“DRUGS TO HELP STUDIES”

입력 2023.10.13 (15:03) 수정 2023.10.13 (16:45)

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"DRUGS TO HELP STUDIES"

[Anchor Lead]
Recall the Daechi-dong incident in Seoul, where students consumed a 'concentration-boosting' beverage, which in fact contained illegal drug substances. Now, in Gangnam-gu District, drugs labeled as 'study enhancers' are being openly and excessively prescribed, highlighting a concerning academic pressure among students.

[Pkg]
"Mega ADHD," "Better concentration" -- these words were written on drug-laced beverages. More than ten students were deceived into consuming these methamphetamine-containing drinks. The perpetrators capitalized on the popularity of ADHD drugs among students at private academies in Seoul's Gangnam area as substances that can help improve concentration and improve studies.

[Soundbite]
Lee Hyun-jun (Prospective test-taker): I know two or three people who take those pills. They say they help them concentrate and study better.

[Soundbite]
(High school student): A friend of mine wanted to try pills, I stopped her from doing that.

However, ADHD drugs are antipsychotics classified as narcotics. They are banned from being prescribed for the sole purpose of boosting concentration, because they can cause serious side effects such as hallucinations and delusions. But how are things in reality? This clinic in Gangnam is known to prescribe medicines that "help improve academic skills.“

[Soundbite]
(Doctor (VOICE MODIFIED)): (Can you prescribe pills that help me study better. I started preparing for CSAT too late.) Do you have difficulty concentrating?

After a brief consultation that lasted just five minutes, the doctor prescribes six days worth of medication that is said to improve concentration.

[Soundbite]
(Doctor (VOICE MODIFIED)): Given your age, I’ll prescribe six pills for you. Take 30mg at first. If the dose is too low, let’s up it to 40mg.

Last year about 780,000 pills for treating ADHD were prescribed at the clinic. That's about two thousand pills a day on average. The clinic received a warning from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety back in July but getting a prescription here is still quite easy.

[Soundbite]
Shin Hyun-young (Health and Welfare Committee (DP)): The gov’t needs to step up monitoring of excessive and unnecessary prescriptions and consider canceling doctors’ licenses.

Some 6,200 doctors have received warnings from the Ministry for over-prescribing ADHD medications in the past two months. The ministry plans to review requesting investigations if the clinics continue their malicious practice even after getting warnings.

AI-EDITED PHOTOS FOR ID

[Anchor Lead]
AI-powered mobile apps that create photos reminiscent of celebrity headshots is gaining popularity among the younger generation. Despite government restrictions on the use of such AI-enhanced images for official identification, there's a growing demand from the public to allow these retouched photos on their IDs.

[Pkg]
A community service center near a college campus. Requests have been pouring in every day for months to replace the photos on resident registration cards with AI-edited, beautified pictures. This is a mobile photo editing service that combines several photographs with artificial intelligence to produce headshots comparable to professional celebrity shoots. The government banned the use of AI-edited images on official IDs because the pictures have been beautified and differ from reality. However, this service center alone has been receiving four to five requests daily to reissue IDs with AI-retouched photos.

[Soundbite]
Han Seung-il (Oncheon 2-dong Community Service Center): About 30% of the petitioners submit AI-edited photos. Most of them are refused. This is a necessary measure for petitioners.

Requests for IDs with polished photos are being refused because they could be used in such crimes as identity theft.

[Soundbite]
Choi Seong-yun (College student): AI-edited photos look different from the faces, so they shouldn’t be used.

But some proponents of AI-edited photos claim that even the pictures taken at photo studios are retouched and ask why AI generated pictures should be any different.

[Soundbite]
Kim Geon (College student): AI headshots make us look better. So I think it’s okay to use them as long as they don’t distort the original image.

AI headshots were regarded as a form of entertainment using a new technology, but they have inadvertently become an unexpected source of headache.

EXPANDING BRANCH SCHOOLS

[Anchor Lead]
Amid a decline in birth rates and a shrinking school-age population, many schools face closure. In contrast, urban redevelopment areas are bursting with students. To balance these disparities, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education plans to introduce branch schools, safeguarding students' right to education.

[Pkg]
Hwayang Elementary School in Seoul closed down earlier this year. Its students were sent to other schools nearby last semester. Seoul's school-age population in 2030 is projected to be around 570,000, not even half of the 2012 figure. Meanwhile, the number of students in urban redevelopment areas has soared.

[Soundbite]
Park Su-chang (School Bus Driver): More than 30 students ride in this 35-person bus. I drive three bus loads in the morning.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education proposed an urban campus development plan that aims to preserve schools at risk of closing down while dispersing students from overcrowded schools. Branch schools will be established instead of closing down schools in areas with declining student populations. Branch schools will also be opened rather than building new schools in areas with increasing numbers of students for more efficient operation.

[Soundbite]
Cho Hee-yeon (Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education): This policy is an effort to maintain schools in a city with a declining number of students.

The SMOE will first build a branch school in a renovated complex in Gangdong-gu District. This 10,000 square meters of land is where Gangsol Elementary School's Ganghyeon Campus will be built. Once the branch school opens, students will no longer have to cross a large intersection to go to the nearby elementary school. The principal and faculty members of the branch campus will be the same as those in the main school. Students can freely travel between the main and branch schools.

[Soundbite]
Prof. Park Nam-gi (Gwangju Nat’l Univ. of Education): Sports facilities cannot be built at such a site. PE class could take up half a day when traveling to the main school.

The SMOE plans to select schools eligible for the urban campus development plan in the first half of next year.

LIFE SENTENCE FOR STALKER-KILLER

[Anchor Lead]
Jeon Joo-hwan, who stalked and brutally murdered a fellow station employee in the restroom at Sindang Station last year, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Supreme Court. The victim's family has appealed for Jeon to never be granted parole and to spend his entire life behind bars.

[Pkg]
Jeon Joo-hwan brutally murdered a female coworker inside the restroom of Seoul's Sindang subway station in September last year after stalking her for over two years. One day before the court was scheduled to deliver a sentence for his stalking charge, Jeon committed the murder out of grudge against the victim as the prosecution was seeking a nine year sentence for stalking.

[Soundbite]
Jeon Joo-hwan (Accused of stalking murder (Sept. 2022)): (Do you have anything to say other than sorry?) I really did a crazy thing.

In separate trials that handled the stalking case and the new murder charge, Jeon was sentenced to 9 and 40 years respectively. In an appellate ruling that combined both cases, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. The appellate court said the nature of the crime is extremely heinous and prospects of the perpetrator going the right way remain doubtful and therefore he must be locked up indefinitely and make atonement for his wrongdoing. While standing trial for murder, Jeon handed in 38 letters of apologies and filed an appeal claiming the sentence was too heavy. However the Supreme Court finalized his life sentence saying it can't be seen as unjustified. Meanwhile the victim's family called for his permanent separation from society opposing any possibility of parole.

[Soundbite]
Min Go-eun (Attorney of victim’s family): To prevent the crimes targeting innocent lives, we hope authorities are not again deceived by the false self-reflection pretense by the accused.

The family has also filed a compensation lawsuit against Jeon as well as Seoul Metro, finding the subway operator responsible for failing to protect an employee during workhour.

FARMERS LOSE CROPS TO THEFT

[Anchor Lead]
As the autumn harvest nears, rural areas are grappling with increasing agricultural thefts. Labor shortages and the unresolved nature of over half these cases heighten farmers' concerns.

[Pkg]
This sweet potato field has been dug out here and there. Someone stole the crops grown with love and care ahead of the Chuseok holiday.

[Soundbite]
Ahn Chun-ja (Haman-gun resident): I grew sweet potatoes for my five children. I grew them despite severe back pain. Why did they steal them?

Changnyeong-gun County in Gyeongsangnam-do Province is one of the largest garlic producers in Korea. All the garlic that was stored at this warehouse after harvesting is now gone. The brazen thief stole some 600kg of garlic by loading it in a truck.

[Soundbite]
(Garlic farmer (VOICE MODIFIED)): I heard about crops being stolen in our neighborhood. It always happens after harvesting.

Agricultural theft is quite common in rural areas during the harvest season every year. An average of 540 cases of agricultural theft occur nationwide annually. But only about 40% of thieves are caught. Even when victims report the crimes, locating the perpetrators and arresting them is not easy. That's because rural areas are shorthanded and not frequented by people. Many parts don't even have surveillance cameras.

[Soundbite]
Kang Byung-han (Haman Police Station): Farmers discover theft belatedly because they don’t check on their facilities often. Due to delays in reports, it’s hard to find evidence.

Police have decided to step up patrols to prevent agricultural theft, as it's expected to surge this year due to the rising prices of agricultural products stemming from the hot weather and heavy rains.

MEMORIALS FOR US VETERANS

[Anchor Lead]
Marking the 70th anniversary of the South Korea-U.S. alliance, a memorial honoring Korean War American veterans has been unveiled at Imjingak, with views of North Korea. Present were families of the late veterans, expressing gratitude for this tribute to their legacy.

[Pkg]
A white cloth is removed and a memorial depicting the faces of Korean War veterans is unveiled. New memorials honor two late American veterans who fought in the Korean War, Army Colonel William Weber and Major General John Singlaub, who both passed away last year. Weber served as a member of an airborne regimental combat team during the war and fought in the Incheon Landing Operation and the Second Battle of Seoul. He lost his right arm and a leg in a battle in the city of Wonju, but returned to active duty. After retiring, he played a role in establishing the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington DC. Singlaub served as a battalion commander and helped block the advance of Chinese troops in the Iron Triangle battlefield. His interest in Korean affairs persisted even after the war. In 1977, he was dismissed as chief of staff of the U.N. Command after he openly opposed the then U.S. administration's plan to withdraw American troops from the Korean Peninsula.

[Soundbite]
Leem Ho-young (President, Korea-US Alliance Foundation): S. Korea and the U.S. were always on the same side and that spirit will continue.

The bereaved families took part in the unveiling of the monuments, laid flowers and expressed their gratitude.

[Soundbite]
Dayne Weber (Granddaughter of Army Colonel Weber):

[Soundbite]
John Singlaub (Son of Major General Singlaub):

Some 7,000 American Korean War veterans currently remain alive while about a thousand pass away each year.

SNEAK PEEK OF PANDA TWINS

[Anchor Lead]
Korea saw the birth of twin pandas last year for the first time in the country. Now, as they approach their 100th day, they have briefly shown themselves, but it will take a little bit more until the public will be able to meet them.

[Pkg]
Panda twins in a basket. The cubs can barely hold their heads up. But they are already curious to see what's going on around them.

[Soundbite]
Kang Cheol-won (Everland zookeeper): Their teeth are coming out and they’ve started crawling. When they are four months old, they’ll start walking, in a month or later.

The cubs weighed just 180g and 140g at birth. Now they each weigh more than 5kg. They have grown from tiny bundles to adorable pandas with black spots around their eyes, on their ears and limbs. Their pink noses, the last part to turn black, are also changing in color. The cubs will soon turn 100 days old. Now they have names, too. The elder one is Rui Bao, the younger one is Hui Bao. The former means "wide treasure," and the latter means "shining treasure." The names were picked through a public contest, which drew suggestions from some 700,000 people over about 40 days. It's an international practice to name pandas in Chinese when they are around 100 days old, because they are born prematurely and have extremely low chances of survival in the early days of their lives. Panda cubs were only shown to the visitors for about ten minutes to minimize disturbance. But the spectators were elated to see them.

[Soundbite]
Kim Young-ji (Visitor): My kids drew pictures of the cubs when I told them we were going to see them and that they turned 100 days old and would have names soon.

Because mama-panda has a hard time caring for both cubs at the same time, she can breastfeed only one cub at a time. The other one is fed formula by a zookeeper. The twin cubs will be disclosed to the public after going through an adaptation process early next year.

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  • “DRUGS TO HELP STUDIES”
    • 입력 2023-10-13 15:03:31
    • 수정2023-10-13 16:45:04
    News Today
"DRUGS TO HELP STUDIES"

[Anchor Lead]
Recall the Daechi-dong incident in Seoul, where students consumed a 'concentration-boosting' beverage, which in fact contained illegal drug substances. Now, in Gangnam-gu District, drugs labeled as 'study enhancers' are being openly and excessively prescribed, highlighting a concerning academic pressure among students.

[Pkg]
"Mega ADHD," "Better concentration" -- these words were written on drug-laced beverages. More than ten students were deceived into consuming these methamphetamine-containing drinks. The perpetrators capitalized on the popularity of ADHD drugs among students at private academies in Seoul's Gangnam area as substances that can help improve concentration and improve studies.

[Soundbite]
Lee Hyun-jun (Prospective test-taker): I know two or three people who take those pills. They say they help them concentrate and study better.

[Soundbite]
(High school student): A friend of mine wanted to try pills, I stopped her from doing that.

However, ADHD drugs are antipsychotics classified as narcotics. They are banned from being prescribed for the sole purpose of boosting concentration, because they can cause serious side effects such as hallucinations and delusions. But how are things in reality? This clinic in Gangnam is known to prescribe medicines that "help improve academic skills.“

[Soundbite]
(Doctor (VOICE MODIFIED)): (Can you prescribe pills that help me study better. I started preparing for CSAT too late.) Do you have difficulty concentrating?

After a brief consultation that lasted just five minutes, the doctor prescribes six days worth of medication that is said to improve concentration.

[Soundbite]
(Doctor (VOICE MODIFIED)): Given your age, I’ll prescribe six pills for you. Take 30mg at first. If the dose is too low, let’s up it to 40mg.

Last year about 780,000 pills for treating ADHD were prescribed at the clinic. That's about two thousand pills a day on average. The clinic received a warning from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety back in July but getting a prescription here is still quite easy.

[Soundbite]
Shin Hyun-young (Health and Welfare Committee (DP)): The gov’t needs to step up monitoring of excessive and unnecessary prescriptions and consider canceling doctors’ licenses.

Some 6,200 doctors have received warnings from the Ministry for over-prescribing ADHD medications in the past two months. The ministry plans to review requesting investigations if the clinics continue their malicious practice even after getting warnings.

AI-EDITED PHOTOS FOR ID

[Anchor Lead]
AI-powered mobile apps that create photos reminiscent of celebrity headshots is gaining popularity among the younger generation. Despite government restrictions on the use of such AI-enhanced images for official identification, there's a growing demand from the public to allow these retouched photos on their IDs.

[Pkg]
A community service center near a college campus. Requests have been pouring in every day for months to replace the photos on resident registration cards with AI-edited, beautified pictures. This is a mobile photo editing service that combines several photographs with artificial intelligence to produce headshots comparable to professional celebrity shoots. The government banned the use of AI-edited images on official IDs because the pictures have been beautified and differ from reality. However, this service center alone has been receiving four to five requests daily to reissue IDs with AI-retouched photos.

[Soundbite]
Han Seung-il (Oncheon 2-dong Community Service Center): About 30% of the petitioners submit AI-edited photos. Most of them are refused. This is a necessary measure for petitioners.

Requests for IDs with polished photos are being refused because they could be used in such crimes as identity theft.

[Soundbite]
Choi Seong-yun (College student): AI-edited photos look different from the faces, so they shouldn’t be used.

But some proponents of AI-edited photos claim that even the pictures taken at photo studios are retouched and ask why AI generated pictures should be any different.

[Soundbite]
Kim Geon (College student): AI headshots make us look better. So I think it’s okay to use them as long as they don’t distort the original image.

AI headshots were regarded as a form of entertainment using a new technology, but they have inadvertently become an unexpected source of headache.

EXPANDING BRANCH SCHOOLS

[Anchor Lead]
Amid a decline in birth rates and a shrinking school-age population, many schools face closure. In contrast, urban redevelopment areas are bursting with students. To balance these disparities, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education plans to introduce branch schools, safeguarding students' right to education.

[Pkg]
Hwayang Elementary School in Seoul closed down earlier this year. Its students were sent to other schools nearby last semester. Seoul's school-age population in 2030 is projected to be around 570,000, not even half of the 2012 figure. Meanwhile, the number of students in urban redevelopment areas has soared.

[Soundbite]
Park Su-chang (School Bus Driver): More than 30 students ride in this 35-person bus. I drive three bus loads in the morning.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education proposed an urban campus development plan that aims to preserve schools at risk of closing down while dispersing students from overcrowded schools. Branch schools will be established instead of closing down schools in areas with declining student populations. Branch schools will also be opened rather than building new schools in areas with increasing numbers of students for more efficient operation.

[Soundbite]
Cho Hee-yeon (Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education): This policy is an effort to maintain schools in a city with a declining number of students.

The SMOE will first build a branch school in a renovated complex in Gangdong-gu District. This 10,000 square meters of land is where Gangsol Elementary School's Ganghyeon Campus will be built. Once the branch school opens, students will no longer have to cross a large intersection to go to the nearby elementary school. The principal and faculty members of the branch campus will be the same as those in the main school. Students can freely travel between the main and branch schools.

[Soundbite]
Prof. Park Nam-gi (Gwangju Nat’l Univ. of Education): Sports facilities cannot be built at such a site. PE class could take up half a day when traveling to the main school.

The SMOE plans to select schools eligible for the urban campus development plan in the first half of next year.

LIFE SENTENCE FOR STALKER-KILLER

[Anchor Lead]
Jeon Joo-hwan, who stalked and brutally murdered a fellow station employee in the restroom at Sindang Station last year, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Supreme Court. The victim's family has appealed for Jeon to never be granted parole and to spend his entire life behind bars.

[Pkg]
Jeon Joo-hwan brutally murdered a female coworker inside the restroom of Seoul's Sindang subway station in September last year after stalking her for over two years. One day before the court was scheduled to deliver a sentence for his stalking charge, Jeon committed the murder out of grudge against the victim as the prosecution was seeking a nine year sentence for stalking.

[Soundbite]
Jeon Joo-hwan (Accused of stalking murder (Sept. 2022)): (Do you have anything to say other than sorry?) I really did a crazy thing.

In separate trials that handled the stalking case and the new murder charge, Jeon was sentenced to 9 and 40 years respectively. In an appellate ruling that combined both cases, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. The appellate court said the nature of the crime is extremely heinous and prospects of the perpetrator going the right way remain doubtful and therefore he must be locked up indefinitely and make atonement for his wrongdoing. While standing trial for murder, Jeon handed in 38 letters of apologies and filed an appeal claiming the sentence was too heavy. However the Supreme Court finalized his life sentence saying it can't be seen as unjustified. Meanwhile the victim's family called for his permanent separation from society opposing any possibility of parole.

[Soundbite]
Min Go-eun (Attorney of victim’s family): To prevent the crimes targeting innocent lives, we hope authorities are not again deceived by the false self-reflection pretense by the accused.

The family has also filed a compensation lawsuit against Jeon as well as Seoul Metro, finding the subway operator responsible for failing to protect an employee during workhour.

FARMERS LOSE CROPS TO THEFT

[Anchor Lead]
As the autumn harvest nears, rural areas are grappling with increasing agricultural thefts. Labor shortages and the unresolved nature of over half these cases heighten farmers' concerns.

[Pkg]
This sweet potato field has been dug out here and there. Someone stole the crops grown with love and care ahead of the Chuseok holiday.

[Soundbite]
Ahn Chun-ja (Haman-gun resident): I grew sweet potatoes for my five children. I grew them despite severe back pain. Why did they steal them?

Changnyeong-gun County in Gyeongsangnam-do Province is one of the largest garlic producers in Korea. All the garlic that was stored at this warehouse after harvesting is now gone. The brazen thief stole some 600kg of garlic by loading it in a truck.

[Soundbite]
(Garlic farmer (VOICE MODIFIED)): I heard about crops being stolen in our neighborhood. It always happens after harvesting.

Agricultural theft is quite common in rural areas during the harvest season every year. An average of 540 cases of agricultural theft occur nationwide annually. But only about 40% of thieves are caught. Even when victims report the crimes, locating the perpetrators and arresting them is not easy. That's because rural areas are shorthanded and not frequented by people. Many parts don't even have surveillance cameras.

[Soundbite]
Kang Byung-han (Haman Police Station): Farmers discover theft belatedly because they don’t check on their facilities often. Due to delays in reports, it’s hard to find evidence.

Police have decided to step up patrols to prevent agricultural theft, as it's expected to surge this year due to the rising prices of agricultural products stemming from the hot weather and heavy rains.

MEMORIALS FOR US VETERANS

[Anchor Lead]
Marking the 70th anniversary of the South Korea-U.S. alliance, a memorial honoring Korean War American veterans has been unveiled at Imjingak, with views of North Korea. Present were families of the late veterans, expressing gratitude for this tribute to their legacy.

[Pkg]
A white cloth is removed and a memorial depicting the faces of Korean War veterans is unveiled. New memorials honor two late American veterans who fought in the Korean War, Army Colonel William Weber and Major General John Singlaub, who both passed away last year. Weber served as a member of an airborne regimental combat team during the war and fought in the Incheon Landing Operation and the Second Battle of Seoul. He lost his right arm and a leg in a battle in the city of Wonju, but returned to active duty. After retiring, he played a role in establishing the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington DC. Singlaub served as a battalion commander and helped block the advance of Chinese troops in the Iron Triangle battlefield. His interest in Korean affairs persisted even after the war. In 1977, he was dismissed as chief of staff of the U.N. Command after he openly opposed the then U.S. administration's plan to withdraw American troops from the Korean Peninsula.

[Soundbite]
Leem Ho-young (President, Korea-US Alliance Foundation): S. Korea and the U.S. were always on the same side and that spirit will continue.

The bereaved families took part in the unveiling of the monuments, laid flowers and expressed their gratitude.

[Soundbite]
Dayne Weber (Granddaughter of Army Colonel Weber):

[Soundbite]
John Singlaub (Son of Major General Singlaub):

Some 7,000 American Korean War veterans currently remain alive while about a thousand pass away each year.

SNEAK PEEK OF PANDA TWINS

[Anchor Lead]
Korea saw the birth of twin pandas last year for the first time in the country. Now, as they approach their 100th day, they have briefly shown themselves, but it will take a little bit more until the public will be able to meet them.

[Pkg]
Panda twins in a basket. The cubs can barely hold their heads up. But they are already curious to see what's going on around them.

[Soundbite]
Kang Cheol-won (Everland zookeeper): Their teeth are coming out and they’ve started crawling. When they are four months old, they’ll start walking, in a month or later.

The cubs weighed just 180g and 140g at birth. Now they each weigh more than 5kg. They have grown from tiny bundles to adorable pandas with black spots around their eyes, on their ears and limbs. Their pink noses, the last part to turn black, are also changing in color. The cubs will soon turn 100 days old. Now they have names, too. The elder one is Rui Bao, the younger one is Hui Bao. The former means "wide treasure," and the latter means "shining treasure." The names were picked through a public contest, which drew suggestions from some 700,000 people over about 40 days. It's an international practice to name pandas in Chinese when they are around 100 days old, because they are born prematurely and have extremely low chances of survival in the early days of their lives. Panda cubs were only shown to the visitors for about ten minutes to minimize disturbance. But the spectators were elated to see them.

[Soundbite]
Kim Young-ji (Visitor): My kids drew pictures of the cubs when I told them we were going to see them and that they turned 100 days old and would have names soon.

Because mama-panda has a hard time caring for both cubs at the same time, she can breastfeed only one cub at a time. The other one is fed formula by a zookeeper. The twin cubs will be disclosed to the public after going through an adaptation process early next year.

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