A bill to restrict people who are 24 years old or younger from appearing in ads for alcoholic beverages passed the National Assembly’s committee on health and welfare on Thursday.
If it gets approved in the plenary session of the National Assembly, singer IU, who was born in 1993, will have to stop ads she’s been doing for a soju brand.
The committee said the bill proposed by ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker Lee Elisa in July 2012 to ban young athletes and other celebrities from appearing in liquor ads was partially modified and passed.
The bill was proposed when figure skating star Kim Yu-na modeled for a brewery in 2012. Many argued that someone such as Kim who is idolized by young people can encourage teenagers to drink alcohol. [Chosun Ilbo]
Once again I ask why is the Korean taxpayer being asked to pay for this while Chonghaejin Corp. was fined less than $10,000.
South Korea announced plans Wednesday to salvage the ferry that sunk off the country’s southwest coast a year earlier, claiming 304 lives.
The retrieval will likely begin in September and take up to 18 months, the Ministry of Public Safety and Security said after a meeting of the relevant government agencies.
After making a sharp turn, the 6,825-ton ferry Sewol capsized off Jindo Island on April 16 last year en route to the southern resort island of Jeju from Incheon, west of Seoul.
Most of the victims were teenage students on a field trip, with nine bodies still missing.
President Park Geun-hye Thursday vowed to raise the sunken ferry as soon as possible and to take all measures to recover the bodies of the victims who remain missing.
Some of the families of the victims, however, insisted that the government immediately come up with plans for the salvage of the wreckage.
Thousands of demonstrators staged a violent rally at Seoul Plaza in front of Seoul City Hall Saturday after a ceremony to mark the first anniversary of the Sewol sinking, leaving scores of police officers injured. Police rounded up more than 100 violent demonstrators.
In a news conference, Public Safety Minister Park In-yong said priority will be given to preventing the loss of the bodies of the nine people still missing and minimizing any possible damage to the hull.
As the bodies of the missing people are believed to be inside the hull, the vessel will be lifted from the sea bottom without changing its current position, according to the ministry.
The main part of the recovery will involve divers drilling scores of holes into the hull that’s lying on its left side and chaining it to two cranes that will pull the vessel out of the sea, the ministry noted.
About 100 divers will likely be employed for the underwater work, according to experts.
Up to 150 billion won, or about $139 million, will likely be required for the recovery, although the cost could increase further if the project is delayed or any unexpected technical issues arise.
Still, the retrieval also has safety risks and uncertainties, including the possible destruction of the 20-year-old vessel, typhoons in the summer and a strong current in the shipwreck’s location, Park said. [Korea Times]
Now the UN Secretary General has been dragged into the corruption probe which is one of the biggest stories of the year in South Korea:
Ban Ki-moon
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has denied media reports stating that he had an amicable relationship with a late construction tycoon who claimed to have provided money to politicians for years, attempting to distance himself from a snowballing political scandal in his home country.
In an interview on Thursday with Yonhap News Agency shortly after meeting with U.S. Rep. Ed Royce, the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, Ban denied alleged ties to Sung Wan-jong.
Shortly before his death, Sung, the former chairman of Keangnam Enterprises and a former lawmaker, said that he had put money into the pockets of top politicians and government officials for years, and also claimed to be one of Ban’s patrons.
“This scandal has nothing to do with me,” Ban told Yonhap News. “I saw him at a few public events, but there was no special relationship.”
“I have no interest in Korean politics, and I don’t have time to pay attention to it,” Ban added. “I have made this position clear in the past, and I am baffled to be facing this situation again.”
Despite Ban’s continued denials that he will begin a political career in Korea after his tenure at the United Nations is complete, speculations have lingered at home that he is being groomed by opposition lawmakers to run in the 2017 presidential race. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read the rest at the link, but Sung Wan-jong has a long history of bragging about his special relationship with Ban Ki-moon.
It was only a matter of time, but it looks like the Korean left is now trying to use the Sewol tragedy to their political benefit by trying to turn it into another 2008 mad cow like violent protest:
Protesters try to topple a police bus at a rally in downtown Seoul on April 18, 2015. (Yonhap)
Police said Sunday they will trace violent demonstrators at a street rally here the previous night that left scores of police officers injured.
“We will run after those who organized the violent rally and acted violently so they could be subjected to legal punishment,” a spokesman for the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said in a news conference.
As many as 74 police officers were wounded, three of them seriously, the spokesman said, adding that 72 police vehicles were damaged and 368 police cameras, walkie-talkies and other equipment were either damaged or stolen. (………)
More than 13,000 police were mobilized to blockade the road to Cheong Wa Dae and they used hundreds of trucks and other vehicles to seal off the roads nearby.
Some demonstrators destroyed police vehicles and took out fire extinguishers to spray them against the police.
Several of the police vehicles were turned over by some protesters using ropes.
Police rounded up 100 violent demonstrators, including 20 members of the bereaved families of the ferry sinking.
Nine demonstrators were brought to nearby hospitals for injuries suffered in the clash. [Yonhap]
You can read the rest at the link, but as we have seen before the leftists are trying to get the police to over react and then use carefully taken picture to create the perception that South Korea has become a police state just like Park’s father once administered back in the 70’s. All it would take is the leftists getting violent and the policing responding heavy handedly and then the leftists inserting one of the mother’s of the Sewol victims into the scuffle. They would love nothing more then having pictures of what appears to be a Sewol victim’s mother being beaten by police and they may have gotten them:
“After countless attempts and struggles until the break of dawn, we are here at the Gwanghwamun Gate with a blanket,” Kim Young-oh, who lost his daughter Yu-min in the accident, said on a social networking service on Friday. “In the meantime, the mother of one of the victims broke four of her ribs and 10 others were taken by the police.” [Joong Ang Ilbo]
What is actually ironic about the Korean leftist is that this time they actually have a legitimate complaint though President Park is not entirely to blame for the Sewol tragedy. The lack of safety and corruption in Korea has been going on long before Park ever became President. Probably the worst thing so far I have seen in the aftermath of the Sewol tragedy is how the captain and crew took nearly all the blame while the company that owned the boat received less than a $10,000 fine. If the leftists really cared about this tragedy they would be protesting in front o f the Chonghaejin Marine Company demanding that they pay compensation to the families and raise the Sewol themselves instead of protesting President Park.
This is going to be a very expensive operation to do. The Korean government should force the ferry boat company to pay for this instead of the taxpayers:
South Korea’s president on Thursday vowed to raise the Sewol ferry — which sank a year ago killing 304 people — as mourners marked the anniversary of the disaster.
Most of those killed in the sinking, off the country’s southwestern coast, were high school students. Some 295 bodies were retrieved but nine remain missing.
Speaking in the port of Paengmok, near the disaster site, President Park Guen-hye said she would take “the necessary steps to salvage the ship at the earliest possible date,” the BBC reported.
Park’s announcement — the first time she explicitly mentioned the recovery operation — came soon after the National Assembly adopted a resolution calling for the swift recovery of the ferry, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. The president said all measures would be taken to recover the bodies of the missing.
“I have a heavy heart and my heart aches to think how painful it is” (for the family members), Park said, according to Yonhap. [USA Today]
You can read the rest at the link, but for causing this tragedy Chonghaejin Corp. was fined less than $10,000. They should pay to raise the ferry and compensate all of its victims.
It seems to me that an app developer is well within their rights to charge a commission based on what the market demands. No one is forcing these restaurant owners to use their app service. The owners could always take the time to learn app development themselves:
Kim Seong-ah, a 27-year-old fashion designer, loved the idea of ordering food through an app without having to leave her couch.
But she had an unsatisfactory experience with one service six months ago. Her meal from the franchise Nene Chicken, one of the choices on the app she was using, was late and the portion was smaller than what she gets when she orders from the company directly by phone.
When Kim spoke to her friends and her brother, she discovered that they had had similar experiences. She found clues on why from various news articles, which reported that some merchants deliberately provide a poorer service for app users in order to make up for the losses incurred by the fees the platforms levy.
The country’s top three food-delivery apps – Baedal Minjok, Yogiyo and Baedaltong – charge restaurant owners between 2.5 percent to 12.5 percent of commission per order.
The flare-up over the app-based delivery system is the latest testament to the fact that advanced technology meant to increase convenience can cause unexpected consequences for different parties.
In this case, the controversy stems from the fact that the apps have come up with their own charges without seeking a fair agreement with users and restaurants, critics say. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read the rest at the link, but restaurant owners now want the Korean government to get involved to force a fair fee for the app developers’ services. If the customers keep getting poor products from app ordering then they will go back to using the telephone thus decreasing the demand for the app. This is what would naturally force the app developers to drop their prices without government intervention.
So does anyone disagree with the rankings on this list?:
Honey Lee
Playboy has picked 11 hottest Korean women, with Miss Korea-turned-actress Lee Ha-nui topping the list.
Social consumer website Ranker listed the 11 Korean celebrities based on 1,300 online votes.
Lee, better known as Honey Lee, made her debut when she won the 2006 Miss Korea beauty contest. She has since been regarded in the nation’s sexiest icon.
Lee has also starred in several movies, including “Tazza: The Hidden Card,” which was released last year.
Sexy diva Lee Hyo-ri took second place. Since debuting as a member of pop girl group Fin. K.L. in 1998, she has gained nationwide popularity as one of the hottest singers. But she has kept a low profile after marrying in 2013.
Actress Kim Sa-rang third. She is famous for starring in the drama “Secret Garden.” [Korea Times]
Here is another example of South Korea becoming more like the US where despite smoking less the population is becoming increasingly unhealthy:
More Koreans are smoking less but also exercising less, recent government data showed Tuesday.
According to the Health Ministry, the smoking rate among Korean men dropped from 49.2 percent in 2008 to 45.3 percent last year. Yet the number of Korean men who regularly exercise by walking also dropped from 50.6 percent in 2008 to 37.5 in 2014.
Meanwhile, Korean men who considered themselves to be obese increased from 21.6 percent in 2008 to 25.3 percent. The number of heavy drinkers stayed about the same from 2008 to 2014 at around 18 percent.
Data also showed that only one-third of Korean men don’t smoke, avoid heavy drinking and exercise regularly all at the same time. Seoul, Daejeon and Incheon had the highest number of people who regularly exercise and avoid smoking and drinking. [Korea Herald]
