SNU HOSPITALS’ STRIKE ON 17TH

SNU HOSPITALS' STRIKE ON 17TH

[Anchor Lead]
Professors at Seoul National University Hospital have declared they will commence a full strike starting the 17th if the junior doctor crisis remains unresolved. Medical professors entering the strike will inevitably lead to disruptions in clinical services.

[Pkg]
The emergency committee of Seoul National University College of Medicine and Seoul National University Hospital Faculty Council has decided to take a full leave of absence from June 17. They plan to halt all duties except for emergency room and ICU treatment. The emergency committee says it will begin taking action on June 17 unless the administrative measures against junior doctors are completely scrapped and rational measures are taken to normalize the situation in the medical sector. Earlier, the government scrapped its ban to accept trainee doctors' resignations and pledged to stop administrative actions such as license suspension for those who return to work. But the medical professors are urging the government to cancel its administrative actions completely.

[Soundbite]
Oh Seung-won (Emergency committee of SNUCM, SNUH Faculty Council): Most of the professors agree that the government's latest announcement is not an appropriate measure against junior doctors.

A poll conducted by the SNU emergency committee on medical professors at four hospitals including SNU Hospital and SNU Bundang Hospital has shown that 68.4 percent are in favor of the strike. The committee has apologized to patients and said it's up to the government how long the strike will last.

"EAST SEA IS HIGHLY PROSPECTIVE"

[Anchor Lead]
Vitor Abreu, owner of the U.S. geoscience research company Act-Geo that took part in an analysis of possible oil and gas deposits off Korea's East Sea held a news conference on Friday and dismissed controversies surrounding the project. He said that potential discovery of reserves in the East Sea is ‘highly prospective’ and all the wells his firm analyzed had all the key elements to suggest the presence of oil and gas. But he added the only way to prove the existence is to drill and without drilling, it's impossible to completely eliminate the risks.

SADO MINE UNESCO LISTING WITHHELD

[Anchor Lead]
Japan's bid to list the Sado mine as a World Heritage site is on hold. UNESCO's advisory body, the International Council on Monuments and Sites, has recommended withholding the designation and requested additional documents. This comes amid interpretations that Japan needs to address the omission of the mine's history involving the forced labor of Koreans. Nevertheless, Japan remains optimistic about finalizing the inscription at next month's committee meeting.

[Pkg]
The International Council on Monuments and Sites, an advisory body to UNESCO, has recommended withholding Japan's Sado mine's designation as a World Heritage site and requested the submission of additional documents. The move is viewed by some as advising Japan to reflect in its UNESCO bid the full history of the controversial mine including the part about Koreans' forced labor, which Seoul has called for. But Japan says even a recommendation of referral implies recognition of the mine's value and expressed hopeful prospects of winning the designation within this year.

[Soundbite]
(Japan's NHK News): Many prior cases with the same evaluation won the designation within the year. Gov't hopes for the same at July's World Heritage Committee meeting.

Tokyo notes that in six cases last year that received the evaluation of 'referral' which is just one notch below inscription in a four-tier advisory system by the council, all obtained heritage designation within the same year. The Sado mine located in the Niigata Prefecture was the site of Korean forced labor during Japanese colonial occupation as workers toiled to procure wartime supplies. This is why the South Korean government has opposed Tokyo's bid. But to sidestep this controversy, Japan removed the 20th century portion of the mine's history for UNESCO inscription. Following the latest advisory, Seoul's foreign ministry simply said that it's not appropriate for another country to confirm results of the bid process at the current stage. A registry of names of Koreans who were forced to work at the Sado mine is also known to officially exist but Japan has not disclosed it. The final decision on the Sado mine bid will be made during a meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in India next month. Technically, inscription can be obtained through two thirds of support by the 21 committee member states that include South Korea and Japan but customarily, it has been a unanimous decision.

NK DEFECTORS SEND BALLOONS TO NORTH

[Anchor Lead]
A North Korean defector organization released large balloons carrying 200,000 anti-North Korea leaflets into North Korea. Given the situation where North Korea has declared it would retaliate with 'trash balloons', military authorities are on high alert for potential GPS disruptions or other complex provocations.

[Pkg]
A large balloon with a banner denouncing the so-called 'trash' balloons from North Korea and the Kim Jong-un regime.

[Soundbite]
(Fighters for Free North Korea Official ): North Koreans, rise up! We are letting the balloon go.

An advocacy group for North Korean defectors sent ten such balloons toward the regime before dawn Thursday. Inside the balloons were 200,000 anti-North Korea leaflets in all. The defector group said they also put 2,000 one-dollar bills and 5,000 flash drives containing South Korean singers' songs. Military authorities detected some of the balloons flying across the Military Demarcation Line. South Korea was keeping a close watch on more provocations from North Korea since the regime vowed to send more 'trash balloons' if South Korea again strewed anti-regime leaflets.

[Soundbite]
(N. Korea’s Voice of Korea (June 2)): If S. Korea resumes strewing leaflets, we will respond by scattering a hundred times more trash, excrement as warned, depending on the number of leaflets found.

However, trash balloons from North Korea are not likely to be found immediately in South Korea as a southerly wind is forecast until later this week. Also, no unusual movements were detected in the North so far. Nevertheless, Pyongyang may still distrupt GPS signals and carry out new types of provocations. In that case, the South Korean military plans to turn on loudspeaker broadcasts which North Korea is very sensitive to as well as resume a signature psychological ploy of strewing anti-North leaflets and conduct artillery training near the border.

A FILM HONORS S. KOREAN POWS

[Anchor Lead]
Yesterday marked Memorial Day in South Korea.
Many South Korean soldiers captured by North Korea during the Korean War never returned, enduring lifelong discrimination and oppression. Their harrowing stories are now depicted in a documentary film. Prisoners of war and their families accuse the government of failing to repatriate or even accurately count the survivors. They challenge whether anyone would risk their life to fight for the country in another war.

[Pkg]
Some 70,000 South Korean soldiers were held captive in the North during the Korean War and didn't return home even after the war ended. Their lives were captured in a new documentary film. North Korea forced South Korean POWs to work in post-war restoration projects in accordance with the cabinet decision No. 43 in 1956.

[Soundbite]
Lee Cheol-woo (POW returnee): They drove us to a mine and brought us back at night. They locked us up in a POW camp. That's how I lived for 3 years.

Their families were discriminated against as well, the result of guilt by association.

[Soundbite]
Jeong Nam-soon (Daughter of the late POW Jeong Jin-geun): My hometown is Aoji Coal Mine. We were labeled 'No. 43.' We couldn't go to college even if we were smart. Fathers were treated like animals or slaves.

[Soundbite]
Hyeon Ji-won (Daughter of the late POW Hyeon Gwan-seop): When I told them I was 4-months pregnant, they said being pregnant meant nothing, told me to go into the mine and dig out rocks with my husband.

North Korea claims that no South Korean POWs are being detained. While the South Korean government did nothing to bring them home, only eighty POWs risked their lives and managed to escape from North Korea.

[Soundbite]
Baek Ji-won (Daughter of the late POW Baek Jeong-geu): The government didn't respond at all. It didn't care how we escaped. The government really abandoned my father.

The families of the South Korean POWs, who helped produce the documentary, called for the government's attention and measures.

[Soundbite]
Son Myung-hwa (Head, Korean POW Families Association): The state abandoned the POWs and never retrieved them. I hope the gov't would step up to bring back the remains of even one POW.

The documentary ‘Abandoned Heroes No.43’ will be screened on June 9th at the Seoul Larkspur International Film Festival championing freedom and human rights.

LATEST BOX OFFICE RELEASES

[Anchor Lead]
Now let's turn to box office news. ‘Wonderland,’ featuring director Kim Tae-yong of ‘Late Autumn,’ Tang Wei from ‘Decision to Leave,’ and stars Park Bo-gum, Suzy, Jung Yu-mi, and Choi Woo-shik,will be hitting theaters this week. Also debuting are the Hollywood hit ‘Bad Boys’ and ‘Zone of Interest,’ depicting contrasts across the Auschwitz camp fence.

[Pkg]
‘Wonderland’. A service that restores the dead using artificial intelligence. Bai Li signs up for this service to keep her death a secret from her young daughter and to continue to watch over her.

[Soundbite]
Where are you? Why don't you come to see me? I can't. I wish I could.

Jeong-in restores her boyfriend Tae-joo, who is in a coma after an accident, into an astronaut and keeps in touch with him via video calls.

[Soundbite]
It only takes a split second to discover something you believed was true is actually fake.

But an unexpected glitch at the Wonderland service results in a collision between the real and virtual worlds. The cast includes big names like Tang Wei, Park Bo-gum, Suzy, Jung Yu-mi and Choi Woo-shik. The movie was written and directed by Kim Tae-yong, who also directed ‘Manchu’ also known as Late Autumn.

[Soundbite]
Suzy (Role of ’Jeong-in‘): It was interesting to play Jeong-in taking care of the real Tae-joo when he was having a hard time acclimating to his new environment. I could relate to my character during those confusing moments.


[Soundbite]
Park Bo-gum (Role of ’Tae-joo‘): I hope this movie will inspire viewers to ponder what choices they would make if this service existed in real life.

Mike and Marcus, two veteran cops from Miami... One day they learn that their late Captain Conrad Howard is posthumously accused of being involved with drug cartels. They receive his secret message and launch a dangerous investigation to reveal the truth. This is the fourth installment of the Hollywood action series ‘Bad Boys’ dating back to the 90s, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.

[Soundbite]
Do you have Jews at home? The Jews are on the other side of the fence. We have planted a lot of grapes to block the view.

A blissful dreamland where German commandant Rudolf Höss and his family live together happily... Their beautiful garden cared after by his wife is always full of their children's laughter. This film juxtaposes two contrasting worlds separated by a fence: the Auschwitz concentration camp and the outside world. It was produced by A24, which started asa powerhouse in indie films made famous for various hits including ‘Midsommar’ and ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once.’

BYEON WOO-SEOK'S ASIA TOUR

[Anchor Lead]
Actor Byeon Woo-seok has kicked off his Asia fan meeting tour. He first started with Taiwan. Let me tell you, his popularity was absolutely extraordinary. Here's more.

[Pkg]
The moment actor Byeon Woo-seok steps into the departure section of an airport, his ardent fans erupt in loud cheers. He arrived in Taipei, Taiwan on Thursday afternoon to hold a fan meet and greet event scheduled for Saturday. Local media outlets reported, more than a thousand fans had flocked to the airport to see the actor in person. Nearly 30 police troops and security guards were mobilized to keep public order. Some media outlets even broadcast Byeon Woo-seok's arrival live, dubbing him "Korea's national boyfriend figure." After Taiwan, the actor is also scheduled to hold fan meets in Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore. Sources say tickets to the upcoming events are already sold out.