[374] 1. A variety of picky terms of dating via matchmakers from Korea Herald/ 2.For Korean women, glass ceiling is more like concrete from Korean..

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1. Politics / Social Affairs / Education / People / National

A variety of picky terms of dating via matchmakers from Korea Herald

“Would you introduce me to a single man who will let me handle bank accounts and finance?” This is one of the first face-to-face dating terms one single woman suggested when she was requested to date in a report on a variety of dating terms that matchmaking agency ‘Biennale’ and remarriage website ‘Only You’ have jointly unveiled.

In general, people are likely to ask about occupation, appearance, academic background and family background, personality and religion as terms related to marriage partners. But other very picky terms and conditions are also suggested, according to Biennale. The result is from a poll conducted jointly by the two agencies on 1,526 members, including 805 males, from Feb. 15 to April 7. The top question was that “a considerable number of women want to know about their financial status.”

In particular, many women suggested asked this. In general, both men and women exaggerate their strengths as much as possible when they are introduced. However, women with a huge amount of wealth requested the agencies to make this a secret as they believe that their partners may like them due to their financial worth, not love. As many as 41 women or 71.9 percent of the 57 who have more than 1.5 billion won demanded this from matchmaking agency.

The second condition was that “too much religious women should not be introduced.” In this case, such a demand was made by many male Christians, according to Biennale. They said that they have no objection whether their female partners believe in religion or not but do not opt for females who spend too much time on religion. Forty-nine men or 72.1 percent filed such a demand.

The third was that the agency should “reveal the divorce of parents before arranging of face-to-face dating.” This means that they want face-to-face dating only when their partners don’t mind a divorce in the family. A considerable number of single males requested such information. The request was made by 18 single males or 66.7 percent of the 27 men whose parents had divorced.

The fourth term was “face-to-face introduction for marriage should be made near my home.”

This seems to come from conventional thinking. Such a demand was made by North Korean female defectors and residents in smaller cities or towns, with 28 members or 43.3 percent.

The fifth was that they “don’t like males who live in the city smaller than that where they live.”

The sixth was that female members “express their hope to have babies in a Caesarean operation,” and the seventh is that females want to manage the wealth of their husband by themselves.

Summary

Face-to-face dating,  man and women suggested some picky terms (such as ‘reveal the divorce of parents before arranging’ or ‘face-to-face introduction for marriage should be made near my home’ etc.) when they was requested to date in a report on a variety of dating terms that matchmaking agency ‘Biennale’ and remarriage website ‘Only You’ have jointly unveiled.

Questions.

1.     Are there any conditions above you also agree with for your marriage?

2.     What are your own terms for marriage? Please prioritize them.

3.     In this money conscious society, how much weight do you place on emotional part and economical/financial status for marriage?

4.     As abovementioned, if you were rich, let’s say having 5 billion won, will you also ask matchmaker to keep it secret to the partner you are going to meet?  Why and why not?

2. Business / IT / Science / Industry / Economy

For Korean women, glass ceiling is more like concrete  from Korean Times

 “Glass ceiling” is a universal term for describing the barriers preventing more women reaching the top echelons of the corporate world. But to many working women in Korea, who have experienced the limitations to their opportunities as being blatant and often unbreakable, the ceiling has to be looking more like concrete.

It’s almost too easy to meet a female employee who will express frustration about the pace of her advancement at the workplace. While policymakers here continue to speechify about progressing equality between the sexes and improving corporate prospects for women, most employers remain indifferent about smashing the metaphorical ceiling, glass or whatever. There are only a handful of female chief executive officers (CEOs) among the top Korean companies and half of them are daughters of the parent group’s chairman.

A study found that less than 1 percent of Korean firms that hire more than 1,000 employees have female CEOs. Only 17 percent of the companies’ mid-level managers were women, while the proportion of female executives was just over 6 percent. In comparison, 3.6 percent of the global firms that make Fortune magazine’s Fortune 500 list were led by female CEOs, a six-fold increase from 0.6 percent in 2000.

“Korean firms will talk about employing more female executives every year when the season for personnel decisions come. However, it’s hard to expect them to increase the number of female CEOs when the pool of candidates among female executives is so shallow,” said SERI researcher Kim Jae-won.

As remote a possibility as it is, enforcing a quota on Korean companies to get more women in their boardrooms might not be the answer in a country where a large chunk of female employees are sidelined from payrolls before they even get to sniff at management positions.

Government figures confirm‎! that women in their 30s are dropping out of the workplace at an alarming rate and their lack of freedom in setting a work-life balance has been identified as the culprit. The pay gap between men and women also remains wide, so when couples get to discuss how they are going to afford childcare, it’s normally the wife who stays at home.

Economic activity among women aged between 25 and 29 was measured at 69.8 percent in 2010.However, the figure dropped dramatically to 54.6 percent for women aged between 30 and 34, the pressure of working long hours and a lack of maternity support taking a toll on mothers with young children.

On average, a female employee earned less than 70 percent of what her male counterpart took home last year. And the employment statistics for women are padded by casual and precarious jobs to more of a degree than men, Statistics Korea said.

In recent years, government officials here have worked hard to introduce family-friendly policies, such as expanding tax benefits, providing longer maternity leave and establishing more daycare places for children of working mothers. But the effects of such changes have been subdued, thanks in part to a large number of companies reluctant to make significant changes to their working environment. Korea’s inability to take advantage of the glut in the female workforce is alarming when more old people, combined with a declining working age population, are resulting in murkier projections for long-term economic growth.

Korea currently has one of the lowest birth rates among maturing economies, with its 2010 figure standing at 1.22 births per woman, well below the 1.71 average of Organization for Economic Cooperation for Development (OECD) nations.

Summary

Many working women in Korea, who have experienced the limitations to their opportunities as being blatant and often unbreakable, the ceiling has to be looking more like concrete. A study found that less than 1 percent of Korean firms that hire more than 1,000 employees have female CEOs There are only a handful of female chief executive officers (CEOs) among the top Korean companies and half of them are daughters of the parent group’s chairman. It’s hard to expect them to increase the number of female CEOs in Korea. Also Economic activity among women aged between 25 and 29 was measured at 69.8 percent in 2010.However, the figure dropped dramatically to 54.6 percent for women aged between 30 and 34, the pressure of working long hours and a lack of maternity support taking a toll on mothers with young children. Moreover, a female employee earned less than 70 percent of what her male counterpart took home last year. And the employment statistics for women are padded by casual and precarious jobs to more of a degree than men.

Questions.

1.     Have you ever felt that there is an invisible glass ceiling in our society ?  Tell us about it.

2.     Where do you think such practices of male-oriented system in our workplace came from ?

3.     Why do you think such system has been widely spread and taken for granted ?

4.     Do you think you are doing your best to understand situation and make difference at personal level, at least or are you indifferent in this kind of matter ?

3. Culture / Entertainment / Food / Travel / Sports / Life

Ministry chided for over-the-counter drug restriction

Minister of Health and Welfare Chin Soo-hee is in hot water over the issue of selling over-the-counter drugs outside pharmacies.

While pharmacists claim exclusive management rights for any drugs for safety reasons, a majority of doctors and pharmaceutical companies, along with the presidential office are calling for the expansion of the sales have placed the minister in a tenuous situation.

According to the Joong Ang Daily newspaper, President Lee Myung-bak on Tuesday morning scolded his secretaries for the health ministry’s decision to continue the ban on OTC drug sales at supermarkets and 24-hour convenience stores. Earlier this year, Lee told Chin that the sales regulation should be eased since he wanted easier and wider access to OTC drugs, which do not require doctor’s prescriptions.

Lee has reportedly referred directly to Chin, saying: “I cannot believe that a minister handled the situation like a freshman official.”

What made the matters worse was doctors’ “rebellion.” The Korean Medical Association, Korea’s largest interest group of physicians, on Tuesday morning publicly demanded Chin’s resignation, claiming that her lack of confidence has caused chaos in the medical field.

“It is ridiculous that the minister gives in to pharmacists even if the public wants it badly,” KMA President Kyung Man-ho said. The doctors, who have supported wider OTC drug sales, urged Chin to step down.

The Korean Pharmaceutical Association, on the other hand, said that even OTC drugs, mainly light cough drops, painkillers and digestion pills, need directions and monitoring from pharmacists.

“There is no such thing as a ‘safe’ medicine,” association spokesman Yoon Sam-young said. “People need to be consulted all the time about what they are taking.”

Underneath the explanation lies the fact that the deprivation of the exclusive sales rights may pose a huge blow to 20,000 pharmacists nationwide. According to industry insiders, sales of OTC drugs take up more than 10 percent of revenue.

Still, according to a recent survey by the Korea Consumer Agency of 500 adults nationwide, 71.1 percent supported the wider sales, saying they have had a hard time looking for medicines in the middle of the night or holidays when no chemists are working. 

To ease public antipathy, the association is operating 59 pharmacies nationwide at nighttime and holidays. However, the number is a far cry from actual demand. Also, it is reported that these pharmacies are marking losses of around 6 million won ($5,500) per month due to high labor costs. Some pharmacies have refused to enact the extended working hours.

The embattled Health Ministry said there isn’t much the government can do other than persuade the pharmacists to give in.

In a meeting with reporters last month, Chin vented against the current legal system which prevents her from intervening. “Under the law, pharmacists have the exclusive right to manage pharmaceutical products, including OTC items. This means that should the government allow the OTC drugs sales at supermarkets, the store owners will still have to refer the sales to chemists,” she said.

“Unless we revise the law, which seems even tougher, there isn’t a real way supermarkets, convenience stores or any others could sell cough drops freely.”

An official said the ministry has made unsuccessful attempts to bring pharmacists to the negotiation table. “It is a long and hard battle,” he sighed.

Summary

This is so important issue to us. Please read all the article and discuss about this Topic. ^o^

Questions.

1. How was your week? List one event that could have been better (you can skip this request), and things/people/events that made you happy (you have to answer this question) in the week.

2. Locate one of following words from the article above, and explain its meaning in English.

over-the-counter drugs, pharmacists, tenuous situation, antipathy, embattled, intervening

3. What is your opinion on the issue of selling over-the-counter drugs outside pharmacies? Why so?

4. Do you have any other things that you want to be improved in our health related businesses and issues (nurses, pharmacists, doctors, hospitals, health insurance system etc)?

[김은혜 [Joanne]]

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[태용[Roy]]

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