POSCO Scandal

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Prosecutors are investigating charges of embezzlement and breach of trust regarding the chief of a trading company with steelmaker Posco called Kosteel. The investigation is expanding more broadly into Posco group including former CEO Chung Joon-yang.

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Prosecutors on Tuesday analyzed bank transaction records obtained from Kosteel, a trading partner with the steel giant Posco. Investigators are trying to prove embezzlement and breach of trust charges lodged against the president of Kosteel surnamed Park. Kosteel purchased remaining volumes of slab plates and substandard plates from Posco at a cheap price. Then the company processed those slab plates into other goods such as steel wires and sold them at a steep price, earning hefty profit. The prosecution is especially noting the fact that Kosteel's revenue sharply jumped ever since former Posco CEO Chung Joon-yang came to office in 2009. The chief of Kosteel is known to share close ties with Chung and other influential political figures hailing from Pohang, as he headed an alumni association of a Pohang middle and high school. This is why pundits believe that prosecutors will eventually zoom in on the former Posco CEO. Investigation into the alleged slush fund amassment by POSCO Engineering & Construction, is also picking up speed. Prosecutors detained an executive director of POSCO E & C Tuesday night on charges of creating a slush fund of nearly 3 million dollars, and questioned whether
he received orders from higher ups.

2. Overseas Inspections

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The Board of Audit and Inspection will launch field inspections into the nation's overseas resource development projects in eight countries. In an unprecedented move, the board's highest-ranking officials will personally oversee the inspections.

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The Board of Audit and Inspection will hold field inspections in eight foreign countries. The inspections will be conducted at 12 overseas sites in which three public energy corporations have invested. They include an offshore oil well in the Netherlands, a coal mine in Australia and an oil field in Canada. 29 inspectors in 5 teams will be deployed, including officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and private-sector experts. In addition to the unprecedentedly large size of the inspection team, the inspections will be overseen personally by the secretary general and the deputy secretary generals of the Board of Audit and Inspection.

[Soundbite] Kim Young-ho(Secretary-General, BAI (Apr. 3)) : "The deputy secretary generals and I have extensive experience in conducting inspections. It's going to be challenging but we can draw quick decisions by discussing matters on-site."

The Board of Audit and Inspection said that over 28 billion U.S. dollars have already been invested in overseas resource development and 31 billion dollars are to be injected in the future. However, the prospect of recouping a large portion of the investments is bleak. This is the reason the board is determined to thoroughly investigate the sites and detect problems. Meanwhile, the ruling and opposition parties have agreed to extend the deadline for the special committee on the parliamentary probe into overseas resource development to May 2.

3. Sinkhole Situation

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Across Seoul, the sudden emergence of sinkholes is cause for alarm for motorists and pedestrians alike. In the latest incident, one person was injured when a sidewalk sank in Seoul’s Dongdaemun district on Tuesday.

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A huge hole formed on a sidewalk right next to a subway ventilation fan. The section of walkway collapsed near Janghanpyeong subway station in Seoul's Dongdaemun district at around 4 p.m. Tuesday. A 19-year-old passerby fell into the sinkhole and hurt his knee. He was treated at the hospital.

[Soundbite] (Victim) : "The road out of nowhere collapsed and I was sucked into the hole. I wasn't even running, I was just walking along."

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said the sinkhole is 0.8 meters wide, 1.5 meters long and 2.2 meters deep. The hole was sealed up for obvious safety concerns. Two people were injured in a similar incident in Yongsan district in February. Recently, as many as five cases were reported in a single day. An average of 600 sinkholes are reported in Seoul every year. The Seoul city government declared it will investigate all suspected cases of sunken roads, but citizens are still nervous about the ground they're stepping on.

4. Tax Refund Solution

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Since it has been revealed that working people who earn less than 50,200 dollars paid more in taxes than they should have, the government has laid out measures to reduce the tax burden by providing additional tax refunds. For many critics, this seems like an extemporaneous solution to a systemic problem.

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Office worker Park Seung-keun found in his most recent year-end tax adjustment that his taxes had grown by about 270 U.S. dollars compared with the previous year.

[Soundbite] Park Seung-Keun(Office Worker) : "Families with multiple children have to spend more. I wish my taxes could be cut."

The government's supplementary measure is to increase tax refunds to working people like Park who have multiple children and who want to save for retirement. Park will receive 91 dollars in tax refunds because he has three children. He will also receive 109 dollars as a tax credit for his pension savings. The government has also restored tax credits for childbirths. For single workers, who are entitled to very few tax refunds, the standard tax credit has been increased by 9 dollars. But critics say that the initial goal of the tax reforms might be undermined because the percentage of workers who pay zero income tax will increase from the current 31 percent as a result of this extemporaneous measure. The government plans to provide tax refunds after additional year-end tax settlements starting next month if the parliament approves its supplementary measure as scheduled.

5. Cyber Security

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Cyber security is the buzzword these days when it comes to guarding against hacking attacks. A global hacking competition was held in Korea Tuesday with the aim of fostering teenage hackers into the next generation of security experts.

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Fingers are fast at work on the keyboard. And program codes continuously pop up on the computer screen.

[Soundbite] "Okay, let's get to encoding after finishing up the debugging."

A site that was hacked into is being restored by detecting vulnerabilities.

[Soundbite] "Alright!"

The mood is tense as in a real-life situation, but this is in fact an international hacking defense competition where the best hacking talents battle it out. All of the contestants are in their teens.

[Soundbite] Kang Jin-oh(Middle School Contestant) : "I studied hacking on my own at home. I wanted to test my ability so I'm taking part."

30 hackers from 7 countries including Korea, the U.S. and Japan advanced to the main round.

[Soundbite] "Contestant"

The growth of next generation white-hat hackers is paving the way for Korea to stand strong as a security powerhouse in the coming years.

6. Heart Disease

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Heart disease has a higher mortality rate than cancer because treatment is still lacking. The number of patients experiencing heart failure has surged in recent years. Here’s a closer look.

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This heart failure patient has difficulty breathing even when lying still. The patient is currently awaiting a heart transplantation because his heart's function has deteriorated to such an extent that he has had several heart attacks.

[Soundbite] (Heart Failure Patient) : "I can't breathe because of the chest pain. I feel pressure and suffer a lot if I don't take painkillers soon enough."

Heart failure is the final stage of heart disease. It occurs when the heart becomes unable to effectively pump blood, resulting in poor circulation, swelling of the body or severe breathing problems. The number of heart failure patients grew 22 percent in just four years, amounting to 115,000 people in 2013. The increase stems from a surge in the number of heart disease patients, as more people develop chronic diseases as a result of ageing. The four-year survival rate of heart failure patients is 70 percent. That's lower than the survival rates of most kinds of cancer, except lung and pancreatic cancers. But the progression of heart failure can be delayed at an early stage through medication and exercise. To prevent the disease, it's important to keep blood pressure and blood sugar levels at normal levels and to detect and treat heart disease early on.

7. Integrated Performance

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In today's performing arts, integrated performances that combine different genres are in vogue. Here are some integrated performances that incorporate various sensory inputs and mix Eastern and Western cultures.

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This performance begins with the Korean traditional dance, Taepyeongmu. Suddenly, images appear on the screens to generate a unique visual effect that the dancer could not express by herself. The dancer even shows up on the screen as a part of the scenes from the classic Korean film, "Madame Freedom."

[Soundbite] "Oh, it's the blues. Shall we dance? Oh, I feel shy. Let's dance when there are more people."

Various images, music, and dance that traverse tradition and modernity are weaved together into one performance.

[Soundbite] Nam Min-ji(Spectator) : "It was really fun because I had a chance to experience various things during the hour."

The piano, gayageum, a double-ended drum and drums accompany traditional dance. A guitarist and a percussionist join a daegeum player. The audience erupts in applause at a performance that transcends the boundaries of the East and West. Combinations of different cultural genres are offering new experiences to the Korean audience.

8. Entertainment News

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The 1960s and 70s were the golden age of Korean cinema, but some movies could not be viewed for a long time because the prints had gone missing. Experts have managed to restore several of the classic, nostalgic movies of the era.

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This film clip is from "Full Ship," director Kim Su-yong's signature work which realistically portrays the hardships of fishermen. The film became a sensation at the time of its release, largely thanks to its star-studded cast. The late director Lee Man-hee's first film to depart from the action genre in favor of romance has been restored as well. "Unforgettable Woman," released in 1966, provided a turning point in Lee's cinematic career, immediately leading to the creation of the stylish "Late Autumn." Recently, a film enthusiast donated 94 movies released between 1949 and 1981 to the Korean Film Archive. The KFA restored five of the donated films from the 1960s, including the works of such cinematic masters as Im Kwon-taek and Jeong Jin-woo. Not many of Korean movies from the 60s have been preserved to this day. The Korean cinema industry is hoping that a gap in Korean film history can now be filled by the newly restored works.

9. 3-D Printing Tech

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Cutting-edge technology that can build human teeth, joint replacements and even houses with little effort: 3-D printing is said to be ushering in seismic changes to industry worldwide. Today, we learn more about 3-D printers and what they can do. Here is the story.

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3-D printers can print out three-dimensional objects that people can touch and use. The machine can turn anything you can imagine into solid, three-dimensional structures. 3-D printers are most widely used in making figurines. Let's make a figurine of a male model. Some 60 cameras are used to take pictures of the man from various angles. The collected data is corrected and colored on a computer. Then it is transferred to a 3-D printer. The printer produces a sophisticated reconstruction of his body. It takes about four to five hours to create the replica. 3-D printers have become a great help to medical experts. In particular, dental clinics are quick to adopt 3-D printers. 3-D printers allow dentists to produce models most similar to the original teeth and minimize the side effects of dental prostheses.

[Soundbite] Kwon Cheol-ro(Dentist (3-D Printer User)) : "I can produce more sophisticated dental prostheses. So patients appear to feel comfortable from the start when they put on dental devices produced by a 3-D printer."

3-D printers are used in making food. In South Korea, a chocolate-making 3-D printer has been developed. Liquid chocolate is injected into the special 3-D printer, which then prints out chocolates in various elaborate shapes.

[Soundbite] Jeong Tae-jun(Chocolate-Making 3-D Printer Company) : "Our machine is not that different from other 3-D printers. It is heated up, like other 3-D printers, to melt chocolate and build it into various shapes."

Some inventions have the potential to change our way of life entirely. 3-D printers are expected to usher in even more exciting changes to the world.