Talking About 10/15

[Benedict]

Small talk by keywords     3 00 - 3 20

1. grooming 

2. buy one get one free

3. The highlight of my last week 

4. Anything you like

Topic1. Woman who murdered husband for yelling at dog sparks debate     3 30 - 4 20

A national debate over animal rights has been ignited after a woman stabbed her husband to death for yelling at their dog.

On Oct. 4, the day of Chuseok, a woman in her 40s stabbed her husband in the neck with a knife in their home in Paju, Gyeonggi, after he swore at their dog for barking, she later told police. The couple’s child, an elementary school student, called police. The man died in the ambulance and the wife was arrested.

“I do not understand her motive,” said a Twitter user on Tuesday. “Her dog must have been more important to her than her husband.”

“I cannot understand how the wife could say she killed him out of self-defense,” wrote a Facebook user on Tuesday. The woman had told authorities she attacked her husband because she “feared for her life” after seeing him yell at the dog.

“The man was killed here because his life wasn’t worth more than the dog’s,” wrote another Facebook user.

The latest death is one of many involving pets.

A 13-month-old baby died after she was bitten by a 7-year-old Jindo dog at an apartment in Siheung, Gyeonggi, on Friday. The dog reportedly jumped over a 60-centimeter (23-inch) fence that encircled the baby.

“Jindo dogs are known to have a strong sense of social hierarchy,” said a police officer, “so the dog probably saw the baby as an enemy at home.”

In another case, a 38-year-old was booked in August by police in Nowon District, northern Seoul, for threatening the owner of a pet hotel where his Bichon Frise was killed by a Siberian Husky.

“My dog is like my child to me,” the owner had written in an online community.

In yet another case, a woman in her 40s was fined 3 million won ($2,638) in April for obstruction of duty and contempt of authorities after she brought her dog into a fast-food restaurant in Ulsan in 2014, despite the restaurant employees’ protest, and let it walk around and even relieve itself. She swore at police when they arrived.

The number of cases where a pet bit a person or another pet increased from 616 in 2013 to 1,019 in 2016, according to Korea Consumer Agency. From January to June this year, 766 cases have been reported. The number of pets in Korean households broke the 10 million mark in 2015, according to the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency.

Some experts are calling for more education for owners to form healthy relationships with their pets.

“Until now, much of the education on pets concerned how to train them, but now I think the educational programs must start to focus more on how pet owners can form adequate and healthy relationships with their pets,” said Park So-yeon, CEO of Care, an animal protection agency based in Seoul. “Local governments must increase efforts to help pet owners and those without pets communicate peacefully.”

“Conflicts involving pets can get violent because people refuse to see things from the other side,” said Jeon Hyung-joon, professor at Dankook Center for Dispute Resolution in Gyeonggi. “Pets who seem innocent in the owners’ eyes can behave in unexpected ways in different situations. Preventative measures need to be a priority.”

Others refuse to see the growing number of incidents as a serious social issue.

“It’s premature to take a few of these cases involving pets and call them a ‘pet-over-human’ phenomenon,” said Lee Soo-jeong, professor of criminal psychology at Kyonggi University in Gyeonggi. “In the Paju incident, I think the wife probably killed the husband not because of what he did to the dog, but out of anger bottled up over time in their relationship.”

1. A woman stabbed her husband for yelling at dog, which is way out of common sense to behave.

   What do you think about this case?

2. Some of dog-lovers tend to overprotect them and people frown in disapproval.

   What is proper way to care for dogs?

3. In any case, it can not be self-defense because It is not a supposable case. Do you agree?

4. Another case, a baby died after she was bitten by a Jindo dog. It shouldn't have occurred.

   Why do you think the dog acted like that?

5. How pet owners can form adequate and healthy relationships with their pets?

6. A ‘pet-over-human’ phenomenon is ridiculous. What is we need to know before having pets?

7. What do pet-loving people have in common?

Topic2. Shin Jung-hwan stars in latest Mnet show     4 30 - 5 20

Entertainer Shin Jung-hwan appeared on cable channel Mnet’s new TV reality show “Project S : Devil’s Talent Donation” with singer Tak Jae-hoon, after a seven-year hiatus. Shin and Tak made their debut as the duo Country Kkokko in 1998 and separated in 2002.

The show follow the two as they volunteer their talents as MCs and singers for free, wherever people need them. The two set up a call center in a rooftop house in Hwagok-dong, western Seoul. They make appearances wherever they are invited, such as people’s birthday parties for their newborn babies, parties at senior citizen centers across the country or even at sports days.

In the show’s first episode, the two head out to the streets to hand out posters to promote their program. The first episode aired Thursday at 11 p.m.

Shin was caught in an illegal gambling bar in 2005 and denied his conduct, creating outrage. He stepped out of the public eye for three months. Five years later, he was caught lying about his absence for a TV show, saying that he was sick, while in fact he was detained in the Philippines for illegal gambling.

1. Celebrities come back who have committed wrongs after a period of self-reflection .

   Don't you think our society is generous?

2. Do you like Shin Jung-hwan?

3. If we think differently, entertainers are restricted in their behavior.

   Nevertheless, do you still think they have a good job?

4. Do you think we know their private lives well enough to judge just like a back of your hand?

5. When they do something wrong and say, "as a public figure, I made a mistake."

   Do you really think entertainers are public figures? and what does "a public figure" means?

6. Conversely, some entertainers such as Moon Sung-geun, Nam Gyu-ri, Kim Jae-dong etc, were controlled

   by government authorities. Why do authorities keep an eye an entertainers?

7. What is the worst fault you can never forgive TV stars?