Speaker heralds Constitution revision debate

Revising the Constitution could become a priority next year, with National Assembly Speaker Rep. Kang Chang-hee suggesting a rough timeframe for processing the issue. Kang’s comments could revive talks on constitutional amendment, which have been on the backburner for some time.“It would be right to make constitutional revision a public issue from early next year and to conclude the matter within the 19th National Assembly,” Kang said on Wednesday. Kang also said that Korean society has transfor

PoliticsJuly 18, 2013