RESIDENTS SHIFT TO EMERGENCY CMTE

RESIDENTS SHIFT TO EMERGENCY CMTE

[Anchor Lead]
Well it seems like the government's expansion plan for medical school admissions is igniting quite a nationwide controversy. In response to the government's announcement on increasing medical school admissions, a group of resident physicians convened last night in a general assembly and decided to shift to an emergency steering committee system. Although they have not disclosed whether they will engage in collective action, the government has expressed relief at the absence of any declaration of such intentions.

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The Korean Intern Resident Association held an extraordinary general meeting from 9 p.m. Monday through past midnight. The group is known to have discussed whether to launch collective action against the government's planned medical school admissions quota hike and if so, when and how. KIRA said Tuesday that its current leadership will resign en masse except for chair Park Dan and will shift to an emergency steering committee system. It, however, did not mention any plan for a group action, implying that an immediate walkout is unlikely. In response, the health ministry expressed relief that trainee doctors have not announced plans to take part in collective action.

[Soundbite]
Park Min-soo (Second vice minister of Health and Welfare): It's a relief that KIRA made no announcement about a collective action. We hope trainee doctors make a decision to stay with patients.

Meanwhile, the government has refuted claims made by doctors groups opposing a quota hike. Regarding calls that a quota increase of 2,000 is excessive, the government said the quota has stayed the same for 19 years and the country must consider the shortage of doctors. On claims that the announcement just serves election purposes and the number will be reduced after the April general elections, the government asserted that raising the number of doctors is solely a healthcare policy. Concerning arguments that essential healthcare reform will adversely affect physicians, the government said reform measures aim to benefit both the medical community and the public. The government urged medical personnel not to take patient lives hostage with their walkouts and mass resignations, but to resolve the crisis through dialogue.

GOVT WARNS OF STERN RESPONSE

[Anchor Lead]
Resident doctors have not yet decided on collective action, and the government has expressed relief for the moment. However, the government has clearly stated its principle of taking a strong stance should such collective action occur. In the event that resident doctors refuse to treat patients, the government is considering issuing a back-to-work order and, if not complied with, even revoking medical licenses.

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There are roughly 140 hospitals in Korea where interns and medical residents receive training. The Ministry of Health and Welfare has set up a taskforce to inspect tertiary general hospitals with large numbers of interns and residents. If resident doctors refuse to treat patients, a back-to-work order will be delivered to the doctors personally and the hospitals they work at.

[Soundbite]
Park Min-soo (Second vice minister of Health and Welfare (Feb. 8)): We will deliver the back-to-work order to each intern and resident. We have allocated officials to each hospital and set up teams.

The ministry has ordered hospitals to turn down the interns and residents' resignations to prepare for their collective action. The government is also considering cancelling medical licenses if the doctors fail to obey the back-to-work order. The government says, given the severe shortages of emergency rooms and pediatric clinics that even prompt early morning line-ups, medical school admissions quota that adds 2,000 students each year would still fall short. The government is also devising measures on emergency health care to be provided around the clock by each hospital. Under the measures, professors, fellow doctors or nurses will be allowed to step in for resident doctors in case they are absent. When no treatment is provided to patients for a prolonged period of time, public health care physicians and military doctors may also be deployed. A damage report call center will be set up so that patients who sustain damages due to the interns and residents' collective action can receive adequate help. However, preventing patient inconvenience completely will be difficult, as treatment and surgery of non-emergency patients will likely be postponed and hospitalized patients could be discharged from the hospital.

SMART FARM EXPORTS GROW

[Anchor Lead]
Smart farming... It's the process of applying IT technology to agriculture, analyzing and automatically controlling the growing environment to increase production. The export of 'Korean-style Smart Farms' developed in the country is on the rise. Now, Korea is not only exporting agricultural products but also farming facilities and technology.

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A greenhouse measuring over 110,000 square meters, which is equivalent to 15 football fields. This is a smart farm that automatically controls light, humidity, and carbon dioxide levels to create the optimal conditions for ripening tomatoes. The greenhouse and the outside are further sealed off to improve energy efficiency. Due to the farm's highly sought-after sweet tomatoes, four countries in the Middle East alone say they want to import the smart farm technology, with talks with the U.S. and Vietnam also underway.

[Soundbite]
Yoon Dong-ryul (Smart farm head): We think that it can be more competitive and profitable to grow tomatoes in smart farms overseas and directly sell them at local markets.

A farm with farming shelves vertically stacked. By controlling the cultivation environment independently from external factors, productivity surpasses that of conventional cultivation by over thirty times. Since it exported smart farm systems set up in containers to Oman in 2022, Nongshim and Oman have been discussing more export deals.

[Soundbite]
Hwang Cheong-yong (Nongshim): The increasing use of smart farms due to climate change and environmental pollution has led to a goal of expanding Korean-style automated smart farm businesses.

Last year, Korea's exports of smart farm technology amounted to 296 million U.S. dollars, up 120 percent from a year earlier.

[Soundbite]
Song Mi-ryung (Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs): Combining strengths of companies will be a key driver to showcase Korea's technological prowess abroad.

Smart farms use IT to grow high-quality crops. With the popularity of Korean agricultural goods overseas, smart farm companies are expecting rapid growth.

DEMENTIA PREVENTION EFFORTS

[Anchor Lead]
Dementia, known as a condition where prevention and early treatment can significantly alter outcomes, has seen a remarkable breakthrough in the super-aged society of Buyeo-gun County, Chungcheongnam-do Province, where 36% of residents are seniors aged 65 and above. A comprehensive dementia prevention initiative has led to a dramatic decrease in the rate of progression to dementia, plummeting to one-fifth of what it previously was.

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Senior citizens gather at a community center. They are here to participate in the dementia prevention program that conducts brain exercises twice a week. The program involves simple exercises like expressing the time with clock hands or a memory test of trying to remember the order of the shown figures. While participating in the program, the senior citizens solve problems to boost cognitive ability and memory and follow easy movements to regain vitality.

[Soundbite]
Im Hee-soon (Participant): It is helpful. (In what way?) In all aspects. I try to solve the problems in a number of different ways. I like that.

Launched three years ago, a government-civilian joint project to prevent dementia is also producing tangible results. Private sector workers visit senior citizens with mild cognitive impairments, a condition that is highly likely to develop into dementia. During the visit, they provide a tailored program, including memory training, to help the elderly reduce risks of developing dementia. In the 220-people group, the goal is to lower the percentage of those developing dementia to below 7.5 percent. Currently, the rate stands at 3.2 percent. On average, 15 percent of those with mild cognitive impairments develop dementia. So this is a remarkable feat with the rate dropping to a fifth of the nationwide average.

[Soundbite]
Yoo Jeong-im (Buyeo-gun Community Health Center): In 2022, 68 people with mild cognitive impairments were registered with our anti-dementia center. Just 14 were found to have developed dementia.

The local government plans to evaluate the final results of the privately-run program. If the program is proven to be effective, it will provide financial support to the private operator and expand the program to other regions.

RECYCLING CARDBOARD BOXES

[Anchor Lead]
During holiday seasons, the use of packaging materials, such as cardboard boxes for gift deliveries, tends to increase. But, improper separation and disposal often make recycling a challenging task. To enhance the recycling rate of packaging materials, various technologies are being developed. Let's take a look.

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Many of the discarded empty boxes on the street have vinyl packaging tape attached to them.

[Soundbite]
People don't fold boxes or remove tape when throwing them away.

Cardboard boxes are subject to recycling, but the quality of their recycling is greatly undermined when there is tape on them.

[Soundbite]
Hong Su-yeol (Director, Resource Recycling Research): The adhesive residues left on the tape act as contaminants in the papermaking process, adversely affecting the recycling of paper.

The number of packages delivered in Korea surpasses four billion annually. Especially around holidays, the amount of recyclable waste like cardboard boxes increases to nearly double the usual amount. New technologies are being developed to boost recycling rates and to reduce costs for companies and consumers, while mitigating environmental damage. This box developed by a domestic logistics company requires no vinyl packaging tape. All you have to do is just attach a long strip of a printed-out invoice to finish packaging.

[Soundbite]
Kim Chan-woo (Staff at logistics company): By removing packaging tape, consumers can also protect their personal information.

This cardboard box made by a domestic SME provides insulation similar to that of polystyrene. It can be easily recycled as paper, resulting in 70% less energy consumption compared to polystyrene.

[Soundbite]
Park Min-seok (CEO of salad delivery firm): Customers like these boxes because they are easy to discard and they can also indirectly take part in reducing environmental pollution.

Experts emphasize the need for policy support, such as certification system improvements, to establish eco-friendly packaging technologies in the market.

NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]
While Samsung Electronics maintained its lead in the domestic smartphone market, Apple has shown strong growth, exceeding 25% in market share for the very first time. According to market researcher Counterpoint Research, smart phone sales in South Korea last year fell 8% on-year to the mid-14 million unit range. Samsung remained the market leader with a 73% share but the figure has dropped some two percentage points from the previous year amid rising raw material costs and liquidation of some of the company's lower-end products. Meanwhile the market share of second ranking Apple rose three percentage points to 25% last year.
Capital Seoul is found to have the largest income gap among residents out of 17 municipalities in the country. According to data the National Tax Service submitted to the office of Democratic Party lawmaker Yang Kyung-sook, there was a 65 fold difference between the top and bottom 20% of Seoul's income earners as of 2022. The top 20% had an average annual income of some 170 million won or about 128-thousand US dollars, compared to the average 2.6 million won or 1,970 dollars earned by the bottom 20%. In particular, the top 0.1% bracket comprised 2,307 individuals who earned on average around 6.4 billion won or 4.8 million dollars a year.

CHARITY POLICE CALENDAR

[Anchor Lead]
Every year, there are individuals who create calendars to assist children who have been victims of crime, donating the proceeds from their sales. These individuals are the nation's "fit and muscular police officers." This act of kindness has continued for six years.

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Shirtless police officers boast their lean and muscular bodies. Dressed in uniforms, they strike a pose to show off their best features. These are the models for this year's charity police calendar. Proceeds generated from the sale of the calendars will be used to help children victimized by crimes. The police calendar features active-duty officers that managed to keep up their stamina despite the grueling workload. One of whom is Superintendent Park Geun-jik, who retires in June this year. This is the second time he has been chosen as a model for the charity calendar.

[Soundbite]
Park Geun-jik (Superintendent): I dreamed of competing in a contest before retirement. The calendar is also meaningful to help victimized children.

Modeling for the calendar is also meaningful for Superintendent Kang Geum-cheol who began exercising in his 50s.

[Soundbite]
Kang Geum-cheol (Superintendent): I wanted to participate in the police calendar, which is produced to help victims of child abuse.

49 officers were selected as models through a nationwide contest. The police calendar was fist sold six years ago to help child abuse victims. The police donated some 70 million won or some 53,000 U.S. dollars until last year. They will donate an additional 12,000 dollars to the Community Chest of Korea this year. They only hope that the act of giving will continue to spread further.

[Soundbite]
Kim Seong-jin (Corporal): I hope that the young victims don't think they are alone and don't lose hope.