Final TV Debate

[Anchor Lead]

With the presidential election coming up this week on December 19, the two leading candidates faced off in their third and final televised debate last night.

[Pkg]

The third and last televised presidential candidate debate was held with only the two main candidates Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party and Moon Jae-in of the opposition Democratic United Party attending after Lee Jung-hee of the Unified Progressive Party dropped out of the race just some hours before the debate. Tensions could be felt even as the candidates briefly encouraged each other.

[Soundbite] Moon Jae-in (DUP Presidential Candidate): “I think you, candidate Park Geun-hye, will perform well because you’re familiar with the topics.”

[Soundbite] Park Geun-hye (Saenuri Party Presidential Candidate): “I'm sure you, candidate Moon, will also do well.”

The two contenders clashed from the very first topic regarding the country’s low fertility rate and aging society.

[Soundbite] “The Roh Moo-hyun administration pledged to expand public child care facilities by 30% but this was brought down to 5.7% near the end of his term.”

[Soundbite] “You, candidate Park participated with Saenuri Party lawmakers in submitting a bill for abolishing the Presidential Committee on the Aging Society and Population Policy.”

Discussions heated up on issues of how the candidates would finance their welfare policy pledges. The conservative female candidate said she will fund her policies by reducing government expenditures while the opposition contender said he will withdraw tax reductions for the rich. As for their visions for the nation, Park stressed the need for rebuilding the middle class and Moon the importance of communication.

2. Party Offensives

[Anchor Lead]

With the Unified Progressive Party's Lee Jung-hee withdrawing from the election, the race is now between Park and Moon. And their parties continue to ramp up their offensives.

[Pkg]

The police have announced the intermediate results of its investigation into alleged suspicions that a female National Intelligence Service employee posted online slanderous remarks about opposition presidential candidate Moon Jae-in. The police said that they found no evidence of postings that support ruling party candidate Park Geun-hye or slander Moon Jae-in. Following the announcement, the Saenuri Party said that the people will judge the main opposition Democratic United Party for its reckless, dangerous attempt to get the nation's top intelligence agency involved in the election to influence it. In response, the Democratic United Party claims that the police announcement of the results of the intermediate investigation clearly proves that the NIS had the intention to intervene in the election. The ruling and main opposition parties also lashed out at each other over the Seoul Election Commission's request to have the prosecutors investigate whether the Democratic United Party violated the election law while campaigning at its secondary headquarters office.

[Soundbite] Rep. Cho Won-jin (Seanuri Party): “The DUP need to immediately apologize for the illegal campaigning through social network services by the more than 70 people stationed at Shindonghae Building.”

[Soundbite] Rep. Chung Sye-kyun (Democratic United Party): “The Saenuri Party is insisting that a headquarters office is illegal. Is the Saenuri Party out of their minds?”

Regarding the Seoul Election Commission's separate accusation of illegal campaigning by a Saenuri Party official, the DUP criticized Saenuri Party candidate Park Geun-hye for failing to apologize. The Saenuri Party defended itself, saying that the case is not related with the party. The accused party official has also filed a countercharge against the Seoul Election Commission with the prosecution. With the presidential election only two days away, Park is trying to lure more voters in the South Chungcheong Province, southern Gyeonggi Province and Incheon regions on Monday. Meanwhile, Moon is stumping in the areas of Incheon and the capital.

3. Coffee Wars

[Anchor Lead]

Once the only option for those seeking a cup of coffee in Korea, instant coffee is now seeing a dramatic drop in popularity. That means competition is heating up between instant coffee companies, and even led to fistfight between reps from different firms.

[Pkg]

A woman grabs another lady by the collar and drags her outside. They're the saleswomen of two instant coffee companies. They started arguing at a coffee promotion event, which ended in a fist fight.

[Soundbite] “Salesperson: I told her that it’s unfair to remove half of my products on display. She grabbed my collar and dragged me outside.”

The cause of the fight was none other than the fierce competition between the two leading coffee producers in Korea. It's no longer a secret that in order to win over more customers, staff members of coffee producing companies hide their competitors' products away from the customers’ view to undermine their sales. Coffee companies even pay hundreds of U.S. dollars to supermarket owners who conspire with them to remove their competitors' products from store displays. The ever-rising competition stems from the plunging sales of instant coffee products with the rising popularity of coffee shops, and the rapid growth of new coffee companies entering the market. Next year, food manufacturers Nongshim and Seoul Milk are also to debut in the instant coffee market. Their entrance is expected to further intensify the competition, drastically changing the dynamics of Korea's instant coffee market.

4. Gout Alert

[Anchor Lead]

Many people suffer from gout during this time of year, because of all the festivities. Gout symptoms can get worse with excessive consumption of alcohol and meat.

[Pkg]

This man has had gout for nearly 13 years. Due to his frequent drinking, his feet have become so swollen recently that he cannot even wear shoes. And this 31-year-old man has had gout since he was in his 20s. Whenever he has to go out to drink with his coworkers for the year-end festivities, his gout symptoms become more severe. Last year, 240,000 people sought medical attention because of gout. That's 50 percent more than five years ago. Gout causes severe pain because the uric acid, which is produced when food is being digested, accumulates in the joints, causing inflammation. Gout is often called "an aristocratic disease" because it mostly affects people who have a high-protein diet.

[Soundbite] Dr. Yu Je-uk (Orthopedist): “Patients can prevent the illness from recurring by avoiding high-protein foods and alcohol at company dinners.”

Experts advise those with gout to exercise regularly to help reduce its symptoms.

5. Mean Streets

[Anchor Lead]

Winter is a tough season for street sweepers who have to work through the freezing weather. But an unfair wage system is even tougher than the cold for street cleaners who are hired through outsourcing companies. Their wages are linked to the price of garbage bags.

[Pkg]

Cleaners of outsourcing companies can be seen in the streets. They are demanding their wages and treatment match those of cleaners hired by local governments. This outsourced cleaner earns US$1,490 a month working from 3 p.m. to 1 a.m.

[Soundbite] Chae Hyeok-byeong (Outsourced Street Cleaner): “The wage is too low compared to how much we work. Our jobs are the same as those directly hired by governments.”

Street cleaners of outsourcing companies receive an average monthly wage of around US$2,000, which is about 60 percent of the amount of their counterparts hired by local governments. Outsourcing companies don't receive subsidies from local governments. They operate instead by selling plastic trash bags. Employers refuse to raise wages to make a bigger profit from selling garbage bags. The system places a cap on the wages of cleaners hired by outsourcing companies. These workers don't get a pay raise unless the prices of trash bags also rise. The wage calculation system at outsourcing companies is illegal, but local governments say that it’s a practice among them.

[Soundbite] Local Government Official (Voice Modified): “It’d be a problem if we’re the only one operating the wage system, but 25 districts in Seoul have the same rules.”

27 local governments around the nation operate the wage system for outsourced street cleaners. Roughly 350 cleaners belong to outsourcing companies.

6. Caught Abroad

[Anchor Lead]

Until recently, there was no way to recover profits that criminals made illegally overseas. But now, Korean prosecutors have recovered such funds for the first time by collaborating with foreign investigators.

[Pkg]

A man, identified only by his family name An, operated an illegal casino for three years in Seoul starting in 2005. His center was the largest of its kind in the nation. When the police caught him, his facility was equipped with more than 200 gaming stations. An reaped 4.3 million U.S. dollars in illegal profits by running the underground center. In 2010, the court sentenced him to two and a half years in prison and ordered him to pay a fine of 4.5 million U.S. dollars. An was released from prison in July last year, but confiscating his assets proved to be challenging as he had already stashed his money away in various places overseas. Prosecutors found a clue as to where he was hiding his assets from his previous testimony, in which he had said that he was a business investor in Mongolia.

[Soundbite] Park Gyeong-chun (Supreme Prosecutors' Office): “He said that I was a businessman who owned a hotel. We figured he was hiding his illegal profits and began tracking them.”

The prosecutors found a hotel that An had built in Ulan Bator. They requested help from Mongolian prosecutors to seize the property and sell it at an auction. That way, the Korean prosecutors recovered more than 340,000 U.S. dollars that An had invested in the hotel. It's the first time that the profits criminal made overseas were recovered from another country by Korean investigators. The prosecutors plan to step up a cooperative relationship with international authorities in order to recover more of the illegal money made overseas and extradite criminals hiding abroad.

7. Eating In

[Anchor Lead]

The prolonged economic slump is forcing people to slash their food budgets. An increasing number of families are opting for home-cooked meals instead of dining out.

[Pkg]

Since Yuzu tea is said to be good for colds many people make yuzu syrup is a must to stay healthy during the winter. The recipe is simple: slice the skin of the fruit, grind the flesh and put sugar on the top of the fruit in a bottle. Making yuzu syrup at home costs about 30 percent less than buying the finished product at stores. This homemaker makes dried fruits herself. She slices them up and leaves them to dry in a food dryer or in the room. To make preserved fruits, it is good to boil and reduce the fruits in sugar. An increasing number of homemakers who prefer making foods at home have boosted the sales of related home appliances. In a large supermarket, the sales of food dryers have grown more than 130% since last year while for juicers they've increased by about 30 percent.

[Soundbite] Park Gyeong-su (Manager, Large Supermarket): “The sales for home-made food and other related home appliances have doubled.”

The sales of baking mix products have also jumped about 30 percent. More and more families are tightening their belts and opting for home-made food instead of eating out amid a continuing economic downturn and rising prices.

8. Shepherd's Purses

[Anchor Lead]

Shepherd's purse, a popular green in Korea, is the best in winter. Farmers are busy removing a thick blanket of snow and harvesting the green in Hongseong, South Chungcheong Province, the nation's largest producer.

[Pkg]

Women dig up a leafy green known as shepherd's purse in a corner of a snow-covered field. Many fear that the shepherd's purse froze under of the snow. But whenever the snow is cleared, it always appears.

[Soundbite] “Winter shepherd’s purses don’t freeze to death. It has a powerful scent.”

Shepherd's purse grows in this snow-covered field. This leafy green is a favorite among Koreans, since it helps a person to stimulate one’s appetite with its unique flavor. Shepherd's purse is sold as soon as it is harvested and cleaned, making the producers happy and satisfied. Compared to a year ago, the price of shepherd's purse has gained more than 20 percent to 23 dollars per four kilograms. Only Hongseong, Seosan and Taean in South Chungcheong Province produce this winter vegetable in fields measuring 82 hectares.

[Soundbite] Park Su-yong (Head, Mud Shepherd's Purse Farming Corp.): “Shepherd's purses produced in Hongseong accounts for 80 percent of the nation's total production.”

As winter is normally not a harvesting season, farmers are able to earn extra money by growing this delicious leafy green.

9. Winter Oysters

[Anchor Lead]

It can be tough to stay healthy through the winter’s bitter cold, but today we’ve got something that may help. Oysters are not only tasty, they’re also healthy and in season right now.

[Pkg]

Anmyeon Island on Korea’s west coast is famous for its oysters. And right now, it's busier than ever with the harvest season.

[Soundbite] “I'm gathering oysters. They're in season.”

There are plenty of reasons why Anmyeon oysters are popular.

[Soundbite] Pyeon Mu-il (Oyster Farmer): “The cultivated ones stay in the water from when the oyster are young until they’re finally picked. But natural oysters see the sun during the ebb tide so they're tastier.”

The abundant sunshine of the area helps make the small but fleshy oysters that grow here extra tasty.

[Soundbite] “It's delicious. If you try to suck out the flesh, it's fantastic”

But Anmyeon isn’t the only place where you can get oysters when they’re in season. And each region likes them a little different. The locals here in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province like to grill their Cheonbuk oysters.

[Soundbite] “It's sweet and savory! The more I eat, the more I want!”

[Soundbite] “If you don’t have oysters in the winter, it’s tough to get through the summer. We need to eat oysters now and fill up with the nutrients to be able withstand the summer.”

Oysters are prepared in all kinds of different ways. They’re kept raw when served in ice cold water radish kimchi. They’re also delicious when cooked with rice in a stone pot with squash and mushrooms. These are both great winter dishes.

[Soundbite] “It's really the best. The unique savory taste is well harmonized. It's not salty and super clean.”

[Soundbite] Son Hae-bok (Traditional Medicine Doctor): “Oysters contain zinc which facilitates testosterone in males and is great for boosting their vigor. They’re also good for the liver in easing alcohol poisoning and hangovers.”

This is a popular oyster restaurant for group dinners.

[Soundbite] “I'm coming here to have an oyster course meal.”

Fresh oysters from Geoje Island are turned into an array of dishes here. Some oysters get steamed with baby squid. There's also sweet and sour oysters, oyster porridge and a full course oyster meal.

[Soundbite] “At home, we usually have oysters raw or steamed. A course meal is great because we can taste different dishes at the same time.”

Oyster lovers are sure to get their fill.

[Soundbite] “The Dongeuibogam (a traditional Korean medical book) says oysters will give you fine skin and a bright complexion, which refer to a whitening effect. Oysters are also low in calories, which helps dieters. They're also rich in calcium and thus help with osteoporosis.”

The great thing is, you can pretty much eat all the oysters you want because they’re so good for you.

[Soundbite] “Oysters are called the ginseng of the sea. They keep your blood pressure low. I don't take care for myself in any special way butI have a good complexion. Maybe it's because I enjoy oysters.”

Koreans believe that oysters help you stay healthy during the long, cold winter here, and there are plenty to go around.