South Korea dropped two notches in a global corruption awareness ranking to place 45th among 176 nations in 2012, an international watchdog said in its annual report on Wednesday.According to the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2012 issued by the non-governmental agency Transparency International (TI), South Korea scored 56 out of 100.The index, based on perceived levels of public sector corruption, is an aggregate indicator that combines different sources of information about corruption. It

Social Affairs Dec. 5, 2012

그랜드 인터컨티넨탈 서울 파르나스 호텔에서 저녁식사를 한 단체손님이 복통을 호소하고, 병원으로 후송되는 등 식중독이 의심되는 증상을 보여 곤혹을 치르고 있다. 이 사건은 올해 들어 5성급 호텔인 인터컨티넨탈에서 발생한 세 번째 식품 안전 관련 사고다.지난 11월 27일 비공개 만찬 행사에 참여한 80명 중 10여명이 식사도중 또는 귀가하던 중 갑작스런 복통을 호소했다. 그 자리에서 식사를 한 코리아헤럴드 외교 담당 기자인 이필립(Philip Iglauer)은 “그날 회와 레드 와인 크림스프, 스테이크와 샐러드를 먹고 그 후엔 아무 것도 먹지 않았다. 그리곤 너무 아파서 새벽 3시쯤에 깼다”고 말했다. 그는 또 새벽 6시경 심한 위경련과 구토증세를 보였다고 말했다. 같은 행사에 참여한 한 여성은 구급차로 병원에 후송돼 혈액 검사를 받았다. 검사결과가 식중독으로 판명될 경우 담당의사는 질병관리본부에 이를 보고해야 하며 호텔 측은 위생 검사를 받게 된다. 현재 호텔측은 식중독 발생을 인정

Podcast Dec. 4, 2012

Police said Tuesday they have launched an investigation into the hacking of a widely-used online payment service operated by two major South Korean credit card firms.The so-called Internet Secure Payment (ISP) is a password-encrypted service used when making credit card payments online of less than 300,000 won ($276). The system is managed by KB Kookmin Card Co. and BC Card Co.The investigation comes after 199 cardholders who use the service had their accounts hacked, which resulted in losses es

Social Affairs Dec. 4, 2012

If U.S. adults slept more, they would not only increase their daytime alertness but also feel less pain, researchers suggest. Timothy Roehrs of Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit said the study he led involved 18 healthy, pain-free, sleepy volunteers. They were randomly assigned to four nights of either maintaining their habitual sleep time or extending their sleep time by spending 10 hours in bed per night. The study, published in the December issue of the journal Sleep, found the extended s

Technology Dec. 4, 2012

Singaporeans are the least likely to report experiencing emotions of any kind on a daily basis, while Filipinos were the most emotional, a survey indicates.Gallup measured daily emotions in more than 150 countries by asking residents whether they experienced five positive and five negative emotions a lot the previous day. Negative emotions included: anger, stress, sadness, physical pain and worry. Positive emotions included: feeling well-rested, being treated with respect, enjoyment, smiling and

Social Affairs Nov. 22, 2012

South Korean stocks climbed 0.82 percent Thursday as optimism for a Greece bailout deal grew after eurozone finance ministers agreed to reschedule a meeting early next week, analysts said. The local currency lost against the U.S. dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 15.46 points to close at 1,899.50. Trading volume was moderate at 408.2 million shares worth 3.69 trillion won ($3.41 billion) with gainers outnumbering losers 438 to 362."Expectations that the eurozon

Nov. 22, 2012

The head of South Korea's antitrust watchdog voiced his opposition Thursday to some measures being pushed by presidential candidates to reform the country's large conglomerates, known as chaebol.The three major candidates have called for an overhaul of sprawling conglomerates under the name of "economic democratization" in what critics say is meant to curry favor with voters ahead of the Dec. 19 presidential election.Fair Trade Commission Chairman Kim Dong-soo cautioned against imposing a ceilin

Nov. 22, 2012

A bomb exploded aboard an Israeli bus near the nation's military headquarters in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, wounding 27 people, delivering a major blow to diplomatic efforts to forge a truce to end a week of fighting between Israel and Gaza's militant Hamas rulers. Thousands of Palestinians fled their homes in Gaza fearing Israeli airstrikes.Hours after the bus blast, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is shuttling across the region in truce talks, arrived in Cairo and met with Egyp

World News Nov. 22, 2012

Officials say Turkey has requested deployment of NATO's Patriot air defense missiles over concerns about Syria's civil war.Turkish officials have become increasingly concerned about the civil war spilling over the border. A statement from the Turkish government said the request has been made in the ``face of risks from the ongoing crisis in Syria.'' NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Wednesday on Twitter that ``allies will discuss this without delay.''German Foreign Minister Guido

World News Nov. 22, 2012

A South Korean man has received a suspended 10-month prison term for retweeting North Korean propaganda posts.The Suwon District Court cited the National Security Law in its ruling Wednesday against Park Jeong-geun. The law prohibits praising and glorifying North Korea. Park could have received seven years in prison.The court says it suspended the prison term partly because Park promised not to repeat his act. It says Twitter's widespread influence over society is the reason Park's actions threa

Social Affairs Nov. 21, 2012

The cost of a police search for a Clark, N.J., teen who faked her own kidnapping will not be billed to her family, the town’s mayor said.Kara Alongi, 16, disappeared Sept. 30 after asking friends on her Twitter account to phone 911 because someone was in her house, leading to thousands of return messages and a temporary position as one of the most talked-about topics on the Internet. After taking a taxi to a train station and then leaving town, she was found two days later, unharmed and not kidn

World News Nov. 21, 2012

U.S. entrepreneurs are less likely to report chronic health problems such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure or diabetes, a survey indicates. The findings are based on more than 273,175 interviews conducted Jan. 2, 2011, to Sept. 30, 2012, with U.S. adults as a part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. Gallup classified 6,896 of these respondents as entrepreneurs if they self-identified themselves as both self-employed and as a business owner.Entrepreneurs report better health habits

Nov. 21, 2012