Korea’s First Adoption Center for Rescued Animals Opens

The country’s first adoption center for rescued animals opened Saturday on Toegye-ro ( Dongdaemun - gu), Seoul, ironically, on a street lined with pet shops and puppy mills.

Director of Coexistence of Animal Right on Earth (CARE) Park So-yeon explained that she specifically chose Toegye-ro as the location for CARE’s Adoption Center because the area is famous for puppy mills.

“Hundreds of animals are locked up in small cages for reproducing pets. When the breeding dogs become useless, they are handed over to dog meat sellers. CARE wanted to boycott the ‘puppy mills’ at Chungmu-ro and promote our ‘Adopt, Don’t Buy’ campaign,” explained Park.

“The officially announced number of abandoned dogs is 100,000 a year in Korea, but I’m guessing that it amounts to more than 500,000. The problem comes from an excessive supply of pets, and the problem can be solved by developing a culture of animal adoption.”

CARE, a non-profit organization promoting animal rights, focuses on rescuing abandoned or abused animals. It currently operates an animal shelter, which houses 250 dogs and 50 cats, in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province.

“Most animal shelters are located in the suburbs, which is not very accessible to the public, and the conditions are inadequate at best. Our CARE shelter also needs more improvement, even though it is the best animal shelter in Korea,” said Park.

Animals admitted in CARE’s Adoption Center are brought in from its shelter. “Animals in the shelter undergo an evaluation, and animals only suitable for adoption are handed over to the adoption center,” explained Park. The adoption center is designed to house 16 dogs on the first floor, while the second floor can house 12 to 16 cats.

According to Park, the animal adoption centers and shelters in the United Kingdom set a good example to follow in establishing animal adoption culture here.

“Animal adoption culture in the United Kingdom is very active due to the well-maintained animal shelters. Information on each animal is kept in an organized way, the shelters are clean, and the caretakers even train dogs,” said Park.

CARE plans to open another adoption center in September at Dapsimni, Seoul.

“Along with animal houses, the new adoption center in Dapsimni will have an experience-based learning center for children as well as animal health care center for low-income pet owners,” said Park.

CARE is currently funded by individual donations, but Park aims to expand the funding to include contributions from corporations.

“CARE hopes to build more adoption centers in collaboration with corporations. It is a win-win solution ― the adoption centers will be a good advertisement for corporations, while CARE will have adequate amount of money to build decent adoption centers,” explained Park.

Coexistence of Animal Right on Earth was established in August 2002, and has some 30,000 members.

Korean Taekwondo Fighters Ready for Olympics

Korean Team for Olympics 2012

According to Korea Herald, for South Korean taekwondo fighters, meeting expectations at the Olympics is always a tall order.


Taekwondo is, after all, the country’s traditional martial art and the national game. A medal of any color other than gold is regarded as a disappointment.

And disappointing was South Korea’s performance at last year’s world championships, held on its home soil in Gyeongju, 370 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The host earned three gold medals, tied with Iran, and only one better than three other countries.

Four athletes settled for silver.

But the quartet of fighters entered at this year’s Olympics said it will be a different story in London.

Since the traditional Korean martial art became a medal sport at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, South Korea has won nine gold medals and 12 total medals, more than any other nation.

Source: here@KH

Picture of the Day

A white heron flies over the Dano Festival in Gangwon Province. (by Ka Boong-hyun, Hankyoreh)

Quote of the Day

Death is NOT the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live ... (Norman Cousins),

Korean Culinary Contest

Can you cook?
If you do then this is a perfect contest for you.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government is holding a culinary contest to raise awareness of high-quality Korean dishes and attract food connoisseurs from around the country.

The first round will see successful applicants picked depending on the quality of the YouTube clips they submit showcasing their culinary prowess. The five two-person teams that make the final will be invited to Seoul for a five-day trip in September, when an offline cooking contest will take place before a panel of culinary experts.

 The finalists will visit tourist attractions, famous eateries, traditional liquor distilleries, and outdoor markets, where they will buy ingredients for their final cooking competition.

They will also have an opportunity to learn about Korean royal court cuisine. The final results of the competition will boil down to their skill in cooking a number of dishes according to the recipes they presented on YouTube.

The competition is also open to people living overseas and it is easy to enter. Applicants simply need to upload videos of them cooking a Korean dish on YouTube (www.youtube.com/visitseoul) by Aug. 10. Each team must comprise two people.

For more details, visit the official website at http://welcome.visitseoul.net/eng/index.jsp.

Source: Chosun Ilbo

16th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival- PIFAN 2012

16th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival, which will be held from July 19 to 29 in the city also spelled Bucheon in Gyeonggi Province, just west of Seoul.

PiFan has showcased various genres of world cinema over the last 15 years under the themes of "love, fantasy and adventure."

Besides horror and thriller movies, it also offers an exciting line up of films available for the whole family.

South Korea to Resume Whaling

Korean newspapers have joined the international condemnation of the South Korean government's proposed plans to resume whaling.

The Korea Herald, The Korea Times, and The Hankyoreh have criticised last week's announcement in their editorials. On Thursday the country's delegation to the International Whaling Commission in Panama outlined plans to start whaling under a loophole in a global moratorium that allows scientific research.

South Korea carried out scientific whaling for only one season after the 1986 moratorium went into effect, however about 100 whales, most of them minke, are killed accidentally each year by commercial fishing operations.

The Korea Herald said the move to resume whaling appeared to motivated by complaints by fishermen that the "growing whale population is causing them an annual loss worth 438 billion won (NZ$481 million) per year in damages to their fishing equipment and fish consumption by whales".

The Herald said the delegation's argument that killing a small amount of whales is necessary to determine the amount and types of fish consumed by whales was not persuasive.

"If we accept their insistence on whaling for research purposes, to our regret, what seems more reasonable are suggestions by some international experts that Korea could carry out an effective study by using whales that are accidentally caught in fishermen's nets.

The Herald said a resumption of whaling would only serve to earn Korea a negative reputation it could have avoided.

"The whaling case should serve as a lesson for Korean officials to be more careful in handling issues related to international movements that are bound with a stronger sense of global solidarity than they think."

The Korea Times called for Seoul to "retract the whaling plan immediately", saying that Korea had more to lose than to gain by resuming whaling.
The Times described it as "burdensome" to see other countries condemn Korea for its whaling plans.

"In this environment, we believe that the agriculture ministry announced a hasty decision arbitrarily without sufficiently pooling public opinion," the editorial stated.
"More than anything else, the proposal to resume whaling is anachronistic. The government, for its part, can think of other options such as promoting whale tourism like in Australia and New Zealand."

The Hankyoreh said it "makes no sense" to start hunting whales again.
"The government explained the need for scientific whaling by noting a significant rise in the whale population over the 26 years the ban has been in effect," the editorial said.
"Officials have claimed that this has resulted in widespread damages that demand urgent action. But no research study to date has shown that the population has recovered enough since the ban that it would be acceptable to begin whaling again. Indeed, many say that illegal whaling and accidental catches have done enough damage to the whales' ecosystem to offset any effects from the protective measures. In particular, the minke whale population off the Korean Coast has been the subject of special IWC protections after a sharp drop in numbers in years past."

The Hankyoreh also cited a 2009 poll, which found 68 per cent of South Koreans were in favour of protection for whales.

"If whaling itself is legalised, there will be no stopping the overhunting. Measures to offset the damages to fisherman should take the form of things like whale ecotourism, not the permission of whaling."

눈에 13cm 크기의 살아있는 기생충이... ( Live worm extracted from an eye of an Indian man)

한 인도 남성의 눈에서 13cm에 달하는 살아있는 기생충이 발견되어 충격을 주고 있다.

PK 크리시나멀시(75)는 지난 몇 주간  오른쪽 눈이 따끔하고 간지러운 증상이 계속되자 병원을 찾았다.

폴티스 병원 안과 의사들은 검사를 통해 실처럼 가느다란 기생충을 환자의 눈에서 발견하고 즉각 제거했다.

수술을 집도한 의사 시사라만은 굉장이 드문 케이스라며 이 기생충이 환자의 눈을 통해 뇌에 진입했다면 심각한 신경계 질환을 발생시켰을 것이라고 말했다.

이 기생충이 어떻게 눈에 들어간게 된 것인지 알 수 없지만, 제거 후 전에 보이던 증상이 나타나지 않는다고 크리시나멀시는 말했다.

Source: Korea Herald .

Yeoksam Global Village Center is recruiting volunteers!

The Yeoksam Global Village Center is recruiting volunteers for July 21 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Gangnam.

Volunteers will prepare medical kits, clean hospital facilities and spend some time with young patients.The center is particularly highlighting its need for volunteers who have skills or interests in art, music, magic tricks and other recreational activities to help entertain children at the hospital.

No prior experience is necessary. 

For those who would like to volunteer, please contact yeoksam@sba.seoul.kr with your name, nationality, gender and phone number. 

Space for the volunteer group is limited.

Free Korean film screening in Itaewon

Itaewon Global Village Center’s free Korean film screening this month is “Castaway on the Moon ((김씨표류기 Kimssi Pyoryoogi ).”

The screening is on July 17 at 6:30 p.m. with English subtitles.

The film follows a man who jumps into the Han River and wakes up on an island in the river.

He then meets a reclusive girl, who is tempted out of her apartment by her fascination with his seemingly happy life on the island.

Advanced registration is required to attend the screening. You can do this by visiting the center, or by contacting (02) 2199-8884
or
 itaewon@sba.seoul.kr

Source: Korea Herald

Movie: "The Amazing Spiderman" tops the Korean box office!

Korea Herald reported that “The Amazing Spider-Man” topped the Korean box office with some 1.69 million tickets sold at the weekend.

This puts it ahead of “The Avengers,” which sold 1.60 million tickets on its release in April. “The Amazing Spider-Man” made up 71.4 percent of ticket sales, showing at more than 1,100 theaters.

“The Concubine,” which has sold 2.45 million tickets since June 6, was second. It recorded 122,703 tickets over the weekend.

“Madagascar3: Europe’s Most Wanted” ranked third with 120,476 tickets, and “All About My Wife” was fourth.

In the first half of the year, Korean films, such as “Architecture 101,” “All About My Wife,” and “Dancing Queen,” took high places at the box office. However, ticket sales of Korean movies lost ground in the face of Hollywood blockbusters such as “The Avengers” and “Man in Black3.”

Korean films are expected to face tough competition from Hollywood films this month as the new Batman movie, “The Dark Knight Rises,” directed by Christopher Nolan, is set to be released on July 17.

Source: Korea Herald

Lychee Season in Pakistan

Pakistan has all sorts of fruits available the year round. Lychee is one of them. It is being sold in every nook and corner from early June to mid August. You can find its freshly pressed juice, smoothies etc. in the season very easily. I personally like to peal and munch.

Pakistani lychees tastes great and also smells great. However, the variety available in Pakistan has a really thin pulp and a really big seed in a ratio of 25:75. Moreover, lychee is being sold attached to its large branches and a lot of leaves that means if you buy a kilogram almost half of it is waste composed of branches/leaves. It is selling for 2USD per kilo or about 180 local Pakistan rupee or 2,000 won only. Dirt cheap!

I think that our lychee growers should have used a good quality of seed among the various varieties of lychee available. I was amazed to see that Bengali lychee which has 75%pulp and 25% seed  - a complete opposite of Pakistani lychee but since I've not tasted it yet so I can not further compare.

In Korea if you have visited Seafood Ocean, a Korean restaurant, then the buffet does offer lychee from Thailand in eat as much as you can option. Try this place once if you are in Korea, I'm sure you will like it.  It can be listed in Halal restaurants of Korea with a huge variety on their menu in buffet for 30USD including VAT.

A very informative website on lychee is HERE to dig deeper.

Mohammad Hanif's Article on Ziaul Haq

........................................Muhammad Hanif writes about General Ziaul Haq -  third military dictator of Pakistan, that he is still alive after all these years in different shapes and forms. Zia is very famous for Islamization of Pakistan but not many people in Pakistan know that he was one of the main characters of "Black September" that killed an estimated 5,000-75,000 Palestinians to restore the monarchy of King Hussian of Jordan.
For his services in Jordan, Bhutto promoted him and made him the Chief of Army Staff and within a year Zia staged a coup d'etat against Bhutto. Zia later led America's war in Afghanistan against the Soviets which which he marketed in Pakistan and the Muslim world as Jihad against the infidels. In reality it was actually a master plan of  Charlie Wilson's. (For more read George Crile's  book: Charlie Wilson's War (2003), a New York Times best-seller).

When the last Soviet soldier left Afghanistan in February 1989, Wilson was invited to celebrate at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. On a large movie screen in an auditorium flashed a huge quotation from Pakistan's president at the time, General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq: "Charlie did it." The Soviet Union collapsed two years later. So this is Zia in brief.

I think Muhammad Hanif has written one of the most honest and hard - hitting article on General Zia who slowly poisoned the entire Pakistan. No wonder when one ethnic group kills another or one sect or one religious groups persecutes another - all I can think of is Zia's era. Hanif puts it beautifully .....


اگر یہ بچوں کی کہانی ہوتی تو ہم یہاں پر کہہ سکتے تھے کہ پس ثابت ہوا کہ ظلم کو دوام نہیں، ظالم کو کوئی اچھے لفظوں

  میں یاد نہیں رکھتا اپنے آپکو خدا سمجھنے والے ریت کے بت ہوتے ہیں۔ تاریخ سب سے بڑی منصف ہے اور اُسکی کی سب سے بڑی سزا یہ ہے کہ وہ آپ کا نام نشان مٹا دیتی ہے۔ دیکھو، دیکھو کیا عبرت کا نشان ہے کہ جس شخص نے پوری قوم کو ٹکٹکی پر لٹکایا۔ آئین کو کاغذ کا چیتھڑا بتایا....... جو اپنے لوگوں کو غلام بنا کر افغانستان، بھارتی پنجاب اور کشمیر کو آزاد کرانے چلا جس نے اپنی طمع کو اللہ کا قانون قرار دیا اور اللہ کے قانون کو گلی گلی بدنام کیا۔ آج اس کا نام بھی بھلا دیا گیا۔

 
He further says:

ضیاء کسی انسان کا نام ہوتا تو شاید ہم بھول گئے ہوتے، لیکن وہ ایک سوچ کا نام تھا، فکر کا نام تھا۔ یا یوں کہیے ایک وبا کا نام تھا جو ہمارے خون میں سراعیت کر گئی اور ہمیں پتہ بھی نہ چلا۔
جب بھی کبھی ’زندہ ہے بھٹو زندہ ہے‘ کا نعرہ سنتا ہوں تو جی چاہتا ہے کہ ان دیوانوں کو سمجھاؤں کہ نہیں بھٹو پھانسی پر جھول گیا آؤ تمہیں دکھاتا ہوں کہ کون زندہ ہے۔ دیکھوں تمھاری سڑکوں، چوکوں پر، تمہاری ریڈیائی لہروں پر، تمہارے موبائل فون کی رِنگ ٹون میں، جدھر دیکھو، جدھر سنو، ضیاء زندہ ہے۔

وہ زندہ ہے ہمارے بچوں کو پڑھائی جانے والی کتابوں میں، ان کو سنائی جانے والی لوریوں میں، ہمارے آئین میں، قانون میں، اس قانون کی حفاظت کرنے والوں کے ضمیر میں، اس قانون کو اللہ کا قانون بنانے کا وعدہ کرنے والے کے دماغ میں۔ وہ زندہ ہے مسجدوں میں پھٹنے والے سرفروش نوجوانوں کے دلوں میں، وہ زندہ ہے ٹی وی کے ڈراموں میں، ٹی وی ٹاک شو کے میزبانوں میں، ہمارے حلق سے نکلی جعلی عربی آوازوں میں، وہ زندہ ہے حجابوں میں، نقابوں میں، ہیروئین کی دولت سے بنے محلوں میں، لگثرری عمروں میں، حرام کو حلال کرتے بینک اکاؤنٹوں میں۔ 


وہ زندہ ہے شادی پہ چلائی جانے والی کلاشنکوف کی آواز میں، وہ چھپا ہے ہر اُس چوک پہ جہاں ستر سالہ بڑھیا بھیک مانگتی ہے اور آپکو حاجی صاحب کہہ کر پکارتی ہے۔ وہ زندہ ہے ہر اس پولیس والے کے سوال میں جب وہ کہتا ہے نکاح نامہ کہاں ہے۔ وہ اپنا خراج مانگتا ہے جب کہتا ہے کہ دوسروں کو کافر 
قرار نہیں دوگے تو شناختی کارڈ نہیں ملے گا۔

وہ زندہ ہے اور آسیہ بی بی کی کال کوٹھڑی کا پہرے دار ہے۔ وہ ہر احمدی، ہر شیعہ، ہر ہندو، ہر عیسائی کے سر پہ لٹکی تلوار ہے۔

وہ زندہ ہے ہمارے سیاسی ڈھانچے میں، ہماری چادر اور چار دیواری میں، ہمارے احتساب میں، ہمارے مثبت نتائج میں، ہمارے نظام مصطفیٰ کی تلاش میں، ہمارے امتِ مسلمہ کے خواب میں، وہ زندہ ہے ہمارے ہر عذاب میں۔

جب احمد پور شرقیہ کے چنی گوٹھ چوک پر ہزاروں لوگ اکھٹے ہوتے ہیں اور ایک ملنگ پر تیل چھڑکنا شروع کرتے ہیں تو وہ اس ہجوم میں شامل ہر شخص کے دل میں زندہ ہے۔ جب ملنگ کو آگ لگائی جاتی ہے اور وہ چیختا ہے تو لوگوں

 کی سفاکانہ خاموشی میں سے یہی آواز آتی ہے۔ دیکھو میں زندہ ہوں۔

You can read the original article by Muhammad Hanif of the fame of " A Case of Exploding Mangoes (2008) "  at BBC Urdu here in a better/clearer format.

Guest House in Seoul: Accommodation for 10 USD/night

If you are looking for housing in Seoul and you are on a budget or if you are a student then check the following website:

This link has a very good list of guest houses  starting from 10USD/night, so click here .

I will add up to this myself but if you know any useful website either in English or in Korean then please do share.

My post on Hasukjib accommodation is here.

My post on various types of accommodation options for students in particular and short term travelers to Seoul is here.

Twitter Picture about English Grammar in a Japanese Class

다음 문장을 과거형으로 바꾸시오( Change the sentence into simple past tense).

;-)

Kids are so funny and creative.

Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival (SICAF) July 18 -22,2012

A scene from the animated film: Wild Life

Some 300 animated films, diverse cartoon exhibitions and business workshops for anime-artists are to take place in Seoul this month, offering entertainment for viewers and market opportunities for artists.

The annual Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival (SICAF) opens on July 18 in several locations in Seoul, the festival’s organizing committee announced last week.

The festival this year is divided into three different parts:
Cartoon exhibitions, animated film festival, and Seoul Promotion Plan (SPP) -  a series of business workshops for local animated filmmakers and cartoon artists who are looking for business opportunities overseas.

This year’s film festival is opening with Spanish director Ignacio Ferreras’ award-winning feature-length film, “Wrinkles.” The 2011 piece tells the story of two aged men, Emilio and Miguel, living in a nursing home. The film begins as Emilio, who is in the early stages of Alzheimer, arrives in the care home and is greeted by Miguel and other colleagues.

For this year’s competition section, a total of 1,362 films were submitted from 45 countries. Among them, 154 films have been selected including five feature-length productions.

Director Yeun Sang-ho’s sensational debut “The King of Pigs,” which was invited to a non-competition section of this year’s Cannes, is among the five films in the competition section. The vicious middle school flick is recognized for its raw portrayal of bullying, violence and systemic poverty.

Director Lee Dae-hee’s “Padak,” also in the competition section, depicts the journey of a fish who ends up in a water tank of a sashimi restaurant.

Other must-sees include Canadian directors Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby’s short film “Wild Life”; Czech director Tomas Lunak’s horror “Alois Nebel”; and French directors David Alaux and Eric Tosti’ s allegorical film “The Jungle Bunch -- Back to the Ice Floe.”

The SICAF 2012 exhibitions will consist of a series of educational programs for all generations, including a special exhibition on legendary SF cartoonist Kim San-ho and his works; an exhibition featuring a set of baseball-themed cartoons released in the past 30 years; and a show dedicated to American cartoonist Jim Davis’ famous cat character Garfield.

Some of its education programs include animated filmmakers Kim Seon-ah and Park Se-hee’s special lecture titled “Producing Animated Feature A to Z,” where aspiring animated filmmakers can learn about the process of making a film, from pre-production to distribution.

Vietnamese-American animator Mike Nguyen, who worked as a supervising animator on Warner Bros’ “The Iron Giant,” will also give a lecture on how to apply time affects to animated films.

Local animators and cartoonists will find the festival’s SPP helpful, where they’ll have a chance to network with international buyers, listen to business conferences, and attend one-on-one session with marketing advisors for tips and the latest animation market trends.

The animated film festival will be held at CGV Myeongdong and AniCinema, while exhibitions and business workshops will take place in COEX D Hall, Exhibition Hall and COEX Conference Center.

SICAF runs from July 18 to 22. Tickets range from 3,000 won to 8,000 won for cartoon exhibitions, and 4,000 won to 5,000 won for film screenings. For more information and the full line-up of the films, visit www.sicaf.org.

Source: Korea Herald 

How to Find Your Lost Mobile Phone in Korea!

I think mobile phones (also known as hand phone in Korea) are one such gadget that get lost easily. If you own a mobile phone than most probably you will make it to the list of people who lost a mobile phone too. I've lost 2 mobile/cell/hand phones and never got them back because I did NOT know that there is a service that help you locate and find your mobile phone. At other times, people who find your mobile/cell /hand phone can contact you to meet up at a place to return your phone, this happens too.

What to do if you lost your mobile phone in a coffee shop, subway, restroom etc in Seoul/Korea?

Well, a few organizations (below) have joined hands to help you solve your problem.

Korea Association for ICT (KAIT) promotions is running a "lost mobile phone management service"  in collaboration with major mobile network operators and the Korea Postal Department for an efficient management of national telecom resource and in nurturing the healthy telecom culture.

To benefit from this service you have to register at a Mobile Phone Lost and Found Center. Try at least and I'm sure you will be lucky enough to find it because many people already have.

For details click HERE.

Free Korean Classes at Seoul Global Center

If you are new to Korea and think that learning Korean will make your life easier than how about registering at the FREE classes by Seoul Global Center (SGC). It is first come first served.

* Length of this Korean Language course is 12 weeks starting from Sept and ending in November.

*Class size:15-20

*How to apply: Visit SGC in person 

*For more information visit SGC website.

* A new source of Korean - English Dictionary, do check it out here!

Entrance to Ancient Timbuktu Mosque Distoryed

It is a sad day today because the militants in Mali have just destroyed the door to the entrance of the Sidi Yahya mosque , a 15th century mosque, in Timbuktu (also called Tombouctou), a city we knew because of this rhyme...chul meray matkay tombouctou, kahan ki burhiya, kahan ka tou?)  "they tore the sacred door off which we never open," said a resident.

It is said that they came with pick-axes, they cried 'Allah Akbar ' and broke the door. It is very serious. Some of the people watching began crying. No doubt about it.

A man, a relative of a local imam (religious leader), said he had spoken to Islamist group Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith) who have gone on a rampage destroying cultural treasures after occupying the town for three months.

I think that people like these, the religious zealots, have become a cancer of the society. Muslim countries have created their own enemies within their own borders and amongst its own people. A lot has to do with the policies that governments of many of the Islamic countries pursued for years and now it is backfiring.

Source: Here
Read more here.

Minimum Wage for 2013 in South Korea

Source: OECD Minimum Wage Database

The Minimum Wage Act was implemented in 1988 and has applied to all workers since November 2000 except family businesses that hire only family members, domestic workers and seamen. There is one unified national statutory minimum wage. For security guards and other intermittent workers, a sub-minimum rate of 90% is applied. This figure is adjusted annually. 

In Korea the minimum wage is determined by the Ministry of Employment and Labour (MOEL) based on recommendations from the Minimum Wage Council, an institution set up to deliberate on the minimum wage. The council is a kind of tripartite body which is composed of representatives from labour, management and public interest (mainly academics). 

The minimum hourly wage for 2012 is 4,580 won, about 4 US dollars. Yonhap, the official news agency in Korea reported that a trilateral council on Saturday agreed to raise the country's minimum wage by 6.1 percent to 4,860 won ($4.24) per hour next year.

Representatives of the Minimum Wage Council reached the deal in a 10-8 vote with 9 abstentions at the end of overnight negotiations, the council said.

The decision will increase the monthly salary of those who work 40 hours a week to 1.02 million won ($889), according to the council. It is expected to benefit roughly 2.58 million workers in the country struggling with low income, it added.

Initially, the labor circle demanded a 22.3 percent increase from this year's 4,580 won, while the management proposed a 3.4 percent hike.

Eight of the council's nine members representing employers abstained from voting after the government representatives of the 27-member council proposed a hike of minimum 5.5 percent and maximum 6.7 percent.

Employers quickly expressed their dismay with the decision.

"We cannot help but express grave concerns over the decision, which lacks any consideration for the country's small and medium-sized businesses that are struggling against worsening economic conditions and rising costs," the Korea Employers Federation said in a released statement.

The employers' group claimed the minimum wage hike will cost an additional 1.4 trillion won a year for all businesses with more than 30 employees.

"Such a steep rise of the minimum wage despite worsening economic conditions will hamper business activities by small and medium-sized enterprises, which in turn will seriously threaten job opportunities for the poor," it said.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor is scheduled to fix the minimum wage by Aug. 5 after announcing details of the agreement next week. (Yonhap)

It is said that  19,518 cases of violation of the Minimum Wage Act were found in 2011, only 11 cases were brought into legal proceedings. Most of them were concluded with minor, if not symbolic, punitive measures such as the administrative request for ‘correction measures’. The penalty is so low that violating the law is often cheaper than compliance.

Source: Korea Times and Yonhap