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 May 23, 2007 |
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The following are summaries of U.S. newspaper articles related to Korea:
- Tracking an Online Trend, and a Route to Suicide
A disturbing trend has emerged in Korea: people have been using the internet to get tips on how to commit suicide and in some cases form suicide pacts. Suicides doubled between 2000 and 2005, surging from 6,440 to 12,047. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says that there were 18.7 suicides per 100,000 in 2002 compared to 10.2 per 100,000 in the United States in the same year. Some people are blaming the increase on the internet as it acts as a facilitator and brings suicidal people together. A study by Kim Jung-jin, a sociologist at Korea Nazarene University, showed that between June 1998 and May 2006 nearly a third of all suicide cases involved people who had formed pacts through internet chat sites. The government has been taking action. In 2005, the Korea Internet Safety Commission ordered the removal of 566 blogs, chat sites, and postings that encouraged suicide. The government is also considering making pesticides less toxic and installing more barriers on rooftops and bridges since most suicides in Korea are done by jumping or ingesting pesticides.
(New York Times, Choe Sang-hun, May 23, 2007, A4)
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- Wie Planning to Resume Her Career Next Week
Michelle Wie will return to professional golf after her injury to her left wrist. She has not competed in a tournament since she missed the cut in January in the PGA Tour¡¯s Sony Open. Her next tournament is LPGA Ginn Tribute that begins on May 31. In her absence, competition has become fiercer as her peers have won LPGA Tour events and she has not. Although she will scale back her attempts to play against men, she will try for a third straight year to make the cut at the John Deere Classics in July.
(New York Times, Damon Hack, May 23, 2007, C11)
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- LG to Retain Stake in LCD Maker
LG Electronics, Inc. will keep its stake of 37.9% in the LG-Philips LCD Co. Currently Philips Electronics NV has 32.9%. The two companies agreed to keep at least 30% stake in the firm until July of this year. Philips said that it will divest itself of its stake, but won¡¯t sell the entire stake at once, since LG-Philips shares have risen in price recently.
(Wall Street Journal, In-Soo Nam, May 23, 2007, B3)
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- China, Korea and Indonesia Hit Records
Despite government authorities¡¯ efforts to cool the market, most of Asian markets advanced to new highs including Korea, China, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines. Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 0.9%, or 14.68 points, to 1642.88, its seventh record close in the past 10 sessions. European markets experienced little changes.
(Wall Street Journal, WSJ News Roundup, May 23, 2007, C6)
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