No .477, Issued on 06 Jan.2005  by Park In-rye , Secretary General

Consumers Union of Korea
    – National Assembly Lowest in Complying with the “Tenth-Day, No Vehicle"
     Scheme

Citizen’s Mediation Center, Seoul YMCA
    - Surveys Usage of Communication Jargon in Amusement and Entertainment
      Programs
   - Also Surveys Usage of Cosmetics and Marking of Their Manufacturing Date and
     Shelf Life

Consumers Union of Korea

National Assembly Worst in Complying with the 'Tenth-Day, No Vehicle" Scheme

 The parking lot of the National Assembly at Yeouido, Seoul is one of the places with the highest ratio of cars parked in violation of the “Tenth-Day, No Vehicle” scheme. A survey conducted on the afternoon of December 3rd showed that 872 cars - or 37.7% - of the 2,314 cars parked there were infringing the rules of the scheme.
 Only 22% of Organizations Fully Observe the Scheme, including the Central Government Complex
Only 22% - or 32 - of the organizations surveyed turned out to be acting in full accordance with the scheme. These include Sejongno Central Government Complex, Daegu Regional Environment Office, Daegu Regional Military Manpower Administration, Busan Seobu Office of Education, Incheon Seobu 119 Firestation, Mokpo KEPCO Branch, Chuncheon & Gangwon Regional Military Manpower Administration, and the Public Health Center at Uijeongbu 2-dong.
 It was revealed that the scheme is being only perfunctorily followed as violations occurred in the parking lots of 113 (78%) of the 145 organizations involved. They have stated that compliance with the scheme is rather difficult as many of their visitors do not observe the regulations. Unfortunately, the government has done little in its implementation of the scheme – beyond erecting a few signboards – to induce the general public’s participation.  
 One out of 10 public organizations has not introduced the “Tenth Day, No Vehicle” scheme at all, while 13.3% of central and local government entities and public organizations have not implemented “Tenth Day, No Vehicle” scheme or voluntary abstention from driving on one day of the week.

 The survey was conducted by the Consumers Union of Korea (Chair Jeong Kwang-mo) among 240 central and local government and public organizations in Seoul and seven cities and provinces for two weeks starting on December 1 in a bid to ascertain the extent to which car drivers abstain from driving their cars on a given day pursuant to the ‘Guidelines to Reduce Energy Consumption by Government and Public Organizations’.
 The survey revealed that 60.4% or 145 of the 240 government and public organizations covered in the survey implement the “Tenth Day, No Vehicle” scheme, including the National Police Headquarters and the central government complex.  It was further revealed that 31.7% (66) of local government organizations, including Seoul and its ward offices, implement the scheme for voluntary abstinence from driving on a given weekday, while 4.3% (9) local government organizations implement two or four shift schemes. However, 13.3% or 32 local government organizations do not implement any abstention schemes (either the “Tenth Day, No Vehicle” or the “Voluntary Weekday Abstention” schemes) at all. (The numbers of parked and violating cars are based on those that could be physically checked, excluding those that were parked in a parking tower or other places where the surveyors could not access.)

▶ Contact: Kang Jeong-hwa, Secretary General (02-794-7081)

Citizen’s Mediation Center, Seoul YMCA

[Usage of Communication Jargon in the Amusement and Entertainment Programs Broadcast by KBS, MBC, or SBS]
- Language destruction is feared as many programs abuse jargon indiscreetly 

 Seoul YMCA Citizens’ Mediation Center monitored the ‘communication language’ or jargon used in the amusement and entertainment programs broadcast by three terrestrial broadcasting stations, KBS, MBC, and SBS, for two months from November 1 to December 31 of last year. The survey was conducted as the public or terrestrial broadcasting stations have impeded communication among different generations and social classes by indiscreetly employing new ‘communication language’ or jargon, the prevalence of which has increased along with the growth in the number of Internet users. They have even gone so far as to insert subtitles to explain such jargon. ‘Communication language’ is mainly used in the text messages exchanged on mobile phones or the Internet. Most of this ‘lexicon’ is composed of various symbols or words reflecting personal pronunciation habits or phonemic variations, shortened words or spellings that ignore spacing or other rules of grammar. More new terms have emerged lately. ‘Communication language’ words and jargon represent a kind of social dialect that is mainly used on the computer network, constituting a part of our linguistic culture. As they have become fully established in the community, their abuse without specific concepts may destroy our language, adversely affecting the overall linguistic culture.

 The survey revealed that such informal abbreviated forms as ‘bukk’ and ‘chuka’ or emoticons such as ‘^^;;’ are widely used in nearly all programs. It was also revealed that many broadcasting programs use words that only certain Internet site users are able to understand, such as ‘pyein mode’, ‘myeonsik suhaeng’ and ‘guichanism’. The survey further revealed that peculiar slang words like ‘panji’ and ‘jjokpalim’ are being used along with subtitles, while strange items of jargon such as ‘heogeok’, ‘puelg’ and ‘jeul’ were also discovered. The jargon that is frequently used in broadcast programs but has not yet been widely accepted in our daily life may hinder our language communication. In particular, they may distort the linguistic perception of children or youngsters whose language education currently at the peak of its progress, and may also adversely affect the overall language system.

 As such, more attention should be paid to the programs that are broadcast in hours when the entire family is viewing or listening, to ensure popular understanding and communication in our daily life. The broadcasting stations are apparently inclined to simply focus on the ‘fun’ aspect of programs. Given the massive influence of terrestrial television media, their abuse of such jargon and subtitles neither serves the public interest nor fulfills their basic purpose. Based on the survey findings, Seoul YMCA plans to recommend that the broadcasting stations abstain from using such jargon in their program production and to request the Korean Broadcasting Commission to set up countermeasures against the abuse of such inadequate broadcasting language.

▶ Contact: Kim Hui-kyeong, Secretary (02-725-1400)

Citizen’s Mediation Center, Seoul YMCA

[Survey of the Usage of Cosmetics and the Marking of Their Manufacturing Date and Shelf Life]
- No Cosmetics have their Shelf Life Marked; One in Five Displays No Manufacturing Date

 The Seoul YMCA Citizens’ Mediation Center surveyed cosmetics usage by 500 consumers residing in Seoul and monitored the marking of the manufacturing date and shelf life of 127 cosmetics products that are currently on the market for one month from December 1-31 of last year. The survey revealed that 20.5%, or 26, of 127 cosmetics items were unmarked with any manufacturing date and that none carried any indication of their shelf life. The current Cosmetics Act provides that the marking of a manufacturing date is mandatory (Article 10 Markings on Containers), that the sale of items without a manufacturing date is prohibited (Article 14 Prohibition of Sales), and that a two million won fine will be imposed (Article 30 Punishment) for violation of the provision. Hence it was revealed that one in five or more of the products are currently in violation of the provision concerning the manufacturing date, while 100% of the products are violating the provision on shelf life as specified in the Act.

 Meanwhile, 62.1%, or 3 out 5 consumers, do not check the manufacturing date when buying cosmetics products. The greatest reason for not checking the manufacturing date was revealed to be the “difficulty in checking it”. This is because it is not so easy to check the manufacturing date printed on the outer pack in most cases, while it is downright impossible to check the manufacturing date when the product is bought over the Internet. Furthermore, 7.4% of those surveyed replied that they keep the basic sample items provided along with cosmetics products for three or more years as they use such sample items only on once or twice-yearly trips.

 Cosmetics are directly connected to issues of consumer hygiene and safety as they are more often used than medicine and permeate the skin through direct application. Failure to mark their shelf life impedes the consumers’ right to access information and also makes it difficult to determine accountability when side effects are experienced later. It is being proposed that shelf life marking, which is currently limited to certain products (products that contain vitamins, retinol and similar ingredients), should be extended to all cosmetics items under the law. Further, the manufacturing date should be marked without fail as provided under the law. It would be more efficient if the date was marked on containers to which practical access is easier. The Korea Cosmetics Association announcement of its ‘Voluntary Convention on the Usage Life of Cosmetics’ last month was to be welcomed. However, legislation is required as such voluntary conventions do not ensure compulsory enforcement. Based on the survey’s outcome, Seoul YMCA plans to push for an amendment to the Cosmetics Act to introduce mandatory marking of shelf life and to ensure that the manufacturing date and other product information are more clearly and effectively provided.

▶ Contact: Kim Hui-kyeong, Secretary (02-725-1400)