5年(ごねん)ぶりに会(あ)って結婚(けっこん)するなんて、運命(うんめい)なんだよ!: 5년만에 만나 결혼하다니, 운명이야!

私(わたし)たちは運命(うんめい)だと信(しん)じている。: 우리들은 운명이라 믿고 있어.

運命(うんめい)なんか信(しん)じない。: 운명따위 믿지 않아.

As virtues of human dignity and freedom began to surface, the death penalty became a less prevalent method of punishment. However, capital punishment in China is still administered to offenders involved in drug trafficking. 

For instance, a British man was executed in China for dealing drugs. Human rights’ groups, the convict’s family, and the Prime Minister of Britain appealed for clemency on the grounds of the convict being mentally ill. Nonetheless, carrying a suitcase full of heroine was deemed unacceptable and China’s highest court rejected the appeal and permitted the execution. 

Despite criticism, the Chinese government has its own justification for showing no mercy in penalizing drug related crimes. The Opium Wars taught China to be relentless against drugs. The Opium Wars were two commercial wars during the mid-19th century between Western nations and China. 

The First Opium War (1839~42) was fought between Great Britain and China. Unbalanced trade between the two countries eventually sparked a war. Chinese goods were in high demand in European countries. However, Western goods were not welcomed in China because of its self-sufficient policy. Europeans finally came across a product that the Chinese would want: highly addictive opium. Because the Chinese Emperor forbade opium, smuggling of the drug was rampant. As the number of opium addicts increased in China, it became economically beneficial to Western nations and socially detrimental to China. 

Chinese officials tried to curb the spread of opium. Approximately 1.21 million kilograms of opium was confiscated from British traders. China enforced its prohibition on the importation of opium. Great Britain responded by sending battleships to attack coastal cities. China was defeated and forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842. It was an unequal treaty from the Chinese perspective. China was forced to open five ports for British trade. Hong Kong was ceded to the British. Subsequently, other Western countries signed similar treaties with China and Western domination began. 

The Second Opium War (1856~60) began after the Chinese conducted an illegal search of a British-registered ship, the Arrow. Chinese authorities argued that the Arrow was a pirate ship and had no reason to sail with the British flag. The British were offended by the search and sent warships to bombard the Canton region. 

The conflict escalated when British and French troops took over port cities. Russia and the United States joined in and forced the Chinese to accept the treaty of Tianjin (1858). China was required to open 11 more ports and legalize the import of opium. After continuous conflict, the treaty was ratified and the war was concluded. 

Although the conflict has ended, the effects are still visible. From the two drug-related wars, China learned to never underestimate the danger of drugs. Even though the death penalty is not practiced in most countries, China believes that drug trafficking is so serious that the death penalty is a reasonable punishment.

1年前(いちねんまえ)に借(か)りたお金(かね)をやっと返済(へんさい)した。: 1년 전에 빌린 돈을 드디어 갚았다.
猫(ねこ)の手(て)も借(か)りたい。: 고양이 손이라도 빌리고 싶다(몹시 바쁘다)

図書館(としょかん)で借(か)りた本(ほん)なので、きれいに読(よ)んでね。: 도서관에서 빌린 책이니까, 깨끗하게 읽어.

The government announced a set of measures Wednesday to boost the local engineering industry by expanding financial aid for companies engaged in research and development, especially with foreign firms and institutions. In cooperation with local banks, the government will increase export credit guarantees for engineering companies from the current 90 billion won ($80 million) to 150 billion won starting from 2017 to encourage exports. 

“The Korean economy faces various challenges due to the possible interest rate hike in the United States, ongoing corporate restructuring and weakened exports followed by the Galaxy Note7 case and Hyundai Motor labor union strike,” said Yoo Il-ho, the country’s deputy prime minister for the economy and minister of strategy and finance. “We will now focus on helping the engineering sector become more competitive by giving them various benefits and helping them train more experts.” The Korean government will select about 30 students per year to receive full-ride scholarships to study at colleges in the United States and United Kingdom and expand the number of spots in its overseas internship program. Other measures include bringing educational programs from training institutions such as PetroSkills in the United States and the French Institute of Petroleum to help teach Korean students. 

Currently, five developed countries, including the United States, Canada and the Netherlands, account for 70.4 percent of the global engineering market. Korea accounts for just 2.4 percent. The local engineering market continues to be weak because of decreasing investment. The amount of orders received by local engineering companies was 6.8 trillion won in 2011, but that fell to 5.7 trillion won last year, the Trade Ministry said. There are a total of 5,559 engineering companies in Korea, but 96 percent of them are small and midsize companies. Only three Korean companies - Hyundai Engineering, SK E&C and Kepco E&C - are on the list of the world’s top 100 engineering firms. The government promised it would have more small-size companies participate in government projects and said the experience would help them build up credibility to sign on to new projects later. 

“Engineering is the most fundamental and basic sector of the entire industry,” Deputy Trade Minister Toh Kyung-hwan said. “We will do our best to have the engineering sector improve its competitiveness in the global market.”

私(わたし)が払(はら)うわ。: 내가 낼게.

先払(さきばら)いでございます。: 선불입니다.

二人分(ふたりぶん)払(はら)います。: 두 명 분 낼게요.

China’s economy, the second largest in the world, has been observed to be experiencing a significant slowdown in recent years. It grew by merely 6.7 percent during the second quarter of 2016 which is relatively low compared to its growth rate earlier in the decade.

The main reasons identified for this economic slowdown are theballooning debt of China and its national government’s aim to shift its economy from one that is dependent on exports and investment to one that is led by consumption and service provision. Other factors include China’s rapid economic growth in the past years that has now reached a plateau or a downward slope, the country’s technological gap from other developed countries which is affecting its productivity, and a lot of other minor factors that add up to become key influences on the economy’s decreasing growth rate.

Many deem this economic slowdown an international problem because of its possible effects on the economies of other countries especially those nearest to China. Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau are among those that are seriously affected because their retail sales, tourism, and export markets are not doing as well as before because of China’s economic problem.

Other countries with economies reliant to China are also affected by the slowdown. The problem is dragging the global output because China is one of the biggest importers of different goods from other countries. As a result, the economic growth of other countries also slows down. In the case of South Korea, China is one of its biggest importers, and the country’s economy can also feel significant effects. The same situation may be observed in Australia, Brazil, and Canada which have economies that are also highly dependent on their exports to China. 

Economists predict that the economic slowdown will continue until the end of the year. They predict that by the end of 2016, the country’s economy will only achieve 6.5 percent of economic growth or even lower. They add that China’s economic problem may also affect 2017, and that countries should expect a ripple effect on their economies. In the coming years, the global economy may need major adjustments since one of its main players is experiencing major instability.

これ、使(つか)ってもいいですか。: 이거, 사용해도 돼요?

肌(はだ)に合(あ)わなくて、使(つか)ってません。: 피부에 안 맞아서 쓰지 않아요.

高(たか)くて使(つか)ったことない。: 비싸서 써 본 적 없어.

Exports of information and communications technology (ICT) fell for the 12th consecutive month as cellphones and televisions remained weak in foreign markets. ICT exports declined 8.5 percent year-on-year in September to $14.5 billion, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Thursday. After posting a year-on-year decline of 1.6 percent last October, exports have continued a downward slide. Exports of cellphones fell 33.9 percent year-on-year to $1.87 billion, and those of semiconductor products fell 2.6 percent. The ministry cited mid-priced smartphones produced by Chinese manufacturers, as well as the failure of the Galaxy Note7, as the biggest factors in the collapse of cellphone exports. 

Mobile phones, when excluding parts suppliers, saw exports plummet 44.8 percent compared to a year ago. Mobile phone exports have been on a decline for the past four consecutive months, after a 27.8-percent year-on-year increase in April turned into a 26.5-percent drop in May. The export of mobile phones has been shrinking in major markets, including China, where it plummeted 41 percent, the U.S., down 30.6 percent, and EU, free-falling 68.2 percent. Vietnam was the only market that saw an increase, where Korean mobile phone sales were up 5.32 percent from a year ago. Although Samsung Electronics still holds the largest market share of 22.7 percent as of the second quarter, according to Strategy Analytics, its market share has slightly dropped from 23.7 percent in the first quarter. The release of its latest smartphone, the Galaxy Note7, was supposed to help regain its global market share and widen the gap with rival Apple, whose market share was at 11.8 percent. 

While Samsung and Apple’s market share in the second half retreated from the first three months, Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei has seen its share grow from 8.5 to 9.4 percent. “Fewer numbers of Chinese were interested in buying Korean smartphones,” said the ministry official Kim. The debacle with the Galaxy Note7, which led to Samsung Electronics halting all sales earlier this week, is expected to further drag down the nation’s ICT export growth for this month. Semiconductor exports, however, achieved the second-highest performance as they earned $5.7 billion last month, although year-on-year growth fell 2.6 percent. Display panel exports also fell compared to a year ago but its drop was eased compared to previous months thanks to the price increase of LCD panels and growing demand for OLED panels. Display panel exports were reporting a 20-percent year-on-year drop earlier this year. But in September, that drop eased to 3.9 percent, with exports of display panels amounting to $2.79 billion. 

While ICT exports declined, computer and computer-related products, including secondary storages like SSDs, grew 15.1 percent year-on-year to $690 million. Exports to China reported the largest figure at $7.8 billion, but this is an 11-percent drop compared to a year ago - excluding Hong Kong, it’s a 16.4-percent drop.

今(いま)、母(はは)は留守(るす)です。: 지금 엄마는 집에 없어요.

彼女(かのじょ)は一昨日(おととい)から留守(るす)にしている。: 그녀는 그저께부터 집을 비우고 있다.

友達(ともだち)の家(いえ)に行(い)くたび、留守(るす)だ。: 친구 집에 갈 때마다, 집에 없다.

Department stores and Namdaemun Market will offer a final round of big discounts this weekend. The government-promoted Korea Sale Festa for foreigners runs through Oct. 31. Another round of sales this weekend will be organized by individual companies for domestic consumers. 

Lotte Department Store will hold a sale from Friday to Sunday. The Sogong branch will offer a special discount up to 80 percent on 12 women’s fashion brands. The Jamsil and Youngdeungpo branches will put outdoor brands on 30 to 70 percent sale. “The weather got cold suddenly so we thought there would be more people looking for new fall and winter season jackets and coats,” said Lee Wan-shin, marketing director for Lotte Department Store. Hyundai Department Store launched The Black Week sale on Thursday, which will continue until Sunday. All 15 branches will sell imported bedding on discount. Customers who buy more than designated amounts of certain men’s brands will be given gift cards equivalent to 10 percent of the payment. During similar past events, 5-percent gift cards were the norm. Shinsegae Department Store is also targeting male customers during the last sale period. Its Men’s Week, which started Thursday, will run ten days through Oct. 23. Products on sale range from causal wear to men’s suits including Diesel and Rogatis brands, all discounted up to 75 percent. “Men recently became an important customer group, as they account for four out of ten customers in department stores,” said Lee Sang-heon, manager for men’s wear at Shinsegae Department Store. 

Namdaemun Market will also take part in the national sale Wednesday by opening the Namdaemun Market Festa. It is the largest traditional market in Korea. There was a disagreement on the time street vendors would start work. They normally open at 5 p.m. and wanted to start two hours early, which store owners objected to. The two sides eventually agreed the vendors would begin at 4 p.m. “It’s a relief that Namdaemun Market finally put an end to the conflict and is participating in the national sale event,” said Joo Young-sup, head of the Small and Medium Business Administration (SMBA), on a visit to Namdaemun Market on Wednesday. For three days starting from Oct. 19, the market’s merchant association will organize a flea market on the main street with 80 display stands packed with products including accessories, kitchen goods, interior goods and children’s clothes. 

However, the market still seems to be unprepared. Some merchants said they weren’t aware of the event or had no plans to participate. A spokesman for the merchant association added, “Most merchants in the traditional market run individual businesses, therefore nobody can force them to put their product on sale.” “As the opening is on the 19th, we still have time for preparation,” said an SMBA spokesman. “Namdaemun Market has over 6,000 registered stores. We plan to expand the number of participating merchants in the remaining week.”