On the Defensive

[Anchor Lead]

The Presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae is still under fire for its basic pension program plan. The Park Geun-hye administration is taking pains to distinguish it from the national pension fund, saying not a penny of the national pension fund will go toward the basic pension program.

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Cheong Wa Dae tried to soothe public backlash against the government's basic pension program, which falls short of President Park's campaign pledge. The presidential office explained that no penny from the national pension fund will be used for the government's program. It promised to stipulate the separation of the two pensions programs through law.

[Soundbite] Choi Won-young (Presidential Senior Secretary for Employment & Welfare) : "The basic pension payment will be funded with tax money. The national pension fund will not be used."

The presidential office also stressed that the basic pension program is not unfavorable for long-time subscribers of the national pension fund. The office explained South Koreans will receive more pension benefits from the two programs if they subscribe to the national pension fund longer. It also refuted the claim that the basic pension program is unfavorable for young and middle-aged people, explaining they will receive more basic pension benefits on average than the current senior citizens when they are older. The ruling Saenuri Party backed the presidential office's explanation saying the scaledown of the basic pension payment was inevitable to ease the tax burden of future generations. However, the main opposition Democratic Party still denounced the president and the government for disappointing the people by breaking the campaign promise.

2. Armed Forces Day

[Anchor Lead]

Tomorrow marks the 65th Armed Forces Day in Korea. A wide variety of events are planned to commemorate the anniversary, including a military parade and a display of new weapons.

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Honor guards from the Army, Navy and Air Force, military academy cadets, special forces and naval underwater demolition forces will take part in a military parade on the 65th Armed Forces Day. This is the first time in ten years a military parade will be held to mark Armed Forces Day. It is the largest-ever military parade. On Tuesday, more than 11-thousand members will parade from Sungnyemun to Gwanghwamun. The soldiers are supposed to behave in a disciplined and spirited manner. They do their utmost to meet this expectation. The special Air Force squadron "Black Eagles”will present an acrobatic air show. Other events commemorating the 65th Armed Forces Day will also be held, including a show of soldiers jumping out of helicopters, parachutes landings and a taekwondo presentation by 700 members. They show off their militaristic spirit and skills. The military will make public its latest weapons, like the missiles Hyeonmu-2 and -3, which have a thousand kilometer range. The home-grown Surion helicopter will also be put on display.

[Soundbite] Wi Yong-seop (Deputy Spokesman, Ministry of National Defense) : "The latest military equipment and weapons will confirm the strength of our great military."

The military invited people to the various Armed Forces Day events at Seoul Plaza today while tomorrow the march will take place.

3. Alternative Fuel

[Anchor Lead]

A team of Korean researchers has developed the technology to produce gasoline with glucose; a world-first development they hope will ease shortages of crude oil and reduce pollution.

[Pkg]

A research team at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology developed a technology to produce gasoline using colon bacilli. Normal cells decompose glucose to produce fatty acid, a mixture of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Fatty acid is used to build cell membranes. The research team injected a special enzyme into colon bacilli to remove all other substances, except carbon and hydrogen, which are the basic materials of gasoline. When decomposing glucose, the special enzyme-added colon bacilli remove oxygen and other substances and produce gasoline. This is the world's first technology to obtain gasoline from a substance, which isn't related to crude oil. However, the technology's economic effect is still very low. It can produce 580 milligrams of gasoline from a litter of a glucose solution. The productivity of the technology should first be significantly improved.

[Soundbite] Choe Yong-jun (Student, KAIST) : "We can obtain glucose from wood or plants including corn. And we can produce gasoline from the glucose using special colon bacilli. "

The technology was developed with the sponsorship of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning. The finding was introduced in the international science magazine Nature on Monday.

4. Print Protection

[Anchor Lead]

Fingerprints can be of great help locating missing children, but few parents are aware that they can have their children’s fingerprints registered at their local police station before they get their ID cards.

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Five-year-old Jeon Jin-a went missing earlier this month when she was playing at a playground in her neighborhood. Wanting to see more of her neighborhood, she had wandered off when her grandfather left the playground for a moment. A passer-by spotted her crying on the street and then reported her as a lost child to the police. The police were able to identify the girl and returned her to her family in just 15 minutes. Thanks to the fingerprint registration system, which was launched in July last year, 44 children safely returned to their families so far. The average time it takes to find and contact the family of a lost child whose fingerprints were registered at a police station is 21 minutes. For those whose fingerprints had not been registered, it usually takes 3.6 days.

[Soundbite] Prof. Lee Yun-ho (Dongguk University) : "This reduces psychological panic among missing children and helps them solve emotional issues. It can also stop the worry of becoming a long-term missing child."

But since only a few parents know about this service, only 18.3 percent of children who are under the age of 18 have had their fingerprints registered. The police say the children's fingerprint information will be automatically destroyed when they reach the age of 18 due to privacy issues.

5. Jobs for Disabled

[Anchor Lead]

The Ministry of Education and local Offices of Education are in charge of training and employment programs for the disabled. Recent revelations have shown that these government bodies have failed to fill their quotas for disabled recruits.

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Students with disabilities are sorting delivered packages. This school alone produces about a dozen students trained in such tasks in each year. But only one out of those students succeeds in finding a job. In order to provide more jobs to the disabled, the law mandates government agencies to hire a certain number of employees with disabilities. But last year only 2.4% of the Ministry of Education employees had disabilities. The average percentage for 17 municipal and provincial Offices of Education was a mere 1.48%. These agencies' rates were far below the central government ministries' average of 3.27%, not to mention the mandatory hiring rate of 3%. Consequently, penalties were imposed for failing to meet the hiring quota. Over the past three years the Seoul Metropolitan and Gyeonggi-do Offices of Education paid 16.8 million U.S. dollars in combined fines. However, they oftentimes allocated budgets for penalty payments at the start of the year.

[Soundbite] Rep. Kim Sang-hee (National Assembly Committee on Education) : "Education authorities should be denounced for not hiring enough disabled employees and trying to resolve the issue by paying the penalties with tax money."

Agencies under the Ministry of Education paid a total of nearly 52.9 million U.S. dollars in fines over the past three years. That amount is 100 times the five-year budget allocated to vocational training for the disabled.

6. Imported Parts

[Anchor Lead]

Automotive parts for imported cars are not only expensive; they vary widely in price, a cause for confusion and many complaints among car owners. But starting next year, the prices of imported car parts will be disclosed to the public.

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This driver was shocked when he visited a service center to fix the transmission on his three-year-old imported car. The estimated cost for a new transmission was almost 9,300 dollars. An absence of information on auto parts prices made it impossible for him to find out whether the estimate was appropriate. The Korea Insurance Development Institute found that the average cost of automotive parts for imported vehicles was 1,716 dollars, five times the amount for the domestic cars of the same grade. But starting next year, the prices of automotive parts for all imported cars will be disclosed to the public on the official importers' internet homepages. The price disclosure of auto parts allows consumers to determine whether the repair costs are fair and appropriate.

[Soundbite] Prof. Kim Pil-su (Daelim University College) : "Disclosure allows consumers to find out about the prices of similar components and compare them with other countries, which would lower the prices. The disclosure will add pressure and produce that effect."

But price information can only do so much to lower the prices when a handful of parts distributors are monopolizing the market. Additional measures, such as introducing alternate parts, should be implemented to address the problem of overpriced parts.

7. Lucrative Apps

[Anchor Lead]

People use a wide variety of smartphone applications, for shopping or in their studies. These applications can also come in handy for those looking to make a little extra cash. Here’s how.

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This office worker studies English with a learning application on his smartphone. But studying is not the only thing he does. For each correct answer he gets, he receives points from the application. The accumulated points can be used to buy ice cream or even be exchanged for cash. Smartphone application developers have started to sharing portions of their profits with their users in the form of points. Here is why they're doing it.

[Soundbite] Jeon Seol-ya (CJ E&M Smart Media Business Headquarters) : "An increasing number of smartphone users are seeking both fun and economic benefits from their apps."

Profit-sharing is a part of their survival strategy. When a user clicks on an advertisement or posts a comment on an article or just unlocks the initial screen, points are added to the account. Over the past year these applications helped some 630 thousand smartphone users save almost 464 thousand US dollars in their phone bills. Smartphone applications are providing various ways to make extra cash for today's tech-savvy phone users.

8. Arctic Expedition

[Anchor Lead]

KBS reporters have captured polar bears on film while accompanying the South Korean Araon expedition in the Arctic Sea. Take a look.

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A polar bear shows up on floating ice in the Arctic Sea. It's a male bear standing more than two meters tall and presumably weighing 700-800 kilograms. This time, two cubs and their mother are spotted from afar. They are looking for food. Polar bears can withstand the bitter cold that can go as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius thanks to their fur. Their coat traps warm air close to their body, insulating them during the winter. The biggest threats polar bears are facing are global warming, which causes the ice to melt, and human intrusions into their habitat.

[Soundbite] Rhonda Reidy (Canadian Marine Biologist)

All expeditions in the North Pole are accompanied by maritime inspectors, who observe the Arctic ecosystem around the clock in order to protect it. A 2006 survey showed that 1,526 polar bears were found in the Beaufort Sea off of Canada. More than 90 percent of them are still alive today thanks to the diverse efforts to protect the species.

9. Prevent Dents

[Anchor Lead]

What could be more annoying than discovering a dent on your brand new car? Let's see how this kind of damage occurs and how to prevent it.

[Pkg]

Song Jae-jin bought a new car a week ago. And even before that fresh car smell fades, he runs out to buy door guards to prevent dings or scratches.

[Soundbite] Song Jae-jin (Car Owner) : "Nowadays parked cars get damaged easily with ding and scratches. I came here to buy door guards to protect my car and other cars as well."

Some car owners leave the blue factory standard sponges on their cars, but door guards nowadays come in a wide variety of flamboyant designs. Fabricated with a high elastic sponge or rubber, the door guards reduce shock on the doors' surface and prevent damage. The guards might leave a little mark, but for a few bucks you won't have to worry about unsightly dings or dents.

[Soundbite] "From now, I won't have to worry about my car doors. I'm satisfied with it."

It's easy to spot cars on Korean streets still adorning the factory bumpers on their doors. This is a rarity in most countries. And in fact, it has become something of sensation for foreign media outlets.

[Soundbite] Ian (Canadian National)

We conducted a simple experiment in a junkyard in Incheon. Throwing a rock at the door leaves a pretty big dent. A coin scratches off paint with ease. But worst of all, slamming open the door leaves a scratch and a dent. The damage may look minor, but this could cost hundreds of dollars to repair.

[Soundbite] Park Byeong-il (Car Maintenance Master) : "If the scratch is deep, the cost can vary from 200,000 to 500,000 won (US$186-464). In cases of foreign cars, it costs about one million won."

Just a little precaution can prevent door dings and dents. For example, it's much safer to let the passenger into the car after you pull out of the space. Parking spaces aren't usually big enough to accommodate open doors on both sides. The same concept applies when you're getting out of the car. The passenger should get out before you park. It's also important to leave ample space between cars. Leaving extra space when the car door opens is usually enough to prevent dents.

[Soundbite] "It's good to park in a large space. You should open the door slowly little by little instead of suddenly at once. By attaching door guards you can prevent dents on your car doors."

Remember that other people value their cars as much as you value yours. And if that's not enough to make you think, also remember you can be held legally or financially responsible for dinging someone else's car. So always remember to drive, and park, safely.