Archive for February, 2009
An Army staff sergeant was sentenced to jail and loss of rank and pay Friday after a military jury found him guilty of bilking the government out of thousands of dollars in housing allowance.
Staff Sgt. Lamont Barefield-Peace, 35, was sentenced to 179 days in jail, reduction from pay grade E-6 to E-4 and forfeiture of $2,218.50 for two months following his court-martial at Camp Henry in Daegu.
He was support operations material readiness sergeant with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 19th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) in Daegu.
He had been charged with larceny and making false official statements.
The jury convicted Barefield-Peace of swindling the government out of about $55,000 in housing allowance payments by claiming in paperwork that his family lived in San Francisco, although they actually lived in Killeen, Texas, officials said.
Based on that paperwork, the government paid him housing allowance at higher rates.
The wrongdoing occurred from September 2005 to September 2007 and was discovered during an audit, officials said.
The trial began Thursday before military judge Lt. Col. Thomas M. Kulish and a jury of four officers and four enlisted soldiers.
Source: Stars and Stripes
Certain district offices in Seoul have begun providing educational services for residents. For example, Dobong-gu offers English classes by native speakers for elementary students. Gwanak-gu in collaboration with Seoul National University has set up an educational institute to provide science and math classes aimed at nurturing talented youth. These classes are receiving a warm response from residents as they provide quality lessons for relatively cheap tuition.
Private education is a huge burden on households with students, especially given aggravating financial difficulty. Though parents want to cut costs for private education considering the gloomy economic outlook, they seldom do so since their children’s future is at stake. A survey conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry of 520 households in the metropolitan areas found that only 2.3 percent of them cut private educational costs for their children from a year ago. This means most households have hardly reduced expenses even in the face of worsening financial hardship. Those who suffered income losses would have been forced to cut back on other indispensible expenses. Under the circumstances, if alternative education is offered on the public level, it will significantly reduce the burden of households with students.
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education will run a pilot school program designed to eliminate the need for private education. Under the plan, nine elementary and secondary schools will be selected in the Seoul districts of Gangnam, Yangcheon and Nowon, which are packed with private institutes. Stronger afterschool programs will follow. If the students later produce tangible results in college admission, the project will have positive ramifications for the intended goal down the road.
Schools should not ignore parents who are suffering from snowballing private educational fees. Schools and teachers must cooperate to improve academic achievement for students. As a country with few natural resources, Korea must nurture talent and help them develop potential to raise national competitiveness. The public sector should play a key role in these efforts.
If Korea can satisfy high educational demand for children with useful programs that replace private tutoring and institutes, the programs themselves will be effective welfare measures for the people’s livelihood. Until now, certain districts have neglected such efforts to create quality educational services. Despite the huge gap in educational levels among regions, those with low levels have barely made efforts to improve the situation. Now is the time to change that with quality educational services set by provincial authorities. Public educational services should take firm root and expand across the nation.
Source:Dong-A Ilbo
Around 10:30pm last night, in Beomeo-dong, Suseong-gu, of Daegu, a noraebang owner and friend were spending time at the owner’s establishment. “While meeting with my friend, I called out for the hostess.”, the owner commented, “But after she didn’t respond, I went and looked for her, where I found her dead.”
Daegu Police announced that, at that time, the owner had found that parts of her clothing had been removed and confirmed that she was bleeding from the head.
Police are continuing to investigate the matter.
Source: SBS
Jessica : I just had an interview for a bank manager position and I don’t think I made a very good first impression.
제시카 : 은행관리자 면접이 있어 인터뷰를 했는데 별로 좋은 첫인상을 주지 못한 것 같아요.
Sue : I am sure you made a good first impression.
수 : 당신은 좋은 첫인상을 남겼을 거예요.
Jessica : No…They said I seemed very quiet and difficult to approach.
제시카 : 아니에요. 내가 너무 조용하고 접근하기 어려워 보인다고 했어요.
Sue : Really? You are the sweetest person I know.
수 : 정말요? 내가 아는 사람 중에 당신이 제일 다정한데요.
Source: Joongang Ilbo
MySpace, the world’s second-largest social networking service, is pulling out of Korea 10 months after it first appeared.
MySpace, which entered Korea in April 2008, announced it will stop Korean language service as of Feb 18.
Due to Cyworld’s strong presence, MySpace failed to gain enough of a following, although it launched local services such as “minilog,” where users were able to jot down their daily thoughts and feelings. Cyworld has 22 million users in Korea, or more than 45 percent of the country’s population.
The failure of MySpace was not surprising news. The Korean SNS market was already saturated when the company entered without distinct features. MySpace seemed to lack understanding for Korean culture, industry watchers said.
MySpace will convert Korean service to English menus, user interface and customer care. Content already created by users will remain in Korean language, MySpace said.
Source: TelecomsKorea
Julie: Honey? I have to go to Seoul Station tomorrow. What do you think will be the fastest way?
Kevin: It depends on the time. If you are going during rush hour, the subway is definitely the best way.
Julie: I need to be there by 8 am. So I will use the subway. Where is the nearest subway station?
Kevin: Hakdong. You get on Hakdong and transfer at Isu Station to line number 4.
줄리: 여보, 내일 서울역에 가야 하는데 어떻게 가는 게 가장 빠를까요?
케빈: 시간대에 따라 달라요. 출퇴근 시간에 간다면 당연히 지하철이 제일 빠르고요.
줄리: 내일 아침 8시까지 가야 해서 지하철을 타고 가야겠어요. 가장 가까운 지하철역이 어디지요?
케빈: 학동역. 학동에서 타고 이수에서 4호선으로 갈아타면 돼요.
Source: Joongang Ilbo
Lisa: Christine, I am really sorry if my son has caused any trouble at your house.
Christine: No, not at all. You don’t
need to apologize. They are boys.
Lisa: I will make sure that doesn’t happen again.
Christine: Lisa, really it is okay.
I’m sure my children have broken something at your house before … let’s call it even.
리사: 크리스틴, 우리 애가 그 집에 가서 폐를 끼쳤다면 정말 미안해요.
크리스틴: 전혀 아니에요. 사과할 필요 없어요. 남자애들이잖아요.
리사 : 다시는 그런 일 없도록 주의할게요.
크리스틴: 리사, 정말 괜찮아요. 우리 애들도 분명히 그 집에 가서 놀면서 뭔가 망가뜨렸을 게 뻔하니 서로 비긴 걸로 해요.
참고: Let’s call it even ‘서로 비긴 걸로 해요, 피장파장이네요’라는 뜻으로 여기서 Even은 대등하다는 의미로 해석합니다.
Source: Joongang Ilbo
A: I heard you got a part-time job. How many hours do you work?
B: Only 4 hours a day. I go to work at 2 p.m. and leave at 6.
A: 아르바이트를 하신다고 들었어요. 몇 시간이나 일하세요?
B: 하루 4시간만요. 오후 2시에 출근해서 6시에 퇴근해요.
A: So you started this job 4 years ago? When did you leave college then?
B: Oh, actually I went to community college.
A: 이 일을 4년 전에 시작하셨다고요? 그러면 대학 졸업은 언제 하신 건가요?
B: 아, 실은 2년제 대학을 다녔어요.
동 사 leave의 기본 의미는 ‘떠나다’이다. leave Seoul(서울을 떠나다), leave for Seoul(서울로 떠나다) 등 실제로 떠나가는 ‘동작’을 나타낸다. 하지만 떠나는 장소가 어디냐에 따라 좀 더 추상적인 의미가 되기도 한다. 예를 들어 ‘학교를 떠나다’라는 leave school은 ‘졸업하다’라는 뜻이고, ‘일을 떠나다’라는 leave work은 ‘퇴근하다’라는 뜻이다.
Source: Segye
