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☞Subscribe to the Hankyoreh newsletter H:730. Type ‘Hankyoreh h730’ in the search bar. “I think it would have been better if I had died then.” Mr. Lee (31), whom I met at a cafe in Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do on the 20th, said this with the wounds from ‘that day’ four months ago still unhealed. Ms. Lee is a ‘survivor’ of an attempted murder by relationship who was on the brink of death in the intensive care unit after being stabbed with a weapon wielded by her ex-boyfriend, Mr. Choi Amugae (36), with whom she dated for eight months, at the beauty salon she ran. Mr. Lee said, “The incident was only an attempt, but after that day, my life was completely destroyed,” and “I will have to live with this memory and anxiety for decades to come. “I wonder what it would have been like if I had died then,” he said. For Mr. Lee, the four months after ‘that day’ were a time when he had to endure alone the wounds for which no one was responsible. On July 21st, when the ‘sword stabbing’ incident occurred in Sillim-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Mr. Lee almost lost his life in another ‘sword stabbing’. It was briefly reported in the media as another incident, but the victim, who came to the media for the first time since that day, was writhing in pain. Mr. Lee cannot forget the look in Mr. Choi’s eyes when he entered the beauty salon around 2pm on the day of the incident. Mr. Choi, who brought a weapon from home, saw Mr. Lee and immediately said, “You said you would kill me if you met a man other than me, right? “Just die,” he said, stabbing Mr. Lee in the neck and chest a total of 18 times. Mr. Lee went back and forth between life and death due to injuries such as holes in his trachea and esophagus. If Mr. Lee does not take psychiatric medication, the scene comes back to him in his dreams and he shudders. The omen was clear. Even eight days before the incident, Mr. Choi came to the beauty salon saying he couldn’t accept the breakup notice and threw a cup, shouting, “I’m so angry that I want to stab you to death.” Mr. Lee said, “Last May, when I was told to break up, he threw the TV and reported it to the police, but other than separating the scene and providing emergency contact information, no other action was taken,” and “I did not report it afterward because I was afraid of retaliation after reporting.” “I didn’t,” he said. ‘Dating violence → reporting → dating murder’ is the same pattern that was repeated in the ‘Siheung-dong dating murder case’ in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, which occurred two months before Mr. Lee’s case. At that time, the perpetrator also assaulted his ex-lover after receiving notice of a breakup, and when she reported it, he brandished a weapon out of revenge. Attorney Min Go-eun said, “Even if it is not domestic violence or stalking, you can apply for personal protection (safety measures for crime victims), but seeing as no information was provided, it appears that the police judged the case lightly,” and added, “Checklist to determine the risk of social violence cases. “We need to increase its accuracy and reliability and educate the front line so that they can use it appropriately,” he said. Mr. Lee, who was taken to Ajou University Hospital immediately after the incident, underwent major surgery that lasted 4 hours and 30 minutes. Fortunately, he survived, but permanent scars were left on his neck and chest. Because of his severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), he also takes psychiatric medication every day. The family economy collapsed. First aid and surgery costs were helped by the crime victim support system. However, all subsequent wound treatment and psychiatric treatment are borne by Lee. This cost alone was 4 million won. The beauty salon, which was a means of livelihood but was also the location of the crime, had no choice but to close due to the trauma. Because of Ms. Lee’s inability to be alone, her mother also quit working. The perpetrator, Mr. Choi, only communicated his intention to pay the settlement amount of 30 million won in installments through his lawyer. A statement of reflection was submitted to the court on the 7th. He apologized only after the prosecution requested a life sentence at the decision hearing held at the Ansan branch of the Suwon District Court on the 22nd. Lee’s mother wiped away tears with her handkerchief in the audience as her sentence was announced. Her mother said she was anxious, saying, “Even though she is sentenced to life in prison, her sentence is often commuted.” Lee also said, “I think the perpetrator can live in peace only if he is permanently isolated from society without a reduced sentence. “I hope the court imposes a harsh punishment,” she said. The court will pronounce its ruling on the 20th of next month. Reporter Go Byeong-chan kick@hani.co.kr Reporter Kim Young-won forever@hani.co.kr

Amid analysis that the 2024 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), which was held on the 16th, is so difficult that it is ‘unsatisfactory’, in fact, despite the educational authorities’ exclusion policy, ‘killer questions’ (extremely difficult questions) were actually asked, or a new type of killer. There have been repeated criticisms that questions have appeared. Education and entrance examination experts agree that it is difficult to expect the effect of reducing private education, which was the purpose of excluding killer questions in the first place. The question that is currently controversial as the killer question is number 22 of the subjective short answer type in the mathematics common subject. It is a question asking whether it is possible to find a cubic function that satisfies the conditions using differential calculus, and even the entrance examination industry claims that it is a problem outside of the high school curriculum. Lim Seong-ho, CEO of Jongno Academy, pointed out, “It may deviate from the definition of a killer question suggested by the Ministry of Education, but from the examinee’s perspective, it may have felt like a killer question because it was a question they had rarely encountered.” An entrance exam expert said, “If this problem is not a killer question, it is questionable what the scope of the killer question that education authorities say is.” In fact, according to the results of EBSi, a website for high school students operated by Educational Broadcasting System (EBS), which analyzed the self-filled answers of over 130,000 people up to this day, the incorrect answer rate for math question 22 reached 98.5%. In fact, some point out that a new type of killer question has emerged. Yoo Seong-ryong, head of ST Unitas Education Research Institute, said, “Education authorities claim that they have eliminated the killer questions, but from the examinee’s perspective, a large number of questions similar to the killer questions, such as new types, have been asked.” He added, “In the first place, the period for students to adapt to the test questions according to the new policy was I had to give it. “It was an expected confusion that occurred when the new policy was announced just five months before the CSAT,” he said. CEO Lim Seong-ho also said, “Couldn’t the new difficult types that test takers face be seen as ‘modified killer questions’?” Accordingly, contrary to the expectations of the government, which promoted the exclusion of killer questions as a measure to reduce private education, many predict that it will be difficult to expect the effect. Koo Bon-chang, head of the Policy Alternative Research Institute for a World Without Worries About Private Education, said, “It was nonsense to reduce private education by excluding killer questions while leaving fundamental problems such as queue evaluation and university ranking intact,” and added, “(Private education) products to prepare for killer questions.” “Instead of disappearing, products to prepare for new types of college entrance exams will be created,” he said. Director Yoo Seong-ryong also said, “High school students who are exposed to new types of exams or students who are retaking the exam have no choice but to seek private education out of anxiety. “Academies are probably already analyzing the types of questions on this year’s CSAT and creating similar questions,” he said. Reporter Park Go-eun euni@hani.co.kr

“During the interview process at a labor law firm, I was told things like, ‘Why do you have to pay wages to trainees since they are not workers?’ and ‘You can’t go to the company anyway because you’re a woman in your 30s.’ There were also gender-discriminatory and anachronistic questions, such as asking female labor attorneys to answer in relays whether they plan to get married within two years.” (From the ‘2023 Survey Report on Abuse of Power by Trainee Labor Attorneys’) Even labor attorneys, a labor-related profession, are required to do so. It was revealed that he was subjected to abuse of power during the hiring process at a labor law firm to complete the required 6-month training course. As a result of the 2023 survey on the abuse of power by trainee certified labor attorneys released on the 19th by the ‘Trainee Labor Attorney Improvement TF’ (TF), which consists of current labor attorneys and trainee labor attorneys, 39.1% of trainee labor attorneys responded to the question, ‘Did you receive personal questions during the hiring interview?’ “Yes,” he answered. Even the response rate of hearing comments equivalent to workplace sexual harassment and harassment during employment interviews was 5.8%. The Act on Fairness of Recruitment Procedures prohibits asking for personal information during the hiring process, including the applicant’s hometown. This survey was conducted online from July 12 to 20 targeting 138 people who took group training courses hosted by the Certified Labor Attorneys Association. It was also seen that working hours set by law were not observed and additional pay was not paid for overtime work. Close to three out of ten trainee labor attorneys said, “They are forced to come to work early or work overtime outside of their regular working hours” (28.9%) and “I received work instructions through KakaoTalk or text messages outside of working hours” (26.7%). Regarding work outside of working hours, 68.1% responded that they “did not receive overtime pay or received only part of it.” There is also quite a bit of harassment in the workplace, including verbal abuse and bullying. 15.9% of trainee labor attorneys said, “My supervisor uses threatening language or verbal abuse during work instructions.” 11.6% of respondents said, “Senior employees harass me while teaching me work.” The training of trainee labor attorneys at labor law firms is mainly about working while receiving feedback from their predecessors, and at this time, abuse of power takes place by taking advantage of the position of the trainee labor attorney, who has no choice but to be placed in the position of ‘B’. Improving the Treatment of Trainee Labor Attorneys Kim Soo-jeong, a labor attorney at TF, said, “Although trainee labor attorneys are guaranteed their rights under the Labor Standards Act and have the right to safely train, they are in a reality where they have no choice but to endure unfair treatment because it is a training center they found with difficulty.” “I hope that the ironic reality that certified labor attorneys, who are experts, cannot claim their rights will be faced and corrected,” he said. On the 17th, 34 probationary and current labor attorneys submitted a petition to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea against the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Korea Certified Labor Attorneys Association, and the Korea Certified Labor Attorneys Association Education and Training Committee, alleging that their human rights were violated during probationary training. This is the first time a trainee labor attorney has filed a complaint to the National Human Rights Commission. In the case of certified labor attorneys, after obtaining a license, they receive group training conducted by the Korea Certified Labor Attorneys Association for one month and undergo a six-month probationary period at a labor law firm. The petition included the content that the Korea Certified Labor Attorneys Association and its Education and Training Committee, which hosted the group training, rejected trainee labor attorneys’ applications for sick leave (absence due to illness) and treated them as non-attendants. In order to complete labor attorney training, you must meet an attendance rate of 90% or more for group training, so attendance is one of the important training completion requirements. Reporter Kim Hae-jeong sea@hani.co.kr

Britain’s Reuters and others reported that Israel’s war cabinet, unable to withstand pressure from the United States, agreed to provide regular fuel supplies to the Palestinian Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip became the target of Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes triggered by a surprise attack by the Palestinian armed political faction Hamas on the 7th of last month, and all supply routes were blocked, leaving the Gaza Strip without fuel to maintain social infrastructure such as water supply, sewerage, and communications. Citing anonymous Israeli and U.S. officials, Reuters reported on the 17th (local time) that 140,000 liters of water are supplied to the Gaza Strip every two days. decided to bring in fuel It was reported that it was done. Of these, 120,000 liters will be used for water supply and sewerage and hospital facilities in the southern Gaza Strip, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) trucks that deliver relief supplies, and 20,000 liters will be supplied to the generators of Paltel, a telecommunications company in the region. Reuters explained that this support was achieved thanks to pressure from the international community, led by the United States, despite opposition from members of the right-wing coalition led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The U.S. State Department reported that Secretary of State Tony Blinken warned Israeli leadership that “the 2.3 million people in Gaza could face disaster due to fuel depletion.” The Israeli side also said, “This is a decision to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.” However, there is still opposition, with Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, an extreme right-wing member of the coalition cabinet, making a statement saying, “This is providing oxygen to the enemy.” USA Axios PressLooking at , Israel wanted to use the allowance of fuel supply as a condition of trading with its hostages held by Hamas, but the Biden administration put pressure on it, saying, ‘We cannot afford to wait while people in Gaza are dying.’ Although it is a decision that may give us some breathing room, the concerns of the international community still remain. UNRWA said in a recent report that “minimum 160,000 liters per day“We need a lot of fuel,” he claimed. This is more than twice the amount of supply agreed upon this time. The World Health Organization (WHO) also announced that there are serious concerns about health and hygiene, with more than 70,000 cases of respiratory infections in the Gaza Strip. Reporter Park Kang-soo turner@hani.co.kr