The Korea Herald

Kim Young-won

안녕하세요 Kim Young-won 기자입니다.

Articles by Kim Young-won

School of former U.S. president seeks to open Jeju campus

Social affairsMay 25, 2012

Jeju Island has signed a memorandum of understanding with a prestigious U.S. private school to set up the school’s campus on the island.Jeju Free International City Development Center (JDC), a state-supported organization, said in a press release that it had signed an MOU with St. Johnsbury Academy on Tuesday. With its 170-year history, the school has produced a number of prominent alumni, including Calvin Coolidge, a former U.S. president.The school offers 22 advanced placement courses, Englis
Seoul to aid green car purchases

Social affairsMay 19, 2012

The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to promote the use of electric cars among private institutions by subsidizing two-thirds of costs for purchase. The government aims to distribute 385 electric cars this year to public and private organizations. “Seoul City will be fully prepared for the dawning of the electric car era” said Jung Hung-soon, director of Green Transportation Policy Division at the municipal government.The municipality has tried to increase the number of electric, hydrogen fue
Seoul City ups green energy plans

Social affairsMay 17, 2012

Seoul City plans to increase the number of hydrogen power systems for a stable electricity supply in case of blackouts or other emergencies, officials said.Under the plan, 29 hydrogen fuel cell power plants will be built and 102 hydrogen fuel cells will be installed by 2014. The facilities are expected to generate 230 megawatts of electricity per hour that could meet the energy demands of 400,000 households. Hydrogen fuel cell plants are recognized for their efficiency, emitting less greenhouse
Weather chief probed in influence peddling case

Social affairsMay 17, 2012

Police said Wednesday they have launched an investigation into alleged influence peddling involving Korea Meteorological Administration chief Cho Seok-joon in a contract bidding process.The Seoul Metropolitan Police suspect Cho, along with Park Kwang-joon, chief of the Korea Meteorological Industry Promotion Agency, of providing favors to a specific contractor during bidding for Light Detection And Ranging (LIDAR) between June and December last year.They allegedly changed the standard range of w
Seoul aims to become fair trade city

Social affairsMay 10, 2012

Seoul City is joining a global movement to assist farmers in poor countries and protect the environment with the ethical and fair trade of produce. The city plans to adopt a declaration and launch a range of events on Saturday to mark World Fair Trade Day, officials said Thursday.The statement will include five goals including establishing related laws, a government-civilian committee and a center for research and education. The city will also launch campaigns to expand the use of fair trade pro
Metro scraps plan to hike Line No. 9 fares

Social affairsMay 9, 2012

The operator of subway Line No. 9 has canceled its plan to raise its fare under pressure from citizens and the municipal government. Seoul Metro Line 9 Corporation announced a plan in April to increase the fare by 500 won to 1,550 won on June 16.Citizens already suffering from inflating living costs criticized the plan. The company apologized Wednesday for causing concern. The operator and Seoul Metropolitan Government said they will resume negotiations over the fare and try to make efforts to m
Seoul City to restore medieval city wall

Social affairsMay 7, 2012

Seoul City announced on Monday a master plan to restore the medieval city wall surrounding the capital by 2015 and to register it on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The Hanyang City Wall was built in 1396 during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897) to protect the capital from foreign invasion. Hanyang is an old name of Seoul. Many parts of the wall were removed or destroyed during Japan’s 1910 to 1945 colonial rule.The wall stretches 18.6 kilometers along the peaks and ridges of four mountains and con
18 Chinese booked for illegal university admission

Social affairsApr 30, 2012

Police in Gyeongggi Province have booked two Chinese brokers and 18 students for faking documents to enter Korean universities and are widening their investigation to find more such cases. The 20 people were booked without detention.The Chinese students, none of whom are qualified to attend university in Korea, paid 7 million won ($6,192) to 18 million won to each broker for a fake high school diploma and school reports, according to the police. A broker surnamed Gang received 7 million won from
Lawmaker-elect Moon resigns from university

Social affairsApr 30, 2012

Lawmaker-elect Moon Dae-sung has resigned from the faculty at Dong-A University due to plagiarism.The former Olympic gold medalist in taekwondo left the ruling Saenuri Party on April 20 amid the scandal.Moon, who became a professor of taekwondo at the university in 2006, offered his resignation on Friday, according to the university in Busan. His doctoral thesis was confirmed to have been copied from another doctoral paper. (wone0102@heraldm.com)
Korean to make commencement speech at U.S. university

Social affairsApr 30, 2012

A Korean student has been selected to make a spring commencement speech at Northern Michigan University on Saturday.Lee Young-jong, whose major is media production with a minor in art and design, worked for the Korean Broadcasting System and a cable company as an assistant producer for two years before coming to NMU.His commencement speech will mention the advantages of coming to the school, including personalized attention from faculty and staff, according to the university.(wone0102@heraldm.co
Fire ravages Jeju heritage site

Social affairsApr 24, 2012

A fire broke out in Hallasan National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site, on Jeju Island Tuesday. No injuries were reported.A hiker found the blaze at an “oreum,” or a parasitic volcanic cone, at around 12 p.m. Around 4,000 firefighters and park rangers battled the fire for around two hours.They put out the fire at around 2 p.m. Some 16,000 square meters of forest were damaged, according to the fire department.The fire is thought to have started at a water fountain at Sajaebi Oreum, which is 1,3
Teachers demand judicial authority

Social affairsApr 23, 2012

The nation’s largest teachers’ group asked the government to give special judicial authority to teachers to curb school violence. In a meeting with the Education Ministry on Monday, the Korean Federation of Teachers Associations also demanded the government extend counseling and therapy and set up more alternative schools.The teachers said it has become even more difficult to control unruly students because of rules on students’ human rights that went into effect in Seoul this year.The governmen
Sung Il-hwan nominated as new Air Force chief of staff

DefenseApr 16, 2012

The Ministry of National Defense nominated Lt. Gen. Sung Il-hwan as the new Air Force chief of staff on Monday, Sung has served as commander of the Air Force Education and Training Command and superintendent of the Air Force Academy.Ministry officials said that President Lee Myung-bak will appoint him the new Air Force chief of staff after Cabinet approval on Tuesday.Outgoing chief of staff Park Jong-heon has held the post since 2010.The new chief of staff exhibits strong leadership and is highl
IMF approves $36.56 billion funding for Greece

World BusinessMar 16, 2012

The International Monetary Fund on Thursday approved 28 billion euros ($36.56 billion) in funding for crisis-hit Greece over the next four years, while Standard and Poor‘s warned that the country’s new bonds remained vulnerable to default despite this month‘s massive debt writedown.The IMF’s executive board granted the immediate release of 1.65 billion euros ($2.15 billion) of these funds as part of the country‘s second bailout, a statement said.Greece will receive a total 172.7 billion euros in
Iran cut off from global financial system

World NewsMar 16, 2012

Dozens of Iranian banks were blocked from doing business with much of the world as the West tightens the financial screws on a country it wants to prevent from developing nuclear weapons.The Belgium-based company that facilitates most international bank transfers on Thursday took the unprecedented step of blocking 30 Iranian banks from using its service. The move is likely to hurt Iran‘s all-important oil industry and make it difficult for citizens to receive money from relatives living abroad.T