The violent intoxicated passenger who attacked passengers and crew members on a Korean Air flight from Hanoi to Seoul is evading police summons, and there is brewing skepticism that he may get away with only a slap on the wrist. The passenger, a 34-year-old Korean man surnamed Yim who was seated in prestige class (business class), struck another passenger and attacked cabin crew who tried to restrain him. Immediately after arrival in Korea, Yim was taken into custody by Incheon International Airport Police but was released late Tuesday because he was too drunk to respond to questions, and police said they would summon him when he was sober. Police notified Yim to appear for questioning on Thursday but Yim said he would make a decision to appear after consulting with his lawyer. A police official said they notified Yim that “because public sentiment is not good, appear for investigation today [Thursday],” or by 1 p.m. on Friday at the latest. “After appointing a lawyer and discussing things with him,” Yim replied, “then I will appear for questioning.” 

Yim was said to have boarded the plane already intoxicated and consumed two and a half glasses of whisky inflight. He works for his father’s trading company and was returning from a business trip to Vietnam. Police said Yim kept trying to make conversation with a 56-year-old passenger next to him, who tried to ignore him. Yim eventually got angry and struck the passenger. American Grammy-winning pop singer Richard Marx and his wife Daisy Fuentes, a former MTV VJ, were also aboard the flight, sitting in the row beside Yim in business class. Marx stepped in to help subdue Yim and the couple took photos and videos of the fiasco and shared it over social media, garnering international attention. The process of binding Yim with a rope, in accordance with airline protocol, took an estimated hour. A three-minute video of the scene that has been circulating on the internet shows Yim resisting being tied down by the flight attendants, shouting profanities and spitting in the face of cabin crew. In addition to this recording, police are in the process of reviewing three other videos clips and said they will also look into whether Yim was on drugs. But police said when they handed over custody of Yim after he was restrained by cabin crew, they did not observe any needle marks on his arms. “In order to conduct a urine test, we would need the consent of the person in question,” a police official said. 

There has been criticism over social media that Yim is another example of someone born with a silver spoon in his mouth, benefitting from his father’s wealth and seemingly above the law. “The victims have submitted their medical reports,” the police official said, “and after investigating Yim as a suspect, we will review whether to issue an arrest warrant for him.” Charges of assault can be punished by up to two years and fined up to 5 million won ($4,200). But charges of bodily harm can result in up to seven years in prison and a fine of 10 million won. Between 2012 and June, there were 1,506 reported cases of verbal and physical assault, harassment, smoking and other misdemeanors aboard aircraft, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The number has steadily been increasing over the past four years, with 191 cases in 2012, 203 in 2013 and 354 in 2014. There was a 30 percent increase in misdemeanors on aircraft in 2015, bringing the number to 460 cases. And through June there were 298 cases. Last year, the most common form of misconduct was smoking inflight, with 381 reported cases. Fifteen were cases of sexual harassment, 42 were instances of rowdiness, nine were cases of disorderly behavior resulting from drinking and six included threatening behavior and assault. 

Punishment has been light thus far. Incheon International Airport Police, for example, issued an arrest warrant for only one person for inflight misconduct in September 2014. Under Korean law, one can face up to five years in prison for obstruction of the duties of flight crew and violating aircraft safety laws. But most people get away with a fine of less than 5 million won. Last year, singer Bobby Kim was slapped with a 4 million won fine under Korean law for harassing a female flight attendant inflight. Kim, who said he had consumed six glasses of liquor, tried to embrace the flight attendant on a flight bound to San Francisco from Incheon.

The Gangneung Ice Arena opened in Gangwon on Wednesday with new improvements in safety, ensuring its readiness for the short track speed skating and figure skating events at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Construction for the ice rink started in June 2014 and took two years and six months to complete. Coinciding with the grand opening, there will be an Olympic test event. Beginning from today, the fourth round of the 2016-17 International Skating Union (ISU) Short Track World Cup will begin. 

The ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championship will be held from Jan. 16 to 19. Prior to the Olympics, the configurations for the short track and figure skating events will both be optimized. The South Korean Men and Women’s Short Track Speed Skating Competition opened earlier at the Gangneung Ice Arena on Nov. 20 as a trial run. Even before the rink opened, praise poured in, especially for the 90-centimeter (35-inch) thick pliant safety fences that protect competitors should they bump into each other or tumble while rounding a corner. These are safer than the rigid fences at Taereung Ice Rink or Mokdong Ice Rink. Viktor Ahn, the Korean-born Russian short track gold medalist, crashed into a fence injuring his left knee while training at Taereung in 2008 and underwent a year of rehabilitation. But 10 or so athletes fell during the National Men and Women’s Short Track Speed Skating Competition at Gangneung Ice Arena and none suffered a major injury. “By virtue of the safer fence, a bolder race was possible,” said last season’s men’s short track representative, Park Ji-won. The cutting-edge facility is also the first Korean ice rink to maintain a temperature of 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) in the stands. 

Some athletes were even spotted wearing short-sleeved shirts at the speed skating competition. Three hundred vents warm the seats, leaving the ice untouched. This is especially impressive considering the temperatures at which the ice must be kept. The ice must be slighter warmer - minus 4 degrees Celsius (24.8 degrees Fahrenheit) - and therefore softer for figure skating, whereas colder - minus 7 degrees Celsius (19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) - and harder ice is better suited to short track, as it enhances speed. The challenge of going from one to the other was evident at the 2014 Sochi Olympics in Russia. During the women’s short track event at the Iceberg Skating Palace, Park Seung-hui fell twice in the 500m final. “The surface of the ice was pock-marked everywhere,” said Park. “The ice quality wasn’t good.” In the men’s single figure skating event, gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu and silver medalist Patrick Chan also fell. The challenge comes because, after the figure skating matches conclude, the ice must be prepared in three hours for the short track events. 

“It is difficult to change the ice quality in just a few hours,” said gold medalist Ko Gi-hyun, who is now the general facilities manager at Gangneung. “The ice for racing and performance events is different. The camera positions, fences and other things must be changed.” “To adjust the ice temperature, a day or more is necessary,” said Bae Ki-tae, technical director of ICE n SPORTS. “Unlike at Sochi, figure skating will be held in the morning with short track in the afternoon. Fortunately, it’s easier to freeze ice than to melt it.” To do this, three 150RT (refrigeration tonnage) coolers were installed. So far, however, the facility appears to be shipshape. According to Jin Seon-yoo, 3-time gold medalist at the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics, “The stadium suits the players needs down to the finest detail.”

Thae Yong-ho, the senior North Korean diplomat who defected to the South with his family in August, will begin public activities starting Friday. The former deputy ambassador in London says he wants to dedicate his life to reunification. “Rather than seeking personal success, I want to dedicate my life to enabling a quicker unification - the hope of our people - so that the North Korean people can be freed from oppression and persecution,” Thae was quoted as saying to a group of lawmakers Monday. Various government sources Tuesday say that Thae, the most senior North Korean diplomat to ever defect, is expected to work as a researcher of North Korea affairs at a state institute affiliated with the National Intelligence Service (NIS). He is expected to remain in the public eye, unlike other senior North Korean defectors who remain private. That could bring risks to his personal safety. 

Rep. Lee Cheol-woo, chair of the National Assembly’s intelligence committee, held a three-hour close-door meeting with Thae in Seoul on Monday with a bipartisan group of lawmakers on the committee. After the meeting, Lee told reporters that Thae had said that the higher the rank of North Korean officials, the more stringent the surveillance on them. He said it was commonplace for their residences to be bugged. Thae said that Hyon Yong-chol, North Korea’s former defense chief, was executed because of something he said in his own house. Hyon didn’t know his home was bugged, Thae said. In May 2015, the NIS revealed that former North Korea Defense Minister Hyon, a four-star general, had been executed the previous month, accused of treason and disloyalty to the North Korean leader. Describing his own fleeing of the United Kingdom last July, Thae said he felt “disillusioned” by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s reign of terror and wanted to save his sons from a life of “slavery.” 

After spending many years abroad, Thae learned about South Korea’s democracy and economic development through movies and dramas. A longing for a liberal democratic system grew within him, and he decided to defect. “As he realized the wretched reality of North Koreans’ slavery under Kim Jong-un’s reign of terror and oppression, his disillusionment with the system grew, and he decided to defect,” Lee said. “At the time of defection, he told his sons: ‘From this point on, I will break the chain of slavery.’ And after arriving here, he felt regret for not having the courage to defect earlier.” Lee quoted Thae as saying, “Kim Jong-un is still young, so if his rule continues for decades, there will be many senior officials who suffer from depression thinking that their children and grandchildren will be subjugated to a life of slavery.” Thae was also said to have pointed out that he believes that without Kim Jong-un, the regime would completely collapse because “there is no second-in-charge.” The North Korean elite, Thae conveyed, are feigning loyalty to Kim Jong-un and are afraid of what will happen to them if the North Korean system collapses. Thae said he worries that if there is political upheaval in North Korea, the Pyongyang elite will flee to China, not South Korea. He hopes South Korea’s laws and system change to show the North Korean elite that they can lead regular lives here. He said more North Korean elites would try to defect to the South if they can be assured of decent jobs here. 

The former No. 2 diplomat in London fled the embassy in mid-July and arrived in South Korea in August with his wife and two sons. He also clarified previous reports that his daughter was not able to defect with the family, saying he only has two sons. Since his arrival in Seoul, Thae has been cooperating in an investigation led by the NIS and is set to be released Friday, when the probe comes to an end. Thae also denied the North Korean government’s accusations that he had fled because he was afraid of punishment for crimes such as embezzlement. He said that because he expected Pyongyang to make such accusations, he had balanced accounts at the embassy in London before his defection and taken pictures of accounts and receipts as evidence.

A highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza has now infected Naju in South Jeolla, home to Korea’s largest population of ducks, and in the past few days spiked in 14 areas in Jeongeup in North Jeolla. After a duck farm in Jongo-ri of Naju, South Jeolla, was determined to have been infected with the H5N6 avian influenza, the virus was found within a week on another duck farm just 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) away, according to the Naju city government on Friday. Naju is home to 1.51 million ducks, the largest number in Korea. Health authorities have culled 17,400 ducks at the Jongo-ri farm, and are planning to cull another 228,000 ducks being raised within a 3-kilometer area around the farm. The provincial government of South Jeolla is denying transmission from the first farm to the second. “The two farms share a mountain between them,” said a spokesman of the provincial government, “and there has been no movement of eggs or baby ducks between them.” 

Within South Jeolla, avian influenza was detected in three areas in Naju, one in Haenam County, one in Muan County and another in Jangseong County. A total of 209,000 ducks and chickens have been culled in South Jeolla. At Jeongeup in North Jeolla, the disease was found 14 times in 12 days, spreading at an alarming speed. “Health authorities culled 8,000 chickens at a farm in Jeongeup on Thursday, after a strain of the H5N6 avian influenza virus was detected,” said the North Jeolla provincial government in a statement. The farm is only 1.3 kilometers from another in the city where the disease was found 12 days ago. “Health authorities are conducting epidemiological surveys on the outbreaks,” said an official of the livestock department of the North Jeolla provincial government. 

There have been 14 confirmed outbreaks in North Jeolla; 10 in Jeongeup, one in Gimje, one in Gochang County and two in Booan County. Health authorities are still testing the virus strains found in five more areas in North Jeolla, four of which are in Jeongeup. As of Friday, a total of 517,000 chickens and ducks at 36 farms in the province have been culled. “The ministry decided to raise the national aviation influenza crisis level to the highest level in its four-tier system,” said Kim Jae-soo, minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs, in a press briefing Friday. “The H5N6 avian influenza is spreading more rapidly than the H5N8 avian influenza in 2014.” 

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Protection said it will continue to vaccinate 6,779 farmers and health authorities doing sterilizing and culling jobs, who are the people at the highest risk of getting infected. The ministry said the virus can spread via feces of infected chickens and ducks to people, but that the possibility is low and that no person in Korea has been found infected with the H5N6 avian influenza. The H5N6 avian influenza virus appeared in Korea one month ago and has caused the largest amount of damage the domestic poultry industry has ever experienced from bird flu. More than 284 farms have been hit and some 16 million ducks, chickens and quails culled.

A Korean diplomat based in Chile is in hot water after being caught on camera sexually harassing an underage local girl. He has since been recalled from his post and is likely to face criminal proceedings should he be found guilty, according to the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which emphasized through a statement Monday a “zero-tolerance principle” toward sexual harassment. 

On Sunday, a Chilean TV show “En Su Propia Trampa,” or “In his own trap,” aired, exposing an official surnamed Park with the Korean Embassy in Chile making advances on a teenage school girl. A preview clip of the show has gone viral on Facebook and other social media platforms over the weekend, and the official’s actions have caused a backlash locally and in Korea, as well. The diplomat is seen in the video sitting on a park bench, caressing a female student’s neck and asking if he can kiss her. Park is seen asking the girl if she wants to become his “special friend” or “lover” as he strokes her leg. He is also seen in the doorway of a room, pulling her arm to force her inside as she begs him, “please, please.” When the host of the show later informs Park that he was caught on tape, that what he has done to an underage girl is a crime both in Chile and in Korea and that Park’s actions will be reported to the police, the diplomat says he will not meet with minors anymore and begs not to be reported to the police, saying, “please, please.”

The documentary program producers began shadowing Park after receiving a tip that the official had sexually harassed an underage local female student he was teaching Korean language to back in September. The producers hired a 20-year-old woman to pose as a 13-year-old student and approach Park. They communicated over Facebook and met at a park. The program describes Park as being responsible for the promotion of Korean culture, such as K-pop, to Chilean youth. The parents of the original girl who tipped off police about Park also appear on the show, expressing sorrow at what their daughter faced. The girl reported the harassment to Chilean police. The Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed last week that a diplomat in South America faces charges of sexually harassing local minors. A Foreign Ministry official elaborated that the diplomat, who taught Korean at a local school, faces charges of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old female student on campus in September. 

Despite the recalled official having diplomatic immunity, the ministry here said it plans to cooperate with Chilean police in the investigation process. Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se was reported to have said at a meeting of senior officials Monday that the situation was one that “should not be tolerated” and called for “disciplinary actions certainly, and, if necessary, criminal proceedings.”

The government finalized a new household electricity billing system that will lower the average bill by 11.6 percent - and cut bills in half for some heavy users. It goes into effect with this month’s power bills. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy submitted three alternate sets of revisions to the National Assembly and lawmakers approved the third proposal, which reduces the number of electricity usage levels from six to three and the difference between the starting rate and the highest rate from 1,110.7 percent to 300 percent. This is the first time in 12 years the government revised the progressive billing system, which became a major issue this summer after a major heat wave led to monster power bills. “We have reviewed changes in consumption and the number of household members and came up with the new billing system,” said Shin Yong-min, a director at the Trade Ministry. “No households will experience more financial burden from the new system and I believe they will save 11.6 percent on average and as high as 14.9 percent during summer and winter.” 

Currently there are six levels. Korean households pay 60.7 won (5 cents) per kilowatt of electricity for the first 100 kilowatts in a month. The price goes up to 125.9 won for the next 100 kilowatts per month and as high as 709.5 won per kilowatt - or 1,110.7 percent more than the starting price - in the highest range. Under the new system, households will pay 93.3 won per kilowatt for the first 200 kilowatts in a month. The price will go up to 187.9 won for the next 200 kilowatts per month and to 280.6 won per kilowatt for usage over 401 kilowatts a month, or 300 percent more than the starting price. Households that consume 350 kilowatts a month will pay 55,080 won, down 12 percent from the 62,910 won they currently pay. That’s a savings of 7,830 won. “We will also give discounts to those who consume lesser amounts of electricity and penalties to those who consume large amount of energy to have people participate in saving energy,” said Shin. 

According to the Trade Ministry, the government plans to give 10 percent discounts to households that use 20 percent less energy when compared to their average consumption of the past two years. It will give 15 percent off for such households during summer and winter. For those who consume more than 1,000 kilowatts per month, the government will charge 709.5 won per kilowatt during summers and winters, which is some 77 percent higher than the highest rate in the old system. The government also announced that it plans to give more financial benefits to people in lower income groups and socially disadvantaged groups, such as the disabled and large families. 

The government currently gives 8,000 won monthly discounts to low-income groups, which will be doubled to 16,000 won. During summers, the ministry said it will give 20,000 won discounts. Families with a large number of members, or more than three children, will enjoy 30 percent discounts on their electricity bills, up from 20 percent. On top of household electricity bills, the Trade Ministry announced that it will give cuts in power rates for schools. The ministry said it will give 20 percent cuts for elementary schools, middle schools and high schools. “We will give 50 percent discounts to them during summers and winters, which is higher than the current 15 percent,” said Shin. As the new plan will lower power bills by 11.6 percent, on average, the government estimated that the Korea Electric Power Corporation, the sole power distributor, will see a drop of 939.3 billion won in its annual sales.

Korea’s rankings in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015, published by the OECD on Tuesday, fell from 2012. It was the first time Korea missed the top three ranks in all three sectors: reading, mathematics and science. PISA is a triennial survey of 15-year-old students around the world. Roughly 540,000 students took part in 2015, representing about 29 million 15-year-olds in 72 countries. In Korea, 5,201 students participated. 

According to the report, Korea ranked between fourth and ninth in reading, “first-fourth” in mathematics and “ninth-14th” in science. Narrowing the results to the 35 OECD members, Korea ranked “third-eighth” in reading, “first-fourth” in mathematics and “fifth-eighth” in science. The PISA rankings are presented in scales when a country’s score is not significantly different from other countries’ scores. So for reading, Korea’s score was only marginally different from countries ranked fourth to ninth. Three years ago, Korea got “first-second” in reading, “first” in math and “second-fourth” in science. Educational experts blame a growing gap between the performance of high and low achievers. According to the PISA report, Korea’s share of low achievers in all three subjects increased by 7.7 percent, while top performers remained steady. “Korea’s PISA ranks have moved within narrow limits over the years,” said Koo Ja-ok, a researcher at the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, “but this time the drop is bigger than ever. “A rapid increase in the number of low achievers is to blame, but we will carry out research to find out the specific reasons.” 

“An increase of poverty leads to more low achievers,” said Jung Jin-gon, an education professor at Hanyang University, “because some parents can’t support their children’s academics.” According to Statistics Korea, incomes among families in the bottom 10 percent of society saw their sharpest drops this year since 2003. There is also a gap between boys and girls. On the average across OECD countries, the number of top performers in science and math is larger for boys. In Korea, however, girls outshone boys in science and math. But Korean students were below average in their science engagement and motivation. Only 53.7 percent of Korean students said yes when asked if they were interested in science, far below the OECD average of 63.8 percent. The percentage of Korea students who said they enjoyed reading science books was 43.4 percent, below the average at 51.8 percent. Only 9.6 percent said they can easily interpret scientific information, under the OECD average of 20 percent. 

“We’ve seen the trend of growing numbers of underachieving students in nationwide scholastic achievement tests,” said Kang Sung-chul, who heads the National Curriculum Policy Division at the Ministry of Education. “The central government should cooperate with district educational offices to support student who score below standard academic levels.”

Korean automobile exports bounced back for the first time in 13 months largely due to the end of a lengthy labor strike at Hyundai Motor, the country’s largest automaker. However, imported-car sales, which have seen an aggressive surge in market share that seemed to never end, are likely to post an annual decline for the first time in seven years. The country’s car exports increased 0.9 percent in November compared to the same period last year, with 260,491 Korean vehicles sold overseas, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Thursday. This is a welcome signal for the industry, which has been struggling with declining exports for more than a year. The last time Korean car exports showed a positive growth was in October 2015 when 259,304 cars were exported, marking a 7.5 percent year-on-year rise. Since then, automobile exports have declined. In October, exports fell 13.1 percent. 

“One of the contributing factors to the rise was the normalization of Hyundai Motor and its production line after the labor strike ended,” said a ministry official. Hyundai models such as the Accent and Avante, also known as the Elantra overseas, increased their exports, contributing to an overall 11.1 percent year-on-year gain. The popularity of multipurpose vehicles also contributed to increased sales. The Tivoli and the Tivoli Air, a popular sport-utility vehicle manufactured by SsangYong Motor, gained popularity among Iranian consumers, boosting the carmaker’s overseas sales 26.8 percent compared to last year. Not all local carmakers, however, had growing exports. Kia Motors exports declined, a 2.4 percent year-on-year loss in November. 

While sales in North America and Asia shrank, sales in other parts of the world surged, some more than 40 percent compared to the previous year. Korean car sales in the Middle East rose 41 percent, and grew 45.2 percent in Central and South America. “We can attribute few different factors to the phenomenon,” said the trade ministry official. “Basically, exports to those regions were so bad before November, that when Korean car sales were revitalized, the growth rate leaped. Also, the reason sales were rejuvenated was because the economies of the countries in those regions began to recover. “But still, there are so many uncertain factors and the world economy as a whole is in a downturn at the moment. So it’s not possible for us to conjecture if export growth will continue to see an incline.” On the flip side, sales of imports in Korea fell amid Volkswagen’s gas-emission tampering scandal. 

Sales of imported vehicles fell drastically in July following the German carmaker’s global-scale emissions rigging scandal, from 23,435 in June to 15,730. After a three-month struggle, import automobile sales jumped to more than 20,000 in October. However, sales fell in November to 19,361. Mercedes-Benz led with 5,724 vehicles sold in November, followed by BMW (5,340) and Lexus (1,167).

Nissan, BMW and Porsche falsified certification documents on 10 imported models, the government said Tuesday, and the automakers could be banned from sales in Korea as early as next month. The discovery further taints the image of imported brands in the local market after an emissions scandal in which Volkswagen was found to have manipulated its emissions and fuel efficiency paperwork swept the country. The Ministry of Environment widened its investigation after the VW scandal. On Tuesday, the ministry said that two cars from Nissan, one car from BMW and seven from Porsche manipulated documents in a similar manner to Volkswagen. The cars may be subject to decertification and a sales ban, once illegal fabrication is confirmed in a hearing. The automakers could also face fines that reach a combined 6.49 billion won ($5.6 million), the ministry said. The ministry had been inspecting 15 import brands since August following the Volkswagen scandal. 

Nissan submitted paperwork that indicated that its Infiniti Q50 was certified in Japan but the ministry said the automaker didn’t test in Japan. BMW was caught using test data of its X6 M model on its X5 M certification document. BMW said in a statement that its “X5 M and X6 M models share emissions defeat device and engines. We will explain more of why X6 M’s data was included in X5 M’s certification document in the hearing.” Porsche changed the emissions test data of three models including the Macan S Diesel and falsified documents to appear they were from a certified institution, when the tests were conducted in institutions uncertified by the nation’s Environment Ministry, on four other models including Cayman GTS. 

Nissan’s Qashqai sport-utility vehicle, which already has been banned in the nation due to emissions-rigging in May, was included in the list. While Porsche Korea self-reported problematic documents to the Environment Ministry during the inspections, Nissan will have to explain its documentation before mid-December, when decertification is scheduled. “We are also pressing criminal charges against automakers if they do not come up with a sufficient explanation for their actions,” the Environment Ministry said in a statement. Fines levied on the automakers are based on revenue they received on affected models in Korea. Nissan is subject to 3.2 billion won in fines, BMW faces fines of 430 million won and Porsche 2.86 billion won. The sales ban targets six models, as four Porsche models have been discontinued. “Renowned import brands mostly bring their own certified test papers and we approved of those documents because fabrication was never on our minds,” said Park Yong-hee, a researcher at the National Institute of Environmental Research. “We have no option but to take a closer look at documents if import brands switch test results or manipulate them to make the certification process faster.” 

Meanwhile, the ministry will demand Volkswagen, which had been ordered by the ministry to recall emissions-rigged cars, supplement its recall plan submitted last month. The Environment Ministry and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport are testing the fuel efficiency of Volkswagens after the recall and approval of the plan will be decided next month. Volkswagen has been embroiled in an emissions rigging scandal since September 2015, then faced another scandal in August of this year as it falsified emissions and noise test results on its popular models including the Golf, Polo and Beetle. The scandal led to a sales ban on 80 car models by VW and Audi, both brands under Volkswagen Group. The scandals knocked Audi and Volkswagen from the list of the top 10 import brands in October, according to data from the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association. Audi sold 475 cars and Volkswagen sold only 30 cars in Korea last month.

No one could have asked for more dramatic ending to the matchup featuring one of the most intense rivalries in Korean professional football. In Saturday’s Korean FA Cup final showdown between K-League Classic’s Suwon Samsung Bluewings and FC Seoul, regulation and extra time weren’t enough to settle the score. But by the end of the penalty shootout, it was the Bluewings that came out smiling while Seoul were left to hang dry. During the match on Saturday at Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul topped Suwon 2-1, making this year’s final, which is played as a two-leg series, a tie at 3-3 on aggregate. Although away goals play as a tie breaker, the two were in a draw in that regard as well, having scored one away goal each. 

The only way to settle the championship was through a penalty shootout. The shootout was quite a spectacle, with no player failing to find the back of the net, until the very last spot kick of the day. Both had successfully drained nine shots and Seoul’s goalkeeper Yu Sang-hun went to the line to take his shot - the 10th and last shot for the team. With the pressure mounting, the goalie hit the ball hard but missed the goal, going wide above the cross bar. It was now Suwon keeper Yang Hyun-mo’s turn to take a crack at ending the three-hour long match. With Seoul’s Yu in front of the goal ready to make up for his mistake just a minute earlier, Yang calmly approached the ball and sent it to the right corner of the post. Yu misread the direction and jumped to the opposite direction, watching helplessly as the ball shook the back of the net. That was the end for K-League Classic champs Seoul, who had been looking to clinch a double-crown this year by also winning the FA Cup. 

After the match, Hwang Sun-hong, the skipper of Seoul, expressed his disappointment and said, “We experienced difficulty trying to put pressure on the ball.” “But I think our players did their best until the end,” he added. “I think we have some work to do and in terms of quality, we will have to make some decisions to increase our competitiveness.” “I’ve been telling the players about keeping their cool,” Hwang went on. “And I think we got a little bit too excited in decisive moments. We will have to fix this in time. We just ran out of gas at the end” As for Suwon, this is their first FA Cup title in six years. While Suwon had a rather disappointing season this year, finishing seventh in the Classic, and being ousted from the Asian Champions League just after the Group Stage, the FA Cup is a bright spot for Seo Jung-won, Suwon’s manager. In fact, the skipper became the second person in Korean professional football history to capture an FA Cup trophy as a player as well as a coach. As the winner of the Korean FA Cup, Suwon has also gained berth to next year’s ACL. 

“[After the struggle in the league] we’ve discussed about overcoming the crisis and finishing the year well and I think we were able to live up to that decision,” Seo said. “And it feels better to win the cup as a manager than as a player.”