my timesThe Korea Times
lkm

Lee Kyung-min

Korea Times AI content 2 team Reporter

Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr

Go to EmailGo to URL

Read more

South Korea

Court: Pedestrian on phone responsible for accident

By Lee Kyung-minA district court ruled that a pedestrian was entirely responsible for an accident when he crossed the road against a red light while distracted by his cell phone.The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday ruled against the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), which demanded a driver and his insurance company cover hospital fees for the pedestrian, surnamed Choi.  The driver, Cho, was driving his van on a street in central Seoul on July 13, 2013. As he passed through a crosswalk with the traffic light green for vehicles, Choi suddenly appeared from behind cars stopped in the opposite lane due to heavy traffic. Choi was talking on his cell phone at the time and was hit by Cho’s van.Choi suffered a fractured skull which required eight months of hospital treatment. The injured party paid 9.2 million won out of his own pocket for the treatment while the NHIS covered 43 million won.The NHIS demanded Cho and his insurance firm pay the fees, arguing that Cho was negligent in the accident.The court did not accept this claim, saying Cho had no responsibility

Aug 26, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Courts seeks to cut judge-lawyer ties

Courts seek to abolish corrupt ties between judges, lawyersBy Lee Kyung-minA district court is increasing efforts to restore public trust in the criminal justice system by severing ties between judges and lawyers.The Seoul Central District Court has recently adopted a system to reassign cases to different judges in order to prevent them from being tainted. The move follows criticism that wealthy people win criminal cases easily by hiring high-profile lawyers ― many of them former prosecutors or judges who can exercise influence on incumbent judges.According to the court’s new guidelines it adopted earlier this month, criminal court judges cannot take a case where the defense attorney is their alumni from high school, university or graduate school, or classmates at the Judicial Research  & Training Institute (JRTI) when they passed the bar exam.The ban is also valid if the lawyer was a former judge and previously worked at the same district court as the presiding judge.The new rule appears to be working so far, with high-profile defendants changing their lawyers fo

Aug 25, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Ex-NPAD head faces questioning over alleged influence peddling

By Lee Kyung-min  Rep. Moon Hee-sangRep. Moon Hee-sang of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) may be summoned by the prosecution for questioning over whether he exercised influence as a lawmaker to gain employment for his brother- in-law.Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho allegedly got the man a job at a U.S. company on Moon’s request and may also be questioned.Prosecutors at Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office questioned the wife of Moon, the former NPAD chairman, on Saturday. She was questioned for more than 10 hours.It is alleged that Moon asked Cho to have his brother-in-law, Kim, land a job as a consultant at Bridge Warehouse, a U.S.-based company that had business with Hanjin Shipping, an affiliate of Hanjin Group, in 2004. It is suspected that Kim received $740,000 throughout 2012 from the company even though he did not work for the firm.Moon and Cho are high school alumni.The investigation started in June after civic groups filed a complaint with the prosecution. Investigators raided the offices of Hanjin Group, Korean A

Aug 24, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
Ex-NPAD head faces questioning over alleged influence peddling
South Korea

Ill-timed fireworks add to cross-border tension

By Lee Kyung-min Some municipal governments are facing criticism from local residents after fireworks displays went ahead Saturday, causing citizens to fear that military strikes had started amid intensified tension between North and South Korea.In regions located less than 10 kilometers from the demilitarized zone (DMZ), where loudspeakers are set up along the border, local governments went ahead with displays to celebrate the end of a number of festivals. One occurred at Lakeside Park in Gimpo at around 10 p.m., another at the end of the city music festival in Siheung at 9 p.m.A brief firework show also took place at the end of a baseball game held the same night at Incheon Munhak Sports Complex in Nam-gu, Incheon.Residents in the area blasted the decision to launch the fireworks.“We were startled upon hearing the fireworks because we thought that North Korea had launched a strike,” said a resident in Gimpo.“People have been on constant alert following a government evacuation order on people in our city. What were they thinking holding fireworks amid this urg

Aug 23, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Lawmakers' family hiring details urged to be disclosed

Seoul Bar Association President Kim Han-kyu, second from left, criticizes the alleged abuse of power by lawmakers and high-profile public officials for their children’s employment, during a press conference at the National Assembly, Seoul, Thursday. / YonhapBy Lee Kyung-min  A group of lawyers want high-profile government officials and lawmakers to disclose the employment details of their spouses or children if they land jobs at public institutions, large companies or law firms.  The move is aimed at preventing public officials from abusing their power to ensure that their family members obtain sought-after jobs, which occurred with several high-profile cases recently.The Seoul Bar Association (SBA) said Thursday it would revise the law on ethical standards for public officials.“The law makes it mandatory for lawmakers and high-ranking officials to disclose their wealth to monitor if they have accumulated that wealth through illegal means. Likewise, the employment of family members should be made public so people can monitor any possible illegality,&rd

Aug 20, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
Lawmakers' family hiring details urged to be disclosed
South Korea

Former Seoul City councilman sentenced to life

By Lee Kyung-minThe Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a lower court’s ruling that sentenced Kim Hyeong-sik, a member of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, to life in prison for commissioning a murder.Kim was indicted in July last year on charges of plotting the murder of a wealthy businessman, surnamed Song, 67, from whom he received 520 million won in bribes. Kim asked his friend, surnamed Paeng, to carry out the killing.According to the court, Kim received money from Song to finance his election campaign in 2011. In return, he promised to ease development restrictions for land that Song owned if he were elected.But he could not keep his promise as easing the restrictions was not under his remit. As Song threatened to make the bribe public, Kim urged Paeng to kill Song. Paeng agreed after Kim promised to write off debts Paeng owed to him.A district court sentenced Kim to life in prison after a jury trial, in which all nine jurors found him guilty.An appellate court upheld the ruling and delivered the same sentence, noting that he showed no remorse and instead blamed the murder al

Aug 19, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Incumbent lawmaker put behind bars over alleged bribery

By Lee Kyung-minRep. Park Ki-choonRep. Park Ki-choon, a former member of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD), was arrested late on Tuesday on allegations of accepting bribes.The Seoul Central District Court issued the warrant, saying the politician is highly likely to destroy evidence related to the case.Park’s arrest comes after the National Assembly voted 137-89 in favor of consenting to his arrest on Aug. 13. The assembly is required to give consent for any incumbent lawmaker to be arrested while it is in session.He becomes the fifth incumbent lawmaker to be arrested or jailed in the current 19th National Assembly.The four other lawmakers are: Park Sang-eun and Cho Hyun-ryong from the ruling Saenuri Party; Kim Jae-yun from the NPAD, and Lee Seok-ki of the now disbanded United Progressive Party.Park had been under investigation for allegations that he received cash and valuables worth 358 million won from a man, surnamed Kim, who heads an apartment sales agency, in return for providing political favors for his business. The valuables included seven high-end wristwa

Aug 19, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
Incumbent lawmaker put behind bars over alleged bribery
South Korea

GSK, Dong-A ordered to compensate insurance agency

GSK, Dong-A lose suit for ‘pay-for-delay’ collusionBy Lee Kyung-min A district court has ordered two pharmaceutical companies ― GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Dong-A ST ― to pay the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) 867 million won in compensation for financial damages caused by their collusion.The Seoul Western District Court said Tuesday that it recently ruled in favor of the NHIS which filed the suit following a Fair Trade Commission (FTC) decision on collusion.According to the court, the U.K.-based GSK, the manufacturer of an anti-nausea drug, Zofran, filed a patent suit against local pharmaceutical firm Dong-A ST in 2000, claiming that the latter’s generic drug, Ondaron, infringed on the former’s patent.In an attempt to avoid fierce market competition with the cheaper generic drug, GSK sought a settlement, promising to guarantee Dong-A exclusive rights to sell original drugs it produces, as well as other incentives, in return for the Korean firm withdrawing Ondaron from the market. The FTC said in 2011 that such a deal was in violati

Aug 18, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Korean gov't ordered to compensate US base worker's injury

By Lee Kyung-minA district court has ordered the Korean government to pay 360 million won ($304,000) in compensation to a man who sustained permanent paralysis below the waist while working at a snack bar on a United States Forces Korea (USFK) military base in Gyeonggi Province.According to the Seoul Central District Court, Monday, the man, surnamed Gil, had worked at the base since 1994. In July 2010, the snack bar manager, Kim, ordered him to move heavy goods from a truck using a piece of equipment.While moving the goods, some items fell and hit Gil hard in the neck and back. Due to the accident, his spinal cord was permanently damaged and he was paralyzed from the waist down.Gil filed a suit against the government seeking 700 million won in compensation, saying that according to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), the government was liable for Kim’s negligent supervision.The court ruled that the manager was indeed negligent of duty, and should have taken measures to prevent the goods from falling, such as having more workers for the unloading work.“The heavy objects

Aug 17, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Smoking parents lead to smoking children

By Lee Kyung-minChildren who have parents that smoke are four times more likely to take up the habit than those who have parents that don’t, a study showed, Monday.Meanwhile, teenagers who have friends that smoke are 16.9 times more likely to take it up, it added.According to an online survey conducted by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) on 75,000 children between the ages of 14 and 19, the smoking rate of children that have parents who both smoke stood at 17.8 percent, nearly four times that of those with non-smoking parents, 4.3 percent.Having siblings who smoke also affected their choice, with the rate at 15.8 percent.Mothers that smoke cigarettes have more influence on whether their children begin smoking than fathers do, the study showed.The smoking rate was 13.5 percent for children whose close friends were smokers, 16.9 times higher than that of children without such friends, 0.8 percent.A KCDC official said the study results should be reflected in schools’ measures to curb teen smoking.“Teenagers are easily affected by people aroun

Aug 17, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
previous page
325326327328329
next page

Top 5 stories

Korea Times
About Us
Introduction
History
Contact Us
Products & Services
Subscribe
E-paper
RSS Service
Content Sales
Site Map
Policy
Code of Ethics
Ombudsman
Privacy Policy
Youth Protection Policy
Terms of Service
Copyright Policy
Family Site
Hankookilbo
Dongwha Group
FacebookXYoutubeInstagram
CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.