[Newsmaker] Samsung couple richest in stocks

Samsung owner Lee Kun-hee and his wife Hong Ra-hee topped the lists of Korea’s wealthiest in terms of stock holdings.Lee ranked the richest on the list for men, while Hong was at the top for women. This was the first time the couple nabbed the No. 1 slot for both lists, according to Chaebul.com, a local website providing exclusive business information on conglomerates.As of last Friday, Lee’s stock portfolio was worth a combined 11.14 trillion won ($10.27 billion). The net value of his stocks ha

Nov. 26, 2012

[Newsmaker] Sarkozy has far to go for comeback

Last week was a good one for former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. After a key ally held onto the leadership of his party on Monday, Sarkozy himself was all but cleared in a political funding scandal three days later. Sarkozy was called to testify on accusations of receiving money from Liliane Bettencourt, France’s richest woman and a principal shareholder of the L’Oreal empire.It was the first time he had been questioned since he lost his presidential immunity in May.In 2010, tapes were rele

InternationalNov. 25, 2012

[Newsmaker] LDP to further spur Japan rightward shift

Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to strengthen the country’s military and revise its peace constitution to introduce collective self-defense, further spurring Japan’s rightward political shift.The leader of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party on Wednesday announced its campaign platform “to recover Japan and rebuild its economy.” The conservative party is expected to win in the Dec. 16 elections, which will put the hawkish Abe in the country’s top political post.The

PoliticsNov. 22, 2012

[Newsmaker] Dong-A Pharm owner in disgrace over probes

Kang Shin-ho, chairman of the nation’s top pharmaceutical company Dong-A Pharmaceutical, is being hit with a barrage of criticism over scandals that have hit him and his company.The most recent charge against the company is that it sought to create slush funds worth tens of billions won by purchasing gift cards ― a type of prepaid card ― and reselling them for cash. The prosecution is investigating allegations that Dong-A created the funds to offer kickbacks to local hospitals. The pharmaceutica

IndustryNov. 21, 2012

[Newsmaker] Kim case reveals ugly face of prosecution

Kim Kwang-jun, a senior prosecutor at Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office, was arrested Monday on suspicion of corruption in a case that is tainting the reputation of the prosecution. The 51-year-old is accused of a long list of wrongdoings, mostly bribery and influence-peddling. Among them is that he may have received nearly 900 million won ($826,000) from Cho Hee-pal, the mastermind of Korea’s biggest-ever pyramid scheme, and Eugene Group, a mid-sized conglomerate, in exchange for favors. Kim’s mod

Social AffairsNov. 20, 2012

[Newsmaker] Hamas remains obstacle to Middle East peace

Gaza’s ruling Islamist movement Hamas laid out its conditions for a cease-fire with Israel over the weekend, but Monday failed to see an end to the deadliest hostilities since 2009 as violence continued into its sixth day.The militant organization, defined by the U.S. and EU as a terrorist group, has demanded an end to the blockade of Gaza, as well as a commitment by Israel against any future attacks against it, in return for ceasing rocket attacks on the Jewish state.Intermittent violence betwe

Foreign AffairsNov. 19, 2012

[Newsmaker] China’s ‘songbird’ flies to new heights

Since China’s Hu Jintao handed over power Thursday to his vice president Xi Jinping, the world may be hearing a new song in the communist country’s austere halls of power ― not from Xi, but from his wife.Peng Liyuan, endearingly nicknamed the “Peony Fairy,” rose to prominence as the sweet soprano at the forefront of the People’s Liberation Army with nationalistic folk songs like “People from our Village” and “On the Plains of Hope.” After enlisting as a regular soldier at age 18, her morale-boos

InternationalNov. 18, 2012

[Newsmaker] Protesters defy eviction order

Tension is mounting in front of the iconic Deoksu Palace in central Seoul as rag-tag protesters vow to defy a government order to end their months-long decampment or face eviction by police. The Jung-gu district office delivered a notice Wednesday that it would ask police to break up their protest tents and impose fines unless they take them down voluntarily within 15 days.The roadside street beside the Joseon Dynasty palace’s main gate has been a symbolic epicenter for anti-government and labor

Social AffairsNov. 15, 2012

[Newsmaker] Socialite scandal shows dangers of flirting

The Florida socialite and honorary consul for South Korea whose emails led to the resignation of CIA chief Gen. David Petraeus has found herself at the center of another scandal involving a leading military man.The email investigation has uncovered emails between Kelley and Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. military officer in Afghanistan, which raised suspicions of another affair.Kelley called for an investigation after receiving harassing emails by an anonymous sender. Those emails turned out to b

InternationalNov. 14, 2012

[Newsmaker] Tibetan unrest in shadow of leaders’ meeting in Beijing

As the eyes of the world focused on the once-in-a-decade change of power in Beijing last week, a story of bitter protest against Chinese rule played out in the country to considerably less attention.Nine Tibetans set themselves on fire in the span of a week, with the latest case reported to have taken place on Monday. The protestor, a 20-year-old man in a village in the county of Tongren in northwest China’s Qinghai province, later died from his injuries. The deaths, along with rallies for great

Foreign AffairsNov. 13, 2012

[Newsmaker] BBC struggles with crisis upon crisis

The BBC, one of Britain’s most enduring and well-respected institutions, is in crisis. In a case of controversy following controversy, an episode of the broadcaster’s investigative program “Newsnight” on Nov. 2 wrongly implicated Alistair McAlpine, a Thatcher-era treasury minister of the Conservative Party, in allegations of child sex abuse.This came just a month after revelations that the BBC had canceled a “Newsnight” investigation into abuse allegations against the late Jimmy Savile, one of t

Foreign AffairsNov. 12, 2012

[Newsmaker] Fall of an American ‘hero’

The illustrious career of one of the most widely respected military leaders in modern U.S. history came crashing down over the weekend as David Petraeus abruptly offered his resignation as CIA chief, citing “poor judgment” in engaging in an extramarital affair.The 60-year-old former army commander had been the trusty ground man for two presidents, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, owing to his military reputation for strategy, to lead the 2007 “surge” in Iraq and 2010 operations in Afghanistan. I

InternationalNov. 11, 2012

[Newsmaker] Puerto Rico votes to become state

Puerto Ricans voted to become a U.S. state Tuesday, but as pundits pick apart the results of the referendum, the actual implications of the vote become more unclear.The inhabitants of the U.S. territory are already U.S. citizens, but statehood would give the island’s 4 million people the right to vote in the presidential election and representation in the Senate and House of Representatives ― something already enjoyed by the 5 million Puerto Ricans living on the U.S. mainland.The switch has been

InternationalNov. 8, 2012

[Newsmaker] 4 retail chiefs shirk assembly hearing

Four chiefs of major retail giants were ordered to attend a parliamentary hearing Tuesday. But none of them showed up, citing overseas business trips.Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin was visiting Indonesia for business talks with government officials there, while Chung Ji-sun, Hyundai Department Store Group chairman, was in China to discuss establishing a joint venture home shopping channel, according to company officials.Shinsegae Group vice chairman Chung Yong-jin also was said to have left

IndustryNov. 7, 2012

[Newsmaker] Nuclear plant fiasco a matter of public trust

Distrust with the government is deepening following the shutdown of two nuclear reactors on Monday for using 230 substandard components. Although the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said the move was a preventive measure to exchange all unsuitable parts by the end of this year, people who remember the nuclear disaster in neighboring Japan last year are concerned over their safety. There is also anger stemming from the fact that the supply of substandard parts to Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., th

Nov. 6, 2012

[Newsmaker] Hu to leave China stronger, but less certain

As Chinese President Hu Jintao prepares to leave office, his likely successor Xi Jinping faces pressure to bring change that never came under Hu. During his time in office, Hu has seen China grow in stature, particularly in terms of its economic and military profile. He has appeared keen to increase China’s involvement in international issues, notably by hosting the six-party talks on denuclearizing North Korea. But the form of that increased involvement has not always been welcome by other worl

World NewsNov. 5, 2012

[Newsmaker] Bloomberg blinks on NYC marathon

A call to carry on as normal in a time of crisis can be taken as an invocation of hope and strength. Or it can be interpreted as insensitivity to others’ plight. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg learned the latter on Friday when a public outcry forced him to cancel this year’s New York City Marathon in the city still recovering from Hurricane Sandy. Just hours earlier, Bloomberg had pledged the world’s biggest marathon would go ahead as planned.The billionaire mayor had argued that holding

Foreign AffairsNov. 4, 2012

[Newsmaker] Wen becomes headache for party

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has been the focus of international scrutiny since the New York Times last week reported that his family had squirreled away a fortune in business deals. The revelations could make next month’s sweeping power transition in Beijing, and the inevitable jockeying for position among the country’s elite, more fraught.Few would be shocked by the revelations, but that they were openly reported in such detail has apparently damaged Wen’s image as a grandfatherly figure with a

InternationalNov. 1, 2012

[Newsmaker] Nami Island foreign visitors hit 500,000

Nami Island, the small half-moon-shaped island in Chuncheon, is rising as one of the must-visit tourist destinations in Korea, attracting more than 500,000 foreign tourists so far this year. The island officials expect the number will reach over 600,000 by the end of the year. The number of foreign and Korean visitors is expected to be 2.5 million. “It’s the number of foreign visitors who come on group tours, and does not include the visitors who come individually,” said Minn Kyung-hyuk, executi

TravelOct. 31, 2012

[Newsmaker] Lawmaker in hot seat for sexual remarks

Kim Kwang-jin, 30, stepped into the limelight when the activist from the remote southern city of Suncheon became the 19th National Assembly’s youngest member in April. The baby-faced rookie legislator was also a boon to the main opposition Democratic United Party badly in need of an image makeover. Within less than a week, the party’s best asset turned into its biggest nuisance for retweeting curses against President Lee Myung-bak and hints at kinky sexual preferences. The controversy forced par

PoliticsOct. 30, 2012