SAVING LIVESTOCK FROM HEAT

SAVING LIVESTOCK FROM HEAT

[Anchor Lead]
Amidst the persistent scorching heat, animals are enduring a tough time, no less challenging than humans. Livestock farmers are pulling out all the stops, deploying large fans and air conditioners, striving relentlessly to preserve the lives and health of their livestock.

[Pkg]
Exhausted from the heat, these pigs are sprawled on the ground. Instead of drinking the flowing water, some pigs put their bodies against the running water tap. The temperature inside the pig sty soared to 36 degrees Celsius as heat wave alerts were issued across the nation.

[Soundbite]
Lee Hee-yeong (Pig farmer): Many pigs die when it’s hot and farm productivity falls. Pigs need to eat to grow fat, but they tend to eat less and sleep instead.

This farmer keeps spraying water in a desperate attempt to cool down the pig pen. Air conditioners were installed in the piglet nursery. Large fans are working around the clock at this Korean cattle farm. The cattle are given cool water to drink anytime. But the cattle’s feed consumption has fallen 30% because the animals lost their appetite. This cattle farmer even made a special treat for his cattle.

[Soundbite]
Lee Geun-wu (Hanwoo cattle farmer): Their feed consumption and energy level are down. So, I add sweetened nutritional supplement to their feed.

With the prolonged heat wave, however, roughly 150,000 heads of livestock have died nationwide this year. Farmers are worried that the recent floods and the continuing heat wave would compound their loss.

[Soundbite]
Kim Gwang-jae (Flooded cattle farm owner): The cattle are severely stressed and have lost their appetite. The heat wave has come to make them even more miserable.

Livestock farmers’ troubles only deepen as the summer continues to grow even hotter.

HEAT ILLNESSES AT JAMBOREE

[Anchor Lead]
The ongoing heat wave has also impacted the World Scout Jamboree in Saemangeum, where over 80 participants suffered from heat exhaustion during last night's opening ceremony and were transported to hospital.

[Pkg]
Ambulances stand in line and the participants move according to police instructions. Firefighters and police were mobilized when dozens of people collapsed during the opening ceremony of the World Scout Jamboree in Saemangeum. The ceremony took place at 8 p.m. Wednesday. It lasted nearly three hours with over 40-thousand people in attendance. At around 9 p.m. the temperature in Buan was 27.5 degrees celsius. But the scouts probably felt a more intense heat because of the large crowd of tens of thousands of people. Several participants collapsed due to dizziness and heat exhaustion. More than 80 people were taken to hospital. The fire authorities asked the organizing committee of the World Scout Jamboree to suspend the event. Police issued the highest emergency level to mobilize officers at all three nearby police stations.

[Soundbite]
(Firefighter official (VOICE MODIFIED)): We believe it’s heat-related illnesses. Many ambulances have arrived to help cope with the emergency.

The event caused concerns from day one. It's being held in a coastal area where it's easy to develop heat-related illnesses because of the prolonged heat wave and 70% humidity. In fact, more than 400 people had already developed heat-related illnesses on Wednesday even before the opening ceremony.

[Soundbite]
Choi Chang-haeng (Secretary General, Jamboree organizing committee): There are 807 patients in all. More than 400 have heat-related illnesses.

The organizing committee plans to evacuate the participants to a stadium that can accommodate up to 50-thousand people if the sweltering weather conditions continue. It's also considering downsizing programs when heat warnings are issued.

SPECIAL SCOUTS AT JAMBOREE

[Anchor Lead]
The record-breaking Saemangeum Jamboree this year hosted special guests, including the renowned 'Survival King', Bear Grylls, and a three-generation scout family. Students from war-torn Ukraine also joined in.

[Pkg]
The second day of camping. The scouts exhausted from the heat start cheering when they spot someone. British TV personality Bear Grylls has come to Saemangeum. The adventurer is best known for his skills that help him survive in any extreme conditions. He is amazed by the Scout members who cycled to the Jamboree all the way from France.

[Soundbite]
Bear Grylls (British TV personality)

Bear Grylls says that his boyhood scout activities helped nurture his adventurous spirit. He taught rock climbing to Jamboree participants to emphasize the spirit of the scouts.

[Soundbite]
Bear Grylls (British TV personality)

Among the participants were also three generations of Scout members. The grandfather took part as an instructor in the World Jamboree held in Goseong, Gangwon-do Province in 1991. This year he came to Saemangeum with his youngest daughter and two granddaughters.

[Soundbite]
Rooting for the father, the daughter and the granddaughters!

Korean students are completely immersed in the camp life.

[Soundbite]
Kim Ji-woo (Korean Scout member (Age 17)): There are moments I want to go home because it’s tough. But such thought disappears when I meet friends from abroad.

Young Scouts from war-torn Ukraine interact with young people from all over the world to overcome the hardship of war.

[Soundbite]
Caterina (Ukraine Scout member)

The largest World Jamboree held in 32 years will run until August 12th.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT BY PASTOR

[Anchor Lead]
Today, we spotlight the renowned 'Schindler of Asia' and 'Godfather of Defectors,' a pastor acclaimed for aiding thousands of North Korean escapees. Despite his humanitarian work, including running an alternative school for defectors' children, he is under police scrutiny for alleged sexual assault against multiple teenagers.

[Pkg]
A boarding alternative school for North Korean defectors. It was founded by a church pastor in 2009. The pastor is recognized globally for helping more than a thousand North Koreans to defect in the past 20 years.

[Soundbite]
Pastor (2019 (VOICE MODIFIED)): I founded this school to help young defectors who were not even qualified to enter elementary school.

A girl who had spent years in the facility dropped out of school this year. She says she went through a horrific experience in her dorm at the end of last year. Someone was fondling her chest when she was taking a nap. When she woke up, she saw the pastor by her side.

[Soundbite]
(Victim (VOICE MODIFIED)): He came to my room during lunchtime, sat at the edge of my bed and put his hand inside the bed curtain. He groped my chest and belly while chatting with my roommate. I was so confused I couldn’t move.

The pastor touched the girl even when her roommate was in the room at the time. The victim says such physical contact happened frequently, and several other girls had the same experience.

[Soundbite]
(Victim (VOICE MODIFIED)): He rubbed another girl’s belly and put his hands in other girls’ underwear and touched their chests.

The girl did not tell her mother about what happened until two months after dropping out of school. Despite the demands for apology, the pastor said it was a misunderstanding. Police have received a petition and launched an investigation. They have issued a travel ban for the pastor, who was about to leave for the U.S. to attend an event, and raided the school last week to obtain security camera footage. Police have found eight victims so far. All of them were underage at the time.

BANKER EMBEZZLEMENT PROBE

[Anchor Lead]
Prosecutors conducted a raid into BNK Kyongnam Bank and the house of its employee on Wednesday. The search came after the bank last month reported to the Financial Supervisory Service that its employee had embezzled nearly 7.8 billion won. The financial watchdog carried out an emergency inspection and found that the banker surnamed Lee had embezzled a total of 56 billion won.

MEASURES FOR FAULTY APARTMENTS

[Anchor Lead]
In light of alleged substandard construction in LH-commissioned apartments, the government and ruling party has declared emergency measures, vowing full-scale inspections, compensation for current residents, and contract termination rights for prospective occupants.

[Pkg]
The government and the ruling party held a high-level emergency meeting to discuss how to address the issue of shoddy apartments with missing rebars, which were developed by the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH). They announced measures to pay damages to those who already moved into the apartments in question. Owners of the faulty apartments, who have yet to move in, will be given the right to cancel their purchase contracts. They will also be guaranteed the chance to win the right to purchase other apartments.

[Soundbite]
Kim Jung-jae (Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee (PPP)): We have decided to give them the right to cancel contracts. Owners of the apartments are very worried. It is to help ease their concerns.

The government and the People Power Party plan to complete the inspection on all LH-developed apartments and carry out reinforcement construction by next month. They will also punish those who are found responsible. While pledging to root out cartels with vested interests, the officials announced they will look into whether there were bid-rigging schemes and improper contracts with subcontractors during the construction process. The government and ruling party also announced plans to fully investigate any illegal and illegitimate acts committed under the previous administration. The ruling party launched a fact-finding task force to conduct its own investigation. It is also pushing to launch a parliamentary probe into the scandal.

[Soundbite]
Yun Jae-ok (Floor Leader, People Power Party): As well as the land ministry under the previous administration, policy makers at the presidential office should be investigated. It is necessary to find whether it was due to simple moral hazard or greater problems with policy making.

The Democratic Party refuted and criticized the government and ruling party for trying to hold the previous administration accountable for the issue. The main opposition party also opposed conducting a parliamentary probe, calling it a move to shift the blame.

[Soundbite]
Park Sung-joon (Spokesperson, Democratic Party): In relation with the faulty apartments, the land ministry is the one that should take responsibility and devise measures. If there are allegations of corruption, there can be fully investigated by prosecutors.

The DP called on the current government to take responsibility, saying that 13 out of the 15 flawed apartments were built or completed after the Yoon administration kicked off.

KBS TOPS AUDIENCE SHARE

[Anchor Lead]
According to statistics from the Korea Communications Commission, KBS was the channel viewers tuned in to the longest time last year. KBS accounted for 22.3 percent of the overall hours viewers spent watching TV. MBC came in second with 10.8 percent, followed by SBS with 7.8 percent. Among cable channels, TV Chosun won the largest portion of 7.9 percent, trailed by JTBC, Channel A and MBN.

CHINESE CRIMES IN JEJU

[Anchor Lead]
In Jeju-do Island, police have arrested an illegal Chinese resident, revealed to be a fugitive previously involved in a traffic incident and weapon assault, for recurrent burglary at a fellow national's home.

[Pkg]
A footage from a house in Seogwipo, Jeju Island. A man enters the house through a window and rummages through the room, covering himself with a pink blanket. He soon closes the door as if he knows the locations of surveillance cameras. Roughly 13 million won disappeared from this lodging for illegal Chinese migrants over the past four months. The police tracked him for about a month before nabbing him at a convenience store. He turned out to be an illegal Chinese worker in his 20s, just like his victims.

[Soundbite]
Park Jong-nam (Seogwipo Police Station): He knew that other illegal workers kept cash in their rooms and stole the money while they were away.

But this thief’s crimes didn’t end there. A parked car rolls backward and rams into pedestrians at a parking lot two years ago.

[Soundbite]
(Witness (VOICE MODIFIED)): I ran out after hearing a loud noise from the parking lot. The pedestrian could have been injured seriously. It was very dangerous.

The Chinese driver didn’t put on the brake after parking. But he was put on the wanted list since he disappeared without any measures. This Chinese illegal alien was accused of special assault when he threatened another Chinese national with a knife late last year. The police arrested him for committing burglary and violating the Immigration Act. Several illegal Chinese migrants were caught in April for randomly assaulting Chinese women and confining foreign women to force them into prostitution.
More than five hundred crimes involving foreign nationals occur annually in Jeju.