Tuesday, October 14, 2008

[JoongAng Ilbo, Culture, Arts, October 11 2008] Korean, Japanese share top film award in Busan

BUSAN - Two films about two very different kinds of women shared the major award at the 13th Pusan International Film Festival yesterday.

South Korean director Roh Gyeong-tae’s “Land of Scarecrows” and Japanese director Ichii Masahide’s “Naked of Defences” were awarded the New Currents award for first- or second-time Asian filmmakers.
[JoongAng Ilbo, Business, Industry, October 10 2008] Hangul Day hits logos on the Web

Marking the 562nd anniversary of the invention of the Korean alphabet, which fell yesterday, leading Web sites unveiled logos created with Korean characters and conducted Hangul-related events.
Naver, the country’s most-visited search engine, said yesterday in a release that it will distribute free Hangul-based fonts, which the company developed over the past 12 months by investing 500 million won ($362,450).
Two types of fonts are available at http://hangeul.naver.com.
[JoongAng Ilbo, Business, Industry, October 9 2008] Cyworld, Microsoft in cooperation pact

SK Communications Co., the operator of online social network service Cyworld, said yesterday it signed a tentative agreement with U.S. software giant Microsoft Corp. to cooperate in research of new online applications and platforms.
[JoongAng Ilbo, Business, Industry, October 9 2008] KT signs WiBro deal for Apple products

KT Corp., Korea’s leading broadband service provider, said yesterday it signed a tentative deal with Apple Corp. to cooperate in providing high-speed Internet services with the U.S. company’s products.

The memorandum of understanding signed with Apple Korea calls for cooperation in combining WiBro, a third generation-based communications technology, with Apple’s hit products such as the MacBook laptops and iPod media players, KT said in a statement.
[JoongAng Ilbo, Business, Industry, October 8 2008] On-the-go Web gets even faster

WiMAX in running for global standard

Korea’s leading electronics maker and the central government-financed research institute succeeded in demonstrating the newest and fastest version of wireless mobile Internet technology. Now, people can use faster high-speed Internet on their mobile phones and other digital devices.

Due to the new technology’s enhanced data transmission speed, Korea is expected to gain an edge over European rivals.

Industry officials are currently competing to make their own wireless mobile Internet technology the global standard to be used for fourth-generation mobile phones.
[JoongAng Ilbo, National, Social affairs, October 14 2008] Dokdo islets get Korean airport code by the ICAO

The heliport on the Dokdo islets, known as Takeshima in Japan, has its own four-letter airport code, RKDD - and it is recognized as Korean.
[JoongAng Ilbo, National, Social affairs, October 10 2008] Woman who spread rumor is harassed by Net users

Personal information on a 25-year-old female securities company employee who spread a rumor about leading actress Choi Jin-sil’s involvement in a loan shark transaction has been circulated on the Internet.

Choi committed suicide after the rumor surfaced.

The police said yesterday that information on the woman known as Baek - including her real name, phone number, picture, Internet home page address, home address, company name, alma mater and even her college major - has been spread on the Internet.

...

With the current Internet culture, there will be more and more victims in Korea,” said Lee Seung-hwan, a 32-year-old office worker. “The Korean government must introduce measures coping with cyber terror.”
[JoongAng Ilbo, National, Social affairs, October 10 2008] Jjirasi suffering a spotty reputation

The gossip publication known as jjirasi - implicated in the recent suicide of actress Choi Jin-sil - covers news not printed by regular media on topics ranging from politics to the economy, the stock market and the entertainment industry.

Nobody knows for sure, but it’s widely believed that the first jjirasi was created in the mid-1980s as the military regime at the time tried to muzzle circulation of unauthorized information.

Jjirasi, a Japanese word widely used in Korea, means a paper news sheet made for mass circulation. In Korea, jjirasi is delivered both online and off.
[JoongAng Ilbo, National, Social affairs, October 10 2008] Copyright crackdown expands to movie sites

Prosecutors have ramped up their probe into copyright violations, shifting the investigation to several Web sites which they say illegally provide movie files and software programs.

The Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office announced that 15 prosecutors raided the headquarters of six Web sites in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province yesterday, confiscating computer data and financial documents.

On Wednesday, the nation’s two biggest Internet portals - Naver and Daum - were also raided for allegedly providing music in an unauthorized manner.
[JoongAng Ilbo, National, Social affairs, October 10 2008] Free Korean lessons by KBS

In celebration of the 562nd Hangul Day yesterday, KBS World Radio, the overseas service of the Korean Broadcasting System, launched free Korean language lessons in ten different tongues on its Web site. The service is aimed mainly for overseas Koreans and foreigners in Korea.
[JoongAng Ilbo, National, Social affairs, October 9 2008] Copyright case sees portal raid

Prosecutors raided the nation’s No.1 and 2 Internet portals yesterday, as part of an investigation into their alleged violation of copyright law.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday that it confiscated statements and computer data in the headquarters of both Korea’s largest portal, Naver, in Bundang, Gyeonggi, and that of the second-largest, Daum, in Seoul’s Seocho District.

According to prosecutors, millions of songs have been provided in an unauthorized manner.

“We just started the copyright infringement probe,” said Hwang Chul-gyu, a prosecutor on the case. “Offering songs online without permission severely damages the music industry in Korea.”
[JoongAng Ilbo, National, Politics, October 14 2008] President uses radio to try to reassure citizens

In the first of a planned series of radio talks, President Lee Myung-bak yesterday urged the nation’s financial institutions to help rescue competitive companies that are at the brink of bankruptcy due to temporary liquidity problems.

“Trust,” “jobs,” “domestic spending” and “economic patriotism” were some of the key words in his radio address.

The eight-and-a-half minute presidential talk was aired yesterday morning by eight broadcasters, including KBS 1 radio.
[JoongAng Ilbo , National, Politics, October 10 2008] President to address nation via radio

President Lee Myung-bak is planning to begin a series of radio addresses, the first of which deals with public confidence and the global financial crisis, a senior Blue House official said yesterday.

“Since last month we started planning for regular radio addresses by the president to seek the public’s understanding of national governance issues, including serious ones involving the economy and society,” said the presidential aide. “We were to begin the first in the series on Monday. But if preparation does not go smoothly, there could be a delay.”

According to the Blue House, President Lee will speak for up to 10 minutes every week to address the nation candidly.

Monday, October 13, 2008

[Chosun Ilbo, October 13 2008] Experts Seek to Limit Online Libel

Experts from various fields are putting their heads together to create measures to limit the negative effects of the internet, in addition to introducing the cyber libel charges and online identity verification already proposed by the government.

They prefer to prioritize measures such as posting warning signs about defamation charges, classifying websites into categories, and offering training on online ethics to reduce the Internet’s harmful effects.

Lawyer Lee Ji-ho, of Jeonglyul Law Firm, believes messages warning of possible defamation and libel charges would be best, saying “The measure is particularly effective for teenagers who post online without seriously considering such consequences.”
[Chosun Ilbo, October 13 2008] Lee Prepares for First Radio Address

President Lee Myung-bak delivers his first radio address at 7:15 a.m. on Monday. Such talks are to be a recurrent event whenever important issues arise. Titled "How Are You? I Am President," His first address on Monday will last for eight minutes and 30 seconds on several channels including KBS.

Lee will apparently emphasize that the government's top priority is to maintain jobs and create more. He will say the current financial crisis is different from the IMF crisis in the late 1990s, and that trust is the most important factor in overcoming the difficulties. To beat the financial crisis, he will also call on businesses, financial institutions, politicians and ordinary people to play their roles, a presidential official said.
[Chosun Ilbo, October 9 2008] ‘Black Wednesday’ at YTN

YTN anchors started broadcasting in black from Wednesday, in a protest against management’s decision to dismiss six union leaders and slap punitive measures on 27 unionized workers for blocking the newly-appointed president from his office and refusal to accept job transfers.

Starting with “Good Morning Korea” at 5 a.m., male anchors on the cable news channel appeared in black suits or with a black necktie, and their female counterparts wore black. Management belatedly persuaded a senior anchor to appear dressed normally on the 9 a.m. program “News Today,” most other anchors broadcast dressed in black all day.
[Chosun Ilbo, October 9 2008] Double Standards by Democratic Party Regarding Cyber Violence

The Democratic Party, which is opposed to the government’s idea of requiring people to verify their identities when posting comments online, has reportedly been requiring visitors to its homepage to do exactly that for the past five years.

When accessing the free bulletin board of the Democratic Party’s homepage, visitors are shown a message saying those who fail to verify their identities cannot post comments. The main opposition party explains on its website that the measure is “unavoidable” and acts to strengthen a sense of responsibility among those posting messages.

Even a forum on the website for party members requires user verification in order to post messages. In the name of protecting freedom of expression, the Democratic Party has been calling on Koreans to allow cyber anonymity, while protecting itself against random online attacks by unnamed individuals on its own homepage.
[Chosun Ilbo, October 8 2008] Dokdo Issue Delays New W100,000 Notes

The government is believed to have tentatively halted plans to issue W100,000 notes due to controversy over whether to include the Dokdo islets in the Daedongyeojido or Grand Map of Korea drawn by Kim Jeong-ho in 1861, which is to form the design of the back side (US$1=W1,329).
[Chosun Ilbo, October 8 2008] Portal Raids Aim to Curb Illegal Online File-Sharing

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office on Tuesday raided the headquarters of Daum and NHN, operators of the two major web portals in Korea, to investigate illegal sharing of music files in blogs and online clubs.

Prosecutors sent around a dozen investigators to the NHN headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, and the Daum headquarters in Seocho-gu, Seoul on Tuesday afternoon, who copied materials from servers to hard disks. The prosecutors plan to summon officials from the two companies as soon as analysis of copied materials is complete, to investigate whether any illegal actions have been taking place online.
[Chosun Ilbo, October 8 2008] How Multimedia Changes Parliamentary Grillings

A parliamentary audit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Tuesday saw a public demonstration of how easily personal information stored in new electronic passports can be cracked.

Lawmaker Song Young-sun of the Pro-Park Geun-hye Alliance typed in her passport number into a chip-card reader which she had bought from the electronic market in Yongsan, Seoul for W200,000 (US$1=W1,329). A computer with a hacking program then showed her personal information, including a photo, on a screen via a projector.

Song said, "The personal information stored in the electronic passports, which is supposed to be read only by government-authorized chip-card readers, is easily accessed through any readers you can buy in the market."
[Hankyoreh, October 13 2008] President’s radio addresses stir controversy

Stations are to broadcast the addresses without editing, raising criticism that this will infringe on their production autonomy

President Lee Myung-bak is set to begin regular radio addresses starting the morning of October 13. The broadcasts are already being criticized for being an “infringement on production autonomy” because stations will broadcast the addresses as delivered to them after being produced by the Blue House and without any editing.

The first address runs 8 minutes 30 seconds and discusses the financial crisis. It was recorded October 12 in the secretaries’ building on the Blue House grounds with the Blue House “public relations planning officer,” Park Hyung-joon, and other advisers in attendance.
[Hankyoreh, October 9 2008] Court dismisses GNP’s lawsuit against Hankyoreh

Ruling party had sued the newspaper for damages on charges of defamation related to BBK case

A court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Grand National Party against the Hankyoreh Shinmun over articles in the newspaper about allegations that then GNP presidential candidate Lee Myung-bak was involved in the BBK stock price manipulation scandal. Now the ruling party, the GNP had filed a lawsuit for 1 billion won against the Hankyoreh for “hurting society’s estimation of the party by reporting false facts about candidate Lee.”

In its dismissal, the court wrote that the articles “focused on suggesting there were questions about candidate Lee Myung-bak as an individual... You cannot view the articles as having hurt society’s estimation of the Grand National Party, and therefore the party cannot sue for damages.”