"If a woman goes to the military, the fertility rate will rise due to comradeship." The whole story of the incident is...

[News FM Lee Ik-seon Choi Soo-young Issue & People]
□ Broadcast Date: October 8, 2024 (Tue)
□ Host: Lee Ik-seon, Choi Soo-young
□ Cast: Announcer Lee Hyun-woong

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.
◇ Lee Ik-seon: Let's open the second part with Aung Da-woong News. Announcer Lee Hyunwoong, who will be with us today as well, is here. Hello~

◈ Hello!

◇ Lee Ik-seon: First news. President Yoon Suk Yeol arrived in Singapore after a two-day state visit to the Philippines and held a summit?

◈ [Lee Hyun-woong] That's right. First, President Yoon held a summit meeting with Philippine President Marcos yesterday and announced the establishment of a "strategic partnership" between the two countries, which calls for greater security and nuclear cooperation. Then last night, I arrived in Singapore. Earlier today, I met with the head of state, President Tarman, followed by a summit meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. The two countries said they have decided to establish a "strategic partnership" next year, which marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations, and that they have decided to deepen cooperation in high-tech and start-ups such as AI. In addition, it was decided to strengthen stable international supply chains for energy and human and material exchanges. Personally, the part I was most interested in was the photo of Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol and Singapore's justice minister together. It was a commemorative photo taken after signing the Korea-Singapore extradition treaty. In fact, there has been no extradition treaty with Singapore, so various corruption and economic criminals have used it as an escape. Singapore was the first place to leave the country when Kwon Do-hyung, CEO of Terraform Labs, or Kim Sung-tae, former chairman of Ssangbangwool, fled abroad. With the signing of the treaty this time, it is expected that criminals who have fled abroad can be arrested faster and more smoothly and repatriated to Korea.

◆ Choi Soo-young: We're moving to Laos after Singapore, right?

◈ [Lee Hyun-woong] That's right. First of all, I will continue my schedule by attending the Korea-Singapore business forum this afternoon. I think I'll be moving to Laos the day after tomorrow. In Laos, we will attend the ASEAN+3 (Korea, China and Japan) summit to be held on the occasion of the ASEAN Summit. It is also expected that Korea and Asia will establish a "comprehensive strategic partnership" through diplomacy during this trip. In addition, the focus of the Laos schedule is whether to hold a face-to-face meeting with Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. First of all, the Japanese government's official announcement this morning that Prime Minister Ishiba will visit Laos from the 10th to the 12th increased expectations. If the talks take place, it will be the first Korea-Japan summit since Ishiba took office.

◇ Lee Ik-seon: Here's the news. The head of the Korea Military Research Institute under the Ministry of National Defense is controversial because he said, "If women join the military, the marriage rate and fertility rate will rise." What is this about?

◈ Lee Hyun-woong: It's an agency under the Ministry of Defense. This is the story of Kim Hyung-chul, director of the Korea Military Research Institute, who appeared on a YouTube channel broadcast. "When a woman goes to the military and a man and a woman live together, they will naturally have couples." "I thought that there would be more marriages and more babies because we have a comradeship that we can share in our lives." Perhaps it sounds a little absurd depending on what you hear. Since then, Rep. Park Sun-won of the Democratic Party of Korea has urged the defense minister, who is the appointee, to apologize, saying, "It is a very inappropriate figure to use the military as a tool for childbirth." However, this kind of story did not come out as an answer to the question about how to improve the birth rate. While talking about women's military service, it was said that he had "reverse thoughts" while answering the question, "Do you think the birth rate will drop if women join the military?" Director Kim said, "I said it lightly to the effect that a meeting place between men and women is needed," and said, "I apologize if it is inappropriate."

◆ Choi Soo-young: The following is related to Korea Land and Housing Corporation, LH. It seems like it hasn't been long since you said you'd innovate when the "exclusive cartel" was revealed in connection with the poor construction, but another problematic issue has been revealed?

◈ [Lee Hyun-woong] That's right. It was only in December last year that he promised to break the practice of giving work to all companies in the process of designing or constructing houses. It hasn't been a year, but this time, preferential treatment has been detected again in the housing management section. It turned out that many of the management service contracts for LH rental housing were concentrated in two companies. Looking at these two companies, it turns out that a former senior LH official is working. It has been confirmed that four people, including a first-class graduate who served as the head of LH's residential welfare department and regional headquarters, are working at company A, and eight people, including a high-ranking former head of Gwangju Jeonnam and Incheon headquarters, are working at company B. Meanwhile, according to an analysis of data received from LH and the Public Procurement Service by Kim Jeong-jae's office, 65% of the bids the Public Procurement Service has conducted since April went to companies that previously provided poor construction causes such as missing rebar. LH introduced a "one-strike out system," but all companies have requested the court to suspend the effect of imposing penalties. LH said, "There is no way to exclude problematic companies from bidding due to legal limitations," and the Public Procurement Service also said, "It is a situation where penalties are not reflected in the bidding review for companies that have filed a lawsuit with the court."

◇ Lee Ik-seon: Let's see the last news. Are you saying that obesity treatments that can help modern people lose weight will soon be sold in Korea?

◈ [Lee Hyun-woong] That's right. Obesity treatments made by Novo Nordisk are planned to start selling in Korea soon. This product became famous when Elon Musk revealed it as a secret to losing weight in the past. We plan to start accepting orders from 9 a.m. on the 15th. There are still obesity treatments sold in Korea, but existing products were uncomfortable and repulsed in that they had to be injected every day. The product released this time is expected to increase access to obesity treatments as it is known to help lose weight while continuing the appetite suppression effect once a week.

◆ Choi Soo-young: By the way, even overseas, these obesity treatments are 'not available because they don't have them'. Will the supply go smoothly?

◈ Lee Hyun-woong: I'll have to open it to find out, but if you look at the overseas situation, it's not going to be that smooth. There are supply and demand problems, but if demand is greater than supply, costs may naturally increase. It is known that the previously released obesity treatment can be prescribed for about 300,000 won to 500,000 won for four weeks, but it is expected that the new product could reach 800,000 won to 1 million won. Both products are not covered by benefits, so each hospital can select a separate sales price. As there are cases where "obesity" is recognized as a disease overseas and insurance benefits are started or reviewed, some point out that Korea also needs social discussions for this. It may be tempting to hear that you can lose weight just by receiving an injection, but you should know that there are side effects such as nausea, vomiting, and constipation, and other side effects are still being studied.

◇ Lee Ik-seon: We've looked at all the news prepared today.

◈ Lee Hyun-woong: Yes, thank you.