November 29, 2002
Translated by the PUFS newsteam from articles in Busan Ilbo

Minor arrested for extorting money with sex chat

On December 2nd, Busanjin police office issued a warrant for the arrest of a 17 year old boy identified by only his family name, Park.
Park who has naturally long hair, put on some lipstick, pretended to be a high school girl and used a video chatting site to lure men into arranging sexual liaisons for money. The men would send money to Park's bank account, but he would never show up for the arranged meetings. Police were able to track down Park and arrested him after more than 1.2 million won had already been transferred to his account.
Translated by Park JooBin

Office space more expensive this year

As a result of a lack of office space in Busan this year, key money and management fees were raised. This phenomenon is expected to continue throughout next year.

The number of vacant offices in Busan has decreased this year because business has increased.

The Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry stated that only 5.4% of buildings allocated for businesses were vacant this year, compared to a 10.5% vacancy rate last year. Consequently, key money deposits were raised by 1.9%, and management fees have increased by 1.2%.

The highest rate of vacant office space is 7.4% in Guem Jung district, and the lowest vacant office rate is 2.8% in Busanjin district.

Translated by Kim Dong Chan

Entertainers join protests against U.S.

Members of the entertainment world have joined citizen groups and university students who are continuing their protests against the U.S.military over the deaths of two middle school girls who was hit by a U.S. armored vehicle. The non guilty verdict by a U.S. military court against the soldiers involved have resulted in a fresh round of rallies and demonstrations across the country. Two hundred people took part in a demonstration in front of Busan's Daehwa Department store building demanding revision to SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) between Korea and the U.S.
Last month in Jin-hae in front of the U.S. base there, about three hundred fifty people including workers, farmers and university students burned scarecrows representing America and wrote a note of protest with blood about punishing the U.S. soldiers and demanding the withdrawal the U.S. forces from Korea.
Recently, as a sign of protest, pop singer Lee Jung-hyun decided not to do a show with actor, Rick Yun, a Korean living in America. Dozens of other entertainers, including pop singers Psy and the Yoon Do-hyun Band along with movie star Song Kang-ho declared in a joint statement that they will take part in the anti-U.S. protests until their demands for the nullification of the verdict are met. Representatives of "The Pan-Korean Committee For Two Girls Killed by a U.S. Army Armored Vehicle" have already left for Washington D.C. and plan to hold protests in front of the White House.

Translated by Kim Soo Hee

City Officials hope to amend Green Belt law
Busan city officials are holding discussions with the Ministry of Construction & Transportation in hopes of reforming the Green Belt laws. Green Belt laws designate certain areas of land as agricultural only and prevent other kinds of development from taking place on that land.
According to Busan city, their plans to build several tourist parks and recreational facilities will be impossible to carry out unless the current set of Green Belt laws are revoked. They would also like to open up several portions of land that are currently protected by the Green Belt law to commercial development. They say there is an urgent need to allow development in these areas. One specific area of contention is around the Geumjeong Velodrome where city officials would like to construct a bicycle race track by October 2003. Until the Green Belt laws are amended however, construction cannot begin.
Translated by Jo Jeong Eun

Friends Director Turns Himself into Police
Kwak Kyoung Taek, the Korean director of the movie Friends (Chin-gu), voluntarily turned himself in to the Busan District Attorney’s Office on November 21st. Similar to the subject of the movie Friends, it is rumored that Mr. Kwak has been intimidated by gangsters and has given them money. The current investigation was prompted by allegations that Mr. Kwak received 500,000,000 won from an investment company in order to finance a film, and then handed over 250,000,000 won to gangsters. Whether intimidation was involved will also be investigated.

Vulgar emails frighten recipients

A twenty-year-old woman hasn’t been able to sleep at night after receiving a vulgar text message on her cellular phone. She reported the problem to the police, but they haven’t been able to find the criminal who sent the lascivious message. The woman remains afraid and worried, and it appears that there is little chance of finding the sender.

Vulgar text messages are increasing because it almost impossible to identify the sender if he or she wishes to remain anonymous, as many computer-based text message service providers do not check user information for accuracy.

Translated by Lee Lee Hwa

Pharmparazzi reports increasing

Pharmparazzi is a term used to describe people who submit videotaped or audio taped evidence of illegal acts committed by pharmacists to authorities in order to receive a cash reward. Since the Ministry of Health and Welfare began a reward system last July, the pharmparazzi have reported about 60 instances of illegal activity in the capital area, according to a statement made by the Korean Pharmaceutical Association and the Ministry of Health and Welfare on November 25th.

According to the reward system, a person will receive a 100,000 to 200,000 won reward for reporting pharmacists who substitute medication without a doctor’s approval, prepare medication without proper licensure, or report a doctor who insists that a patient purchase medication from a specific pharmacy.

By Korean law, a doctor can prescribe medicine, but cannot distribute it, and a patient must get a prescription from a licensed doctor in order to obtain many types of medication. However, in an urgent situation, pharmacists may distribute medication to a patient without a prescription.

The governmental organizations will not reward a person who pretends to be a patient in urgent need of medication in order to trap the pharmacist in a violation. Also, the pharmacist will not be punished in this situation. A Ministry of Health and Welfare official stated that any conflicts will be resolved by a judicial conclusion.

Members of the Korean Pharmaceutical Association recently requested that the Ministry of Health and Welfare abolish the practice of giving cash rewards for reporting pharmacists.

Translated by Ha Sun Ha

Developers plan apartments and stores for Centum City

Busan City has sold prime commercial sites in Centum City, Haeundae, to specially designated industries. Since the sale did not include any prohibitions against building apartments, theses industries may therefore build apartment and retail complexes on the sites.

Consequently, it is doubtful that the City gave these industries preferential treatment. According to Busan City, Mirae Construction Co. bought an a tract of land measuring four thousand pyong in Centum City and will build 35~38-story multi-purpose complexes, including 567 housing units.

Translated by Song Ji-mi

Industry hits snag over sand quarrying

A Pusan aggregate company is seeking a new source for sand.

The problem began when extracting construction-grade sand at Shinan (the source of sand for Pusan construction), was prohibited starting in August. So the aggregate company applied for a license to excavate sand from the Nakdong River. Busan Local Council, however, opposed that request.

The local council said if it gave permission, it could be a problem for "the plan of river maintenance." An environmental association also strongly resisted the plan.

A source from Busan Regional Construction Management Office said, “The amount of sand in the Nakdong River increased because of the last flood, so we are going to discuss the possibilities.”

Translated by Jo Jung-eun

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