CAR CRASH KILLS 9 PEDESTRIANS

CAR CRASH KILLS 9 PEDESTRIANS

[Anchor Lead]
A tragic incident unfolded last night. Around 9:30 last evening, a massive casualty incident occurred in the heart of Seoul as a vehicle drove the wrong way and surged onto the sidewalk. Nine pedestrians were killed and six others were injured.

[Pkg]
A one-way road near Seoul City Hall. A black sedan drives in the opposite direction at great speed just behind a group of people at a crosswalk. The startled pedestrians who barely avoided a crash instantly look in the direction of the car. The opposite-driving car collided with two vehicles before charging onto a sidewalk. Innocent citizens standing on the street had no time to escape. The car, which didn't slow down, eventually came to a stop after reaching another pedestrian crossing on the other side. People crossing the road on a green signal scrambled to flee while other cars passing through the intersection slowed down with emergency lights on. In the blink of an eye, the accident in downtown Seoul left 9 people dead and 6 injured.

[Soundbite]
Park ○○ (Witness (VOICE MODIFIED)): People were lying around. Two motorbikes were also on the ground about here. A young person was performing CPR.

The driver of the vehicle, a 68-year-old man, complained of chest pain and was transfered to hospital. The man, not known to have been intoxicated, reportedly claims the car suddenly accelerated.

FORENSIC REQUEST ON CAR CRASH

[Anchor Lead]
Police investigating the deadly car crash near Seoul City Hall on Monday night said it will request the National Forensic Service to conduct a thorough analysis of the vehicle in question. In a Tuesday briefing, the Namdaemun Police Station said the suggestion of a sudden acceleration is only what is claimed by the suspect. It also said the driver was not believed to be under the influence of alcohol but the hospital will collect his blood for further testing. The police added that a simple drug test ran on the suspect also came back negative.

CLASH OVER LUXURY BAG, MEMOIR

[Anchor Lead]
During yesterday's National Assembly Committee meeting, debates flared up. The discussion centered on allegations about First Lady Kim Gun-hee's luxury handbag and former National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo's memoirs. The Presidential Office vigorously countered each issue, aiming to prevent the spread of these allegations.

[Pkg]
The opposition bloc and the presidential office clashed over the luxury bag handed over to the first lady by pastor Choi Jae-young.

[Soundbite]
Youn Kun-young (Nat'l Assembly Steering Committee (DP)): It was received as a gift, possibly a bribe in 2022. When problems arose, they said it was a presidential archive.

[Soundbite]
Chung Jin-suk (Presidential Chief of Staff): Choi told the first lady he knew her late father and illegally recorded their conversation, which was a despicable act.

Regarding opposition claims that the bag is not in the list of presidential archives, Presidential Chief of Staff Chung Jin-suk responded that it is still in its original packaging and stored at the top office. He said a decision on its designation as a presidential archive will be made by the end of the year. The two sides also locked horns over former National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo's memoir that says President Yoon believed the Itaewon crowd crush had been manipulated by someone. The presidential office denied it by saying the president simply ordered that all the speculations raised by the media be investigated. The opposition members of the committee rebutted by saying the allegations mentioned by the top office were in fact raised by far-right YouTubers.

[Soundbite]
Lee Do-woon (Senior pres. secretary for public relations): Many media outlets said there was oil on the ground at the time.

[Soundbite]
Lee So-young (Nat'l Assembly Steering Committee (DP)): All these speculations were raised by far-right YouTubers. The special investigation unit already cleared the charges.

When opposition committee members asked if the top office had considered suggesting to the president to reduce watching political YouTube channels, the office countered by saying, President Yoon is not overly dependent on YouTube.

FIRING DRILLS RESUME NEAR BORDER

[Anchor Lead]
The September 19th military pact has been fully suspended, allowing the resumption of Marine Corps artillery drills near the northwestern islands last month. Today, land-based artillery firing training within 5 kilometers of the Military Demarcation Line has resumed.

[Pkg]
In 2018, South and North Korea reached the September 19th military pact and agreed to suspend all types of military exercises against each other near the Military Demarcation Line. On land, the two Koreas decided to fully halt live-fire artillery firing drills and field training exercises involving regiments and larger organizations within five kilometers from the de facto inter-Korean border. At sea, they halted artillery firing and naval vessel drills in a pre-set buffer zone. On June 4, the government fully suspended the inter-Korean military agreement and normalized all military exercises. Late last month, South Korean Marines resumed artillery firing near the nation's northwestern islands in the West Sea. The South Korean Army that had been arranging drill schedules, resumed artillery drills near the Military Demarcation Line earlier today. In accordance with the September 19th agreement, South Korea suspended artillery firing drills at shooting ranges in Yeoncheon and Paju in Gyeonggi-do province, and Hwacheon in Gangwon-do province. The Army, accordingly, had relocated K-9 self-propelled guns to shooting ranges in rear area training grounds. The military reportedly plans to hold field training exercises near the eastern and western fronts until mid-July. The Army and the Navy will also hold joint firing drills. Military authorities expect that the resumed exercises will further boost troops' readiness posture near the front-line. But there are also concerns that it could give North Korea an excuse to amp up provocations, raising military tensions in the border area.

NK "TESTED NEW TACTICAL MISSILE"

[Anchor Lead]
North Korea said it test-fired a new tactical ballistic missile capable of carrying a 4.5 ton-class super-large warhead. State media the Korean Central News Agency made this claim on Tuesday, calling the Monday test launch successful. It added that another missile test will take place in July to verify flight characteristics and explosion power of a super-large warhead at the medium range of 250 kilometers. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff earlier said the North fired two ballistic missiles from the Jangyon area in Hwanghaenamdo Province in a northeastern direction. It assessed that one missile flew some 600 kilometers and the other only about 120 kilometers, possibly indicating a failure.

IN-FLIGHT SERVICES TO STOP EARLY

[Anchor Lead]
Korean Air will now end in-flight services 40 minutes before landing on mid- to long-haul routes. According to the airline, this decision aims to ensure the safety of passengers and crew following recent turbulence-related incidents.

[Pkg]
Back in May, a Singapore Airlines plane experienced severe turbulence. The aircraft suddenly plunged more than 50 meters in 4.6 seconds. As a result, one passenger died and some 80 others were injured. A Qatar Airways flight was also hit with turbulence recently, resulting in injuries for 12 passengers and crew members.

[Soundbite]
(Qatar Airways passenger (May 26))

The frequency of air turbulence incidents involving national flagship carriers in the first quarter of this year nearly doubled from the same period last year. Korean Air has decided to stop all cabin services up to 20 minutes earlier on all mid- to long-distance flights. Until now, in-flight services were provided even when a plane began its descend. But from now on, all cabin services including water and meals will be stopped 40 minutes prior to landing. The measure is necessary to protect passengers and crew members because ascending air currents occur frequently due to a temperature gap between different altitudes during the aircraft's descent. Korean Air is also stressing the importance of safety rules during sudden air turbulence.

[Soundbite]
(Korean Air staff): Fastening your seatbelt is the easiest and surest way to stay safe. Keep your seatbelts on even when the sign is off.

Airlines worldwide are ramping up their in-flight safety measures due to a more frequent occurrence of air turbulence. Singapore Airlines has announced it would halt cabin services when the seatbelt sign is on.

4.5-DAY WORKWEEK IN JEJU

[Anchor Lead]
Recent discussions have been active among private companies regarding the implementation of a four-day or four-and-a-half-day workweek. For the first time among provincial governments, Jejudo Island has decided to adopt a 4.5-day workweek.

[Pkg]
Moon Kyung-na has been working as a Jeju provincial government official for 14 years. Working while caring for her two children, aged 4 and 7, is no easy task. However, with the implementation of the 4.5-day workweek, she is excited about being able to leave early on Friday afternoons.

[Soundbite]
Moon Kyung-na (Jeju civil servant): Having Friday afternoons for personal time allows me to extend the weekend for family trips, making it a great opportunity.

The Jeju provincial government will introduce a 4.5-day workweek system this month - the first provincial government in Korea to do so. From Monday to Thursday, employees work an additional 4 hours beyond the regular 8-hour workday, allowing them to leave at 1 p.m. on Fridays. Starting with the provincial government, the system will be introduced in stages to the Jeju and Seogwipo city governments and affiliated public agencies

[Soundbite]
Oh Young-hun (Jeju Governor): We are pioneering the 4.5-day workweek. It will spread to city govt‘s, affiliated organizations, using the current 40-hour workweek and flexible schedules.

Jeju expects the 4.5-day workweek to improve job satisfaction and efficiency, and help balance work and family life by providing more time for childcare. However, there are concerns about potential service gaps and inconvenience to the public. To mitigate such concerns, the system will be implemented for up to 30% of each team's staff. But, a rotation system will be used to ensure all workers can benefit from the shorter workweek.

PARIS-BOUND ARTISTIC SWIMMERS

[Anchor Lead]
At the Paris Olympics, Lee Ri-yeong and Hur Yoon-seo return to the Olympic stage in artistic swimming after 12 years. Their goal is to exceed the achievements of their predecessors, the Park sisters, who competed 12 years ago.

[Pkg]
It remained uncertain if artistic swimmers Lee Ri-yeong and Hur Yoon-seo could participate in the Olympic Games in Paris, even after they for the first time advanced to the finals of the women's duet free event at the World Aquatics Championships in February. Fortunately, they were given the ticket to Paris in a dramatic twist, as there
are some nations that secured Olympic qualification in multiple competitions at the same time.

[Soundbite]
Hur Yoon-seo (Nat'l artistic swimming team): As soon as I learned about the result, I called and told her. At the time, she was half asleep from jet lag and asked, “What, Yoon-seo?".

[Soundbite]
Lee Ri-yeong (Nat'l artistic swimming team): It still doesn't feel real for me.

It's known as artistic swimming but synchronized swimming is a tough event that even result in athletes drowning and fainting during competitions. In addition to its physically demanding nature, the sport is not all that popular in Korea. But their love and passion of the event has led the duo to the Olympic Games.

[Soundbite]
Hur Yoon-seo (Nat'l artistic swimming team): I began because I was curious what might be at the bottom of the pool, it was fun. All I found were hair strands but now the sport means everything to me.

Their remaining goal is to surpass the record set by their coaches at the London Games 12 years ago. Lee and Hur will compete in Paris with their coaches Park Hyun-sun and Park Hyun-ha serving as KBS commentators for the event.

[Soundbite]
Lee Ri-yeong (Nat'l artistic swimming team): Their students are working hard to exceed what they achieved 12 years ago. Our goal is to produce results better than their record.