Public Grilling

[Anchor Lead]



A confirmation hearing was held on Wednesday for Unification Minister nominee Yu Woo-ik and Kim Kum-lae, the Gender Equality nominee. Yu said he would maintain the current inter-Korean policy, while reviewing humanitarian assistance and family reunions with North Korea.



[Pkg]



Ruling and opposition party lawmakers focused on inter-Korean policy at the hearing for the Unification Minister nominee.



[Soundbite]Hong Jung-wook (Congressman, Grand National Party): “Not many believe inter-Korean relations have been reasonably improved.”



Yu said the current inter-Korean policy which adheres to principles would continue, but added that humanitarian support and family reunions would be reviewed.



[Soundbite]Yu Woo-ik (Unification Minister Nominee): “If it’s apolitical and not a large economic cooperation issue, I’ll look for flexible measures to resume mutual dialogue”



At the Gender Equality Minister hearing for Kim Kum-lae, the ruling party focused on current gender equality policies. The opposition party on the other hand, focused on ethics, including allegations of tax evasion.



[Soundbite]Kim Sang-hee (Congresswoman, Democratic Party): “It might have been common and that you may not have handled it yourself. But you must apologize.”



[Soundbite]Kim Kum-lae (Gender Equality & Family Minister Nominee): “I regret not reporting the real price, even if it was common back then.”



And on Thursday, the National Assembly held a confirmation hearing for Choi Gwang-sik, who is running for the position of Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister, and for Im Chae-min, nominee for the Health and Welfare Minister post.



2. Reform Backlash



[Anchor Lead]



Universities on a list of higher education institutions needing restructuring are being vocal in their protests. They are taking issue with the criteria for evaluation. Students are also protesting, and at some schools, professors have vowed to step down.



[Pkg]



A large poster has been posted on a campus bulletin board. All of the faculty members at this school have resolved to resign. They are protesting the evaluation of a university of arts using the one-size-fits-all criterion of finding employment. This university aims to train professional artists. As a result, most of its graduates are freelance artists. This has resulted in an employment rate of 19% for its graduating students.



[Soundbite]Prof. Kim Hui-jae (Chugye University for the Arts): “You can’t measure employment just by the number of jobs in a company in the field of art.”



Students held protests in different parts of downtown Seoul. Sangmyung University ranked in the lower 15% in the evaluation by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. The chancellor resigned, and all faculty members tendered their resignation.



[Soundbite]Kwon Chan-ho (Faculty Member, Sangmyung Univ.): “Our school is sound financially, with no debt.”



Woongji Accounting College also objected to the evaluation results. It said the school’s curriculum focuses on accounting and tax. So most of the students are preparing for national exams, causing the delay in landing jobs. Since schools are protesting harshly, the Special Committee for University Structural Reform said it would measure employment rate using tax payment data of schools’ graduates.



3. Health Zones



[Anchor Lead]



Foods that are high in calories but low in nutritional value are not always easy to pinpoint. As such, Green Food Zones, which had been only around schools, will also be set up in department stores and supermarkets in Korea.



[Pkg]



An elementary school in Seoul, snacking while going home is a given for the always hungry children. To ensure healthy choices for these impressionable customers, the Children Green Food Zone has been established in areas within a 200 meter radius of the school. Stores pledging to not sell junk food are designated best retail stores. However, there are only about 1,000 such stores nationwide including school snack shops. A survey also showed that less than half of all consumers have proper knowledge of high-calorie, low-nutrition foods.



This is why large discount retailers and department stores will now set up corners dedicated to selling healthy snacks for children. They do not sell junk food, which have high caloric, sugar and sodium content.



[Soundbite]Han Gwon-u (Korea Food & Drug Administration): “It’s hard to decipher nutritional and calorie information; we made separate aisles to make buying healthy food easier.”



Stores designated as such stores and as a green food zone selling healthy children’s snacks will be rewarded with financial support for building facilities and will also be exempted from some inspections.



4. Median Strips



[Anchor Lead]



Police and the Seoul City government have clashed over median strips on Seoul’s major motorways. The Seoul government wants to remove the barricades because they spoil the landscape.



[Pkg]



Median strips are scattered around the Gangnamdaero Motorway in Seoul. A motorcycle suddenly switches its direction and begins driving across traffic lanes. A jaywalking pedestrian gestures toward drivers asking them to stop.



[Soundbite]Im Jeong-sik (Gangnam Police Station): “The risk of traffic accidents is high because of jaywalking and illegal U-turns by cars and motorcycles. We urgently requested the Seoul government and the Nambu Road Management Office resolve the problem.”



Over the past decade, the number of deaths has declined 65 percent, while the frequency of traffic accidents was down 50 percent since median strips were installed nationwide. But the Seoul City government wants to remove them in stages because they spoil the city landscape.



[Soundbite]Kim Jong-ho (Seoul Metropolitan Official): “We’re limiting the installation of new median strips. Excessive installation undermines the city landscape and hampers snow removal and cleaning efforts.”



The controversy over median strips will likely remain as some say safety must not be compromised for landscape, while others believe that illegal driving and jaywalking must be reduced by intensifying crackdowns.



5. Sorghum Therapy



[Anchor Lead]



With greasy meals increasingly dominating the dinner table, the risk of falling prey to adult diseases continues to escalate. Cholesterol is the main cause of such diseases. But a recent study has shown that the grain sorghum can help lower your cholesterol level.



[Pkg]



Sorghum harvest is in full swing. According to Donguibogam, an 400 year-old Korean medical encyclopedia.. the grain helps with detoxification and can protect the stomach.



A recent study shows that sorghum is also effective in controlling cholesterol level. Mice fed with greasy food developed insulin resistance syndrome. But the injection of sorghum extracts lowered their overall cholesterol level by 20 percent. The level of bad cholesterol, which causes hyperlipidaemia and arteriosclerosis, dropped by more than 50 percent while the level of good cholesterol remained nearly unchanged.



[Soundbite]Prof. Park Yong-sun (Hanyang University): “With the injection of sorghum, both cholesterol and blood sugar levels dropped about 30 percent.”



Sorghum skin also contains beneficial ingredients so it’s better to eat the grain whole. Brewing a cup of sorghum tea is simple. Anyone can conveniently enjoy sorghum tea at home. Powdered sorghum can be used to make delicious pastry. It’s only a matter of time, before sorghum extracts are used to develop varopis nutritional supplements and medicines.



6. Tourist PR



[Anchor Lead]



Jeju Island is seeing its biggest ever group of Chinese tourists . A large Chinese company has sent its employees and clients on a trip to South Korea as a bonus. It’s estimated that the trip will generate some 45 million U.S. dollars in economic effects.



[Pkg]



The Jeju International Airport is crowded with group tourists from China who have just arrived. There is a welcoming crowd of Jeju residents dressed up in traditional Korean attire, Hanbok. The tourists also visit the Cheonjiyeon waterfall.



[Soundbite](Chinese Tourist): “This is my first time in Korea. People are friendly. The air is clean and the scenery is beautiful.”



A Chinese company selling health supplements selected Korea as a destination for trips provided as incentives. Some 11,000 employees, customers, and family will visit Korea over eight sessions through September 28. This is the largest number of a single group of tourists seeking to sightsee in South Korea. They originally planned to visit Japan, but efforts by the Korea Tourism Organization and the Jeju Special Self-governing Province authorities have persuaded them to come to Jeju.



[Soundbite]O Jeong-hun (Jeju Provincial Official): “This opportunity could promote other incentive tourism from China.”



The local government in Jeju is aggressively seeking to bring foreign tourists into the island during a five-year period. It aims to bring to Jeju Island some 100,000 Chinese tourists who travel on incentives from their employers.



7. Baseball Legend



[Anchor Lead]



The Korean baseball league has seen over six million spectators this season. But in the midst of the festive atmosphere, players and fans took time to mourn a legend that passed away. He is Choi Dong-won, a superstar pitcher turned coach.



[Pkg]



Father time could not have been more cruel to baseball lovers in Korea. The funeral for Choi Dong-won was solemn with people mourning the death of the man who made a difference for the league. Naturally, the funeral was hosted by the Korea Baseball Organization. Baseball players expressed their condolences over the death of Choi. Fans of the Lotte Giants, Choi’s former employer, mourned his death, saying that the Giants has lost an inseparable piece of the organization. Many baseball figures visited the memorial altar for Choi overnight. Sun Dong-yol, a former manager of the Samsung Lions, paid his respect to the late baseball star. As players, the two were rivals who continued to push each other to reach new heights.



[Soundbite]Sun Dong-yeol (Fmr. Manager, Samsung Lions): “He wasn’t my rival. He was my idol. I always respected him.”



After graduating from Kyungnam High School and Yonsei University, Choi played for the Lotte Giants and he enjoyed a celebrated baseball career. With his fast balls and tenacity, Choi gained the nickname "iron arm." He set a record of winning four games in the 1984 Korean Series. Korea’s baseball community is united in mourning the death of a legend.



8. Artifact Exhibit



[Anchor Lead]



With mother-of-pearl crafts, earthenware and traditional musical instruments, an exhibition featuring works by traditional craftsmen has begun.



[Pkg]



A traditional Korean drum is decorated with two dragons, and a phoenix is engraved on a gayageum, a traditional Korean string instrument. Wooden arrows produced by a master craftsman seem delicate but strong. In this painting, the ten creatures symbolize longevity. Sometimes, traditional Korean craftworks are plain and simple. But sometimes, they are extravagantly decorated. The exhibits are the results of passion and devotion of 100 traditional craftsmen. Some of them are traditional craft masters who were designated as intangible cultural assets.



[Soundbite]Sin Jin-ra (Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation): “Under the theme of the spirit and legacy of art, the exhibition features works that retain the wisdom and beauty of our ancestors.”



The traditional painting skill called dancheong was used in a modernized way to present a new artistic possibility. The craft masters pursue to realize beauty in everyday life by creating fine living articles. The exhibits will be put on display overseas to introduce the beauty of traditional Korean craftworks.



9. Speaking Up



[Anchor Lead]



In Korea, mothers and daughters-in-law are traditional enemies, but that is said to be changing these days. We took a look at some such relationships to see if that is actually the case.



[Pkg]



Nowadays, people say that in many families, mothers- and daughters-in-law are as close as mother and daughter.



[Soundbite]Kim Jeong-sim (Mother-in-Law): “My daughter-in-law is more of a friend to me than my daughter. We talk to each other a lot.”



If they’re this close, it would seem that there wouldn’t be any friction. But as the daughter goes about cooking in the kitchen, the mother-in-law doesn’t seem to be able to keep her opinions to herself.



[Soundbite] “Put it in to float, for better soup.”



[Soundbite] “Usually, scallions don’t go into bean sprout soup.”



[Soundbite] “You don’t have any raw garlic?”



With the mother-in-law’s constant nagging, the daughter-in-law doesn’t seem to want to chat so much anymore. We asked the daughter-in-law how she feels in situations like this.



[Soundbite] “Kim Min-ju (Daughter-in-Law): I’m scared to tell my mother-in-law. But holding it in is strange.”



We visited a singing class frequented by many married women to hear some more stories. It seemed like everyone was getting along very well, but we asked them about the truth behind their relationships.



[Soundbite] “I try to be understanding for my son, even when I sometimes feel it is out of line.”



[Soundbite] “I know she gets tired from work. But I get annoyed inside when she comes home late.”



Keeping everything bottled up so that explodes one day is obviously not the best way of dealing with such issues. So we went to an expert for advice.



[Soundbite]Jo Chang-hyeon (Counselor): “Getting into a contest of who has it worse escalates into a fight less than five minutes. Communication is effective when they express support and console each other.”



Let’s take a look at some tips for improving communication.



[Soundbite] “I was disappointed because you didn’t care about the little things.”



[Soundbite] “(You must have felt hurt.) You must have felt hurt.”



[Soundbite] “(Thank you for understanding.) Thank you for understanding.”



[Soundbite] “That’s when you begin to forgive. What do you think?”



[Soundbite] “It’s difficult and very strange.”



First, listen. Then, let out what you have to say. As the mother-in-law candidly unloads her side of the story, the daughter-in-law ends up in tears.



[Soundbite] “I think I didn’t understand her enough for a long time. If I were in her shoes, I could’ve understood her feelings a little bit better. But I only treated her like an in-law. She must have been very lonely.”



As in any relationship, the secret to keeping the peace between mothers and daughters-in-law is proper communication.