November 21, 2002
Translated by the PUFS newsteam from articles in Busan Ilbo

Busan seeks new food garbage dumps

A potential crisis in food garbage management is looming on the horizon for the City of Busan.

Although Busan selected some companies for food garbage facilities eight months ago, the city still is having difficulty in negotiating with them. Problems include the amount of materials security. After the end of next year, dumping food garbage will be prohibited in Sang-gok Sanitary Landfill because of an agreement made with the residents of Sang-gok.
With just one year to go before a freeze on food garbage in Sang-gok, there is as yet no alternate facility to dump the food garbage.
Therefore, this problem must be settled without delay, because it takes one year to construct facilities.
According to the Busan Environment Bureau, Myoung Ji Garbage Incinerator and two other incinerators—all of which will begin operations next June—will be used to solve this problem if necessary.
Translated by Song Ji-mi

Reconstruction raises suspicion

Reconstruction that is taking place as a result of floods during the summer in Changnyung, Kyeongnam province, has raised suspicions about the government’s choice of a construction company to repair the damage.

The municipal government hired the construction company without holding open bids for the contract, and the company sub-contracted parts of the job to other construction companies.

Some people are suspicious about the government’s decision to hire this construction company because they suspect that the company may use cheap materials that will not be long lasting.

Translated by Park Joobin

Pickpockets swarm Lotte

Pickpockets committed 12 thefts at Lotte Department Store on November 17th, but Lotte staff did not report the crimes to the police.

According to customers, Lotte was particularly busy on Sunday because it was hosting a celebration of its 23rd anniversary. In addition to the 12 pocket pickings, ten losses occurred.

Nine of the twelve thefts occurred during the grand prize draw for an apartment. The draw attracted 2,000 customers to the first floor of Lotte at 7:30am. Most of the victims were robbed of their wallets, and each customer suffered damages of 100 thousand to 500 thousand won.

A Lotte official stated that 30 security guards were on duty, but it was impossible for them to prevent the thefts because of the abundance of customers.

Some of the victims attempted to claim damages for the thefts until 10pm.

A Lotte official stated that the store is not responsible for reporting the crimes to the police or compensating the victims, but that they would reimburse the victims’ travel expenses.

Translated by Kim Dong Chan

Police investigate illegal campaign activities

With about one month to go before Korea’s presidential election, various illegal election campaign problems have sprung up. The police are investigating these matters.
According to Busan Politics Structure, certain private candidate organizations such as 000 meeting and 000 forum have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. These organizations are expanding widely.
One private candidate committee in particular has invited membership. Membership has reached tens of thousands in Busan alone, with over 250,000 nationwide. The supporters have collected funds exceeding the limit of six hundred million won.
Although teachers are prohibited from assisting in campaigns, one high school teacher is suspected of illegally participating in a campaign.
These problems are under investigation.

Tranlsated by Song Ji-mi

Nationwide test delayed due to test shortage

The nationwide Chinese Character Proficiency Test (CCPT) was delayed due to a shortage of test papers and answer sheets.

On November 16th at 3:00pm, 1,160 students were divided into 28 test groups to take the CCPT at Seo Middle School in Kimhae. 160 people (four test groups) were unable to begin the test on time because the Korean Literary Association (KLA) did not provide enough test papers.

The teachers who were supervising the test asked KLA for permission to copy the test papers and answer sheets. By the time they received permission from KLA and made additional copies, 45 minutes had passed. All of the test participants experienced the delay.

Anyone is eligible to take the CCPT, regardless of age or grade level, but most of the participants were elementary and middle school students. Many parents had to wait at the playground for their children to complete the test. One parent expressed difficulty in understanding how a nationwide test could be delayed because of an insufficient number of test papers.

A KLA representative stated that the mistake was due to a computer error, as the computer misreported the number of test participants.

A lack of test papers was also a problem at the Oct. 20th state-sponsored real estate licensing test.

Translated by Ha Sun Ha

Expensive electric billboards now useless

The ten electric billboards that advertised the Asian Games will be removed next month if they are not purchased or rented.

Each electric billboard cost 5 million won, and they are not currently being used. They were used to count down the days until the Asian Games opening ceremony.

Busan officials suggested that the billboards be used to advertise the Daegu Summer Olympics or the Pusan International Film Festival, but both organizing committees refused the suggestion.

A Busan organizing committee official stated that they would like to use the signs for successive events, but have not been successful in finding advertisers who are interested in using the signs.

Translated by Lee Lee Hwa

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