NEW SENIOR SEC. FOR CIVIL AFFAIRS

NEW SENIOR SEC. FOR CIVIL AFFAIRS

[Anchor Lead]
President Yoon Suk Yeol has re-established the office of the senior secretary for civil affairs, appointing former Vice Justice Minister Kim Joo-hyun as the new senior secretary. The move appears to reflect the urgency he sees in listening to public sentiment. However, he made it clear that the office will not be used to control inspection agencies or to protect against judicial risks.

[Pkg]
President Yoon Suk Yeol had shut down the office of the senior secretary for civil affairs at the start of his term as promised during his campaign. He has now announced the revival of the office ahead of the second anniversary of his inauguration. He cited that the top office's function of listening to public sentiment has weakened too much with the closure of the office.

[Soundbite]
Yoon Suk Yeol (President): Every administration has had senior secretary for civil affairs for a reason. I was concerned after hearing that civil affairs work wasn't being done properly.

Yoon stressed that the reinstatement of the position to listen to the voices of every segment of society was for the benefit of the people. He also emphasized that the move was not to control inspection agencies or deal with judicial risks. His remark is seen as an assertion that the senior secretary for civil affairs will not handle judicial risks associated with Yoon or his wife Kim Keon-hee.

[Soundbite]
Yoon Suk Yeol (President): It's up to me to explain and resolve the issues associated with me and not the senior civil affairs secretary.

Former Vice Justice Minister Kim Joo-hyun was named the new senior secretary for civil affairs.

[Soundbite]
Kim Joo-hyun (New Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs): I will do my best to listen to people's voices, incorporate them into state affairs.

In the civil affairs office, a new civil affairs secretary will be established to handle the function of listening to public sentiment. Also, the offices of the secretaries for civil service discipline and legal affairs will be merged. Former presidential secretary for personnel affairs Lee Won-mo was nominated for the secretary for civil service discipline and the interior ministry spokesman Lee Dong-ok for the secretary for civil affairs. The president's latest appointments supposedly seek to dispel the opposition bloc's concern that the restoration of the civil affairs office could lead to the strengthening its control of investigations.

PROBE INTO FIRST LADY GAINS PACE

[Anchor Lead]
Prosecutor General Lee One-seok reiterated his commitment to swiftly investigate First Lady Kim Keon-hee's alleged acceptance of a luxury bag, despite speculations that it's meant to avoid a special counsel probe. He vowed a swift and thorough inquiry based on evidence and legal principles.

[Pkg]
Prosecutor General Lee One-seok appears in front of reporters on his way to work. He reiterated his determination to swiftly investigate the first lady's acceptance of a luxury bag.

[Soundbite]
(Lee One-seok / Prosecutor General): The investigators will carry out a swift and strict probe based solely on evidence and the rule of law.

Regarding the political circles' criticism that it's just an attempt to avoid a special counsel probe, Lee only said he'll have more opportunities to speak about this in the future.

[Soundbite]
Lee One-seok (Prosecutor General): I ask you to watch how the investigation progresses.

After the prosecutor general ordered a swift investigation on May 2, the Seoul Central District Court's First Criminal Division deployed three prosecutors in charge of special investigations and launched a probe in earnest. On Thursday, an official from a civic group that filed a complaint against pastor Choi Jae-young, who handed over a luxury bag to Kim Keon-hee, is set to undergo questioning. The head of Internet news outlet Voice of Seoul, Baek Eun-jong, who reported President Yoon and the first lady for violating the anti-graft law, will reportedly be interrogated on May 20. Baek says in addition to the luxury bag, gifts for the first lady also included liquors and cosmetics. He has vowed to file another complaint against her and submit original video files proving his accusation. In November last year, Voice of Seoul disclosed a video showing pastor Choi Jae-young handing over a bag worth 3 million won, or around 2200 dollars, to Kim Keon-hee in September 2022. The scene was recorded by the pastor secretly, and the gift was reportedly prepared by Voice of Seoul. Prosecutors will decide on whether to summon the first lady after investigating the accusers.

KORI-1 DECOMMISSIONING BEGINS

[Anchor Lead]
Korea's first commercial nuclear reactor, Kori-1, has entered its full-scale decommissioning process. After seven years of permanent shutdown, the removal of radioactive materials remaining in the reactor has finally begun.

[Pkg]
Korea's first commercial nuclear reactor KORI-1 began its operation in 1978. After about four decades of power generation, the facility was closed permanently in June 2017. Now seven years later its decommissioning has begun. The very first step is the removal of radioactive materials in the nuclear reactors that used to contain nuclear fuel. Chemicals are injected in the cooling water remaining in the reactor pipes to melt radioactive materials to only one-30th of their original level.

[Soundbite]
Prof. Yun Jong-Il (KAIST): Decontamination is essential in order to minimize workers' radiation exposure.

After the decontamination process, various facilities are severed and the building concrete is demolished. Then the site of the reactor is restored. In other countries, it takes about seven to eight years to restore nuclear reactor sites after decommissioning approval is issued. But there are some big hurdles ahead. There is nowhere to move spent nuclear fuel, which is radioactive waste. Spent nuclear fuel must be stored at a permanent disposal site, but there are no laws in place on how such facilities should be made.

[Soundbite]
Min Eun-joo (Korean Federation for Environmental Movement in Busan): Nuclear energy policies should be revised and public opinions must be reflected in a transparent way.

Even if a law is passed, it will take at least 30 years to build a permanent disposal site. But spent nuclear fuel at more than 20 nuclear reactors in the nation will likely become saturated from 2030.

PNU REJECTS REVISED SCHOOL RULE

[Anchor Lead]
Pusan National University became the first university in the nation to vote down the school regulation revision following the increase of medical school enrollment quota. University authorities explained that they all agreed that the medical school quota should be increased, but it should be done in a way that keeps medical students from being held back all together. The university added that responsible members of the state and communities should discuss this matter fully and come to a social agreement before individual colleges decide on the size of quota increase.

DOCTORS PRESS ON MISSING MINUTES

[Anchor Lead]
The government is facing allegations from groups of trainee doctors and medical associations for not keeping meeting minutes while discussing the increase in medical school admissions. Yesterday, a resigned trainee doctor filed a complaint against the Ministers and Vice Ministers of Health and Education for dereliction of duty. However, the government refuted these claims, stating that it had adhered to the mandatory rule of keeping meeting records.

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A resigned trainee doctor has filed a complaint against health and education ministers and vice ministers. The doctor claims the charge of dereliction of duty as minutes were not recorded in crucial government meetings that discussed the medical school admissions quota hike by 2,000.

[Soundbite]
Jung Geun-young (Resigned trainee doctor): This inevitably raises fundamental questions about unreasonable decision making.

The medical community at large is raising issue with four consultation bodies. They include the healthcare policy deliberation committee and a subcommittee...as well as a consultation channel on pending medical issues and a committee under the Education Ministry tasked with quota allocation. Amid growing speculation, the government said the deliberation committee and its subpanel complied with the mandatory rule of keeping meeting records. It added that it will submit the minutes to the court which earlier requested materials proving the government basis for the quota hike.

[Soundbite]
Park Min-soo (2nd Vice Minister of Health and Welfare): Minutes were recorded in meetings where that obligation applied.

Regarding the flip flop following initial denial of having the minutes at all, the government apologized for the inaccurate early response. As for the other consultation body that involved the participation of the Korean Medical Association, the government said the record keeping rule does not apply in that case and discussion results have been shared with the KMA. The Education Ministry also responded noting that the allocation committee is neither subject to record keeping but that it will faithfully respond if the court makes a request as they do have summarized materials. Meanwhile the KMA has filed a complaint with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials against a senior public official at the Culture Ministry over preferential treatment. The group argues the official abused his power and exerted pressure to receive surgery at a major hospital in Seoul after being diagnosed in Sejong city.

ARTIST KEEPS DAUGHTER'S WILL

[Anchor Lead]
An elderly artist, approaching his 80s, has curated a collection of paintings drawn daily over the past year. Just like the wishes of his late daughter, donations from exhibition visitors will be used to help those in need.

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The old artist began to draw on one rainy day in July 2022. That day was the 22nd anniversary of the death of his daughter who died of leukemia. The father decided to paint, what he's good at, and donate that talent, after praying hard about what he can do to cherish his daughter's memory. From that day on, he drew a painting, like a picture diary, every single day and amassed a collection of 366 pieces.

[Soundbite]
Sin Je-seon (Spectator): Drawing is not easy to do every day. Eating 3 meals a day is a challenge, not to mention, daily artwork.

The drawings reflect how much he misses his daughter and are also themed on family and nature. He plans to give out the paintings to spectators who want them for a donation. All donations will be go to needy neighbors. The project is to fulfill his daughter's last words.

[Soundbite]
Namgoong Won (Director, Namsong Art Museum): "Dad, can you be generous when you have possessions? God can take it away anytime." I hear my daughter's words all the more so in July.

Viewers can pick a drawing they like while making an online reservation. This picture of a ladder in the shape of an inverted triangle is hung at another exhibition hall nearby. It holds the meaning of paying back what one earned while climbing the ladder of life, offering a glimpse into the artist's view on life.

NK'S EX-PROPAGANDA CHIEF DIES

[Anchor Lead]
Former North Korean Workers' Party Director of Propaganda and Agitation Kim Ki-nam died yesterday. He was the one who oversaw the Kim family's succession of power and their idolization. The Korean Central News Agency reported that ex-propaganda Director Kim died yesterday at age 94 while being treated for old age since April of 2022. North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un decided to hold a state funeral for the deceased official and headed the funeral organizing committee. Nicknamed "the Goebbels of North Korea," Kim Ki-nam had led the decades-long propaganda campaign for justifying and idolizing the Kim family's succession of power.

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS ROUNDUP

[Anchor Lead]
Time to catch up on the latest news in pop culture. Boy band Seventeen has proven their dominance once again with their best album selling nearly 3 million copies in its first week. The voice of legendary singer-songwriter Shin Hae-chul, who passed away 10 years ago, will be reborn through artificial intelligence.

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Boy band Seventeen once again validates their standing in the K-Pop realm. Their Best Album '17 IS RIGHT HERE' released on April 29 has sold 2.97 million copies in one week topping first week K-Pop sales. This new record comes after the band's 11th mini album posted the largest ever first-week K-pop sales last year. The new album has went on to top the daily album rankings on Japan's Oricon chart for 5 days in a row. The title track MAESTRO has topped the iTunes Top Songs chart in 32 countries.

[Soundbite]
Hello? I'm Mawang Shin Hae-chul.

The late legendary singer-songwriter Shin Hae-chul is reborn through artificial intelligence. It's been 10 years since he passed. His wife, Yoon Won-hee who heads the company N.EX.T United has unveiled her husband's voice developed through AI.

[Soundbite]
(AI-generated Shin Hae-chul voice): So again today, I spent an hour with you at Ghost Station.

The AI model reconstructs the singer's voice in aspects of tone, emotional expression and vocal imitation. Various related content is expected to be produced in the coming days. Trot singer Lim Young-woong is back with a new album. The album contains two titles, "Warmth" and "Home" in which Lim took part in coming up with the lyrics and composition. The music video for "Warmth" is gaining particular attention as it's made as a short film starring Lim himself and actress Ahn Eun-jin. Following the release, Lim will also hold a concert at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on May 25 and the 26.