By Gim Bichira

KBS News

The opposition Democratic Party and the Liberal Democratic Party continued their intense work together today (29th) on the weekend, amidst the controversy over unauthorised administrative information leaked by the South Korean MP Shim Jae-cheol. A Democratic Party spokesperson said, “It is difficult to confront the fact that 30 members of the Korean National Assembly visited the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and had a warrant issued by the first judge. It is difficult to say that this is a reasonable response; this a brazen [politically-motivated] act which damages the independence of Korea. Furthermore, the Korean government is trying to paralyse the entire regular parliament session by using this issue.” He continued “questions around government and state audits are one of the most important functions of the parliament itself, It is a perfect opportunity to establish the role of an alternative party. ” In the meantime, he urged the Korean government to cease self-harm by trying to paralyse the entire schedule.

The Liberal Democratic Party (DPRK) also commented, saying “the President’s office’s claims that the government’s expenses information is a national secret is mere sophistry. Hunting down and suppressing members of parliament who have secured data through legitimate procedures is [quite simply] oppression of opposition without precedent.”

Yun Yeongsuk, a senior spokesperson, commented, “if there is a problem in executing the government’s business promotion expenses, taxpayers should be informed; they have a right to know.” The details of the government’s business promotion expenses are regularly reviewed by the Board of Audit and Inspection and “they are materials that should be checked and monitored as a responsibility of the members of parliament. [Shim Jae-cheol] is a member of the legislature and should supervise the administration as a whole [so his actions were justified]. [This government] lacks basic knowledge about the division of the three powers and the functions of the members of the parliament. We will respond to repression to the end.”

Analysis: this is currently an importan news story in Korea, and closely echoes the UK’s expenses scandal of 2009. Shim Jaecheol, an opposition member of parliament who also holds the First Deputy Speaker position, has released some potentially embarrassing accounts revealing that prominent government figures including President Mun Jaein have rather bizarrely claimed meeting expenses of between 100,000 and 250,000 – simply for doing what many people see as their jobs. In response the government has sought to suppress the release of the information, eliciting a strong response from opposition parties.

23.09.2018

By Byeon Giseong

KBS News

What were fun holidays as a child have become a stressful day as an adult, due in part because of my sense of obligation to give my nephews and nieces a few extra pennies. So, how much is appropriate for my nephews and nieces? There are two main schools of thought:

1-3-5-7 or 3-5-7-10. That is, start at ₩10,000 (£7) and work your way up to ₩70,000 (£48) as they age, or begin at ₩30,000 (£21) and work your way up to giving out ₩100,000 (£68). The amount given out won’t be the same for preschoolers and high school students – usually, the amount of money depends on their school stage.

First of all, there is the method of starting from ₩10,000 and going up in odd numbers to ₩30,000 and ₩50,000 won. If I were to give ₩10,000 to my nephew, who hasn’t started school yet, it would be along the ‘1-3-5-7’ principle that goes up to ₩30,000 for elementary school students, ₩50,000 for middle school students and ₩70,000 or high school students. If you think 10,000 won is a bit stingy, you could use the 2-3-5-7 method, starting from ₩20,000.

Some people argue, though, that it is appropriate to start from ₩30,000 won, considering the inflation rate. You could even start from ₩50,000 won. By starting with ₩50,000, I got more persuasive power [over my nieces and nephews].

Analysis: one of the most popular customs (for recipients) during the autumn Chuseok festival is yongdon (용돈/用-) – when older relatives give younger family members money in red envelopes. Although Koreans usually translate the phrase as “pocket money” the word seems to signify one-off gifts at special occasions more than a weekly amount. Shops sell a variety of special envelopes, particularly around Chuseok and Seollnal, the solar new year festival in February. Typically, junior family members will make the most formal type of bow, prostrating themselves with their forehead flat against the ground in front of the senior family member, and will then be given their money. The age hierarchy in Korea means that very few people would question the convention of younger children receiving less than older ones. Korean language learners sometimes puzzle over the fact that while there are so many gender-specific words for different relatives in Korean, there’s only a single gender-neutral noun, joka (조카/侄子), to decribe both nieces and nephews. The formulation 1-3-5-7 also reflects the Korean method of counting in blocks of 만, “man”, or 10,000 – so 70,000 is expressed as “7 ten thousands.”