The Korea Times

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

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

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

South Korea

Park may face summons

By Lee Kyung-minPark Yong-sungProsecutors are likely to issue a summons soon for former Chung-Ang University foundation Chairman Park Yong-sung regarding allegations that he sought favors from education officials to integrate two campuses of the university in 2012.The officials include former Chief Presidential Secretary for Education Park Bum-hoon, who previously worked as the university’s president.Fresh allegations emerged Thursday that Doosan provided bribes worth hundreds of millions of won to Park in return for his help in pushing the integration of the campuses. Park is also likely to be summoned as early as next week.Park resigned from all his public posts this week after an email containing abusive language he sent to Chung-Ang professors was made public. He also stepped down as Doosan Heavy chairman and chairman of the university’s foundation.The prosecution is digging deeper into the ties between Doosan and Chung-Ang. The university was purchased by Doosan in 2007.The prosecution is also looking into allegations that Park met with former President Lee Myun

Apr 23, 2015By Lee Kyung-min

South Korea

KTU wins suit against former spy chief

 By Lee Kyung-min   A court ordered former National Intelligence Agency (NIS) Chief Won Sei-hoon Wednesday to compensate the Korean Teachers and Educational Workers' Union (KTU) for calling the representative body an organization full of “North Korea sympathizers.”The Seoul Central District Court ordered Won to pay 10 million won ($9,200) to the union.The KTU filed a suit against the former spy chief saying that the union as a whole was defamed by his comments targeting the union from 2009 to 2013.Won wrote on NIS website that, “Activities masterminded by organizations such as the teachers’ union with pro-North Korean political inclinations are still rampant here. Most of them hide their true colors by working alongside religious and civic groups,. I hereby encourage workers to be more active in their efforts to root out such anti-state minds that corrupt our society.”The court recognized that the union members suffered undue emotional hardship due to Won’s misguided assertion about the union members’ political orientation

Apr 23, 2015By Lee Kyung-min

South Korea

Hyundai Motor union criticizes KCTU's push for strike

By Lee Kyung-minThe Hyundai Motor union Wednesday openly criticized the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), an umbrella union in which the former is a major stakeholder, for the latter’s plan to launch a nationwide strike on Friday.The KCTU, the second largest umbrella union here with 670,000 members, has planned the strike to protest against what it called the government’s “business-friendly” approach in handling key labor issues.The Hyundai Motor union charged that the KCTU is just resorting to strike action without due consideration of the political situation.“The KCTU is overstretched in its attempt to act out without due consideration,” the union said in a statement. “It’s absurd to go ahead with the plan at the moment with the nation in confusion over the latest full-fledged corruption allegations regarding the late Keangnam Enterprises Chairman Sung Woan-jong and people of the highest ranks in this country.“At the moment, the government is not pushing for a reform plan to the extent that leaves the labor sector wit

Apr 22, 2015By Lee Kyung-min

South Korea

Two Sung confidants detained for destroying evidence

By Lee Kyung-minProsecutors detained two key confidants to the late Keangnam Enterprises Chairman Sung Woan-jong Wednesday on suspicion they destroyed evidence related to a bribery scandal involving Sung.Former Keangnam executive Park Jun-ho, 49, was put behind bars after he was found to have removed surveillance camera footage, which would have been crucial evidence, during an overnight interrogation session. He was summoned a day earlier.The prosecution also detained Lee yong-ki, the company’s former public relations director and Sung’s former secretary, for alleged involvement in the crime. He assisted the late Sung for more than 10 years. Park, who previously worked as a secretary for a lawmaker, entered Keangnam in 2003 and was in charge of personal contact management as well as scheduling meetings with influential figures for Sung.Detaining the two is the latest development in an investigation into the full-fledged corruption scandal surrounding the late Sung involving public figures from the highest ranks in the country.The prosecution said Park was questioned

Apr 22, 2015By Lee Kyung-min

South Korea

Swimmer to take witness stand in doctor's trial

By Lee Kyung-minPark Tae-hwanSwimmer Park Tae-hwan will testify against his doctor who is on trial for allegedly injecting him with the banned substance Nebido in September last year, a court said Tuesday.The doctor, surnamed Kim, is charged with professional negligence for failing to inform the swimmer about the contents of the syringe and if the injection might lead to him fail a drug test.Park subsequently tested positive for doping, which resulted in him being suspended for 18 months by the world swimming governing body the International Swimming Federation (FINA) in March.Park also had to forfeit the five bronze medals and one silver medal that he won at the Incheon Asian Games.The Seoul Central District Court granted the prosecution’s motion requesting four witnesses including the doctor and Park’s manager.Park likely will testify against Kim, who claimed that she gave the list of components of Nebido to Park, asking to confirm the injection as part of his treatment.“Kim asked Park to verify whether the injection would cause a problem, and Park agreed to do so

Apr 21, 2015By Lee Kyung-min

Swimmer to take witness stand in doctor's trial

South Korea

Protestor who burnt national flag being pursued

By Lee Kyung-minPolice are trying to locate a young protestor who allegedly burnt a taegeukki, the Korean national flag, during a rally to mark the first anniversary of the Sewol ferry disaster in downtown Seoul, Saturday.Video footage of the man burning the flag has triggered a public uproar. “We are reviewing surveillance camera recordings near the site to identify and find him,” an officer from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) said.Damaging the national flag with intent to defame the country is a crime punishable by a prison term of up to five years.The man was one of tens of hundreds of protestors who clashed with police, who detained about 100, including 21 relatives of the ferry tragedy victims.Police sought arrest warrants for 10 of the protestors, Monday.They decided not to seek arrest warrants for the relatives even though they engaged in illegal activities. “They will be given leniency given that they are going through hard times,” the officer said. “However, those who engaged in attacks on officers and destroyed police vehicles will

Apr 20, 2015By Lee Kyung-min

Lee Kyung-min

Read more

Sewol captain gets life in prison

Extortion ring that blackmails with nude content detected

Seoul's education policy may be adrift

Plastic surgery clinics in southern Seoul under investigation

Park may face summons

KTU wins suit against former spy chief

Hyundai Motor union criticizes KCTU's push for strike

Two Sung confidants detained for destroying evidence

Swimmer to take witness stand in doctor's trial

Protestor who burnt national flag being pursued

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