PM MEETS UNIVERSITY HEADS

[Anchor Lead]
Just two days after the government proposed the formation of a constructive consultative body with the medical community, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, along with key figures from the medical sector and the presidents of major universities, have reached a consensus on expanding the dialogue body. President Yoon Suk Yeol has extended an invitation to the medical community to discuss the medical budget for the upcoming year.

[Pkg]
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo visited Seoul National University Hospital two days after the government proposed to organize a body for dialogue. He was there to meet with the university presidents of the five largest teaching hospitals as well as the members of the medical community.

[Soundbite]
Ryu Hong-lim (President, Seoul Nat'l Univ.): I believe that setting up a dialogue channel is necessary for successful medical reform.

In a meeting that lasted more than two hours, the two sides exchanged views on what actually goes on in hospitals. Both sides agreed that a dialogue mechanism must be expanded.

[Soundbite]
Han Duck-soo (Prime Minister): We agreed to expand its members and continue talking.

The Office of the Prime Minister said the government does not exclude anyone from participating in the dialogue and asked the medical community to take part in the dialogue and share their ideas. President Yoon Suk Yeol also repeated that the government is ready to talk. Yoon instructed his staff to propose to the medical community to join the discussion for next year's medical service budget. He added that public health is the state's fundamental duty, just like national defense and security, and that government funds will be eagerly invested for that purpose. Meanwhile, President Yoon visited a local general hospital in Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do Province Tuesday afternoon.

[Soundbite]
Yoon Suk Yeol (President): I want to thank the doctors and hospital staff who keep caring for patients in spite of the difficult medical situation.

He said local general hospitals are the first gateway to providing essential medical services and the government is pushing for medical reforms to prevent essential medical services from collapsing.

OVERSEAS VOTING STARTS

[Anchor Lead]
Korean citizens living abroad will vote for the upcoming general election for the next six days. The National Election Commission announced that overseas voting will take place at 220 locations in 115 countries until April 1st, starting at the Korean embassy in New Zealand and the consulate general in Auckland today. Roughly 147,900 overseas voters registered for the April general election, about 14% down from the previous one.

CHEONAN SINKING ANNIVERSARY

[Anchor Lead]
14 years have passed since the sinking of the Cheonan warship, which was torpedoed by North Korea in the waters near Baengnyeong Island. At a memorial service held yesterday, the families of those lost called for the enactment of a special law that would allow for the punishment of derogatory remarks related to the incident.

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A mother keeps caressing the face of her beloved son engraved on a memorial stone. Children who have grown a lot since the corvette's sinking lay flowers at the monument. Former Cheonan corvette captain Choi Won-il also pays homage to the perished sailors along with those who survived. The bereaved families are urging the passage of a special law on the Cheonan sinking to help the survivors and punish those who distort facts.

[Soundbite]
Lee Sung-woo (Head of Cheonan sinking relatives association): Please prevent the Cheonan sinking from being politicized and support comforting the bereaved families' pain.

After the memorial service, bereaved families boarded a new frigate named after the Cheonan warship. They were greeted by its commander, Park Yeon-soo, who served as the operations officer on the sunken Cheonan corvette. The crew showed the bereaved families around the new ship on behalf of their perished colleagues.

[Soundbite] [싱크자막]
Instructions for safe navigation are given to the helmsman, who confirms by repeating them.

Park says he still vividly remembers the day of the sinking and that he has never once forgotten those who sacrificed their lives. He reiterates his commitment to defending the Northern Limit Line.

[Soundbite]
Park Yeon-soo (Commander of Cheonan frigate): We will defend the Northern Limit Line as if fighting in a battlefield.

Defense Minister Shin Won-sik visited a military unit on Baengnyeongdo Island to encourage servicemen and urge them to maintain combat readiness.

"REJECT ANY CONTACT WITH JAPAN"

[Anchor Lead]
Kim Yo-jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, has declared a firm refusal to engage in any form of contact or negotiation with Japan. This announcement effectively dismisses the possibility of a summit between North Korea and Japan, coming just a day after revealing possible discussions with Japan. The question now is...what is North Korea's true intent? We take a look.

[Pkg]
Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, disclosed a summit proposal by Japan, considered an unusual move, and even laid out conditions for talks. But just one day after making this statement, she has now rejected any possibility of negotiations. In a statement released by the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday, Kim said the regime will disregard and reject any contact or negotiation with Japan. She said a summit with Tokyo is of no interest to Pyongyang, making it clear the North will no longer pursue such a meeting. Kim added that Japan has no courage whatsoever to take the first step in forging new bilateral relations. She said this is demonstrated by Japan's attitude of clinging on to issues that can't be resolved and there's no need of resolving. She took issue with a news conference by Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi on Tuesday who said Tokyo cannot accept North Korea's claim that the abductees issue has been resolved. Kim said last month that there may come a day when Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visits Pyongyang. On Monday, she disclosed that Kishida proposed holding summit talks. Following the two overtures, the North is believed to have shifted course with Japan showing no signs of changing its stance on the abductees issue and the North's nuclear and missile development.

CIVIL SERVANT INVOLVED IN SCAM

[Anchor Lead]
A woman in her 50s has been arrested by police for her role as a money mule in a voice phishing scheme. The woman, a level-6 civil servant at a district office in Seoul, stated she was persuaded into this activity by an online boyfriend who requested her assistance.

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A police car arrives at a bank and shortly after, a woman is escorted outside. An alleged member of a voice phishing scam ring is being apprehended. The woman got caught while visiting the bank to undo a suspended bank account. A bank employee, suspicious of the suspension, informed the police.

[Soundbite]
(Bank employee): Withdrawals are suspended when suspicious fund flows are detected. I immediately called the department in charge.

The woman is accused of handing money stolen from phishing victims to the scam ring. She sent some 100 million won, or 74-thousand U.S. dollars, in the form of Bitcoin to the scammers. A police investigation has found that the woman was a level-6 civil servant working at a Seoul district office. She confessed her involvement saying her boyfriend needed Bitcoin to fund an acquaintance's business venture. She claim she was to receive a commission and claimed she didn't know about the crime. However, she was found to have never met the so-called boyfriend and only talked with him online. Separately in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi-do Province, a woman in her 30s was also arrested for delivering cash to a scam ring after being duped by a man who promised to date her when returning to Korea.

[Soundbite]
Yang Tae-jeong (Lawyer): Scammers use victims' affection and sympathy to extort money, so people must be aware of such methods.

Police are warning that tactics of recruiting money collectors for scam rings are evolving and diversifying.

24-HOUR DRUG CALL CENTER

[Anchor Lead]
A 24-hour narcotics call center opened yesterday to provide counseling services for drug rehabilitation and prevention. Anyone seeking help can dial 1342 around the clock to get counseling from the professionally staffed center, which will be run together with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Minister of the Office for Policy Coordination Bang Ki-sun attended the opening ceremony and said the center will support drug addicts resume their normal lives by expanding drug rehabilitation and treatment infrastructure.

MERCHANTS DEMAND LOWER CARD FEES

[Anchor Lead]
For those in business, the amount paid to credit card companies as merchant processing fees is quite an important issue. As the time for re-evaluation of these fees, which occurs every three years, approaches this year, a tug-of-war has already begun within the industry. However, recent years have seen a rapid shift in payment methods and mediums, centered around smartphones, introducing a new variable in determining processing fees.

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Credit card payment terminals smashed. Pickets crumpled and tossed. With credit card processing fees to be re-adjusted soon, which is done once every three years, merchants are demanding that the fees be lowered. Merchants whose annual sales surpass 3 billion won, or 2.2 million dollars, have the biggest complaint. They are not eligible for discounts on credit card processing fees provided by the government to small merchants.

[Soundbite]
Park Yong-man (Chair, Korea Mart Association): Large corporations pay only 1% in processing fees, whereas small and mid-sized retailers and merchants pay over 2%.

The rift over credit card processing fees between merchants and credit card companies is repeated every three years, but this year things will likely get more complicated than ever. That's because credit card companies' performance has deteriorated lately on rising funding costs due to high interest rates, and it has become more difficult to demand that they make concessions to "coexist" with merchants amid the rapidly growing simple payment market. With a growing number of different payment types available to consumers online and at brick-and-mortar stores these days, last year the use of simple payment surpassed that of plastic credit cards for the first time. However, unlike credit card companies, the simple payment sector has the liberty to set its own processing fees.

[Soundbite]
(Staff at credit card company (VOICE MODIFIED)): Simple payment companies are free to determine processing fees, hence more benefits. Their market share is surpassing that of credit card companies.

The government has set up a task force to discuss ways to diversify credit card companies' profits while reducing the burden of processing fees for merchants, but no progress has been made for the second straight year now.

DEREGULATING VERTICAL FARMS

[Anchor Lead]
Indoor farming, utilizing information and communication technology, robotics, and other advanced technologies in vertical farms, has historically faced significant location restrictions, making their establishment a challenging endeavor. Moving forward, however, legislative amendments will enable the construction of vertical farms not only on designated farmland but also within industrial zones.

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This is a vertical farm where crops are grown from multilevel vertical structures indoors using cutting edge technology. It boasts over 30 times the productivity of regular farming because production is possible all year round without being affected by external conditions. Despite being a new promising convergence industry, vertical farms could not be built at any site. That's due to land restrictions.

[Soundbite]
Kang Dae-hyun (CEO, PlanTFarm Co.): Sites allowing vertical farms are limited. Such regulations should be eased to advance new agriculture and promote exports.

However from now on, they can be built above certain agricultural land.

[Soundbite]
Song Mi-ryung (Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs): Collaborative efforts, technology development and easing regulations can lead to export expansion.

Enforcement ordinances for the Industrial Sites Act will also be revised so that vertical farms can enter industrial complexes, which were, until now, only reserved for manufacturing and knowledge-related sectors.

[Soundbite]
Ahn Duk-geun (Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy): The government sees vertical farming as a new sector combining agriculture with ICT, robotics and AI.

The government will also support technology development for vertical farms, including ICT and advanced robotics, and make them eligible for a smart farms support fund.