The Way We Were

2006-11-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

xxxx

2006-11-17T05:46:00.000-08:00

Live but not live

2006-01-14T14:57:00.000-08:00

The Korean journalism has lost its biggest sources-ironically, its most contempted enemy: the despotic authorities that plagued Korean people and society for decades in the past. Now a majority of the press and media, if not all, seem to be quite bored with their business and professions to the effect that they don't have any idea of a legimate way to justify their existence. This is a sentiment that probably entailed the kind of sensationalism and witch-hunting around Dr. Hwang.

Surely, despite all the freedom, of speech, journalism, politics, of whatever there is, President Roh doesn't get as much respect as his predecessors from his people. Worth studying, meanwhile, is: whether President Roh has opended this new era himself or happened to be part of it.

Are you citizens or netizens?

2006-01-10T07:19:00.000-08:00

Today's citizens are those who spend most of their work life off line and the media and press hold the target at these people who, having no other channels, would swallow their agenda as if it were ready made pills for information deficiency. Netizen, on the other hand, are viewd by this same press and mieda as competitors at best and even as enemies at worst. Some on-line journals indeed are grown out of the "netizenry" who have systems and money at their command.

World Wide Web

2006-01-09T09:01:00.000-08:00

Certainly this is by far the most complex of all the webs in nature. No wonder, because it is created by the computers which pull out zillions of bits and interweave them across the world.

Stemmy Stemmy Night~

2005-12-26T22:43:00.000-08:00

They would not listen...they did not know how...perhaps they never will~~~

New English Vocabulary Emerges in S.Korea

2005-12-25T10:49:00.000-08:00

Democratic Socialists Journalism Cartel
This is rEvoluationary!

Old Students Never Die

2005-12-24T05:08:00.000-08:00

The Roh administration has opened wide the doors for the socialist student movement to enter the mainstream of society: politics, education, the press and media, to name the major fields. In the press and media, particularly, instead of bottle grenades and pickets, the student activists now hold up pen and pencil-or keyboard and mouse, that is.

Partying over the recent triumph of their having reported the truth regarding Dr. Hwang's research paper, dead-drunk in champaign, they claims this is the victory for the "real" "professional" journalism spirit they have. Indeed, as they start digging into the truth, they sure come out with a fact or two, not knowing, however, what they have found is just a fragment of the whole scheme that is far beyond their perspectives.

Sruggling and fighting, as they always did against the authorities in the past, now against anything they see is politically and socially "right-wing", including a new authority just emerging from the grassroots, which they call "Public Power", those old students never die; they only face off?

Quote of the day]

"To write the truth as I see it; to defend the week against the strog; to fight for justice; and to seek as best I can, to bring the healing perspectives to bear on the terrible hates and fears of mankind in the hope of someday bringing about the world in which men will enjoy the differences of the human garden instead of killing each other over them." I.F.Stone

Some reflections in others' mirror

2005-12-23T22:06:00.000-08:00

CJR, Colombia Journalism Review, presents an essay on the myths of America and also suggests the role of journalism "supposed to play" in englightening the American people and guiding them around and over the myths. It says, tho...

Extracts]

...among the lessons from studying the survival of societies is the need for "a willingness to re-examine long-held core values, when conditions change and those values no longer make sense." The press alone can't force this re-examination on the nation, but it could start the conversation...

...The trick is, of course, to find creative ways of working the fringes and connecting dots. That doesn't require that we in the press destroy the myths of America, but rather that we help cultivate an awareness of the ways such myths fuel arrogrance and limit American ingenuity...

...Indeed, an aspect of the mythology of America is the venerated common sense of its citizens. If presented with a challenge and given all the facts, it is said, the American people will make the right decision. They will roll up their sleeves and get to work. It's time for the press to embrace the myth and help the country decide where to begin.

Hello, Mr. Monkey!

2005-12-22T21:41:00.000-08:00

Let's dance~

Hello, hello, Mr. Monkey by Arabesque
dedicated to the Monkey cloner out there

Therapeutic Cloning: Simple Illustration

2005-12-22T09:29:00.000-08:00

Therapeutic cloning is otherwise called as Cell Nuclear Replacement or CNR. The name comes from the process which involves "taking the genetic material from the cell of a donor and inserting it into a totipotent stem cell, for example an egg". CNR is entirely different from human reproductive cloning. Research in the laboratory using very early stage embroys consisting of a few hundred cells and no nervous system is quite different from culturing embryos past the 14 day period, implementing them in the womb, and attempting to take the pregnancy to the full term..... for more about Therapuetic Cloning, click here

It's an Embryo, not a Fetus, in EU

2005-12-22T03:56:00.000-08:00

With all the controversies and ethical issues amongst all, the embryo stem cell research in EU region should be going on. The great potentials being behind this drive but under strict regulations, they say.

Extracted)

human embryonic stem cells have enormous potential for improving our knowledge and releiving suffering from many serious human diseases. However, the use of human embroys in research is highly controversial and raises complex ethical questions. It is vital that future legislation allows the full potential of this research to be realized whilst addressing these issues.

Patriot Games?

2005-12-22T01:12:00.000-08:00

The economist, a British weekly journal, diagnoses, on its own, the recent stem cell research scandal Dr. Hwang has been involved in with some doses of lessons we might learn from the episode. I post extracts here and also the link to the full story(you might have to register to read the whole thing). In Britain, meanwhile, the government has been showing strong support to, while the general public doesn't seem to take issue with, the cloning research. The journal, however, quite often not rare, has been a "doomsayer" to most scientific breakthrorughs just arising on the horizon. Are they being generous this time?

Vocabularies to learn] twisted tale, once-feted but now-disgraced, salutary, critical scrutinity, inaccurate work, controversial, human cloning, scientists of becoming celebrities, fickle, hubris and vanity, nationalism and science, uneasy bedfellows, a scientific power, a fatally flawed piece of research, deluded scientific nationalism, Trofim Lysenko, a Soviet geneticist, Manhattan project

Quote of the day] “Nature does not bend to a scientist’s will, however much he or his audience may wish it might.”

The truth will out (extract from full story)

Compared with these dire examples of waste and destruction, Dr Hwang's mistake looks relatively modest. Those opposed to human cloning may raise a cheer or two that a great leap forward which they had feared seems not to have happened. But, as the Nazis discovered, denying reality just because you don't like it is equally foolish. Eventually, somebody probably will clone a human being. Just not, perhaps, in South Korea.

It's RAINing, I hope

2005-12-22T00:01:00.000-08:00

It’s snowing like forever out there in Korea. I just miss when it RAINs, ‘cuz it makes me think a lot about….well, not always melancholy, tho. Let it RAIN...no more snow please....

A quick way to tell

2005-12-21T14:50:00.000-08:00

A quick way to tell professional journalism from 3rd-class tabloids: Read the headlines. You don’t even delve into the story written there-under.

Practice] Yonhapnews vs. Pressian
Tell me which is which?

Reposting

2005-12-21T09:42:00.000-08:00

"We need a whole new paradigm, a fresh concept, to develop this country. Ships and semiconductors were not Korean industries. We adopted those products from the outside. The way forward is to pursue technological innovations in a way that only Koreans can. We were conquered by Japan for 36 years. During the Korean war, so many people were killed. The result is a hungry, fighting spirit that other countries find hard to match. Our lab has worked 365 days for 15 years. This concentration and dilligence were really needed. Western cultures cannot understand and cannot endure the hardship. If we deveote ourselves for a few more decades, I strongly believe we wll develop into one of the most advanced countries in the world. This is my dream." Dr. Hwang

Are we all winners?

2005-12-21T04:27:00.000-08:00

Those involved with Dr. Hwang seems to be not running out of their way as I first thought, but instead, they're on track of their own for the respective final goal lines. Now the case has been turned into a bowl of soup seasoned with individual interests; each pours in their "chemicals" and "additives" with their clone-gate scoop everyday, some of which never looks related to the essence of this case at all. This is why we believe, whatever Dr. Hwang’s investigation reveals before us, we’ll have something to learn at least; never the truth tho.

Science vs. Religion

2005-12-21T03:58:00.000-08:00

Judge ruled against Intelligent Design … an argument against one thing cannot necessarily be interpreted as an argument for something else. For example, the fact that the fossil record is incomplete is not evidence that human beings must have been created in their current form. The world, in other words, is not a zero-sum, dichotomous one in which a vote against one candidate equals a vote against another.

Full story
Story by the Times

Quote of Day

"Just because scientists cannot explain today how biological systems evolved does not mean that they cannot, and will not, be able to explain them tomorrow."

Stem Cell Scandal Taints American Research

2005-12-20T12:56:00.000-08:00

Kushibo found an interesting article about an American researcher, Dr. Schatter..errr…Schatten, that is. Who has “only superficially” been involved in Dr. Hwang’s stem cell research paper published in Science. Kudos to his digging!

The Stem-Cell Scam

2005-12-19T08:34:00.000-08:00

Since Dr. Hwang’s claims of unprecedented success … our leading newspapers and journals have been filled with the anguished cries for Hollywood producers, Nobel Prize winners and famous journalists. America is falling behind the rest of the world, they have said. … It was an argument intended to appeal to just those Americans who believe that nothing should be allowed to stand in the way of American primacy. This equated American advancement with government spending – the concealed premise of the argument.
…
It is important to emphasize that stem cell research in the U.S. is perfectly legal. It’s just is that the access to the federal funding is restricted.
…
The developments in South Korea are an embarrassment to some, especially to the hapless taxpayers of S. Korea, but if these developments have the effect of making us all more suspicious of breakthroughs made in the name of bio-engineering, we will all have learned a useful lesson. And we will have learned it at the expense of Korean taxpayers rather than at our own expense.

By Tom Bethel
Full story

At least up until the first week of December this year, it sounded like the U.S. had been the biggest "innocent" victim of this scandal. Having already lost the lead in the stem cell research to the Britin, their own research, they lamented, "indeed" was showing a pitible, staggering progress due to the Bush ban, or lack of any substantial funding therefor. Now the Hwang scandal broke out a month ago and is under intense scrutinity, some American stem cell researchers are worried that it is they who will suffer the most from the fallout, if the case proves to be an outright fraud, that is. Still, Amerca is America. Who would dare to challenge their lofry standards and national pride? It is Korea who got a bloody hand after all.

Korean Journalism is dead

2005-12-18T22:03:00.000-08:00

We don't have reporters, but all are self-claimed editors, commentators, columnists, emtion-driven critics, or even creationists so obssessed with santionalism. Indeed, the line has long been blurred between news and entertainment as broadcasting started here in Korea a few decades ago. Journalism ethics still exists but what good is it when it's a mere philosophical issue, not something to be seriously taken with responsibility?

Therapeutic cloning

2005-12-17T09:26:00.000-08:00

Therapeutic cloning
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Jump to: navigation, search

Blastocyst. See also:[Blastocyst in utero]

Therapeutic cloning (also known as somatic cell nuclear transfer, cell nuclear replacement, research cloning, and embryo cloning) involves taking an egg (or oocyte) from which the nucleus has been removed, and replacing that nucleus with DNA from the cell of another organism. The result is a blastocyst (an early stage embryo with about 100 cells) with almost identical DNA to the original organism.

The procedure is controversial, and this is reflected in the language used to describe the blastocyst created. Some people believe it should not be called a blastocyst or embryo, since it has not been created by fertilisation, but others maintain that since, given the right conditions, it could still grow into a fetus and eventually a child, it doesn't seem misleading to call it an embryo.

Embryonic stem cells of a mouse.

The aim of carrying out this procedure is to obtain stem cells that are genetically matched to the donor organism. For example, if a person with Parkinson's disease donated their DNA, then it should be theoretically possible to generate embryonic stem cells that could be used to treat their condition without being rejected by the patient's immune system. No such therapies presently exist, however, and the development of the technology has been delayed as governments debate whether to permit such research.

Therapeutic cloning is currently legal for research purposes in the United Kingdom, having been incorporated into the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act in 2001. In many other countries, the practice is banned, though laws are being debated and changed regularly. The United Nations voted against a Costa Rica bill to ban both reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning on December 8, 2003.

Support for this procedure derives from its potential medical applications. Some opposition is based on the fact that the procedure destroys human embryos. Others feel that it instrumentalizes human life, or that it would be problematic to allow therapeutic cloning and still prevent reproductive cloning from occurring.

"Confrontation"

2005-12-16T23:16:00.000-08:00

A View

2005-12-16T21:35:00.000-08:00

Trying to stem controversy in South Korea

By TOM PLATE

LOS ANGELES -- The people of South Korea have responded to the stem-cell scandal involving genius-innovator Hwang Woo Suk with admittedly excessive passion and near-unanimous conviction. Still, by rallying around their amazing Seoul National University pioneer, their support should be a comfort to risk-taking scientists all over the world. Safe science is not always the best science. This is especially the case with technically tricky and sometimes ethically complex work, such as stem-cell research. It's true that at the end of the day the benefits of the research may prove disappointing. But you don't know until you find out. Hwang is obviously for trying to find out: No guts, no paradigm shift, no glory.

This South Korean veterinarian astonished the world in 2004 when his Seoul laboratory produced the first cloned embryonic stem cells from adult human patients. Hwang and his team at Seoul National University led a global pack of scientists in search of ways of approaching crushing human diseases such as Parkinson's. Time magazine took note of Hwang's cloning of the world's first dog, "Snuppy," by naming it invention of the year.

But at the same time questions were being whispered throughout the global scientific world as to how readily and rapidly the lab had managed to come into possession of the many fresh human eggs needed for the experiment. Eventually, the mounting suspicion crashed into scandal: A South Korean news program, in a documentary, provided evidence that two female junior staffers had been clandestine donors of a large number of (generally hard to find) fresh eggs to fuel his work. The story made headlines around the world: The professor had to admit to having crossed an ethical line and stepped down as head of the World Stem Cell Hub in Seoul.

Even so, the pioneer's South Korean countrymen are standing behind him. What's notable is that such a high level of public support for stem-cell science occurs in a society drenched in religious values -- as is America, where, by contrast, this research has been plagued by political opposition from the right. But South Koreans appear to accept that serious -- and sometimes risk-taking -- science has a solid track record of defeating or ameliorating terrible diseases from the simplest infection to the complexities of polio or AIDS.

What's more, South Koreans are driven by the norms of patriarchy in ways that we in the West do not. Were these two junior female researchers truly coerced into donating their eggs, or were they simply dedicated and high-minded junior scientists who wished to help to their pioneering professor to the extent they could?

And finally, there's the issue of national pride. To have in their midst a scientist of the stature of the path-finding Hwang is more important to South Korea than outsiders might imagine. Until relatively recently, South Korea has been a sort of lost country, in the shadow of the (former) Soviet Union, China and Japan. But since the late '80s, South Koreans have been clawing their way to the top tier of world economies, astonishing everyone with their penchant for innovation, democracy and solid diplomacy.

However, South Koreans need to balance their emotional support for Hwang with more respect for the role of the news media. The TV program and network in South Korea that broke the Hwang story with an hourlong documentary about the suspicious source of the egg donations have been demonstrated against and denounced. This blame-the-messenger public fury is unfortunate. The president of South Korea, Roh Moo Hyun, has rightly come to the new program's defense. Moreover, while announcing its continuing support for Hwang's work, the South Korea's political establishment has wisely created a new ethics committee to shed light on the many penumbrae of biotechnology.

At the same time, this scandal does provide South Korea's news media with an opportunity to examine itself. The trickiest of ethical dilemmas requires a sensitive balance of reason and judgment to assess. Sometimes these issues are too complex to be handled in the raucous news media, which perforce must simplify and over-dramatize in order to communicate to the masses. The controversy about pioneer Hwang may go down in history as just such a classic case for journalists as well as scientists.

UCLA professor Tom Plate is a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy
Copyright 2005 Tom Plate

Times Online Q&A

2005-12-16T10:49:00.000-08:00

Times Online December 16, 2005
Q&A: human cloning controversy

Mark Henderson, science correspondent for The Times (left), analyses the controversy around Dr Hwang Woo-suk, a pioneer of stem cell research, who today admitted making mistakes in his research

Who is Dr Hwang Woo-suk?

Before the current controversy erupted over his work, Hwang was widely seen as the world's foremost pioneer of human therapeutic cloning.

In February 2004, his team published the details of the first cloned human embryo, beating rivals in the US and the UK, and he appeared to have topped that achievement with his now disputed Science paper of May this year.

In that research, Hwang purported to have created 11 "lines" or colonies of embryonic stem (ES) cells from clones of real patients with diseases such as Parkinson's and diabetes.

The achievement was widely acclaimed as critical to the future of this technology - these ES cells would be genetically identical to the patients, and could thus potentially be transplanted without fear of rejection to treat their conditions. The work also had important implications for research, as it would allow the production of stem cells that accurately model genetic diseases.

What has he admitted to today?

Not very much. He has admitted that some of the photographs of the 11 lines he submitted to Science were duplicates, so that images of all 11 did not appear in the paper. He has also said that six of the 11 lines have now died, because of a fungal infection, and that they are not therefore now available to independent researchers to check.

Hwang, however, rejected allegations from his colleague Roh Sung Il that he had actively fabricated data to make it look as if he had made more ES cell lines than was actually the case. Roh has charged that nine of the lines were essentially fictional, and that even the other two have yet to have their authenticity verified.

Hwang has also told the journal Science, which published the work, that he wishes to retract it. Science will agree to this only if all the co-authors concur, or if its own investigations reveal fatal flaws in the research.

How serious are the errors he says he has made?

The duplication of photographs is an important matter, as it gave a misleading impression about the number of stem cell lines that had been shown to be created. However, on its own, this does not invalidate the work and it may well have been an honest mistake. Most independent experts think it strange that Hwang should want to withdraw the paper purely because of this mistake.

More serious is the charge that the DNA profiles of the ES cell lines do not actually match those of the patients from which they are supposed to have been cloned. If this is proven, it would mean that he had not in fact produced true clones, and might even be guilty of outright scientific fraud.

Another problem would emerge if Dr Roh is right, and none of the 11 lines still exists in a form that allows independent scientists to test them. This week, a group of experts led by Ian Wilmut, the creator of Dolly the sheep, suggested that Hwang submit the cells for independent tests to verify his claims, but if he is unable to do this it would be difficult for him to clear his name.

Will this cast doubt over his other research? What about Snuppy?

No evidence has emerged to date that casts doubt on his 2004 human clone or the creation of Snuppy, the first cloned dog, which Hwang announced earlier this year. If he is proved to have fabricated data, however, scientists will start to question his other research too. Many will feel that if he has cheated once, he may have done so on other occasions as well.

How bad a setback is this for stem cell research as a whole?

It is something of a disaster. Religious groups who oppose therapeutic cloning and the use of embryonic stem cells have already seized on Hwang's troubles to accuse the entire field of being founded on hype and not science.

Scientists reject this, but they are worried about the effect on public opinion. Many feel that the problems make it all the more important that countries like Britain and the US support cloning and ES research enthusiastically, so that they can control the scientific and ethical parameters in which it is attempted.

Australian PM to Receive Stem Cell Report

2005-12-16T10:21:00.000-08:00

Australian PM to Receive Stem Cell ReportAccording to the Victoria Herald-Sun, a report to be given to Prime Minister John Howard next week is expected to call for relaxing the current Australian restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. The report will recommend allowing SCNT, or therapeutic cloning, while still banning reproductive cloning. Scientist would be legally able to create embryonic stem cells, rather than relying on donated embryos left over from in-vitro fertilization procedures.Let’s see what happens.

from Stem Stem Cell Research Blog

Mea Culpas: The real cure for any bias we have?

2005-12-16T05:11:00.000-08:00

One is telling the truth, the other lies, but nobody corrects themselves.

Victory for the Korean journalism? The storybook of Dr. Hwang's research scandal seem to have come near to its final chapter. But the Korean journalism is dead.

The Korean journalism, ignoring the mirror reflections of themselves, agonizes over the nation's "hero-making" mentality , criticizing this awefully odd national sentiment we have but which others from out of town seem to never understand to the heart and soul. At the center of most of this unique boosterism, either pro- or anti-what-so-ever, lies the very questionable ethics of Korean "professional" journalism. Hit and run, stir and apology, the name of the game they are supposed to play. Or is it all indicating they're in the transitional phase from pseudo-journalism to the "real" one, if real is any proper word to modify them. It's all right that they don't have such a mentality as we have, but one thing I can say for sure is they DO have this strangely distorted tendency to slant the news to the one extreme, left or right, liberal or conservative.

As the battles they waged are closing now, who are the winners, with all of us left to be losers, deeply wounded in both body and soul?

*** After all, the stem cell paper published in the journal Science has turned out to be fabricated, but this is a fact, though miserable, but the question of the truth still remains to bother us, which is by whom and why...

Protests against WTO Meeting in Hong Kong

2005-12-16T04:04:00.000-08:00

Resisting the Common Sense?

2005-12-14T22:40:00.000-08:00

http://www.akn.co.kr/news/read.php?idxno=12023&rsec=MAIN

A war and its legacy

2005-12-14T21:23:00.000-08:00

A war and its fearsome consequences: How the world has changed post-Iraq

President Bush said yesterday that 'the year 2005 will be a turning point in the history of freedom'. But since the start of the war the days have been littered with unintended consequences.

By Anne Penketh
Published: 13 December 2005

Iran

The War of Iraq reflected in numbers

The Iraqi elections provided a classic illustration of the law of unintended consequences: the Americans overthrew the hated dictator, Saddam Hussein, only to see the rise of religious Shia leaders loyal to Iran, which is now ruled by a fanatical hardline president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. Iraq's Sunni-dominated neighbours are alarmed. Iran has been accused by Britain of stirring up trouble across the border in Iraq, where soldiers in the southhave fallen victim to bomb attacks. After President Bush encouraged Iranians to vote for reform, it was the hardline mayor of Tehran who was voted in as president. President Bush's public dismissal of the Iranian election, the day before the first round of voting, as "an electoral process that ignores the basic requirements of democracy", may have been responsible for a large turnout.

Torture/Rendition

America's attitude to security changed after the events of 11 September 2001. But the Bush administration's tolerance of methods explicitly banned by the UN convention on torture has raised a chorus of protests from human rights organisations as the US continues its "war on terror" by flying suspects around the world to a network of secret prisons. It found its most revolting expression in the abuse at Abu Ghraib. The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, says that the US does not condone torture, although she recognises abuse will happen. One of the unintended consequences of President Bush's stance is that it has brought alliances with unusual bedfellows, such as the dictatorship of Uzbekistan, whose President has opponents boiled to death, in the interests of the "war on terror".

Egypt

Must be President Bush's greatest disappointment, after his call for greater democracy backfired. After publicly urging President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's veteran leader, to loosen the grip of the ruling party on power, the big winners in the parliamentary election were the Islamic fundamentalists of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Egyptian government made no secret of its fear that the alternative to the ruling National Democratic Party was chaos. The NDP was the victor in the parliamentary elections, but voting brought the death of at least one opposition supporter and mass arrests. In the event, the NDP remained the dominant party as expected but the Muslim Brotherhood, forced to run its MPs as independent candidates, increased its power in parliament nearly sixfold.

Terrorism

Tony Blair was fond of saying before the Iraq war that he feared the nexus of weapons of mass destruction and terrorists coming together to threaten global security. Yet there was never any proof of the alleged link between Saddam Hussein and al-Qa'ida. Terror has surged in Iraq since the war, with Islamic groups beheading hostages and seizing foreigners and Iraqis at will to hold them to ransom. The Sunni and foreign-led insurgency has been able to swell its ranks in large swaths of Iraq where the US-led coalition does not venture, and cross the border at will. A majority of Iraqis questioned by a BBC poll said that the situation in their country was "bad" and 75 per cent said that they wanted restoring public security to be the priority of the new government, due to be formed after this week's elections.

Syria/Lebanon

Pressure from the US to co-operate in quelling the insurgency in the aftermath of the Iraq war may end up destabilising the Syrian President, Bashir al-Assad, who has already been weakened politically by the forced withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. The assassination of the anti-Syrian former Lebanese president Rafiq Hariri cast further doubt on the stability of the region, as car bombs targeting other anti-Syrian figures seem to be blasting Lebanon back into civil war after the democratic elections held last May. Much as the Americans may welcome the departure of the regime in Syria, which is still on the State Department's terror list, further instability in the tinderbox region on Iraq's doorstep would be a nightmare for the Bush administration.

America

America's standing in the world, and the President's popularity ratings, have plummeted in the 1,000 days since the war began, despite initial public support for the invasion. With close aides now under investigation by a special prosecutor, President Bush has been haunted by the decision to go to war after ignoring warnings from the intelligence community about the nature of Iraq's threat. His approval ratings last month stood at 37 per cent, the lowest of his presidency, although they slightly improved this month. Iraq is seen as the factor influencing the negative slide. Global opinion polls show that anti-American sentiment in Europe, the Middle East and Asia surged as a result of the Iraq war. Solid majorities in Muslim countries have a negative opinion of America.

Middle East

George Bush and Tony Blair explicitly linked the aftermath of the Iraq war to the broader goal of seeking peace in the Middle East to envisage a "viable" two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians. But one unintended consequence is that the Israeli government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has forged ahead with his own solution, involving the construction of a fence that encroaches into Palestinian land in defiance of international law. The Palestinians fear that if Mr Sharon's breakaway party is victorious in Israeli elections, he will seek to impose a new border which will annex East Jerusalem as well as significant tracts of the West Bank. Meanwhile, when the Palestinian parliamentary elections are held next month, the Islamic militants of Hamas are expected to do well.

Weapons

George Bush and Tony Blair said before the war that they wanted to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction. Not only have none been found inside Iraq, but the war could have actually triggered the spread of such weapons. The overthrow of Saddam Hussein may well have been the factor that pushed the Iranian government into taking a strategic decision to develop a nuclear weapon, even though the Iranians insist that their nuclear programme is peaceful. It had been clear to all that North Korea had been spared attack because of its possession of the bomb while Saddam was known not to have succeeded in building one. So countries may have decided to take out their own insurance policy. Israel is beefing up its own security after the perceived Iranian threat. The Iraq war may have set off a new nuclear arms race.

Lee Kunhee Cleared of charges

2005-12-14T19:23:00.000-08:00

Lee Kun-hee Cleared of Slush Fund Suspicion

By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter

The prosecution will indict a television news reporter who broke the story on the illegal eavesdropping operations of the spy agency in former governments for violating the communication privacy protection law.

In concluding its lengthy probe on the wiretapping scandal, however, the prosecution decided not to take legal action against some high-ranking executives at Samsung Group, including group chairman Lee Kun-hee, who faced allegations of providing slush funds to presidential candidates ahead of the 1997 elections, citing lack of evidence.

The suspicions were backed by news reports on private conversations between company officials that were eavesdropped by spy agents.

The Seoul District Prosecutors' Office yesterday announced the results of its five-month investigation on the spy agency's illegal surveillance activities on civilians during the governments of former presidents Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung.

``The prosecution has conducted a thorough investigation of the spy agency's illegal wiretapping operations on politicians, businessmen, judicial officials and journalists in the past governments. However, with the statute of limitations on most illegal activities under the Kim Young-sam government expiring and the spy agency already having destroyed a significant part of related evidence, there had been difficulties in pushing ahead the investigation,'' said senior prosecutor Hwang Kyo-ahn, who directed the wiretapping investigation, in a news conference yesterday.

During its investigation of the spy agency's wiretapping allegations, the prosecution summoned more than 460 people, including five former spy agency directors and 132 spy agency officials, retired or incumbent.

In Wednesday's news conference, the prosecution revealed that the Agency of National Security Planning, the predecessor of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), had spied on more than 5,400 individuals, including politicians, businessmen and journalists, from 1994 to 1997. The eavesdropping activities were mostly conducted in restaurants, hotels, golf courses and other frequent gathering places, according to prosecutors.

The investigators also said the wiretapped information was reported regularly to former President Kim Young-sam, who held office from 1993 to 1998, and his close aides including his second son Kim Hyun-chul and former senior presidential secretary Lee Won-jong.

Earlier this month, prosecutors indicted former spy agency directors Lim Dong-won and Shin Gunn, who served under the 1998-2003 administration of Kim Dae-jung, for allowing the surveillance of more than 1,800 high-profile figures during their tenures.

The prosecution concluded by indicting Lee Sang-ho, a reporter from local television station MBC, based on the fact that he violated privacy laws by publicly revealing information gathered through illegal methods.

In a news report in July, Lee reported the contents of an audiotape containing a wiretapped conversation between Samsung vice chairman Lee Hak-soo and former Korean Ambassador to Washington Hong Seok-hyun, the publisher of the Samsung-affiliated newspaper JoongAng Ilbo.

According to the report, the two men discussed distributing illegal campaign funds to two rival candidates ahead of the 1997 elections.

MBC's audiotapes, dubbed the ``X-files'' by the media, were traced to now-arrested former intelligence agent Kong Un-young, who had led a special eavesdropping unit within the spy agency during the 1990s. Law enforcement authorities found 274 audiotapes containing wiretapped conversations and 13 documents containing their transcripts at Kong's house in July.

Prosecutors will also indict Kim Yun-kwang, editor-in-chief of the monthly news magazine Monthly Chosun (Wolgan Chosun), which printed the contents of the MBC audiotapes in its September edition.

However, the prosecution said it will not take legal action against the Samsung executives, stating that the statute of limitations for illegal political funding extends only three years under the Korean law, making it impossible to prosecute them.

The probe on Samsung executives had been focused on proving the charges of embezzlement, for which statute of limitations is 10 years should the amount of stashed funds exceed 5 billion won.

However, the prosecution said in Wednesday's announcement that it failed to find evidence to counter the claims by Samsung that the political funds were financed individually by group chairman Lee Kun-hee and not drawn from company coffers.

``Under the principles of the local privacy law, we could not use the `X-files' audiotapes as evidence, and it was difficult to obtain other evidence to counter Samsung's claim. And our options were limited since the illegal political funding incident happened eight years ago and the statute of limitations for such crimes had expired,'' said Hwang.

The prosecution had confirmed in an investigation in 1998 that Samsung executives relayed 4 to 5 billion won to the camp of Lee Hoi-chang, then presidential candidate of the Grand National Party (GNP) ahead of the 1997 elections.

The reported conversations on the spy agency's audiotapes also hint that Samsung had attempted to channel 3 billion won in slush funds to Kim Dae-jung, the presidential candidate of the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP).

The prosecution summoned Samsung vice chairman Lee in August and Hong, who stepped down as ambassador in September, last month for questioning. However, both men denied the bribery allegations stemming from the MBC audiotapes. The prosecution did not summon Samsung chairman Lee and interviewed him only through correspondence.

At the beginning of their investigation, the prosecution had expressed reluctance in using the MBC audiotapes as evidence against Samsung, as it was produced through the spy agency's illegal operations.

However, the civic group People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) filed a request with the prosecution in July 25 to investigate 20 current and former Samsung executives over their alleged corrupt ties with politicians, including former ambassador Hong and group chairman Lee, making it difficult for investigators to avoid the issue.

The ``X-file Coordination Committee,'' a joint body of 108 civic groups including the PSPD, criticized the prosecution's investigation results on the wiretapping scandal and called for the establishing of an independent council to push further probe into Samsung's slush funds allegations.

From Cloning to Cunning

2005-12-14T11:12:00.000-08:00

Suspicion prevails over Dr. Hwang’s cloning paper. Many Korean scientists rise up and ask to verify his research data published in the journal Science. Although their rhetoric is full of concerns about the credibility of the Korean science society, reading between the lines reveals that what is eating them most is this “groundless” anxiety over their careers that further delays of investigation, or being silent about the issue, will either way hamper their reputations to the outside world.

Figure of speech, but all in one voice, some media and a majority of scientists alike, seem to already know the truth, and the truth is that Dr. Hwang denies again admitting his fabrication of the cloning research paper. The media and several online journals are impatiently waiting to see the result. Impatient, because they already know the whole story except one part of it. Next time, they will launch another, much BIGGER and more devasting round of investigation, whose title will be: Hwang-Gate – who is behind the fraud this world-famous "cunning" expert committed?

Quote

2005-12-13T22:15:00.000-08:00

Quote of the Day

“I wanted them to think I was a good journalist…a good person. I wanted them to love the story so they would love me.” Stephen Glass

For full story click here on Stephen Glass: I lied for Esteem

Things getting worse

2005-12-13T21:12:00.000-08:00

December 13, 2005
S. Korean's Cloning Research Challenged
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:05 p.m. ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Some of stem cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk's high-profile human cloning work announced earlier this year may have been ''fabricated,'' a former top collaborator charged as he attempted to distance himself from the groundbreaking research.

University of Pittsburgh researcher Gerald Schatten has demanded that the journal Science remove him as the senior author of a report it published in June to international acclaim that detailed how individual stem cell colonies were created for 11 patients through cloning.

''My careful re-evaluations of published figures and tables, along with new problematic information, now casts substantial doubts about the paper's accuracy,'' Schatten wrote in a letter to Science released late Tuesday by the university. ''Over the weekend, I received allegations from someone involved with the experiments that certain elements of the report may be fabricated.''

But until now, even Schatten has maintained that the main findings of the paper -- that tailor-made stem cells were extracted from embryos cloned from the DNA of sick volunteers -- were valid. The journal Science acknowledged receiving Schatten's demand, but spokeswoman Ginger Pinholster declined to release Schatten's letter because ''it contains unsubstantiated allegations.'' Schatten's name was listed last among the 25 authors, signifying that he was the senior researcher on the project.

''No single author, having declared at the time of submission his full and complete confidence in the contents of the paper, can retract his name unilaterally, after publication,'' the journal said in a statement. The journal has said it has no reason to believe Hwang's primary finding ''is any way fraudulent or questionable.'' Stem cell scientists hope to clone embryos to extract stem cells in order to better learn how diseases develop and even perhaps rejuvenate failing organs. The basic idea of cloning is to take a patient's genetic material and inject it into an unfertilized human egg. The implanted DNA then drives the egg to develop into an embryo.

The critics allege that Hwang's assertion, published by Science, that he created 11 separate cloned embryos may be inaccurate. That's because each cloned embryo was required to have a separate DNA sample showing it was derived from a unique individual. Several of the samples appear to be identical -- suggesting more than one came from a single person.

If the critics are correct, the DNA data could simply be another careless reporting error akin to a photography mix up the Hwang team disclosed to Science last week. Or, the alleged DNA inaccuracy could be the tip of something more sinister. Hwang's bosses at Seoul National University -- prodded by 30 skeptical faculty members -- have launched an investigation. Separately, the University of Pittsburgh has begun its own probe. Stem cell scientists say an investigation from an outside party is necessary and could be done quickly. Ian Wilmut, the man who cloned Dolly the sheep in 1998, and seven other scientists on Tuesday called on Hwang to submit his research to an independent analysis -- essentially a simple paternity test that would prove all 11 stem cell lines were derived from separate patients. Wilmut said in a letter to Science that he was able to fend off baseless fraud accusations over Dolly's nativity by handing over his data to an outside expert. ''It's an easy test that can be done in a few hours,'' said Dr. Bob Lanza, a cloning expert at the biotechnology company Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Mass.
Lanza co-wrote the letter Wilmut sent to Science.

''You can't fake the results if they're carried out by an independent group,'' Lanza said. ''I think this simple test could put the charges to rest.''

"Veracity" of Hwang's Paper

2005-12-13T09:32:00.000-08:00

Seoul National University, where Hwang is a professor of veterinary science, said it would create a panel to scrutinize the original data of his research. But it did not clarify whether or when it would conduct independent DNA fingerprint tests.

"We wonder why they are so afraid of conducting DNA tests," said Kim Byung Soo, an official at the Seoul-based Center for Democracy for Science and Technology. "It's a big question: Why?"

A joint statement from the center and 12 other civic groups said that any investigation by the university would lose international credibility if it did not include outside investigators or DNA tests.

For full story click here on International Herald Tribune

Quote of the day - "France doesn't like winners; when you make it, you hide it" Rachid Ech Chetouani, a young Frenchman of Moroccan descent.

From International Herald Tribune

Playing with Data

2005-12-12T23:15:00.000-08:00

Stem cell pioneer Hwang Woo-suk shakes hands with his fellow researchers as he returns to his office at Seoul National University’s Veterinary College on Monday morning

When questioned of his credibility as a scientist and the authenticity of his work, should a scientist “proudly” come forth to prove against and clear up all the suspicions? For any sign of hesitating to do it only shows his being guilty of possible wrongdoing or even fraudulent fabrication? How naive is their belief that a scientific achievement is a mere set of data, the testing of which just reveals the truth.

Quote of the day

"I have seen posts where those opposed to embryonic stem cell research jump to the conclusion that because one part of this research can be questionned all of it can be disregarded. It is unfortunate that debates on such important facts can be won or lost by such tricks. We do win or lose our struggles for the minds of our fellows with such maneuvers though. It is naive to disregard that."

By Frederick

Scenario

2005-12-12T19:48:00.000-08:00

The best way is to carry out DNA tests to compare embryonic cell lines and patients who contributed their somatic cells to create them, a process that would take just a couple of days. In the worst-case scenario, however, experts say that Hwang’s team may have to repeat all the processes of extracting stem cell lines after cloning somatic cells from patients. That would take up to six months according to experts.

Embryologists here predict the three final results of the investigation.

The first one is that all the lingering doubts will prove to be groundless, a scenario that will boost Hwang’s research while wrecking havoc on anti-Hwang camp, including MBC.

The second one is confirmation that Hwang did establish some patient-specific stem cells but the geneticist exaggerated it by duplicating photos or DNA fingerprint traces. That would deal a serious blow to Hwang’s integrity but he could anyway continue his work on stem cells because the existence of the customized stem cells is already a great feat.

The final one is that all of Hwang’s research is fake and there are no such things as genetically-matched embryonic cell lines.

``In the worst case, Hwang would have to leave his study and the credibility of Korea’s scientific circle would be on the road to doom all together,’’ a Seoul scientist said.

In the Meantime...

2005-12-12T04:57:00.000-08:00

The emperor's new roots

The Japanese emperor has finally laid to rest rumours that he has Korean blood, by admitting that it is true, writes Jonathan Watts Friday December 28, 2001

For more than a century, speculation about the Japanese emperor's Korean roots was mostly restricted to lofty academic journals and idle coffee shop gossip. But this week, the historical debate was surprisingly joined by a new scholar who has as much claim as anyone to be an authority on the subject: the emperor, Akihito, himself. To the delight of South Korea and, no doubt, the silent fury of many Japanese nationalists, the current holder of the Chrysanthemum Throne used a 68th birthday press conference last weekend to celebrate his mixed origins.

Looking ahead at a year when the two countries will co-host the World Cup finals, Akihito said he felt personal attachment to Korea because of the blood ties of his ancestors. "I, on my part, feel a certain kinship with Korea, given the fact that it is recorded in the Chronicles of Japan that the mother of Emperor Kammu was of the line of King Muryong of Paekche," he told reporters. Kammu, reigned Japan from 781 to 806 AD, while Muryong ruled the Paekche Kingdom in Korea from 501 to 523 AD. Although he was quoting historical records, it is the first time that an emperor has publicly lauded the Korean blood in the imperial line.

According to Japanese myths, the Chrysanthemum Throne can be traced back more than 2,600 years to the sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami in the dawn of creation. Those myths were officially discarded at the end of the second world war when emperor Hirohito was forced to renounce his divine status by the American occupation forces. But the imperial household agency still claims Japan has the oldest imperial line in the world, unbroken across 125 generations. Although no longer a god, the emperor is still seen by Shinto priests as having an "airlike existence". The constitution merely declares him to be the symbol of the nation. Academic debates about his ethnic and national "purity" have made little progress. The imperial household agency have reportedly made archaeological sites in the former capital of Nara off-limits because officials fears the discovery of evidence that emperor's Korean ties are far stronger than has long been taught in Japanese schools. Last weekend, however, Akihito did nothing to dispel such associations by acknowledging that much Confucian and Buddhist teaching, as well as court music, came via the peninsular. "I believe it was fortunate to see such culture and skills transmitted from Korea to Japan," he said. The emperor's comments induced dramatically different reactions from the two nations. In Japan, the story proved hard to stomach. It was covered in detail only by the Asahi Shimbum. Other major newspapers either mentioned the Korean ancestry issue only in passing or ignored the statement altogether.

In South Korea, however, it was front-page news and generated much editorial praise. Government spokesmen welcomed the comment as a sign of a possible thaw after a year in which bilateral relations were marred by fierce disputes over Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to the controversial Yasukuni war shrine and the approval of a new history textbook that South Korean believe is a whitewash of Japan's wartime atrocities. South Korean politicians expressed hope that it would pave the way for Akihito to attend the world cup opening ceremony in Seoul on May 31. But no Japanese emperor has visited South Korea since the war and the imperial household agency says there are no plans for this situation to change. Nationalist politicians are said to be opposed to an imperial visit, fearing that Akihito would come under pressure to make a new apology for Japan's wartime misdeeds. Reading between the lines of the emperor's comments last week, however, it would seem that he is more than willing to travel to Seoul next May, making the opposite journey to that made by his Korean ancestors.

Emailjon.watts@guardian.co.uk

"The truth"

2005-12-11T15:21:00.000-08:00

...

SNU to examine Hwang's Work

2005-12-11T14:49:00.000-08:00

SNU to examine Hwang's work

Stem-cell pioneer asks university to clear up suspicions

Scientist Hwang Woo-suk yesterday asked Seoul National University to investigate his research to clear new suspicions on fabricated data in his breakthrough stem-cell cloning.

The university convened a meeting of senior officials after Hwang's request and agreed to conduct an inquiry, school officials said. Hwang is a veterinary professor at the university.

"We have decided to re-examine the research because Dr. Hwang himself wants it," Roe Jung-hye, chief of research policy office of the university, told reporters after the meeting. The university will hold a news conference today and announce the schedule and method for the investigation, she added. Hwang is determined to prove the authenticity of his research and wants to return to work as early as possible, said Gyeonggi Province Governor Sohn Hak-kyu after meeting the scientist. Hwang has been treated at the SNU hospital for exhaustion and a stomach ulcer since early last week. Sohn said Hwang is likely to be discharged from the hospital early this week.

Some Korean scientists have called for an investigation since last week on the possible manipulation of pictures and DNA data in his research published in the journal Science in June. Hwang's team announced in the paper that it had successfully produced 11 different stem cells tailored to individual patients, paving the way for future development of therapies for hard-to-cure diseases such as spinal cord injuries, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. His critics say that some photographs of stem cells may have been fabricated and the DNA fingerprints of stem cells are "inexplicable."

On Thursday, 30 junior faculty members of SNU demanded the school conduct an inquiry into possible scientific errors in his work. Experts said eight of a total of 11 images of stem cells, published online by Science as a supplement to the article, may have been copied and manipulated from two stem cells. He also faced questions regarding the similarity of DNA fingerprint traces of human somantic cells and stem cells in the paper. Any DNA fingerprints will differ in their peak's height, alignment and background noise. But experts say several traces in Hwang's paper seem identical, raising suspicion that the traces may have been faked. They even doubted whether cloned stem cells exist. Hwang's team denied such suspicions in a statement issued yesterday. Hwang's team admitted the photos were duplicated but said it was a simple mistake that occurred during publication. The journal also said that the original manuscript reviewed by peer scientists had 11 different photos and the duplicated images were provided by co-author of the article Gerald Schatten of the University of Pittsburgh after a request for high resolution copies. Regarding the DNA fingerprints, Hwang's fellow researchers said some of the traces look similar because they were tested in the same conditions. And they said the peaks of those cells are not identical when they are magnified. Hwang's team said it is ready to disclose all records related to its studies in the course of any investigation. Journal Science reportedly demanded Hwang's team review its data and DNA analysis process. The University of Pittsburgh is also investigating the stem-cell research.

Meanwhile, Hwang's team has made significant progress in its project to treat some incurable diseases in primates during recent experiments, according to an official of the Ministry of Science and Technology. The team successfully injected embryonic stem cells into monkeys suffering from spinal cord injuries and Parkinson's disease and will soon conduct similar clinical testing on humans, the official quoted Ahn Curie, a close associate of Hwang's as saying. The official also said Hwang's team plans to open its research data through the World Stem Cell Hub, launched in Seoul to promote stem cell technology in October. It will provide up to 100 embryonic cells to other researchers to forge international cooperation to advance the bioscience, he said. The statement by Hwang's team came after a local news outlet reported that Hwang himself instructed one of his junior researchers to fabricate stem-cell images.

Kim Seon-jong, Hwang's team member, said Hwang had asked him to make up 11 different stem-cell images out of two cells for publication in Science, according to a transcript of his interview in October with the MBC television network. "I felt burdened because I was not supposed to do that. But I had no choice but to follow (Hwang's) instruction." Kim, a co-author of Hwang's paper, told a producer of "PD Notebook," an investigative news program. The transcript was disclosed by an internet news outlet "Pressian."

"PD Notebook" previously said that it heard crucial statements from Kim about the authenticity of Hwang's work and planned to air a report disputing his work. But the program was suspended after its producers were found to have used coercion and other unethical methods when they interviewed Kim and other members of Hwang's team. Saying he was threatened by Han, Kim later denied the PD Notebook's accusation that he made "crucial statements." The nationally-feted scientist has been under pressure since last month after Schatten severed collaboration with him, citing ethical breaches in the procurement of human eggs in Hwang's research. Hwang admitted on Nov. 24 that he used ova donated by two researchers, an act frowned on by the international scientific community because of the possibility of coercion being used to gain the ova. Hwang went into seclusion since offering to step down from all official positions after apologizing for the ethical irregularities.

(hjjin@heraldm.com)
By Jin Hyun-joo

MBC's Biggest Error

2005-12-11T13:19:00.000-08:00

The biggest error MBC committed themselves is that they failed to focus on the ethics issue concerning stem cell research. They instead tight-rope walked to draw the public attention to their “likely” scenario of Dr. Hwang having fabricated his research on cloning the embryonic stem cells. With the publicity stunt, however, all MBC has since earned is a storm of backlash from the “reasonably” frustrated public, tarnishing their already fragile reputation as a broadcasting company. Now that it’s a matter of time to unveil whether Dr. Hwang has actually played the hero in their “stem cell fraud” scenario, MBC gets ever busy putting all their efforts and reachable network for the showdown.

Several concerned parties, including Seoul National University, have started the probe into Dr. Hwang’s papers published in the journal Science. Should it turn out the way MBC has directed all these disputes intended to be, MBC will find no way of dodging the questions asked of their own ethical problems. Along the way, however, the Science magazine and some respected American scientists will hurt a little, too.

World Cup in German 2006

2005-12-11T12:14:00.000-08:00

Head coaches of World Cup group G with, left to right, Switzerland’s head coach Koebi Kuhn, Togo’s Nigerian head coach Stephen Keshi, France’s Raymond Domenech and Korea’s Dutch head coach Dick Advocaat are seen on a giant screen, in Leipzig, Germany, Friday.

Korean National Assmebly

2005-12-11T08:10:00.000-08:00

[Image story]
Howling, brawling lawmakers turned the National Assembly hall into a war zone yesterday to mark the end of this year's 100-day regular session. The circus, unusual even by the Assembly's usual decorum-challenged standards, was triggered by a bill to revise the law on private schools, legislation championed by the governing Uri Party and bitterly opposed by the opposition Grand Nationals.When a semblance of order returned and the dust had settled, the bill had been approved. But the Grand Nationals, after hours of pushing and shoving and physical struggles in which at least one lawmaker was reportedly injured, walked out of the Assembly and vowed to boycott it indefinitely.

[Bloggers View]
There's lots more, using words like "skirmish," "battlefield" and "Uri Party troops." The full report from the front can be read here.
Posted by Nomad in Korean Stuff Permalink

Comments

Some politicians had their aides prevent members of other parties from entering the National Assembly. It's totally despicable behavior. People with such blatant contempt for the democratic process of passing new laws do not deserve to be members of an elected government.
Posted by: Bubba

It looks bad, but this is a form of Phillibuster. As long as the opposing party does not let the platform to be taken, the session cannot happen and the law cannot pass.
Nobody throws punches. They just push and shove. There must be a school to teach these guys (gals too) how to do this "motions" without really hurting anyone.
It is Korean thing. Enjoy it. It is sort of fun to watch these grownup people behaving so childish. I think Kimchi has something to do with this Korean Dynamism.
Posted by: baduk

Korea...great fun for children of all ages!
Posted by: Mark

Baduk hit it right on the head. Fun to watch isn't it?
Posted by: Gar

How come our elected officials in the U.S. aren't this entertaining? Teddy can bring the kegs.
Posted by: Jenifer D.

True. It can be entertaining at times (it's like Korea's version of the WWE). Unfortunately, they are putting to waste all of the money and effort that was put into improving Korea's image abroad. What do you think will get more airtime? The fact that the "Sea of Japan" should be renamed? Or Korean National Assembly members kneeing eachother in the groin? Besides, it's one thing to make an ass of yourself while in session, and it's another to physically prevent members to enter the National Assembly.
Posted by: Bubba

True. It can be entertaining at times (it's like Korea's version of the WWE). Unfortunately, they are putting to waste all of the money and effort that was put into improving Korea's image abroad. What do you think will get more airtime? The fact that the "Sea of Japan" should be renamed? Or Korean National Assembly members kneeing eachother in the groin? Besides, it's one thing to make an ass of yourself while in session, and it's another to physically prevent members from entering the National Assembly.
Posted by: Bubba

Sorry, double post. Found a mistake at the last moment. Hit stop. Didn't realize it had already gone through.
Posted by: Bubba

Emergency Arbitration

2005-12-11T06:26:00.000-08:00

Korean Air pilots forced to work

Minister uses emergency arbitration power to end 4-day strike
by Park Jung-youn, Korea Herald

The government yesterday exercised its emergency arbitration right to end a four-day strike by Korean Air's unionized pilots, forcing them back to work and banning them from taking any form of collective action for the next 30 days. The decision came after the airline's management and pilots failed to narrow their differences at Saturday's last minute talk that was extended into early yesterday morning.

Labor Minister Kim Dae-hwan announces at a news conference yesterday the government`s decision to intervene in the Korean Air labor dispute. [The Korea Herald] Labor Minister Kim Dae-hwan announced the ministry decision to arbitrate the Korean Air labor dispute, citing its detrimental blow to the nation's economy and massive air transportation holdups that have stranded passengers. "Korean Air pilots' strike has cost the nation nearly 189.4 billion won so far, and we did not see the likelihood of management and labor ever reaching an agreement in the near future," he said.

"The Labor Ministry regrets that the dispute could not be resolved voluntarily by the two sides," he added, stressing that should the pilots continue their walkout despite the arbitration, they will be severely reprimanded in accordance with the law. Violation of emergency arbitration could result in two years jail term and a maximum fine of 20 million won. The unionized pilots officially called off the walkout almost immediately following the Labor Ministry's announcement, albeit grudgingly, calling the ministry's decision "a repression of workers' rights to organize." The group claimed that "the management refused to compromise, not budging even an inch to resolve the issue," referring to the management's refusal to accept the union's lowered demands. Calling for a 6.5 percent wage raise and 50 percent bonus increase, nearly 80 percent of the air carrier's 1,350 unionized pilots staged a walkout from Wednesday at midnight. The pilots later softened a bit, offering to drop the previous demand for salary increase to 4.5 percent and further down to 3.5 percent. The management stood firm with its own bottom line - 2.5 percent wage increase and 50 percent bonus raise. The walkout resulted in canceling as many as 66 percent of the scheduled flights yesterday, with nearly 89 percent of the international cargo flights called off.

Local businesses have urged the government to intervene promptly, given that the nation's largest air carrier is responsible for 48.1 percent of the international air cargo services. Korea's key technology exports like memory chips and handset parts in particular rely heavily on air freight deliveries, with nearly 100 percent and 70 percent, respectively, of each delivered by air, according to a government official. Korean Air's flight service is expected to normalize by Wednesday.

"We would like to normalize operations right away to minimize the inconvenience for passengers and businesses; however there are the safety concerns that should be taken seriously," said a Korean Air official. The pilots are required to take at least 12 hours of full rest before operating a jet. However with the four-day walkout leaving the majority of the pilots physically drained, they would need longer hours of rest, he added. The government has invoked emergency arbitration rights four times so far, including the one in August to put an end to the 25-day walkout by Asiana Airlines pilots.

The Network...

2005-12-11T03:43:00.000-08:00

Click to enlarge

Misunderstanding

2005-12-10T22:44:00.000-08:00

Misunderstanding occurs when inconsistency arises between contextual expectation and technical interpretation of a given statement.

Values at stake

2005-12-10T22:09:00.000-08:00

One of the most horrible misconceptions human has ever held true is that democracy and freedom is something to be earned from fighting against injustice, violence, whatever evil they think is against their cause. By doing so, they seem to think the cause will assume a higher value. Horrible it is when things they label unjust, violent, etc turn out the other way round.

New Round of Criticism

2005-12-10T20:02:00.000-08:00

December 10, 2005

New Criticism Rages Over South Korean Cell Research
By NICHOLAS WADE, New York Times

A new round of criticism has broken out in South Korea over the accuracy of a recent article that reported a striking advance in human stem cell research.

In the June 17 article, Hwang Woo Suk, a veterinary researcher at Seoul National University, reported that he had developed embryonic stem cell colonies from 11 patients. The article, published in the journal Science, was hailed as a major step toward the goal of treating patients suffering from many serious diseases with their own, regenerated tissues. But Dr. Hwang's research, though praised by the South Korean government, faces mounting criticism from some Korean scientists. The newest questions about the paper concern DNA fingerprint tests carried out to prove that the embryonic stem cell colonies were indeed derived from the patient in question. The test, demanded by referees for Science, was necessary because cell colonies often get mixed up or overgrown by other cells in even the best laboratories.

Usually any two DNA fingerprint traces will have peaks of different heights and alignment and different background noise. But in several cases the pairs of traces in the Science article seem identical in all three properties, suggesting that they are the same trace and not, as represented, two independent ones. If so, there could have been yet another innocent mixing up of data, as seems to have been the case with duplicate photos - an error that came to light earlier this week. But it is also possible that the cell colonies never existed and that a single DNA fingerprint from a patient was falsely represented as two traces, one from the patient and one from the embryonic cell line allegedly derived from him.

Monica Bradford, the deputy editor of Science, said that the journal had asked Dr. Hwang for an explanation and that experts probably needed to examine the original data in Dr. Hwang's possession before any conclusions could be drawn.

The new charges have also attracted attention in South Korea. Thirty faculty members at Seoul National University wrote Dec. 7 to the university president, Chung Un Chan, saying that, as experts in the life sciences, "we find a significant part of the DNA fingerprinting data is inexplicable."
They asked Dr. Chung to create a committee to investigate possible misconduct and added, "We are extremely worried that, by keeping silent, we are endangering the international credibility of the Korean scientific community, which in turn will cause irreversible damage to our country."

The University of Pittsburgh, where Dr. Hwang's American co-author, Gerald Schatten, is based, has asked its office that investigates research misconduct to look into this and other problems with the Science article.

Earlier this week the critics noted that several photographs, issued online by Science as a supplement to the June 17 article, were duplicates of one another, though they ostensibly showed 11 different cell colonies. But the duplication appeared to have an innocent explanation. The editors of Science announced that the originally submitted manuscript had 11 different photos and that the duplicates were submitted later, presumably by accident, after a request for higher-resolution copies.

Dr. Hwang did not respond to an e-mail inquiry sent yesterday. He has been hospitalized with an ulcer, said Lorenz Studer, a stem cell specialist at the Sloan-Kettering Institute in New York.

Dr. Studer, who has visited the lab several times, said Dr. Hwang had a large operation with 65 people working around the clock, many of them specializing in minute points of detail in the cloning process, and had made evident progress on cloning human cells. Noting the attacks on Dr. Hwang's work by other Korean scientists, Dr. Studer said, "It is really difficult for us to judge if there is a problem or someone who has an agenda."

Dr. Studer is studying two of Dr. Hwang's human cell lines in his laboratory but said he had not tested them and had no way of knowing if they were derived from the cloning of patient's cells or from embryos from a fertility clinic.

Though the experiments reported in the Science article were done in Seoul, the person formally most responsible for the data is Dr. Schatten, whose name appears last on the Science article, the position reserved for the senior author. Dr. Schatten recently stated that his involvement was limited to analyzing data and preparing the manuscript. Such services do not usually merit senior co-authorship, raising the question of why Dr. Hwang offered it and why Dr. Schatten accepted. Dr. Arthur Levine, the dean of the University of Pittsburgh medical school, said that Dr. Schatten was a scientist of stature and had contributed ideas to Dr. Hwang, but that "discussion doesn't ordinarily eventuate in senior authorship." He added that he knew for certain that Dr. Schatten "must be deeply regretting" having accepted the co-authorship. Dr. Schatten was not available for comment yesterday, a university spokeswoman said.

The new critique was first raised Dec. 7 by an anonymous posting on a Korean-language Web site, the Biological Research Information Center. The writer commented on the improbability of two independent DNA fingerprints' being so similar and concluded, "I cannot help but to say that there were no stem cells from the very beginning because the nearly identical fingerprinting patterns raises strongly the possibility of serious misconduct in experiments." The letter and its translation were provided by a Korean scientist at an American university who asked not to be identified because of the possibility of recrimination from the South Korean government.

Dr. Hwang has published three significant cloning advances since 2004, including the first cloning of a human embryo, and is somewhat of a national hero in South Korea. The current furor over his work arose last month when PD-Notebook, an investigative program on MBC-TV, a South Korean network, obtained human stem cell samples from Dr. Hwang and had them tested by an independent laboratory.
The results apparently did not match Dr. Hwang's, and he then refused to cooperate further with the program. The 30 young scientists who signed the letter to the president of the Seoul National University asked him to follow the University of Pittsburgh's example and set up a committee to inquire into possible misconduct. Dr. Levine agreed that Pittsburgh's committee may not be able to get very far, given that all the data is in Seoul, and that it could be logical for the two universities to work together.

If misconduct in any part of the Science paper were established, it could well cast doubt over all of Dr. Hwang's work. But his evident expertise and his generosity in helping other researchers have deeply impressed American visitors like Dr. Studer and Dr. Schatten. So the possibility that the issues raised by his critics are due to careless handling of data, in a scientific paper that has received far more careful public scrutiny than is usual, cannot be ruled out.

Pilots on Strike

2005-12-10T19:36:00.000-08:00

Government may intervene in Korean Air pilot walkout
Korea Herald

The government threatened to intervene to end the strike by Korean Air Co. pilots that grounded 63 percent of the carrier's scheduled flights yesterday.

Unionized pilots at the nation's largest airline began their strike on Thursday, demanding pay increases and improvements to working conditions. It's feared that nearly 70 percent of flights will be canceled today dealing a serious blow to the nation's major exporters and travel industry.

"The government will begin procedures to invoke emergency arbitration if we believe that talks between the management and workers will completely collapse," Labor Minister Kim Dae-hwan said at a news briefing. If the ministry exercises this right, pilots will be banned from taking any collective action during a 30-day cooling period. Despite Kim's warning, the management and the unionized pilots failed to narrow their differences during afternoon negotiations yesterday. The two sides agreed to meet again today.

"Daily financial losses incurred by the national economy are estimated to be 70 billion won," Construction and Transportation Minister Choo Byung-jik said during a policy consultation meeting between the government and the ruling Uri Party earlier in the day.

"If we don't resolve this issue expediently, the economic damage will snowball into a problem on a much larger scale, dealing a serious blow to the nation's export businesses," he added.

Uri lawmaker Won Hye-young pledged efforts by the ruling party to foster dialogue between the management and the pilots. "However we would give serious considerations to taking emergency measures," Won added. The Construction and Transportation Ministry has pushed for the right to be invoked since Thursday. The Labor Ministry had formerly expressed reluctance toward it, responding that the "arbitration right should be exercised only after there have been full negotiations between both parties."

The management and the pilots held another round of talks in the afternoon upon the management's request. The unionized pilots softened a little, offering to drop previous demands for a wage increase of 6.5 percent, to 4.5 percent, while keeping the 50 percent bonus raise demand. However, the management refused to accept the change, and stuck to its own bottom line offer - a 2.5 percent wage increase plus the 50 percent bonus increase.
Korea Herald
By Park Jung-youn

Interview with Time Asia

2005-12-10T06:46:00.000-08:00

Monday, Dec. 05, 2005
10 Questions For Dr. Hwang Woo Suk

TIME talks to the controversial South Korean cloning pioneer
South Korean cloning pioneer Hwang Woo Suk admitted last month that his lab accepted human egg donations from two of its own researchers, a violation of scientific ethics. Yet Hwang's televised apology stirred South Koreans and prompted many women to volunteer their own eggs. Hwang tells TIME's Anthony Spaeth via e-mail that his research must continue.
1. You have been very candid about your mistakes: that your team accepted eggs from two of its own members, and also paid volunteers for eggs. How big an ethical lapse is this? They donated their eggs voluntarily without any coercion and their direct expenses were paid.

2.If you admitted the truth at the time an article in Nature was published in May 2004, would this controversy have disappeared? Was the cover-up a more serious mistake than the accepting of the eggs? It was not a cover-up. At that time, the donors pleaded in [the] sincerest way that I must not disclose their role for the sake of their privacy. It was very agonizing for me. After serious consideration, I finally chose to protect my researchers' privacy. This, perhaps, was a cultural consideration: in Korea, disclosure of oocyte [egg] donation is a serious matter that could have an important impact on a woman's life.

3. Do you believe the two junior lab workers felt pressure to donate their eggs?
They donated eggs completely voluntarily.

4.The one part of your story that people have trouble believing is that you didn't know of the donations by your research assistants until the Nature article appeared. Is this true? How is it possible that the head of the lab was not aware of the sources of the eggs?
It is true. I am not in the position to be that aware of the sources of the eggs. I am physically and structurally barred from any direct access to the oocyte collection process according to Seoul National University's Institutional Review Board's guidelines. What we receive is oocyte, and not donor, information.

5. Some South Koreans have seen this controversy as a plot by the outside world to keep South Korea from getting ahead in biotechnology. What do you think?
I don't see it that way.

6.Do you believe the controversy over your lab's procedures could have a lasting, negative effect for the international reputation of South Korean science?
The fact that I had chosen to protect my researchers does not excuse me from having withheld the information. However, please know that it never was my deliberate intention.What is clear now is that research like this requires transcending all cultural considerations.

7.Will prominent international scientists be less willing to collaborate with South Korean scientists? Currently, many foreign researchers are visiting my lab and learning the technology. We are [still] planning to educate researchers worldwide. We would like to distribute our technology to the world.

8.The greater issue plaguing stem-cell research is the moral one: should scientists experiment with cloned human embryos. Did this controversy deepen public mistrust of stem-cell research in general? The purpose of therapeutic cloning is not to clone human beings. Therapeutic cloning is used to create cells for curing patients with degenerative diseases without immune system rejection. I believe that the public is in favor of therapeutic cloning.

9. How important is stem-cell research for humankind?
Stem-cell therapy is the only way to treat patients with degenerative disease.

10. Has this turn of events discouraged you from forging ahead with your revolutionary work?
I will continue to do my work.

BioOrgan Center

2005-12-09T23:22:00.000-08:00

Bio-Organ Center Named After Hwang

By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/tech/200512/kt2005120817193711780.htm

Support from across the nation is converging on Korea’s cloning king Hwang Woo-suk, who is now bed-ridden after being stressed out due to disputes on his milestone stem cell breakthroughs.

The government Thursday broke ground on the construction of a bio-organ research center named after Hwang in Suwon, Kyonggi Province, to use pigs for organ transplants. To complete the advanced facility next December, the Ministry of Science and Technology plans to invest 29.5 billion won in a 5,000-pyong (16,500 square meters) area together with Kyonggi Province. The Ministry said the center would be outfitted with state-of-the-art operating rooms, research labs and other facilities to accommodate hundreds of sterilized pigs. Hwang could not take part in the ceremony, but most of his colleagues such as professors Lee Byeong-chun and Ahn Cu-rie at Seoul National University (SNU) were present.

In addition to his attention-grabbing medical exploits on embryonic human stem cells, Hwang also delved into pigs as source to grow organs for use by humans. To conduct the inter-species organ transplants without causing rejection, Hwang’s team already got dozens of pig clones genetically engineered to have human immune genes. Hwang’s team plans to transplant the organs of cloned pigs to monkeys, a necessary process before going to humans.

``We are muddling through many difficulties. With the construction of this center, we will be able to speed up our animal tests,’’ SNU Prof. Lee Jeong-ryul said.

Dignitaries such as Science-Technology Minister Oh Myung also expressed his support for Hwang by visiting the ailing embryologist, who was admitted to the SNU Hospital early Wednesday. After meeting with Hwang, Oh told reporters that he seemed to have lost his desire to continue cloning research and quoted Hwang as saying that he wanted to forget about the work.

The World Stem Cell Hub, which began operations last month to provide stem cells to global biologists, also said it would not accept Hwang’s resignation from chairmanship of the agency. The agency situated inside the SNU Hospital said it would keep its top job vacant until Hwang got back to his jobs and retake it. By contrast, some young SNU professors urged the university to start in-house verification on the genuineness of Hwang’s patient-specific stem cell batches. They said the university is required to check the authenticity of research conducted by its professors.

Hwang left his lab at the university on Nov. 24 after admitting the misconduct of recruiting eggs from his junior staffers for research and also has been plagued by the claim that his patient-specific stem cells might not be real.

Benign or Malignant?

2005-12-09T21:57:00.000-08:00

The current debacles as to Dr. Hwang’s stem cell research should shift to focus on the issue of ethics as quickly as possible, I think. For now, this seems possible only after the questions asked of the authenticity and credibility of Dr. Hwang’s papers have been answered. However, holding Dr. Hwang accountable for his ethical lapses of covering up the use of eggs purchased is one thing, and assailing him for doing ESC research is quite another. For some, using ESC is just a murder, while others like me find no issue with it. The debate in future should only go on and on and on and on again. I think. Maybe it’s too ridiculous if we expect a unified voice or consensus on such a subtle issue.

However, as to the truth, if anyone agrees the journalism should hold as great a responsibility as science, when the MBC journalists admitted coercing people to testify against Dr. Hwang in a seemingly attack campaign, it’s not just an ethical lapse- it’s malicious!

This is My Dream

2005-12-09T10:09:00.000-08:00

Battle of Logic and Words

2005-12-09T08:35:00.000-08:00

"한 피디는 문화방송 전 임직원에게 전자우편을 보내 “취재윤리를 어긴 부분은 사죄하지만 취재 과정상의 잘못이 진실을 막을 수는 없다”며 “현재까지 취재한 바로는 환자의 줄기세포가 1개라도 만들어졌다는 증거를 찾지 못했으며, <와이티엔>이 보도한 것처럼 ‘황우석 교수를 죽이러 왔다’고도 말하지 않았다”고 밝혔다. 또 “황 교수의 연구는 국민의 세금이 들어간 것이며, 이에 대해 언론사에서 취재하고 의혹이 사실로 드러날 때 이를 밝히는 것이 옳다고 생각한다”고 말했다."

This is the logic MBC has since been taking in their appeal to the public for the need to continue investigation into the Dr. Hwang’s papers published in the Science magazine. The focus of the issue has now moved from the ethical lapses Dr. Hwang made, and later admitted himself, during his research to the authenticity of his achievements and the very credibility of the cloning pioneer as a scientist. To me, the above remarks, made by a PD, which indeed represents the position on this matter taken by the entire MBC company, reveals nothing but their own ethical problems, so twisted and covered up, in my opinion, that I feel I can no longer trust anything this broadcasting company will ever produce – or who know they actually “manipulate” them all.

The above remarks are just an equivalent of saying, “for a certain end we pursue, once we've decided that it’s worth following, any measures can be justified no matter how torturing. MBC needs to be more humble when it comes to telling the truth. The supposed truth they noware seeking, to my utmost knowledge, comes as a mere logic they have invented. And when they take a logic, they’d better not forget there is always a counter-logic. This smelly, scandalous questions they are begging now, however, reflect the fact that our society has many holes in its major fields of activities negligently left unplugged. Science can't be an exception, but so far the press and media seem to have made the biggest one in their own identities and values.

Once oppressed and thus hidden under the past military regims, desires for the freedom, of what sort, they were so eager to have were at least sublime then. Now released like water pouring out of thick cold winter ice dam, the desires flood all over our society with no serious effort to contain the water, with no responsibility for the atrocities they have committed themselves. Alas, we live in a society devoid of responsibility and seriousness. Who would say this society is much different from the previous ones?; who would make me sure that it's getting better, now that everyone wants the truth but justification takes the place of just?

I thus define, from now on, all the press and media as nothing more than "mass blogger" and/or "wikimedia":just bigger, more systemic, and highly unionized and sophisticated. And it's all about politics, of their kind.

A READERS VIEW on Stem Cell

2005-12-09T06:57:00.000-08:00

[A READER'S VIEW]Step back from Hwang hype

Questions surrounding stem-cell pioneer Hwang Woo-suk have been making the headlines for the past month. Since the MBC-TV program raised ethical issues about Hwang's research, nationalism devoid of objectivity has been rife, with diverging opinions splattered daily on news pages.

The entire society seems to be swept up in self-made fervor from which they cannot swim away. Why is the Hwang issue such a huge deal in South Korea? Is it something that deserves the amount of attention and hype it has received? What have we gained from the media bashing, government intervention and scientist-turned-celebrity crusade?

Have we lost our sense of neutrality to such a degree that we no longer see why Dr. Hwang and the questions about his stem-cell research became an issue in the first place?

From my perspective, there are four main problems that need to be straightened out.

First, the debate over ethics in scientific research and experiment actually raises two important topics: whether the Hwang research team conducted itself ethically according to global scientific research standards and the validity of Dr. Hwang's work. The Korean media has aroused a sentiment of distrust toward Hwang's research, generating suspicion on the validity of the results of scientific research itself. Whether Hwang's team truly cloned a dog or not should not be the issue right now. The truth will surely emerge in time.

Secondly, the overly vigorous Korean media coverage about Hwang has stirred more trouble than good. While media's role is to be a watchdog, it should not misuse its power to coerce information to serve its own benefits. MBC has offered a formal apology for use of threats by program programs while putting together a report on Hwang but this can't undo what has already happened.

Even more importantly, the mere fact that coercive media exists in a democratic society remains a paradox. In addition, Korean media added more confusion, hype and speculation to the story, rather than bringing out the raw truth. Turning a scientist into a national hero is manipulation by the media. Shouldn't media retain its objectivity as its utmost important value rather than create sensational news that pollutes society?

Aside from and beyond the issues of the ehtics and authenticity of Dr. Hwang's acomplishments, we need to "sincerely and seriously" address this matter. The media will find no way of dodging their own ethical lapses.

Thirdly, it is perfectly understandable for the government to take great pride in Hwang's scientific work. Stem cell research is funded by the government and is now prided as a national technology. The government's efforts to obtain patents for Hwang's stem cell research are understandable. However, while the government can be proud of its citizens' achievements, it is not the government's role to intervene and take sides.

It was not right for President Roh Moo-hyun to take Hwang's side publicly against MBC. The government should govern, not intervene: it has to remain impartial and objective always, whatever the cost.

Lastly, the general public's inability to be critical and objective thinkers is bewildering and baffling. Our citizens tend to believe what they are told - by the government, by the media. Their emotions get the best of them and they never debate the possibilities, they merely conclude. All the name calling, emotional demonstrations and activist movements are results of the "media play" of the three parties: government, media and Hwang's research team.

The general public should question what it is each party is trying to convey. They should not get swept away by the overflow of information and fall prey to their emotions, rather than rationale.

Everything happens for a reason. Perhaps the questions about Hwang have served to expose a bigger problem in Korean society: our tendency to lose focus of the bigger picture and to be swept away by minor irrelevancies. Science is important but it is only one of the infrastructures of society. Perhaps the best now for all parties involved is to take a step back from the heated arguments and reflect on their own mistakes and their own agendas that went wrong.

After all, the situation has gotten murkier than ever as it goes on.

Koo Mee-hyoe is an international studies student at Ewha Womans University. - Ed.
By Koo Mee-hyoe

Government considers action

2005-12-09T06:44:00.000-08:00

Government considers action against walkout by KAL pilots

The government and the ruling Uri Party said yesterday they are actively considering invoking emergency rights to break up the strike by Korean Air pilots as it dragged into a third day, grounding nearly 63 percent of the carrier's 399 scheduled flights.
Business associations, including the Federation of Korean Industries and Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also strongly urged government intervension.

High-ranking government officials and Uri lawmakers held a meeting at which they raised the possibility of invoking arbitration to end the strike.

"The daily financial losses incurred by the national economy are estimated to be 70 billion won," Construction and Transportation Minister Choo Byung-jik told the meeting.

"If we don't resolve this issue expediently, economic damage will snowball to a larger scale, dealing a serious blow to the nation's export businesses," he added.

Uri lawmaker Won Hye-young pledged efforts by the ruling party to foster dialogue between the management and the pilots. "However we would give serious considerations to taking emergency measures," Won added, referring to the arbitration right policy.

The Construction and Transportation Ministry has pushed for invoking of the right since Thursday. This would force the pilots back to work and also ban them from taking any form of collective action for 30 days.

However, the Labor Ministry expressed reluctance, saying the "arbitration right should be exercised only after there has been full negotiations between both parties."

"The current situation does not call for it yet - we still need to monitor how the situation develops," said a ministry official.

The walk-out by the pilots halted 54 of Korean Air's 157 international passenger flights and 23 of 30 cargo flights yesterday alone, disrupting the nation's export deliveries and causing massive air transportation holdups.

Korean Air, the nation's largest air carrier, is responsible for 48.1 percent of the nation's air cargo, 40.6 percent of international passenger flights, and 65.2 percent of domestic passenger flights, according to a government report.

Korean Air suffers daily losses averaging 25.3 billion won due to the strike, a company official said.

Local businesses are also calling for immediate action to put a stop to the walk-out, since they are having to scramble to find alternative means to deliver exports on time.

"Most of compact and light-weight products like memory chips and handsets parts are delivered by air," said a Samsung Electronics official, expressing concern that a prolonged strike would have a negative effect on its overseas businesses.

Major business groups also called for the central government to intervene more actively to prevent further damage.

Finance Minister Han Duk-soo acknowledged at a ministers' meeting in Gwacheon that "the strike inflicts serious damages to the national economy, by way of deteriorating local businesses credibility and weakening its competitiveness. The central government needs to come up with action plans."

Unionized pilots are demanding a 6.5 percent wage raise and a 50 percent bonus increase. The management is willing to raise the bonus as requested, but called the 6.5 percent wage increase "outrageous."

The management already has paid an additional bonus of 11.3 million won per pilot earlier this year.

Korean Air captains get annual pay of 120 million won and co-captions 88 million won, a wage level on par with other international air carriers. Korean Air pilots are paid 86 to 88 percent of what Delta Airlines pilots get. On the other hand, they're paid about 5 to 6 percent more than their counterparts at United Airlines and Northwestern Airlines, according to the company report.

Lawmakers scuffle during final session

2005-12-09T06:19:00.000-08:00

Lawmakers scuffle during final session
12,9,2005
The last day of the National Assembly regular session ended in ugly scenes with lawmakers scuffling and brawling as rival political parties clashed over a long-standing bill designed to overhaul the management of private schools.

The National Assembly finally passed the bill while the opposition Grand National Party boycotted the vote.

Of 154 legislators who cast ballots, 140 voted in favor while four said no and 10 abstained.

As they had previously warned, GNP members used every possible roughhouse tactic, attempting to block the opening of the plenary session and thwart the voting process.

"The bill is intended to change private schools to the taste of those in power. We will fight to the death (to stop it)," GNP leader Rep. Kang Jae-sup told party leaders in an early morning meeting.

However, the Uri, having won support of two minor parties on the issue, was firmly set to pass the bill, one of its four flagship reform measures.

"We will proceed with the bills in accordance with the parliamentary process," said Uri leader Chung Sye-kyun.

The GNP controls only 127 votes in the 299-seat unicameral parliament and therefore was unable to beat the alliance of the Uri and minor parties, if it participated in the vote. Uri holds 144 seats while the Democratic Party and the Democratic Labor Party control 11 and 9, respectively. The United Liberal Democrats hold three seats and independents have five.

The opposition party has been highly critical of the school reform bill which calls for teachers and parents to participate on boards of directors in schools to improve the transparency of school management and prevent abuses of power by school owners. The measure would infringe upon the independence of private school foundations, GNP legislators argue.

Outside the parliament, an association of private school owners threatened to shut down their schools if the parliament passes the bill. It says the bill runs counter to the Constitution by excessively restricting the basic rights of school owners.

The parliamentary budget session came to a close yesterday but the lawmakers are preparing to open an extraordinary session to handle a stack of unresolved legislation including next year's budget plan.

The acrimony between the rival parties worsened on Wednesday after Uri legislators sitting on a parliamentary panel forced a vote on a highly-controversial bill on new property taxes despite opposition from the GNP legislators.

But Uri decided to postpone a final parliamentary vote on the bill until the next session of parliament at the end of the year.

The bill calls for imposing the highest-ever tax burden on the owners of multiple houses. It is one of the Uri's top-priority bills designed to back up the government's tough antispeculation policy unveiled Aug. 31.