ILLEGAL STREAMING WEBSITES

ILLEGAL STREAMING WEBSITES

[Anchor Lead]
The illegal streaming site 'NooNooTV', which distributed content from platforms like Netflix, has been shut down. However, similar services continue to operate. Investigations suggest these sites might be generating revenue by directing users to illicit gambling platforms. Police are now investigating these claims.

[Pkg]
The popular Netflix series "Mask Girl". With just a single click the show starts playing, but the website is not Netflix. It's an illegal streaming website. It provides the latest dramas and movies, that only paid over-the-top media service subscribers can watch, for free. There are many more such websites. One of them is being publicized as an "authentic sequel" of noonootv, which was shut down early this year for illegal content distribution. Other websites refer their users to changed URLs or detour networks via Telegram when access to them is blocked. All these websites are illegal, but most of them have servers overseas, and tracing them down is not easy. This website has a server in Afghanistan.

[Soundbite]
(Illegal OTT firm): The number you have dialed is turned off. Please try again later.

These illegal websites provide digital content for free, but how do they get their income? When a user clicks an ad, an online gambling website opens. Although these illegal streaming sites are different, they all feature similar banners at the top of the screen. KBS checked out each of them and found that most of these gambling websites were operated by the same firm. KBS contacted the managers to ask them if they had any ties to the streaming websites. They said they did, but when asked for more details, they cut KBS off. They apparently draw users by offering free content and later lure them to illegal gambling websites to reap profits.

[Soundbite]
Choi Kyoung-jin (Korean Association for Artificial Intelligence and Law): As digital convergence evolves, there are more illegal elements that make it easier to commit crimes or produce larger profits.

Police have launched an investigation after receiving a complaint that streaming and gambling websites were working together to generate illicit profits. So far police have frozen five bank accounts of six gambling websites, and temporarily shut down one streaming and one gambling website. Police are tracing down the actual operators of illegal websites by tracking their bank transactions.

MINISTER NOMINEE HALTS Q&A

[Anchor Lead]
Gender Equality and Family Minister Nominee Kim Haeng, will halt her usual interactions with reporters until her confirmation hearing. She's expressed strong concerns over unverified reports about allegations linked to her.

[Pkg]
Former presidential spokesperson Kim Haeng has been answering questions from reporters on her way to work ever since she was nominated to head the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

[Soundbite]
Kim Haeng (Gender Minister nominee (Sept. 14)): I can proudly say that I'm very press-friendly.

But she declared an end to the morning Q&A session Tuesday. She claims that fake news about her has gone too far. The minister nominee also asked the press to stop reporting rumors and allegations until the confirmation hearing.

[Soundbite]
Kim Haeng (Gender Minister nominee): Does it make sense to declare war against fake news when I have to prepare for the hearing?

Then she refuted each and every allegation about her. Kim repeatedly explained that it wasn't illegal to sell her husband's shares of her company to her sister-in-law after she had received a blind trust decision as she was appointed the presidential spokesperson in 2013.

[Soundbite]
Kim Haeng (Gender Minister nominee): I again stress that my sister-in-law is not qualified to receive a blind trust.

Regarding the report that questioned her spouse's zero credit card use, she provided an invoice and said that he had used the usual amount, which was simply omitted from the year-end account settlement. The nominee added that she would disclose at the hearing all management issues associated with Social News, a company she had founded. There were allegations that the number of government ads on WikiTree where Kim was a co-founder increased while she served as a presidential spokesperson. Kim denied any undue influence by saying that the increase in ads was caused by the changes in Social News traffic on social media. The Democratic Party's spokesperson Kim Han-kyu said in a written briefing that the nominee should be investigated to answer these accusations.

NUCLEAR REACTOR SUIT WON

[Anchor Lead]
Since the 2009 UAE nuclear deal, Eastern Europe, particularly the Czech Republic and Poland, has emerged as a potential market for exports. Legal challenges with U.S. nuclear firms had been a hurdle. But, following Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power's recent lawsuit victory against a U.S. company, the path to exports looks clearer.

[Pkg]
The Korean nuclear power reactor APR-1400. It was developed independently by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and received the global spotlight for quick construction and installation. In 2009 the technology was exported to the UAE. Currently export talks are underway with Poland and the Czech Republic. In October 2022, U.S. energy firm Westinghouse Electric filed a lawsuit with a U.S. court citing intellectual property rights violations. Westinghouse demanded that the U.S. government block exports of Korean nuclear power plants because they used its technologies. But a U.S. court has dismissed the case after about 11 months of deliberation. The judges said only the U.S. government has the authority to restrict exports. Therefore, private companies like Westinghouse have no right to demand that. Korea's nuclear power sector welcomed the verdict.

[Soundbite]
(Korean nuclear power company official (VOICE MODIFIED)): It's a positive outcome. Nuclear power reactors are exported as one Korean team, so this can expand the market and create more jobs.

However, there are still challenges ahead as the U.S. court did not rule on intellectual property rights in particular. After Westinghouse filed a lawsuit in the U.S. last year, the KHNP filed an arbitration application with the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board with representatives from both sides participating. Drawing a favorable conclusion from the arbitration board is crucial, as its decision, which is a single-trial system, has the same validity as the court's final verdict.

[Soundbite]
Prof. Chung Bum-jin (Kyunghee University): Contracts signed in 1997 stipulated that any disagreements had to be discussed with the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board. It's not easy to decide as they need to learn about reactors.

Early this year the U.S. government turned down the KHNP's report on bidding for a nuclear power plant project in the Czech Republic. There are calls for the Korean government to step in to actively negotiate the matter with the U.S.

RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR SUMMONED

[Anchor Lead]
The South Korean Foreign Affairs Ministry summoned yesterday Russian Ambassador Andrey Kulik to the ministry building to urge Russia to immediately stop cooperating with North Korea on military matters and to observe UN Security Council resolutions. The South Korean ministry noted that the UN Security Council's permanent member should act responsibly and that Russia would pay the price for threatening South Korea's security. Ambassador Kulik answered through Russia's TASS News Agency that military cooperation is a baseless assumption and that Russia fully carries out all international duties.

TEACHERS SELL EXAM QUESTIONS

[Anchor Lead]
Active teachers have been exposed for selling mock exam questions to private firms while crafting the College Scholastic Ability Test. With substantial sums involved, this scandal raises serious concerns about the integrity of the exam system.

[Pkg]
To qualify as a writer of the college entrance exam known as the College Scholastic Ability Test, candidates are asked whether they engaged in CSAT-related commercial activities in the past 3 years. Four incumbent teachers said they had no such experience and became CSAT authors, only to be found that they had sold exam questions to private education companies.

[Soundbite]
Jang Sang-yoon (Vice Minister of Education): We will immediately file a police complaint against the 4 teachers who lied about their experience on obstruction of business charges.

22 other teachers who sold questions to private institutions after they penned CSAT exams have also been caught. The education ministry plans to request an investigation into these individuals on charges of violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act. Some teachers received close to 500 million won for handing over exam questions. The ministry apologized for failing to ensure fairness in the entrance exam but stressed slim possibility of a leak in questions.

[Soundbite]
Jang Sang-yoon (Vice Minister of Education): Questions created by one writer are not the final version. There are other stages where multiple people review them together.

The latest incidents came to light when authorities compared the list of CSAT writers since 2017 with that of teachers who voluntarily reported their for-profit activities. The ministry said those who sold exam questions to private firms will be excluded from taking part in this year's CSAT. It also promised to devise measures to improve related systems by this year but it's unclear whether they will prove effective.

[Soundbite]
Prof. Sung Ki-sun (Catholic Univ. of Korea): The private firms will surely not disclose the identity of the question sellers and rather ask them to report the facts themselves.

The ministry also found that a researcher at a private education company that was designated as an alternative military service entity, was also creating exam questions and filed charges against this firm for violating the Military Service Act.

TOLLS EXEMPTED OVER CHUSEOK

[Anchor Lead]
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that all highway tolls will be exempted during this year's four-day Chuseok holiday. Toll exemption begins at 0:00 on September 28th and ends at midnight of October 1st. Any vehicle that drives on the highway, even for a little while, will be eligible. That means the vehicles that exit the highways after midnight of September 28th or enter before midnight of October 1st won't have to pay the tolls.

DRUGGED MAN LIGHTS GAS PUMP

[Anchor Lead]
A man was apprehended by the police on Monday after attempting to ignite a gas pump with a lighter at a service station. Fortunately, as it was a self-service station where pumps are locked prior to payment, a major disaster was averted. Initial drug tests revealed the man tested positive for methamphetamine.

[Pkg]
On a busy road during rush hour, a Mercedes-Benz rams into a vehicle in front. Smoke gushes out from the Mercedes but the driver does not get out of the car. Witnesses say the driver was acting strangely inside the vehicle.

[Soundbite]
(Witness (VOICE MODIFIED)): The driver was yelling in the car.

The driver finally gets out five minutes later. He then suddenly walks over to a gas station along the road. He then pulls out a pump and ignites it with a lighter he was holding in the other hand. The pump instantly flares up.

[Soundbite]
(Gas station employee): I told him to put the fire out. He glared at me, said he would kill everyone and then left.

The incident did not cause a major fire as the self-service pump does not release gas before the customer pays. The driver's bizarre behaviour did not end there. He returned to the road, took his shirt off and interrupted traffic, making a scene for over 5 minutes. Police called to the scene arrested the man in his 50s at the site. He was given a simplified drug test which came out positive for methamphetamine.

[Soundbite]
(Gas station employee): He shook his head, screamed and punched the car navigation system. I suspected he was on drugs.

Police have requested an arrest warrant for charges of arson and will follow up with a more thorough drugs test.

PUBLIC JITTERS CAUSE PANIC

[Anchor Lead]
The recent surge in 'armed rampages' has heightened public anxiety. This tension caused a subway panic where 18 were injured after a false alarm. After ten days, the police apprehended the man behind the chaos.

[Pkg]
A subway train packed with commuters during morning rush hour. A man in a black hoodie violently pushes people away to pass through, only to make his way back, with hands in his pockets. Passengers are alarmed by the man, who has his face covered and displays odd behavior. People rush to the door to flee. Screams and shouts follow, creating a pandemonium on the train. People feared the man was another case of an armed attack, many of which were witnessed these days targeting random passersby. Several people notified the police. The incident led to 18 injuries and train operation was suspended for 6 minutes. While hundreds of passengers hurried out of the train, the suspect leisurely left the scene and disappeared. Police caught the man in his 30s responsible for the rush hour chaos after a ten day pursuit and booked him on charges of assault and obstruction of business. The man only said he just pushed people away because it was too crowded.

[Soundbite]
Oh Yeong-suk (Seoul resident): People are extremely nervous these days. If I was there, I would have fled too.

Ever since the indiscriminate knife attack in Seoul's Sillim area, over 60 copycat crimes have occurred. It's natural the public has become more sensitive and nervous even by the sight of anyone acting in a strange way.

[Soundbite]
(Witness to stabbing attack incident (VOICE MODIFIED)): I suffer from trauma. In that kind of situation, people will be terrified and run away.

Apart from additional security measures, authorities must also ponder ways to alleviate heightened public jitters.