NIS Investigation

[Anchor Lead]

The floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties have agreed to work together on the parliamentary investigation into allegations that the nation's spy agency meddled in the last presidential election. Meanwhile, universities and conservative groups are taking sides.

[Pkg]

The floor leaders of the Saenuri and Democratic parties have met again. They agreed to do their best to process a plan regarding the parliamentary investigation of the National Intelligence Service's alleged interference into politics at the next extraordinary parliamentary session. The party leaders seem to realize that the ongoing bickering over the spy agency's scandal could push political reforms and bills on improving people's lives to the back seat.

[Soundbite] Rep. Choi Kyung-hwan(Floor Leader, Saenuri Party): "We’ve agreed to make the June parliamentarysession productive by implementing all tasks."

[Soundbite] Rep. Jun Byung-Hun (Leader, Democratic Party): "We agreed to improve parliamentary operationsin June with our own efforts by keeping all promises."

Meanwhile, the National Assembly Intelligence Committee, whose operations were suspended for three months, is to resume by early next week. Several of the nation's universities, including Seoul National, EhwaWomans', Kyung Hee and Dongguk Universities are demanding a parliamentary investigation into the National Intelligence Service. But the Korea Freedom Federation is urging the government to firmly respond to the universities, and called their demands for an investigation "a conspiracy of pro-North Korea activists who are trying to spark a massive candlelight demonstration.”

2. Roh Comments

[Anchor Lead]

In a separate matter, the NIS says it can disclose all the minutes from the 2007 inter-Korean summit in response to controversy over remarks made by former President Roh Moo-hyun disavowing the maritime border between the two Koreas. Rival parties are bickering over the fact that only the ruling Saenuri Party has seen the document.

[Pkg]

The National Intelligence Service says it can disclose the full text of the minutes for the 2007 South-North Korea summit if the ruling and opposition parties agree to it. In a press release, the NIS made the remark in response to a partisan spat, in which main opposition Democratic Party lawmakers argued the summit records that the ruling Saenuri Party members saw was distorted. The spy agency says that a court had ruled the minutes as a public document and that it accepts the call to view the record since it's not a politically sensitive time, such as an election period. The NIS brought a condensed version of the minutes to parliament on Thursday and five lawmakers, including Saenuri Party Representative Suh Sang-kee, viewed the document. Saenuri Party members who saw the transcript confirmed that former President Roh Moo-hyun made a remark during the summit, where he said that South Korea can abandon the Northern Limit Line maritime border.

[Soundbite] Rep. Suh Sang-kee(Saenuri Party): "Our pride is shattered. I'm speechless. It's humiliatingand disgraceful from the start to the end of the summit."

The Democratic Party strongly protested. It says the ruling party, mired in the NIS electioneering scandal, is trying to water down that case.

[Soundbite] Rep. Jung Cheong Rae (Democratic Party): "It’ll be difficult for the NIS and Saenuri Partyto avoid taking responsibility for the disruption of national order and discipline."

The Saenuri Party has welcomed the NIS' decision to fully disclose the minutes while the opposition DP will determine its stance at a leadership meeting scheduled to be held today.

3. Defector Report

[Anchor Lead]

Nine North Korean teens who were forcibly repatriated about a month ago have been featured in media in the country. Pyongyang is sticking to the story that they were rescued after having been kidnapped by the South.

[Pkg]

North Korean media recently reported an update on the nine teenagers who were repatriated back to the North from Laos. The children were shown for the first time since their repatriation on May 28. The Korean Central News Agency disclosed the names of each of the nine children when broadcasting a meeting that was held yesterday at the Koryo House of Compatriots. The children said that they crossed the North Korean border in a car with a South Korean church pastor and that the Laotian government later found out that they had been kidnapped and helped them return to Pyongyang. They also said that the South Korean pastor sent three North Korean children to South Korea in September 2011 with the help of North Korea Freedom Coalition Chairwoman Suzanne Scholte, and four other children to the United States in August last year. North Korea apparently showed the children via its national news agency to draw the attention of the global community.

4. Second Thoughts

[Anchor Lead]

A North Korean defector in his 20s who tried to return to the North has been arrested after spending some time in a welfare facility. A growing number of defectors have been trying to go back recently. Here's a look at some of the reasons why.

[Pkg]

Twenty-four-year old Lee lives in a welfare facility for North Korean defectors. Recently he was arrested for trying to return to the North. Earlier in January, a married North Korean couple returned to the Stalinist state. In November last year, another couple also did the same thing. North Korean defectors decide to return to their home country because of financial difficulties and a failure to adapt to South Korean society. One of the defectors, identified only by her family name Kim, came to the South three years ago, but she's still facing discrimination in South Korean society. Two months ago she had to quit her job where she had worked for more than two years.

[Soundbite] North Korean Defectors (Voice Modified): "I cried a lot. Going through this has been hard."

The unemployment rate of North Korean defectors is more than twice as high as that of other South Korean citizens.

[Soundbite] Kim Myeong-hui(Counselor, North Korean Refugees Foundation): "These people go through many trials and errorsbecause they are thrown into a harsh reality without a chance to adapt to their new life."

With more than 24,000 North Korean defectors living in the South now, South Koreans need to reach out to these defectors to help them make a fresh start.

5. Greenwashing

[Anchor Lead]

Products claiming to be eco-friendly fill the market, but a disappointingly large number of them get found out to have exaggerated or falsified their greenness. So, the government is compiling ways to let consumers know how to distinguish these so-called greenwashing products from the real thing.

[Pkg]

An array of household products grabs the shoppers' attention. Each one is packaged with labels advertising its eco-friendly attributes.

[Soundbite] Han Seon-yeong(Consumer): "I buy eco-friendly products a lot because of my baby.I read the labels carefully since there’re many fake ones."

There are about 9,000 products marked with the Ministry of Environment's approval for being environmentally safe. But a large number of these items are so-called greenwashing products, which are deceptively marketed to be environmentally friendly through their packaging or advertisements. The Korea Consumer Agency found last year that about half of the products claiming to be green have falsified or exaggerated their green attributes. The Ministry of Environment plans to conduct a status survey and design a greenwashing guideline before the year is up.

[Soundbite] Lee Sang-hwa(Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Inst.): "There should be enough information so thatconsumers can buy real eco-friendly products and laws that strictly regulate greenwashing products."

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has an extensive set of guidelines to restrict such false or exaggerated green products and has the authority to indict businesses that deceive consumers.

6. Staying Cool

[Anchor Lead]

The country is facing a potential power shortage these days, so we’re going to take a look at some ways to stay cool without using too much energy.

[Pkg]

When photographed with a thermal imager with a full suit on, including a long sleeved shirt and a tie, the surface temperature of a face is measured at 33.3 degrees Celcius. This time, another image is taken when the jacket is off, the tie is loosened, and a short sleeved shirt replaces the long sleeved shirt. In just 20 minutes, the temperature is down two degrees. Of course, different conditions can produce various results. But the experiment has confirmed the common knowledge that going easy on the necktie will drop a person’s body temperature by two degrees. Running the air conditioner on 'high' for 20 minutes costs an hourly 550 watts of electricity. Instead, set it on 'low' and turn on the fan at the same time. It has a similar cooling effect, but the amount of power consumption goes down 30 percent. For a four-member family, this will save about 17 dollars a month. In particular, it’s good to keep in mind how to use the air conditioner in an economic manner. First tip one can follow is to use curtains or blinds to block the sunray, thus cooling the room by 15 percent. Another tip is to clean out the air conditioner’s filter once every other week. Removing the dust will save an extra five percent in energy spending. Also try to open the refrigerator less frequently by attaching a food list on the fridge. Using the washing machine less is also key to saving energy. Wait until there are enough clothes for a load that is 80 percent of the machine’s full capacity and then do laundry.

7. Eagle Egg

[Anchor Lead]

An egg from a migratory eagle that is a designated natural monument has hatched in Korea. The bird came for the winter but couldn't return home due to an injury. The hatching is expected to galvanize study of the eagles, which are an endangered species.

[Pkg]

A baby eagle breaks open the hard shell with its beak and emerges. After a month, the bird is up and about looking for food and it weighs more than two kilograms. It’s name is "Cheol-su" the very first Korea-born baby eagle. It received the name being born in the Cheorwon, Gangwon Province. Though a bit clumsy, Cheol-su practices hard on how to stand and flap its wings. By October when it's fully grown, it will be trained to adapt to the environment to get ready to fly back home to Mongolia. Cheol-su's parents came to Korea in 2003 to hibernate but their injured wings have prevented them from returning home. Eagles are natural treasures and winter migratory birds. It's the first time Korea has seen an eagle lay an egg and hatch using an artificial method.

[Soundbite] Kim Su-ho (Korean Association for Bird Protection Cheorwon Branch): "Through artificial hatching, we can help preventthe species from going extinct."

Eagles are dwindling in number worldwide due to the lack of food and environmental degradation. It's all the more reason why Cheol-su's birth and growth on Korean soil is drawing special attention.

8. Entertainment News

[Anchor Lead]

Singer Kim Jang-hoon has received an appreciation plaque from the mayor of Los Angeles for his charity donations. And the band Ulala Session is unveiling a mini album later this month, their first work since losing their lead member to cancer.

[Pkg]

Singer Kim Jang-hoon, nicknamed the 'donation angel' due to his acts of charity, received a plaque of gratitude from the mayor of LA during his U.S. tour. He began touring the nation starting from last month, and donated around 110 thousand U.S. dollars to Korean communities and a local breast cancer foundation. Kim said if such sincere acts of giving continue, Americans will think more highly of Koreans. Ulala Session has been low key for a while since the death of its leader Lim Yoon-taek. But the band is coming back with a mini album this month. The group has released one song from its album on the Internet titled, “Fertilizer.” The management agency says they tried to include parts the late Im worked on during his battle with cancer but his voice condition was so poor that it couldn't be accomplished. Korea's top multiplex chain CJ CGV has decided to raise the portion of its movie ticket sales profits given to distributors by five percent for its theaters in the Seoul area. Starting next month, earnings of movies aired at CGV theaters in Seoul will be split so that film distributors take 55 percent and theaters keep 45 percent of profits.

9. Healing Music

[Anchor Lead]

Music has long been known to have therapeutic value beyond the simple pleasure of listening to it. Here’s a look at how some of Korea’s kids are using music to get a new perspective on their lives.

[Pkg]

After her lunch at an elementary school in Seoul, a girl rushes to put her tray away and runs off. She arrives at a classroom where some fellow students are singing. This isn’t a music class. The students are members of a newly launched school choir, and practice during lunchtime.

[Soundbite] Malo(Jazz Singer): "In the past, the teacher sang songs line by lineand the students copied to learn them but now, this process is omitted. Video clips are playedjust like a karaoke and they imitate a song even if they don’t know it."

As a parent, jazz singer Malo volunteered to lead the school choir and introduce the pleasure of music to students.

[Soundbite] Lee Ma-rin(Elementary School Student): "I like singing in harmony."

[Soundbite] Hwang Hyeon-ji(Elementary School Student): "The choir is helpful for me during class.It’s fun to sing with friends during lunchtime."

Music has helped many struggling high school students find new hope. These kids practice their singing and dancing together like pros.

[Soundbite] "(Isn't it hard?) No, I don’t think sobecause I enjoy it. "

[Soundbite] "I love dancing with my friends."

They’re practicing a musical about high school students who live in a mining village and keep getting into trouble. But they grow to realize how much their parents love them after getting into a life-threatening situation. The story is based on the real lives of the student actors. Children in a mining village don't have as many chances to enjoy cultural activities as those who live in cities. So they can face limitations in nurturing their dreams. But this musical is changing that for theatrically inclined kids. The musical club was launched to help students let off some steam and keep them out of trouble.

[Soundbite] No Eun-yeong(Music Teacher): "They can express themselves in various ways.They have strong and unique personalities.I think they’re learning how to cooperate withothers and train themselves."

They’ve created a musical themselves without the help of experts. Graduates help the students with advice.

[Soundbite] "It's been a while so let's see your skills. (Okay!)Did you get better? (Yes!)"

[Soundbite] Park Hyeon-jin(Graduate): "I went through all this way. I can understandtheir problems. I want to show them what will come next after overcoming all the troubles."

[Soundbite] Yu Sang-min (Student): "Before I joined the musical club, I wasn’tconfident about myself. I didn't have dreams.After joining the club, I began dreaming againand regained self-confidence."

[Soundbite] Jo So-yeon(Student): "I’ll do it until I graduate. It’ll be a good memoryof my high school days. "

Students get a wide range of benefits from learning music, from stress relief to learning how to harmonize with others, and some even create new dreams.