Loss-making South Korean shipyards, facing growing pressure from their creditors to cut costs amid an industrywide slump, are expected to ratchet up moves to cut their workforces and sell noncore assets, industry sources said Monday.Last month, the government picked five sectors to put under intensive restructuring as their bad performance has been a drag on Asia's fourth-largest economy.The Financial Services Commission, the country's financial watchdog, has demanded local shipyards ramp up sel

Industry May 2, 2016

The prosecution on Friday asked for 15 years for the pastor who killed his teenage daughter and hoarded her mummified body for nearly 11 months. The prosecution is also seeking a 12-year sentence for his wife, who is not the mother of the victim and a joint-principal offender. In the final trial held at the Bucheon Branch of Incheon District Court, the prosecution said, “The defendants failed to carry out their due responsibility as parents to look after their child.” “They severely abused the v

Social Affairs April 29, 2016

A man who set himself on fire at around 9 a.m. Friday in front of the Gwangju District Court is thought to done it to protest an unsatisfactory court ruling.The 55-year-old was immediately transferred to a hospital where he now lies in critical condition with third degree burns. (123RF)The police said the man had recently filed a damage suit against an insurance company after suffering a car accident. He lost the case and later appealed. The self-immolation appears to be an act of protest agains

Social Affairs April 29, 2016

Six teenage runaways who stole a car and drove around town for over three hours were arrested Friday. The Gwangju Gwangsan police said the boys, aged 13, are accused of stealing over 32 million won ($28,000) worth of goods, including an Equus sedan.  (123RF)They found the car parked on a roadside with the key inside and rode it around the city for 24 kilometers until the car broke down. They deserted the car and fled with the money they found inside the vehicle. According to the police, some had

Social Affairs April 29, 2016

A local daily reported Friday that poor life vest design caused the deaths of four soldiers six years ago. According to the report, the life vest used by soldiers during a boat drill in Hangang River was designed to have higher buoyance on the back than the front, which led to the device forcing the soldiers’ face under water.The Ipo irrigation pool at the southern stretch of Hangang River in Yeoju-si, Gyeonggi Province. (Yonhap)The daily claimed that investigation report obtained from the Army

Social Affairs April 29, 2016

어제에 이어 한국에 최초 공개되는 한국 전쟁 직후 사진들을 추가로 소개한다. 사진의 분량이 많은 관계로 여러 차례 나누어 게재하고 있다. 아래의 사진들은 컬럼비아 대학교 학생 브렌단 돈리 (Brendan Donley)의 종조부가 1953~54년 한국에서 촬영한 사진들이다. 돈리의 종조부는 만 18세에 미군에 입대해 약 2년간 부산과 수색 등지에서 국토 재건축 사업에 함께했다. 종조부의 영향으로 돈리는 고등학교 졸업 후 2011년 한국을 처음 방문했고 이후 대학에서 3년간 한국어를 수학하며 세 차례 재방문했다.연세대학교 어학당에서 단기 언어 연수했고, 나아가 2014년 여름에는 장학금을 받아 한국에서 “이중언어 그래피티 (bilingual graffiti)”에 대해 공부했다.돈리는 현재 고향인 시카고에 거주하고 있으며, 한국에서의 기억을 정겹게 회상했다.코리아헤럴드 임정요 기자 (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)[단독]①50년대 한국, 미군의 눈으로 보다

한국어판 April 29, 2016

As we promised yesterday, here are more shots of Korea taken just after 1950-53 Korean War by a former U.S soldier who, at the age of 18, arrived in the country to help rebuild the war-ravaged country in the cities Busan and Susaek. The rustic scenes captured during this period lends valuable insight to how people of Korea lived some six decades ago. These photos have been made available online by his great-nephew Brendan Donley.Visit Donley‘s blog: www.paperluggage.com/2016/04/23/south-korea-19

Social Affairs April 29, 2016

South Korean stocks got off to a weak start Friday following overnight losses on Wall Street.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 7.42 points, or 0.37 percent, to 1,993.51 in the first 15 minutes of trading.Seoul share prices are displayed at the Korea Exchange. (Yonhap)The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.17 percent overnight as sentiment was down after Japan‘s unexpected decision to maintain its monetary stimulus measures. A major drag on the Dow Jones were tech stocks inclu

April 29, 2016

South Korea’s telecom giant KT Corp. said Friday that its first-quarter net profit dropped 23.3 percent from a year earlier on increased costs and a slowdown in the fixed-line telephony business.  KT Corp. headquarters in downtown Seoul. (Yonhap)Net profit stood at 215.14 billion won ($189.2 million) in the January-March period on a consolidated basis, down from the previous year’s 280.59 billion won, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating profit, however, rose 22.8 percent on-year t

April 29, 2016

South Korea's industrial output fell from a year earlier in March due to a drop in the machinery and electronics parts sectors, while domestic consumption hit a four-month high, a government report showed Friday.Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries fell 1.5 percent last month from a year ago, according to the report by Statistics Korea. From a month earlier, industrial output also retreated 2.2 percent.(Yonhap)The March figure backtracked to negative territory

April 29, 2016

South Korean national broadcaster KBS's latest smash-hit TV series has created a huge economic impact by contributing to exports, luring more foreign tourists and creating new jobs, a report showed Friday.According to the report by the state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea, the direct and indirect economic effects of the KBS 2TV military-romance TV series "Descendants of the Sun" are estimated to hover above 1 trillion won ($880 million).  "Descendants of the Sun" poster (Yonhap)Partly funded by

April 29, 2016

A mother who threw her four-month-old baby out of a window “in a fit of rage,” resulting in his death, was given three years in prison with four years’ stay of execution on Thursday. This is a stock image. The woman in this photo is not the mother in the article. (123RF)The Daegu court decided that although the mother’s actions were demeaning to the value of life, it had to be taken into consideration that she had suffered from extreme post-labor depression and would live with the guilt for the

Social Affairs April 28, 2016

A stepfather who habitually beat his stepdaughter in the name of discipline was given 16 months in prison on Thursday. The 36-year-old beat the high schooler with iron bars, claiming he had only meant to discipline her for not studying enough or for sleeping in.   (123RF)The Daegu court decided that the man’s use of violence went over acceptable boundaries of discipline and threatened the girl’s psychological development.While he was sentenced to 18 months in the original trial, however, the app

Social Affairs April 28, 2016

Convenience store chain Ministop will be selling “Big Iced Coffee” for 1,000 won (80 cents) until May 8. The move to increase the size of the beverage and reduce its price was done to meet rising demand for convenience store coffee in larger sizes, according to Ministop. Customers should first grab a cup of ice before purchasing the coffee at the convenience store counters.　 (Ministop)By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)

Expat Living April 28, 2016