PRIVATE EDUCATION EXPENDITURES

PRIVATE EDUCATION EXPENDITURES

[Anchor Lead]
Last year saw the total spending on private education soaring to 27 trillion won nearly 20.5 billion U.S. dollars, marking yet another record high. While the Ministry of Education acknowledges a significant slowdown in the growth rate of these expenses, there's growing concern that developments like the increase in medical school admissions could trigger a fresh spike in the cost of private education.

[Pkg]
Students pack these buildings near an apartment complex in the Mokdong neighborhood in Seoul.

[Soundbite]
(High School Senior (VOICE MODIFIED)): I go to private academies for English, science and math. I also have a tutor. But I'm doing just the bare minimum.

It's a big financial burden to send a child to private academies, known as hagwon in Korea, but it's also uneasy not to.

[Soundbite]
(Parent of Middle School Student): The cost of cram schools takes up the biggest part of our expenses followed by living expenses like food.

The amount spent on private education set a record high for three years straight. Last year, the private education cost for elementary, middle and high school students amounted to 27.1 trillion won, nearly 20.5 billion U.S. dollars. That's an increase of 4.5% on-year. The cost rose 4.3% for elementary schools and 1% for middle schools while it was 8.2% for high schools, showing the largest increase since 2016. Private education cost per person stood at 398,000 won or just over 300 dollars per month for an elementary school student, 449,000 won, nearly 340 dollars, for a middle schooler, and 491,000 won or more than 370 dollars for a high schooler. On the bright side, the growth of private education expenses slowed down to 4.5% last year after reaching 21% in 2021 and 10.8% in 2022. It is speculated, however, that last year's controversy surrounding extremely difficult questions in the college scholastic ability test and this year's medical college enrollment increase issue could further stimulate the private education market.

[Soundbite]
Bae Dong-in (Ministry of Education): There's the medical college issue, but if we assist the public education system, private education expenses would stabilize with time.

The Ministry of Education projected that next year's private education expenses would decline as more publicly funded after-school programs are instituted in elementary schools this year.

NONCAPITAL MED SCHOOL QUOTA

[Anchor Lead]
Now turning to the issue of the ongoing medical school admission disbute. The government has announced plans to distribute an additional 2,000 medical school seats from 2025, allocating 400 for the capital region and 1,600 for areas outside the capital. In particular, it has been confirmed through KBS' reports that the seat quotas for seven out of nine key national medical schools in regional hubs will see a substantial increase to 200 each. Additionally, in a move to bolster local talent, 60% of the new enrollees in non-capital regions will be sourced from the surrounding communities.

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The current medical school admissions quota at nine major national universities such as Pusan National and Kyungpook National Universities stand anywhere between 40 and 142. It's confirmed that the government has decided to raise the quota at 7 of these schools all to 200. Quotas for two other schools, Jeju National and Kangwon National Universities, will also be sharply raised to over 100. It's also known that medical schools in the capital region such as Seoul National University whose current quota is 135 and Yonsei University, at 110, are not expected to see any major increase. This means the creation of larger medical schools outside the capital.

[Soundbite]
Lee Ju-ho (Minister of Education (Feb. 26)): Medical personnel are exposed to night shifts, long operations and medical disputes. Reform is imperative to revive essential and regional healthcare.

Bigger med schools lead to larger regional hospitals. One senior government official told KBS that the plan is to foster key provincial hospitals so they can surpass Seoul National University Hospital in terms of size.

[Soundbite]
Cho Kyoo-hong (Minister of Health and Welfare (Feb. 6)): Under the principle of assigning higher quotas for noncapital med schools, various factors will be considered such as demand, capabilities and the need to support regional healthcare.

The government is also pushing to have 60% of medical school freshmen in noncapital areas to be selected from the local region. For example, when the medical school quota rises to 200 at Jeonbuk and Pusan National Universities, 120 slots will be filled with local students. The education and health ministries are expected to formalize these plans during a quota allocation review committee meeting scheduled Friday.

FINES FOR LAX CYBER SECURITY

[Anchor Lead]
'Very Good Tour Company', ranking among the top five domestic travel agencies, has been subjected to a fine of approximately 174 million won, over 131,000 US dollars by the Personal Information Protection Commission. The fine was imposed due to the agency's failure to implement adequate measures to prevent hacking, leading to an estimated leakage of personal information for up to 500,000 customers.

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The intranet system of Very Good Tour Company was hacked last February. The Personal Information Protection Commission investigated the incident and concluded that the travel agency's anti-hacking measures were lax. An individual could access the agency's order management system even from outside with just an ID and a password. So, a hacker who stole an employee's account could easily seize customers' personal information. There were no secondary verification means such as a security token or a one-time password to access the personal data processing system. The PIPC concluded that the travel agency did not fulfill its duty to take security measures to protect customer information and imposed a penalty of 174 million won, over 131,000 US dollars and an administrative fine of 3.6 million won or roughly 2,700 dollars. The Commission estimates that personal information of up to 500,000 customers was leaked. Customers' names, birthdates, mobile phone numbers and email addresses were stolen, leading to spam mails and some customers actually being defrauded. Meanwhile, Ruan Korea and DH International were also hit with penalties and fines for not operating a hacking detection system or setting up a secondary certification step.

[Soundbite]
Choi Jang-hyuk (Vice Chair, PIPC): I hope these incidents help companies set up anti-hacking security measures, such as operating a security system needed to detect personal info leaks.

The Commission reported that the fined companies now have in place safe certification measures such as one-time passwords, certificates, and security tokens.

INDICTED FOR DATA MANIPULATION

[Anchor Lead]
Former key officials of the previous Moon Jae-in administration have been referred to trial on charges of manipulating housing-related data some 125 times while in office. The Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office has indicted without detention eleven former officials, including former presidential policy chiefs Kim Su-hyun and Kim Sang-jo and former land minister Kim Hyun-mi on charges of power abuse and violating the Statistics Act. Seven of the eleven are charged with ordering the fabrication of housing statistics from June 2017, right after the Moon government came to power and until November 2021 during their respective terms.

ROCKFALL STRANDS VILLAGERS

[Anchor Lead]
As the spring thaw sets in, the risk of rockfalls on steep slopes is on the rise. In a recent incident, a road in Chungju, Chungcheongbuk-do Province, was buried under thousands of tons of debris. Concerns about additional collapses have paralyzed repair efforts, leaving the local residents in a state of isolation.

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Massive rocks and broken stones are scattered in piles on a road. The steep slope where a new road was built by cutting a mountainside collapsed all of a sudden on February 28th. It has been two weeks since the accident, but the area has yet to be cleared of the debris. Rocks on a nearby slope look like they could fall down at any moment. The weight of the debris surpasses three thousand tons. Experts believe they fell down because of crevices in the bedrock due to frequent rains this winter. The scope of the collapse was large because the crevices face the road. Authorities don't know where to begin restoration, as chances of additional collapses are high.

[Soundbite]
Lee Jung-woo (Chungju City Gov't): Many rocks have crevices in them. If they fall and hit other rocks, you can't predict its ripple effect.

Residents in a nearby village are stranded because of these fallen rocks. Buses can no longer run between the village and the downtown area.

[Soundbite]
(Staff at bus company (VOICE MODIFIED)): Buses cannot enter the road because of large rocks blocking it. (When will it be reopened?) I have no idea.

Because of this, the residents have to travel dozens of kilometers by car on a steep mountain road. That's not easy as most of the villagers are in their 70s and 80s.

[Soundbite]
Kwon Hae-yong (Sancheok-myeon resident): Many villagers have to get to hospitals. It takes over an hour because they have to go around.

The villagers are also facing a lot of inconveniences in their daily lives, as gas and parcel delivery is not easy either.

[Soundbite]
Lee Sun-jae (Sancheok-myeon resident): I ask people not to send packages to me. If parcels are delivered to the local office, we have to go pick them up there.

The government of Chungju City says the road can be re-opened temporarily by May, but its complete restoration is unlikely until next year, meaning the residents will continue to face inconveniences for the time being.

BANKS LOG RECORD NET PROFIT

[Anchor Lead]
The net profits of domestic banks rose 15% on-year to reach a record high last year. According to data by the Financial Supervisory Service, net profits posted 21.3 trillion won or over 16 U.S. billion dollars in 2023, up 2.8 trillion won or 2.1 U.S. billion dollars from the previous year. A breakdown shows that profit from interest recorded 59.2 trillion won or some U.S. 44 billion dollars, up 5.8% on-year while non-interest earnings surged 68% to 5.8 trillion won or 4.4 U.S. billion dollars. The rises are attributed to higher appraisal and transaction profits from securities amid lower market interest rates as well as an increase in commission fees from the sale of equity-linked securities.

ENVIRONMENTAL INTERPRETERS

[Anchor Lead]
The Incheon Environmental Corporation, operator of incineration facilities in Songdo and Cheongna, is currently fostering a group of environmental interpreters drawn from the local populace. Tasked with the responsibility of frequently updating their knowledge on the processing stages, these interpreters are set to play a pivotal role in educating the community about the safety protocols of the incineration facilities.

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This resource circulation facility transports and incinerates about 420 tons of garbage daily. Prospective environmental interpreters tour the facility's major branches to personally explain how garbage is processed.

[Soundbite]
Lee Ki-ok (Prospective environmental interpreter): Crushing garbage is essential to ensure it is burned down completely.

These citizens applied to the first-ever program provided by the Incheon Environmental Corporation to train environmental interpreters. Of some 50 trainees, about 30% are in their 30s and 40s. There are also those who are in their 50s and 60s. Some have professional backgrounds in environmental education. Rather than just introducing resource circulation facilities, they want to publicize them to their local communities and the future generation.

[Soundbite]
Moon Hye-ryeon (Prospective environmental interpreter):I wondered how garbage that we throw away is processed and if it is processed properly. I have learned about that through this program and I think the public should be informed about it.

After 60 hours of theoretical and practical training, the trainees will be deployed at incineration facilities in Songdo and Cheongna from next month.

[Soundbite]
Choi Gye-woon (Incheon Environmental Corporation): We can come up with good policies on disposing garbage and operating environmental facilities if the public is well-informed about them. I think it's a wonderful opportunity to build public consensus.

The Incheon Environmental Corporation plans to train 100 environmental interpreters by the end of this year, and deploy them at all environmental basic treatment facilities run by the corporation, including sewage treatment centers.

WEEKEND WILDFIRE RISKS HIGH

[Anchor Lead]
As we welcome the full arrival of spring, our concerns turn towards the increased risk of forest fires. This weekend, particularly along the eastern coast, is expected to see high, dry winds, making it crucial to exercise heightened caution.

[Pkg]
A blaze that started at a secondhand store has spread to a nearby mountain, resulting in billows of black smoke. Two firefighting helicopters have been deployed to put out the flames on the mountain slope. In the first two weeks of March, as many as 23 forest fires occurred across the nation. The risk of wildfires continue to grow due to the warm weather. When moisture content in fallen leaves goes down to below 10%, an average of 10 wildfires occur daily. This weekend, moisture content in fallen leaves nationwide is predicted to be around 10%. According to the National Institute of Forest Science, moisture content in fallen leaves in the Gangwon-do and Gyeongsangbuk-do regions where dry weather alerts have been issued will likely plunge to 7.4% and 6.3% respectively. Residents of the eastern parts of Gangwon-do Province and the coastal areas of Gyeongsangbuk-do Province need to exercise caution due to gusty winds that are forecast to continue through the weekend.

[Soundbite]
Kwon Chun-geun (Nat'l Institute of Forest Science): When temperatures go up, relative humidity tends to go down naturally. With strong winds added, the condition turns dry even faster.

As the danger of wildfires heighten, the Korea Forest Service has raised the nationwide forest fire disaster alert level from "attention" to "caution."