Others
Spring is nearly here
Tourists wearing traditional Korean hanbok, take pictures of white apricot blossoms at Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul, Sunday. The blossom is known as the “messenger of spring.” / Yonhap
Mar 24, 2019
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Society
Row rises over sex offender's medical license
Controversy is growing after a convicted sex offender, who later enrolled as a medical student at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), is likely to apply to take the 2020 state examination to qualify as a doctor. / YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunControversy is growing after a convicted sex offender, who later enrolled as a medical student at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), is likely to apply to take the 2020 state examination to qualify as a doctor. The 31-year-old, identified as Park, was studying at Korea University in eastern Seoul eight years ago, when he was convicted of sexually assaulting a female student with two of his classmates in April 2011, and recording the attack.The three were expelled from the school and the Supreme Court confirmed lower court sentences that sent them to prison ― Park received two-and-a-half years.However, all three are said to have taken the university entrance exam again and have entered different medical schools. Park enrolled in Sungkyunkwan as a freshman in 2014.The student council of the SKKU medical school raised a question on Park's admittance in 2016 after
Mar 21, 2019
Law & Crime
Police investigating Samsung heiress' alleged use of propofol
Lee Boo-jin, a daughter of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee and the head of Hotel Shilla, leaves the hotel in central Seoul after participating in it's regular general meeting of shareholders, Thursday. / YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunPolice are looking into suspicions that Lee Boo-jin, a daughter of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee and the head of Hotel Shilla, regularly abused propofol, a controlled substance used as a sleep inducer for surgery and other medical procedures.Officials at Gangnam Police Station in southern Seoul, Thursday, visited the plastic surgery hospital where Lee allegedly received propofol, to check the facts regarding the allegations, together with officials from the regional public health center.The move follows a media report the previous day, which raised the allegations based on testimony from a former staff member at the hospital. “We are conducting an investigation of the hospital regarding its propofol management,” a police officer said. “Following the results, we will decided whether to question Lee or not.”According to the repo
Mar 21, 2019
Others
Job exhibition
From right, Employment and Labor Minister Lee Jae-kap, Presidential Committee on Job Creation Vice Chairman Rhee Mok-hee, and Hankook Ilbo President Lee Jun-hee watch a laser performance prepared by Ansan City during a fair promoting the regional governments' job policies at COEX in southern Seoul, Thursday. The fair, co-hosted by the committee and the Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times, will be held through Saturday, and 88 local governments will introduce their job policies linked to new technologies. / Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han
Mar 21, 2019
K-pop
Troubled K-pop stars released after marathon interrogation
Singer Seungri leaves the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Seoul, Friday, afternoon after hours of questioning over allegations of sexual misdeed. / YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunSingers Seungri of K-pop band BIGBANG and Jung Joon-young underwent hours of questioning over allegations of sexual misdeeds, Friday.Seungri, who had allegedly arranged sexual services for prospective foreign investors in his business, was released at 6:14 a.m., 16 hours after he was summoned to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Thursday afternoon. “I sincerely underwent questioning,” Seungri said as he left the police agency. “I will officially request the Military Manpower Administration to postpone my enlistment. If permitted, I want to take responsibility to finish my interrogation before I go.”The K-pop idol announced abruptly he would enter the Army later this month to fulfill his mandatory service when the controversy related to reported drug abuse and sexual violence at the nightclub Burning Sun became a hot potato. Asked if Seungri had admitted to providing prostitutes,
Mar 15, 2019
Law & Crime
IT group CEO found dead during investigation into alleged abuse
Marker Group CEO Song Myeong-bin was found dead on Wednesday morning, the day he was scheduled to undergo a court review over issuance of an arrest warrant for his alleged abuse of an employee. / YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunMarker Group CEO Song Myeong-bin was found dead Wednesday morning, the day he was scheduled to undergo a court review over the issuance of an arrest warrant for his alleged abuse of an employee. According to the police, a neighbor found his body at his apartment complex in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, at 4:40 a.m. He was already dead when first responders arrived.He was scheduled to attend a Seoul Southern District Court session in the morning where the court was to decide whether to issue a warrant for his arrest.He was accused of habitual assault, blackmail and violation of the Labor Standards Act, after an employee of his company, surnamed Yang, filed a complaint with the police last November accusing Song of habitually assaulting him with an iron pipe, shoehorn and wooden bar over a period of three years. A video of Song beating him was made public a month later and we
Mar 13, 2019
Others
Rare clear sky
The sky is clear in central Seoul, Wednesday, as the level of fine dust was “normal” and that of ultrafine dust, “good,” as a cold wind spell blew away the pollution that has blanketed the capital for days. Seoul and other parts of the country recently suffered their worst ever fine dust conditions for over a week. / Yonhap
Mar 13, 2019
Society
Private education cost reaches record high
By Kim Jae-heunParents' spending on their child's private education has been increasing consistently to a record high in 2018, the government said, Tuesday. The rate of children receiving private education has also been increasing as well, according to the joint survey by the Ministry of Education and Statistics Korea on some 40,000 parents and teachers at 1,486 elementary, middle and high schools nationwide. Total private education spending here reached 19.5 trillion won ($17 billion), up by 4.4 percent, or 800 billion won, compared to 2017. The total annual expense had declined to between 2009 and 2015, but has since begun to rise.English and math were the two subjects with the highest spending at 5.7 trillion won and 5.5 trillion won, respectively. The monthly cost for private education was 291,000 won per child on average, a 7 percent increase from a year before. It was the largest spending recorded in the joint study, which has been conducted since 2007.Parents spent 263,000 won per month for elementary students, and 312,000 won for middle school students and 321,000 w
Mar 12, 2019
Law & Crime
'Reenactments of sex crimes violate human rights'
It is a human rights violation for a law enforcement authority to make a victim of sexual violence participate in a reenactment as part of its investigation, Korea's human rights watchdog said. / GettyimagebankBy Kim Jae-heunIt is a human rights violation for a law enforcement authority to make a victim of sexual violence participate in a reenactment as part of its investigation, Korea's human rights watchdog said Sunday. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) recommended prosecutors devise measures to prevent such human rights violations from reoccurring and further traumatizing victims.In 2014, Lee Kyung-hee, a national rhythmic gymnastics team coach who defected from North Korea, claimed a ranking official at the Korea Gymnastics Association had sexually harassed her and tried to rape her. The official resigned at the time but was again named as a vice head of the association, and Lee made the assault public via broadcast.According to the NHRCK, the prosecutors told Lee to re-enact the crime twice during their investigation in 2017 and had a stand-in do so once. A j
Mar 11, 2019
Law & Crime
Ex-president Chun to attend libel trial
An officer sets up police lines in front of former President Chun Doo-hwan's house in Seodaemun-gu, western Seoul, Sunday, one day before he travels to attend a hearing at the Gwangju District Court. / Yonhap 15 police to accompany former leader on 315-kilometer journeyBy Kim Jae-heunFormer President Chun Doo-hwan has been summoned to a hearing today at Gwangju District Court in a libel action filed against him for allegedly slandering the late activist priest Cho Chul-hyun, also-known as Cho Bi-oh here.Chun was indicted last May after a relative of Cho filed a suit against him for defaming the priest, who testified that he witnessed soldiers shooting at citizens from helicopters during the crackdown on the pro-democratic uprising in Gwangju in 1980. The former president described Cho as “Satan wearing a mask” and called him a “liar” in his 2017 memoirs ― denying the priest's claim. The court has ordered Chun to appear in court twice before ― Aug. 27 last year and Jan. 7 ― but he refused, saying he had Alzheimer's disease the first time and influenza, the
Mar 10, 2019