More than seven out of 10 listed Korean companies are set to hold annual shareholders’ meetings throughout this week and market watchers are paying particular attention to JB Financial and KT&G, whose annual meetings are expected to become the settings of proxy fights initiated by activist funds. JB Financial Group is facing a showdown in a proxy battle with Align Partners, a local activist fund, at its annual shareholders’ meeting on Thursday. Align Partners is the financial giant’s second-largest shareholder with a 14.04 percent stake. As a key shareholder, the activist fund has been urging the group to increase dividends since early this year. Yet the group’s shareholder return policy announced in early February, deciding to pay 715 won ($0.55) of dividend per share, failed to satisfy the activist fund’s demand, prompting it to submit a shareholder proposal urging the group to pay 900 won in dividends per share.
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Ambassadors, dignitaries gather at Korea Times’ concert to promote Busan’s World Expo bid
“Netflix ‘The Glory’ director responds to allegations of school violence
| Director Ahn Gil-ho of Netflix’s recent hit series “The Glory” / Courtesy of Netflix Ahn Gil-ho, director of Netflix’s recent hit series ‘The Glory’ / Courtesy of Netflix |
By Lee Gyu-lee
The director of Netflix’s hit series, “The Glory,” about a woman taking revenge against her classmates who tormented and torturted her in high school, has admitted to recent accusations of school violence, apologizing to a victim, who was a student at the time, for assaulting him.
The PD of Netflix’s hit drama ‘The Glory’, which depicts the story of a woman who takes revenge on her classmates who bullied and tortured her in high school, recently admitted to allegations of school violence and apologized to the then-student victim.
The accusation surfaced when an online user wrote a post last Friday, saying the director, Ahn Gil-ho, had assaulted him and another student.
The suspicion arose last Friday when an online user posted an article claiming that PD Ahn Gil-ho assaulted him and another student.
“Director Ahn had a girlfriend when he was studying abroad in the Philippines in 1996. When he heard his girlfriend was made fun of at her school because of him, he got emotional and inflicted enduring pain on others,” the law firm that represents Ahn said in the statement on behalf of the director, Sunday.
PD Ahn’s legal representative said in a statement on Sunday, “PD Ahn had a girlfriend who he started dating when he was studying in the Philippines in 1996. When he heard that his girlfriend was made fun of at school because of him, his emotions were momentarily intensified. He gave others wounds that could not be erased.”
“He deeply asks for forgiveness from the bottom of his heart from those who were hurt by this incident. He wants to express that if given the chance, he would like to apologize in person or via a call.”
“PD Ahn seeks forgiveness from the bottom of his heart for those who have been hurt by this incident. If given the opportunity, he would like to express his apology in person or through a phone call.”
The user said he was in middle school at the time, attending the same school as Ahn’s girlfriend in the Philippines.
The writer himself revealed that he was a middle school student who attended the same school as Ahn PD’s Filipino girlfriend at the time.
When Ahn, who went to a different school, found out people at his girlfriend’s school teased her, he physically assaulted the user and one other student.
PD Ahn, who was attending another school at the time, assaulted the writer and another student when he found out that students who went to the same school as his girlfriend made fun of his girlfriend.
“There were about 15 people there, including Ahn. When he asked us who made fun of his girlfriend and we didn’t answer, he made threats like ‘I’ll bring a knife’ and ‘I’ll stab you,’ and he beat us up. The assault lasted for about two hours,” he wrote.
The writer said, “There were about 15 people there, including PD Ahn. I asked who made fun of my girlfriend, and when we didn’t answer, they assaulted us with threats like ‘I’ll bring a knife’ or ‘I’ll stab you’. The assault lasted for about two hours,” he said.
“I didn’t want to bring up this bullying issue if Ahn was living rightfully. But for a bully to make a series like ‘The Glory,’ which is meant to teach lessons about bullying, it felt outrageous and unforgivable. So I’ve decided to share.”
“If Ahn PD is living right, I didn’t want to bring up this issue of school violence. However, it felt absurd and unforgivable to produce a series like ‘The Glory’ where the perpetrators learn lessons about school violence. So share decided.”
The director denied assaulting any other students soon after the post was uploaded.
Immediately after the post was posted, Ahn PD denied assaulting the students.
“That never happened,” he said to a local news agency, Yonhap. “I do not recall beating someone up in a group.”
PD Ahn explained to Yonhap News, “There was no such thing at all,” and “No matter how much I think about it, I don’t remember hitting someone in a group.”
Yonhap additionally reported that his former girlfriend at the time also acknowledged the assault.
Yonhap News reported additionally that the ex-girlfriend at the time also admitted to the assault.
March 15, page 8 article
KEY WORDS
■ torment
■ torture
■ suspicion of accusation
assault to assault
■ make fun of
■ inflict pain
■ statement
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TikTok CEO says company at ‘pivotal’ moment as some U.S. lawmakers seek ban
Chew said in a video posted on TikTok early Tuesday the app now has more than 150 million active monthly U.S. users. “That’s almost half the U.S. coming to TikTok,” Chew said. TikTok in 2020 said it had 100 million U.S. users.
Chew, who will testify Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said: “Some politicians have started talking about banning TikTok.”
“Now this could take TikTok away from all 150 million of you,” he said in the video that features the U.S. Capitol in the background.
He asked TikTok users to leave comments about what they wanted U.S. lawmakers to know about “what you love about TikTok.”
Chew also said 5 million U.S. businesses use TikTok to reach customers.
TikTok’s critics fear its U.S. user data could be passed on to China’s government by the app, which is owned by the Chinese tech company ByteDance. TikTok rejects the spying allegations.
TikTok also said Tuesday it had updated its community use guidelines and offered more details of its plans to secure the data of U.S. users. The company said it had started to delete this month U.S. user protected data in data centers in Virginia and Singapore after it started routing new U.S. data to the Oracle Cloud last year.
Last week, TikTok said the Biden administration demanded that TikTok’s Chinese owners divest their stake in the app or it could face a U.S. ban.
TikTok, which has said it has spent more than $1.5 billion on rigorous data security efforts, said “if protecting national security is the objective, divestment doesn’t solve the problem: a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access.”
A growing number of U.S. lawmakers support a ban on TikTok.
Japan PM Kishida announces new Indo-Pacific plan in India
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday invited his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for the Group of Seven major industrial nations’ summit in May and announced action plans for a new Indo-Pacific initiative aimed at countering China’s influence in the region. Kishida, who is on a two-day trip to India, said he hopes to promote a vision of free and open Indo-Pacific, a Tokyo-led initiative for greater security and economic cooperation that is geared toward curbing Beijing’s growing assertiveness. It includes Japan’s assistance to emerging economies, support for maritime security, a provision of coast guard patrol boats and equipment and other infrastructure cooperation.
The 18th concert, co-hosted by the newspaper and its sister publication the Hankook Ilbo, will be held at Seoul Arts Center to support Busan’s bid to host World Expo 2030, providing a fresh momentum for the Korea’s second-largest city’s campaign.
Han will collaborate with internationally acclaimed conductor Hong Seok-won and the Korean National Symphony Orchestra (KNSO) to present classical pieces by Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven.
The program features Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, Op. 96, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92. The concert will have a running time of 90 minutes.
Han was born with unilateral hearing loss. However, she did not let her physical challenge block her way to success. Thanks to her extraordinary artistic prowess combined with endless efforts, she became the first Korean winner of the prestigious International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition, winning the second prize at the age of 15 in 2001.
The 36-year-old has also performed with some of the most celebrated orchestras around the world, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Poznan Philharmonic. She studied at the Purcell School for Young Musicians, the University of Oxford and the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Hong, the artistic director of the Gwangju Symphony Orchestra, was the first Korean principal conductor of the Tyrolean State Theater in Innsbruck, Austria ― one of the largest cultural centers in the city. He is reputed as one of few Korean conductors who can handle diverse genres ranging from ballet to contemporary music.
Hong, who won third prize at the 100th anniversary of Karajan Conducting Competition, has teamed up with numerous top-tier orchestras including the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. He studied at Seoul National University College of Music and Universitat der Kunste Berlin, Germany.
The KNSO, formerly known as the Korean Symphony Orchestra, is the country’s only national orchestra. It currently consists of 78 members, and is helmed by Belgian artistic director David Reiland.
The Korea Times Spring Concert will be joined by Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon, Korea-Africa Foundation President Leyo Woon-ki, Swedish Ambassador to Korea Daniel Wolven, Mexican Ambassador Adrian Garcia, EU Ambassador Maria Castillo-Fernandez, Kazakh Ambassador Bakyt Dyussenbayev, Brazilian Ambassador Marcia Donner Abreu, Mexican Ambassador Adrian Garcia and Malaysian Ambassador Lim Juay Jin, among others.