Quotation of the day

Just like the arrested assailant I cringed in surprise to find myself, a "mentally handicapped person," looking down on the handicapped people. (Hong Chun-Ki, a netizen, Monday in his note contributed to donga.com's free forum, in connection with the assault by a man and his father upon a handicapped driver for moving slowly.)

Recent weeks have seen a gradual rise in conservative voices; don't you think it comes as a reaction to a verbal blunder of the cabinet member in charge of North Korea policy? (Rep. Jang Sung-Min of the Democratic Party Monday, commenting on a series of gaffes committed by Unification Minister Park Jae-Kyu during interpolation of the Unification Ministry.)

Some complain that it is rather too harsh, but most employees well understand the purpose of the company policy to improve customer service to ride out the current difficulties of the firm under court receivership. (A member of New Core department store's management improvement staff Monday, explaining the introduction of a system of "three-strike out" to dismiss employees who are unkind to customers three or more times)

If Bush is elected, shares in pharmaceuticals, tobacco and defense industries will rise, and Gore's victory will boost environmental and Linux-related stock. (Hyundai Securities in its report analyzing the New York stock exchange during and after the presidential campaign, released Monday.)

The corporate restructuring measure taken this time will increase unemployment for the time being, but when completed satisfactorily, it will create more jobs. (Korea Labor Institute's Trend Analysis Section chief research fellow Kang Soon-Hie on Monday in a report on the consequences of eliminating nonviable enterprises and its remedial measures.)