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Lee Kyung-min

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South Korea

Chemical castration law to be reviewed

By Lee Kyung-min The Constitutional Court will hold a public hearing on May 14 to discuss whether the law on chemical castration of sex offenders infringes on their fundamental rights, the court said Sunday.After gathering opinions from experts and the public, the court will decide whether the law is constitutional or not by the end of this year.At issue is whether the measure violates the right of people not to have damage done to their bodies, and the right to make decisions about what happens to their bodies ― two provisions guaranteed by the Constitution. The law as it stands does not require a person’s consent.The law stipulates that the prosecution can request a court to order chemical castration of a sex offender aged 19 or above who is likely to repeat such crimes. If finding the request reasonable, the court can order castration.Daejeon District Court raised the issue in 2013, when it filed a petition with the Constitutional Court, claiming that forcing a man, albeit criminal, to undergo such a procedure infringed on individual rights that the Constitution pr

May 3, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Grade 'inflation' rampant

By Lee Kyung-min  Nine out of ten university graduates received grades of at least B or above, a government study showed Thursday.Out of those who graduated in August last year and February this year, 90.9 percent received a at least B, the equivalent of a score of 80 out of 100, the study added.In the study conducted by the Ministry of Education and Korea Council for University Education (KCUE), 178 universities were analyzed on course evaluation results, tuition, student and professor satisfaction, and student-to-instructor ratio per class.In addition to graduates, the “grade inflation” problem equally applied to junior students.Almost 70 percent of university students received a grade B or better this year, the study showed.Those who received grade A or A plus accounted for 32.3 percent, and 37.5 percent had Bs.Seven universities awarded more than half of their students with As. They are Seoul National University (SNU), Youngsan, Hanzhong, Calvin, Korea National Sport, Suwon Catholic and Daejeon Catholic.SNU showed the most inflated grades with almost 83 percent o

Apr 30, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

3 die in gas leak at SK hynix plant

SK hynix plant in Icheon, Gyeonggi ProvinceBy Lee Kyung-min Three workers died after inhaling toxic gas at an SK hynix plant in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday.The workers collapsed around noon while working near an exhaust air duct on the roof of an eight-story building inside the plant.Co-workers made emergency calls after seeing them collapse, according to the company. They were taken to nearby hospitals where they were pronounced dead, police said.“We believe the victims died after inhaling nitrogen gas,” a company official said. “We offer our deepest condolences to the victims’ families and the public.”Police said they had launched an investigation to find the cause of the incident.The plant, which is under construction, will be SK hynix’s 14th in the country.Four others who were working at the site suffered minor headaches, police said.The ventilation system in the duct was turned on at 9:00 a.m. for inspection, according to company officials.  The three went into the duct and passed out soon after.The victims reportedly said th

Apr 30, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
3 die in gas leak at SK hynix plant
South Korea

Is Gangnam District Office favoring Dongbu?

A symbol of Dongbu Group installed on a road for pedestrians in southern Seoul/ Courtesy of Gangnam District OfficeBy Lee Kyung-min The Gangnam District Office is under mounting criticism over its recent decision to grant legal permission for an 11-year-old sculpture to be situated in front of Dongbu Group’s office building in Daechi-dong.Since 2011, civic groups have said that the artwork is there illegally and should be removed immediately.The sculpture ― a symbol of Dongbu ― was installed by the firm in 2002 on a road for pedestrians.According to the construction law, no sculpture representing the interest of a private company is allowed on public property, of which Dongbu is in direct violation, according to the activists.In response, the district office imposed a fine of 1.6 million won on the company.However, the office recently changed its position and legalized the sculpture, triggering allegations that it gave preferential treatment to the company. Activist Lee Deuk-hyung alleged that the company is suspected of offering bribes in exchange for such

Apr 29, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Lee Wan-koo, Hong-Joon-pyo may face summons

Lee Wan-kooHong Joon-pyoBy Lee Kyung-minProsecutors questioned two key aides of former Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo and South Gyeongsang Province Governor Hong-Joon-pyo Wednesday as part of a widening investigation into the bribery allegations surrounding the late Keangnam Enterprises Chairman Sung Woan-jong.Lee and Hong are expected to be the first to face summonses among the eight people mentioned in the handwritten “bribery memo” left by Sung before he committed suicide on April 6.Depending on the initial investigations into the aides, the prosecution will determine whether to issue summonses for Lee and Hong, sources said.The prosecution questioned both the aides over their superiors’ whereabouts at the time when the alleged bribes were delivered.The aides managed meeting schedules for their bosses at the time, the prosecution said.Lee is suspected of receiving 30 million won packed in a Vita 500 energy drink box from Sung during the 2013 election campaign.Hong is suspected of receiving 100 million won from then Keangnam Vice President Yun Seung-mo in 2011.Th

Apr 29, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
Lee Wan-koo, Hong-Joon-pyo may face summons
South Korea

Harpooned minke whale found

By Lee Kyung-min A minke whale harpooned on four separate parts of its body has been discovered trapped in a fishing net near Ulsan, police said Tuesday.Police say they think that the whale, which is 6.3-meter-long and 3.6-meter-in-circumference, was a victim of illegal whaling off Ulsan.The mammal was caught 23 kilometers off the coast of the coastal city around 8 a.m.The discovery came 10 months after a mammal of similar size was caught near the area, police said.“We think the rampant whale fishing results from the high demand for the mammal, which fetches tens of millions of won in auctions,” a police officer said. “That’s why some trawlers call it ‘the lotto of the sea.’ With the annual Ulsan Whale Festival only a month away, the illegal fishing is likely to increase.”Killing or intentionally capturing whales is illegal here.Anyone who came to discover whales either caught in a fishing net or floating in the sea dead are bound by law to report it to the police.But the National Fisheries Research and Development (NFRD) under the Minis

Apr 28, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Sewol captain gets life in prison

Judges sit to preside over verdicts for the sunken ferry Sewol’s crew members who are charged with negligence and abandonment of passengers in the disaster, at the Gwangju High Court in Gwangju, Tuesday. / AP-YonhapBy Lee Kyung-minLee Joon-seok, the captain of the sunken ferry Sewol, waits for verdicts at the Gwangju High Court in Gwangju, Tuesday. / YonhapAn appeals court increased Sewol ferry captain Lee Joon-seok’s sentence to life in prison on Tuesday.Overturning a lower court ruling that acquitted Lee of murder, the Gwangju High Court convicted him of murdering 304 passengers because he deserted the ship without doing anything to save them.The court ruled that Lee failed to instruct passengers to leave the sinking ferry, which resulted in their deaths off the Jindo coast in April last year. “Lee was only interested in saving himself instead of looking out for the passengers on board whose safety solely depended upon the captain’s instructions in such an emergency,” a judge said.Unlike the district court, which recognized Lee’s claims that

Apr 28, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
Sewol captain gets life in prison
South Korea

Extortion ring that blackmails with nude content detected

By Lee Kyung-minPolice have arrested 14 members of an extortion ring who swindled some 1 billion won ($931,000) from 1,000 people by recording video footage of them naked using a smartphone app.They allegedly blackmailed people saying the footage would be made public unless they paid money, an officer said Monday,This is the first time that police have detected an extortion ring getting money from users through a chatting app.The Seoul Metropolitan Policy Agency (SMPA) said they took the 14 into custody for intimidation and extortion, crimes punishable by a prison term of up to 10 years or a fine of up to 10 million won.Police said the suspects used a messenger app such as Naver LINE in search of potential victims from May 2014 until April 2015.They sent a picture of a pretty female to random cell-phone users.To those who showed interest, they sent another app that compromised all contact information and pictures stored in the device.Unaware of the app or their data being compromised, the victims were solicited into taking nude photos and video footage of them “pleasuring onese

Apr 27, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
South Korea

Seoul's education policy may be adrift

Schools confused over ruling against superintendentBy Lee Kyung-minCho Hee-yeonSchools and students in Seoul are facing a crisis yet again after a district court Thursday found Seoul’s liberal-minded education chief Cho Hee-yeon guilty of violating the Election Law during his campaign last year.The Seoul Central District Court ordered him to pay a fine of 5 million won ($4,600) for disseminating false information to voters about his rival candidate Koh Seung-duk during the election campaign.Cho has vowed to appeal, but if an appeals court fines him more than 100 million won, and the Supreme Court upholds the ruling, Cho will be stripped of his post as superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE).Out of four elected superintendents of Seoul since 2008, Cho is the third to be tried while in office on charges of Election Law violation after Gong Jeong-taek and Kwak No-hyun, both of whom were stripped of their positions after being convicted.Cho’s predecessor, Moon Yong-lin, was also put on trial on similar charges after he stepped down.With top educati

Apr 24, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
Seoul's education policy may be adrift
South Korea

Plastic surgery clinics in southern Seoul under investigation

By Lee Kyung-min The prosecution on Friday launched an investigation into a number of top plastic surgery clinics in Gangnam, southern Seoul, over allegations that they offered kickbacks to brokers in exchange for attracting Chinese customers.The prosecution located 10 such brokers and imposed travel bans on them.Three hospitals in Seocho, southern Seoul, were raided on Thursday and their patient records were confiscated. Hospital workers were called in for questioning, the prosecution said.The moves came at the request of Chinese authorities that sought to deter a growing mood of antipathy against Korean plastic surgeons following a series of their citizens’ deaths due to medical malpractice here, the prosecution said.The prosecution suspects the brokers received half the amount paid by patients they directed to the clinics.The prosecution suspects the clinics might have committed accounting fraud, adding any irregularity regarding tax reporting will come under their scrutiny.More than 10 surgeons perform surgery at each clinic, thus the number of brokers involved in the

Apr 24, 2015By Lee Kyung-min
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