The Korea Times

Park Soo-hong to take legal action against brother over financial irregularities

By Kang Hyun-kyungComedian-TV show host Park Soo-hong with his cat / Korea Times fileComedian-TV show host Park Soo-hong will file civil and criminal lawsuits against his brother and sister-in-law who have been accused of having embezzling about 10 billion won over the past 30 years. In a statement released to the media on Saturday, Park's lawyer, Roh Jong-un, claimed the star's brother and sister-in-law had broken a profit-sharing agreement and founded a corporation with money of which the financial source was not clear.Park had sent a compromise plan to his brother, suggesting fully disclosing the two sides' incomes and sharing them in accordance with the 7:3 ratio they had agreed to earlier, but his brother has not responded to the request.His brother is also accused of having used a corporate card illegally for his family's living expenses and other personal costs.“My client and his brother founded a management agency 30 years ago and initially they agreed to share profits at an 8:2 ratio (80 percent to Park and 20 percent to his brother). Later they adjusted to the ratio t

Apr 4, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung

Park Soo-hong to take legal action against brother over financial irregularities

Law & Crime

Wrongfully convicted pastor passes away

Rev. Jung Won-sup, center, smiles after the Chuncheon District Court cleared him in 2008, over three decades after he was wrongfully convicted in a rape and murder case in 1972. Korea Times fileRev. Jung Won-sup was cleared four decades after wrongful conviction for rape and murder but his request for gov't compensation was dismissed over procedural flawBy Kang Hyun-kyungRev. Jung Won-sup, the pastor of Chungjeol Church in the southwestern city of Namwon, passed away Sunday, several years after he suffered a stroke. He was 87.His death has saddened the people across the country because his decades-long fight for justice after he was wrongfully convicted in a rape and murder case that has remained only half resolved. The court overturned the 1972 conviction, but didn't recognize his claim for compensation from the government due to a procedural flaw. In his 20s through to his mid-30s, he was a normal divinity school graduate dreaming of opening a church following Saint Paul's ministry model of “tentmaking.” Under the plan, church leaders don't rely on tithes or other finan

Mar 31, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung

Entertainment

Some stars fall prey to exploitation by family

Comedian-TV show host Park Soo-hong poses with his cat Da-hong in this file photo. Korea Times fileTV personality Park So-hong claims 30 years income lost to manipulative familyBy Kang Hyun-kyung“A bear plays a trick, but it's always a monkey that collects money from audiences.”Koreans use this old adage when people take credit for an achievement despite having played a minimal or non-existent role in it, and as a result leaving those who played a key role devastated as their hard work didn't lead to financial compensation.Some highly paid stars have likewise fallen victim to close family members or other trusted people who swindle them out of their money, leaving them with nothing after years or decades of hard work. Comedian-TV show host Park Soo-hong, 51, is the latest victim of close family members' exploitation that cost him decades of income. He confirmed rumors on Sunday that his older brother and sister-in-law took an estimated 10 billion won (nearly $900,000) he had earned since his debut as a comedian. Park's brother reportedly disappeared recently after his you

Mar 31, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung

Some stars fall prey to exploitation by family

Trends

China's investment in movies and dramas comes with strings attached

A scene from the short-lived SBS fantasy thriller “Joseon Exorcist” / Courtesy of SBSShort-lived “Joseon Exorcist” is a wake-up call against threat of cultural infiltration by heavy-handed ChinaBy Kang Hyun-kyung Disney's 2020 live-action remake “Mulan” and the short-lived Korean fantasy thriller “Joseon Exorcist” have delivered a shared, almost identical message that every content creator needs to know: Don't get too excited about Chinese investments.The box office disaster last year and the doomed fate of the latest Korean drama, which was canceled shortly after the first two episodes aired triggering incensed viewers to boycott the drama, clearly shows that China's investments come with strings attached and this could pit content creators against viewers in the post-production stage. It is no surprise that content creators would lose out as their short-sighted decision to allow Chinese investors to have a greater say in their products will backfire with domestic viewers.Driven by the temptation of the vast Chinese market, studios oft

Mar 28, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung

China's investment in movies and dramas comes with strings attached

Books

Anniversary book gives rare peek into Korea Times' newsroom, hard-won media freedom

“70 Years of The Korea Times” is an account of the English daily's seven decades of history, starting from its founding during the Korean War. The limited edition was published recently to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the newspaper's establishment in 2020. Korea Times photo by Kang Hyun-kyung The Korea Times' anniversary book unveils behind-the-scenes stories about the newsroom, decades-long struggles to pursue fair, balanced journalism By Kang Hyun-kyung“70 Years of The Korea Times (1950-2020)” offers an extensive historical account of the struggles of Korea's oldest English-language newspaper ― from its birth amid the gunfire, chaos and ashes of the Korean War to the present day ― to bridge Korea and the outside world. The special edition was released recently to celebrate the English daily's landmark 70th anniversary last year. It provides a fascinating, detailed account of what happened in the newsroom, as well as how those debates affected the paper's to

Mar 26, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung

Anniversary book gives rare peek into Korea Times' newsroom, hard-won media freedom

Arts & Theater

Pandemic has worsened ceramic artists' agony

Ceramic artist Kim Hak-seung, founder of the ceramic studio Towoll, makes celadon at his studio in Sagimakgol Pottery Village in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, on March 18. He and his wife Cho Jung-soon, not seen in this photo, have produced traditional wares of Goryeo Kingdom for the past three decades since he graduated from high school. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulSelf-employed artists in the town's pottery enclave were hit hard in the 1990s when Japanese binge shoppers stopped visiting. This time, they've been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.By Kang Hyun-kyungIcheon, Gyeonggi Province ― Self-employed ceramic artist Kim Hak-seung's eyes lit up when he caught a glimpse of some shoppers wandering “Sagimagkol,” a scenic pottery village in rural Icheon south of Seoul. Kim was peering through a window in his studio on the second floor of his building located at the mouth of the village.“Look at them,” he said with excitement, pointing to two middle-aged women roaming down the street. “See? Each of them has a plastic bag. If tourists come here, they bu

Mar 25, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung

Pandemic has worsened ceramic artists' agony

Trends

Some IOC members say Korea too harsh on Kim Un-yong

Craig Reedie, then president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), attends the WADA Symposium in Ecublens, near Lausanne, Switzerland, in this March 2018 file photo. Reuters-Yonhap Ex-president of World Anti-Doping Agency says Kim is victim of politically-motivated probe, an allegation former prosecutor denies By Kang Hyun-kyungHelen Kim's legal battle to honor her late father, the vice president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Kim Un-yong, didn't turn out the way she had hoped.On Thursday, she received an email from her lawyer in Seoul informing her that the Central Administrative Appeals Commission (CAAC) dismissed her request to review the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs' (MPVA) decision last year which denied her plea to inter her father's remains in the national cemetery. In 2004, the late Kim was found guilty of embezzlement and sentenced to two years in prison. He was released on parole the next year. His conviction, however, was late

Mar 21, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung

Some IOC members say Korea too harsh on Kim Un-yong

Books

Book review: Trauma of 2017 atrocities haunts the Rohingya

Rohingya refugees walk at their makeshift camp on the outskirts of Jammu, India, on March 9. Authorities have begun identifying Rohingya Muslims who have taken refuge in Jammu in the past few years. AP-YonhapRonan Lee's 'Myanmar's Rohingya Genocide: Identity, History and Hate Speech' traces the roots of ethnic cleansing in MyanmarBy Kang Hyun-kyungRonan Lee's “Myanmar's Rohingya Genocide: Identity, History and Hate Speech” is an informative, timely piece that helps readers deepen their understanding of the 2017 ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people and its lingering tragic impact on them. In his knowledgeable and detailed account, the author explains how and why the Rohingya ethnic group has been subjected to brutal human rights violations and faced forced deportation from their ancestral homeland. Lee is not shy about revealing that he's an ally of the Rohingya.Contrary to what the military rulers of the Buddhist majority country claimed, he says in an unequivocal tone, the Rohyingya are legitimate citizens of Myanmar and thus the brutal campaign launched in the name o

Mar 21, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung

Book review: Trauma of 2017 atrocities haunts the Rohingya

Sports

EXCLUSIVE Daughter of late IOC executive fights for burial of her father's remains in national cemetery

Kim Un-yong, center, then International Olympic Committee vice president, poses with South Korean delegation members to 2020 Sydney Olympic Games. Korea Times fileIn a letter written in 2018, IOC Vice President John Coates encouraged President Moon to recognize Kim Un-yong By Kang Hyun-kyungHelen Kim, daughter of the late sports administrator Kim Un-yong, received a letter from the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs (MPVA) last September informing that her family's request regarding her father's interment in the national cemetery had been denied due to his 2004 embezzlement conviction. “I was disappointed,” the younger Kim, a London-based lawyer, told The Korea Times over the phone last week. “My father's life and legacy and his contribution to Korea, taekwondo and the Olympic movement are on public record internationally.” She said she and her other family members crossed their fingers for getting the MPVA's nod, a recognition ― albeit posthumously ― which she said her father deserved.Kim Un-yong (1931-2017), the former vice president of International

Mar 15, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung

[EXCLUSIVE] Daughter of late IOC executive fights for burial of her father's remains in national cemetery

Books

Novelist makes literary comeback 5 years after #MeToo apology

Novelist and poet Park Bum-shin / Korea Times file By Kang Hyun-kyungNovelist Park Bum-shin, 75, unveiled his new poetry book, “Grumble Grumble, Now in the Seventies,” Feb. 20, five years after he offered a public apology for alleged sexual misconduct.Under the themes of joy, anger, love, pleasure, hatred, desire, what's beyond and novel, the book has a total of 140 poems written by the veteran novelist.“I've lived as a writer for 48 years. In retrospect, every moment was so real and lively,” he wrote. “When I was falling apart, I felt dark. When things have gone well, I was excited. My everyday life has been the repetition of those two extreme emotions. I wish I could get older quietly and elegantly without bothering others with my grumbling.”“Grumble Grumble, Now in the Seventies” is his second book of poetry. The novelist made a literary comeback with it, five years after the allegation that he had inappropriate physical contact and made sexual jokes with women w

Mar 10, 2021By Kang Hyun-kyung

Kang Hyun-kyung

Read more

Park Soo-hong to take legal action against brother over financial irregularities

Wrongfully convicted pastor passes away

Some stars fall prey to exploitation by family

China's investment in movies and dramas comes with strings attached

Anniversary book gives rare peek into Korea Times' newsroom, hard-won media freedom

Pandemic has worsened ceramic artists' agony

Some IOC members say Korea too harsh on Kim Un-yong

Book review: Trauma of 2017 atrocities haunts the Rohingya

EXCLUSIVE Daughter of late IOC executive fights for burial of her father's remains in national cemetery

Novelist makes literary comeback 5 years after #MeToo apology

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