Bribery Probe

[Anchor Lead]

The probe into the bribery scandal surrounding Seoul education superintendent Kwak No-hyun is gathering speed. Prosecutors are questioning a professor as to whether he delivered money from Kwak to a former election rival, who has said he took money in return for dropping out of last year’s superintendent vote.



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Seoul National University of Education professor Park Myoung-gee has been arrested. Park is charged with accepting a combined 185-thousand dollars over six occasions from Seoul schools superintendent Kwak No-hyun for dropping out of last year’s superintendent race.



Park’s arrest has partially confirmed the allegation that Kwak bribed a candidate running for public office. Prosecutors say criminal punishment for Kwak is inevitable.



Investigators are also known to have secured testimony that Kwak first proposed the bribe to the professor to cover the latter’s campaign expenses. At the time, the professor had signed deals to buy more than 650-thousand dollars worth of campaign supplies, including pamphlets and vehicles. So Kwak pledged to pay for the expenses, and the professor agreed to drop out of the superintendent race.



But Kwak denies this, saying he firmly rejected Park’s request for money to cover his campaign cost.



Prosecutors also questioned another professor from Korea National Open University through late Monday. The professor is suspected of delivering money from Kwak to Park. Prosecutors grilled the Korea National Open University professor over details of the money he delivered for Kwak.



2. Urgent Funds



[Anchor Lead]

Many people have nowhere to turn to when they need emergency funds to pay for living or business expenses. Calls are rising for measures to help those with low incomes repay their debts.



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receive a microcredit but to no avail. The reason was her 28-thousand dollar debt that she had received from a bank.



[Soundbite]

Lee Jeong-suk (Merchant): "I asked them if I could receive more; they said I can’t when I’m going through a tough time financially."



Low-income people can receive a microcredit of up to 47,000 dollars at a low interest. But the criteria are too strict. Other micro-credit companies also apply the same standard. Loans provided to low-income people account for just 3.8 percent of all loans provided to people with bad credit, even if they attain their goal for this year. It has led many to call for expanding financial resources for low-income people and lowering the bar. Some also call for continuous support even after providing business loans to guarantee the success of business startups.



[Soundbite]

Baek Seong-jin (Korea Finance Consumer Federation): "Consultations focus on loan repayment and risk management; debtors face difficulties surviving after launching their businesses."



Measures to resolve fundamental problems such as unemployment are also needed to help households increase their income.



3. Chuseok Gifts



[Anchor Lead]

The weather for next month’s Chuseok holiday, the Korean Thanksgiving, is expected to be hot and mild. And this is changing Koreans’ choices on what to buy as Chuseok gifts. Distributors are rolling out dried fruit and fish gift sets as presents for the holiday.



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Sellers hawk Chuseok gifts with Korean Thanksgiving just two weeks away. Large discount stores have increased their inventories of "gotgam," or dried persimmon, the most. The price of a gotgam set ranges from 27 dollars to 186 dollars. Sets of dried fruits such as plums and blueberries are being promoted as Chuseok gifts.



[Soundbite]

O Sin-yeong (Staff Member, Supermarket Chain): "We’ve increased the inventory of gotgam by 50 percent to replace the apples and pears in the wake of the rains and typhoon."



Sea wind-dried abalone and seaweed are also on display despite being considered unusual choices for Chuseok gifts. This is because the holiday this year will come ten days earlier than usual. Consumers say they’re satisfied with the new gift items, which are unlikely to spoil.



[Soundbite]

You don’t have to keep dried foods in the fridge. They don’t take up much space. You can keep and eat them for a long time.



The prices of the gifts are also stable since they were made before a series of downpours hit this summer.



[Soundbite]

Chu Gwang-il (Staff Member, Supermarket Chain): "There’s no change in the prices of fruit that was harvested and dried last year."



The hot weather forecast for this year’s Chuseok holiday is changing Koreans’ choices on gifts.



4. Napa Genome



[Anchor Lead]

Korean researchers have become the world’s first to decode the genome of napa cabbage. The finding could lead to the development of vitamin-enriched cabbages or those with anti-cancer properties.



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Kimchi made of napa cabbage is a staple food in Korean cuisine. Researchers have decoded the genetic information of napa cabbage, which holds secret to its taste and function.



The National Academy of Agricultural Science of the Rural Development Administration has completely decoded the 280 million DNA sequencing in 10 chromosomes of the cabbage. The finding is the result of nine-year collaboration of hundreds of researchers from seven countries including China, Japan and the U.K. led by a team of Korean researchers.



[Soundbite]

Park Beom-seok (Rural Development Administration): "We’ve laid a foundation for developing the world’s best napa cabbage breeds. "



The genetic sequencing will pave the way for the production of new cabbage breeds with pest-resistance and advanced taste. The analysis of the genetic code on the anti-cancer properties of napa cabbage will help to develop kimchi with enforced health properties.



[Soundbite]

Han Jang-ho (Rural Development Administration): "We can develop cabbage breeds with several times more anti-cancer properties or enriched vitamins."



The Rural Development Administration will soon analyze the genetic information of other crops as well including radish and pepper.



5. Spoiled Sauce



[Anchor Lead]

KBS News has found that a famous maker of the spicy pepper paste ssamjang has shipped hundreds of boxes that had spoiled. The tainted product was delivered to hundreds of restaurants in the Seoul metropolitan area.



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Staff members at a food delivery company take out the spicy paste ssamjang from boxes full of mold. They wipe the bags with wet cloth and put them in clean boxes. Boxes with spoiled paste can be seen in one corner of the factory. The staff mix the mold with the paste to make it disappear from the plastic bags. The paste is delivered to supermarket chains and hundreds of famous food delivery products in the Seoul metropolitan area that supply food products to restaurants. The paste is even supplied to companies that supply food to schools. The staff says the mold was only found on the surface of boxes.



[Soundbite]

(Staff Member, Paste Delivery Company (Voice Modified)): "The mold appeared in boxes. It shouldn’t be on plastic bags. "



The paste maker failed to act though it was aware of the problem.



[Soundbite]

(Staff Member, Paste Manufacturing Company (Voice Modified)): "(Did you know about this?) Yes. Mold occurs on boxes when it’s too humid during the rainy season."



More than 300 boxes of mold-covered ssamjang were disguised as fresh products, enough to last one month at 300 small and mid-size restaurants.



6. Flood Repairs



[Anchor Lead]

Bicycle-only lanes near streams were flooded amid the heavy rains this summer and are now being repaired. But critics say that it is a waste of money, since they could just be flooded again in a new downpour.



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A bicycle-only lane is destroyed. The lane was built last year, costing 7.5 million dollars. The riverside bike path was destroyed less than a year after its construction. The surface of this section looks intact, but it has been eroded underneath. A repair work is in full swing, but the risk of flood remains.



Several sections of a bike path were destroyed in Gangchon near the northern part of the Han River. The bottom of the path is eroded. Soil has been swept away from its surface.



This bicycle path near the Gongreung Stream is also damaged. The construction of the bicycle road was scheduled to be completed next month. Stones were swept away from the sides of a bridge for bikers. A repair work is under way.



The waterside on the right is still covered with grass. But on the left, the bike path and its surroundings are destroyed. Environmentalists say that flooding causes greater damage because bike lanes take the place of streams.



[Soundbite]

Lee Hang-jin (Federation For Environmental Movement): "The bike path is blocking the water way, making the water flood and hit houses and the bridge. All the facilities are broken."



The Ministry of Land and local governments are building bike paths near 160 rivers across the nation with a budget of nearly three billion dollars.



7. Job Equality



[Anchor Lead]

Many employers say they welcome the hiring of high school graduates, but problems remain, such as lower pay and dimmer promotion prospects than staff with college degrees. A major Korean corporation has decided to give equal treatment to both high school and college grads.



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Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering will hire 100 high school graduates as permanent staff late this year. The high school grads will be assigned to managerial and office positions as well as specialized jobs. Daewoo says it’ll give equal treatment to both high school and college grads.



[Soundbite]

Nam Sang-tae (CEO, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering): "We can abolish the prejudice that only college graduates can become good workers and fulfill their duties. The decision is good for the company because it can train experts. "



Employees with a high school education will be offered a seven-year in-house training program on technology and international accounting. They will also be fostered as heavy industry experts and receive the same pay and promotion opportunities as college grads. More companies are hiring high school grads, but their pay is just half that of college grads. So creating decent jobs for high school grads is the key.



[Soundbite]

Kang Sun-hui (Korea Labor Institute): "People with only high-school diplomats are hired as non-regular workers and they also receive lower wages."



Whether Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering’s experiment will bear fruit and encourage other companies to follow suit remains to be seen.



8. Farming Fad



[Anchor Lead]

Prices have been soaring lately, with vegetables seeing some of the steepest rises. This has led more and more people to grow organic vegetables themselves, both to save money and as a hobby.



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People plant Chinese cabbages and radishes in a farm, which were rented to people over 65. The vegetables will be used for making kimchi this fall. Families come to the garden to plant seedlings.



[Soundbite]

It’s not a big farm. I’m going to come here and take care of my garden whenever I can.



The competition rate is higher than 3 to 1 each time farmers are invited. A patch of 9.9 square meters is rented to a family. Vegetables grown in the patch are enough to make kimchi. People can save roughly 190 dollars a year if they grow lettuce in spring and plant Chinese cabbage and radish in fall. Experts also give advises.



[Soundbite]

Kwon Hyeok-hyeon (Seoul Agricultural Technology Center): "Seedling with four or five leaves are the best to plant."



People can grow their own vegetables, save money and have fun at the garden.



9. Jangajji Journey



[Anchor Lead]

Jangajji is a traditional Korean side dish that generally means vegetables pickled in soy sauce or salt. It’s widely loved here, and is thought to stimulate the appetite. Here are some tips on how to enjoy jangajji.



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The harvest of ulwoi, a kind of cucumber, is in full swing at this time of year in this village. The long, greenish vegetable looks like a cross between a squash and a cucumber.



[Soundbite]

This ulwoi is giant. Can you see me? Peek-a-boo!



Ulwoi is one of the best vegetables for making jangajji with. First, remove the seeds with a spoon. Leave it in salt for 48 hours. The most important step is to ferment it with lees called sul jigemi. Lees are the residual yeast left after the fermentation of alcoholic drinks, and serve as a natural preservative. Ulwoi jangajji should be fermented for six months to a year.



[Soundbite]

It’s really a rice thief.



This side dish helps reduce the greasy taste of boiled meat.



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It’s really good to eat a piece of ulwoi jangajji and meat. Wonderful, wonderful!



This restaurant’s specialty is jangajji, and it offers a wide variety. About 20 kinds are available here. Jangajji is an indispensable ingredient in all the dishes available here. A bowl of bibimbap contains pickled sprouts from Chinese mahogany trees.



[Soundbite]

It’s not salty, unlike ordinary jangajji. It’s mild and simple. I feel I get healthier whenever I eat it.



Jangajji is a featured part of the noodle dishes here. This sauce is a mixture of several different types. They stir noodles and vegetables in this jangajji sauce for a signature dish. This isn’t the most common way of eating jangajji, and has become what this place is known for.



[Soundbite]

I hope my mother would make jangajji at home like this every day.



Now, let’s take a look at making healthy jangajji at home. Of the nutrients contained in rice bran, the minerals help lower the level of sodium. Vegetables soaked in the pleasant flavor of rice bran are less salty. If you don’t like the spiciness of pickled garlic, mix water and vinegar at a ratio of 1:1 and leave the garlic in the liquid for three days. After the three days, add soy sauce and sugar to the liquid and boil it. Then pour it into the bowl of garlic. It’s important to repeat the process several times.



[Soundbite]

Kim Oe-sun (Culinary Expert): "It is highly likely that jangajji to go bad while it’s stored due to different levels of saltiness. But the process of boiling helps reduce the likelihood and has the effect of sterilization. "



Now let’s try some sour fruit pickle. Cut plums into pieces, sprinkle salt on them and leave them for a day. You can see water come out of the fruit. Add soy sauce and sugar syrup to the salted plums and you get pickled plums. There are different ways to store pickled vegetables, depending on the level of saltiness.



[Soundbite]

It’s better to keep jangajji in a refrigerator if it’s not salty. It’s enough to store salty jangajji in a cool place.



Koreans believe that eating jangajji can help restore the appetite that you may have lost during the heat of the summer.