The Korea Times

Another legal battle set to haunt Samsung heir

Lee Jae-yongLee Jae-yong charged with fraud in mergerBy Kim Se-jeong Prosecutors indicted Samsung Group Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong without physical detention, Tuesday, on multiple charges related to a controversial merger of the group's units and alleged accounting fraud. Lee was indicted on counts of stock manipulation, violation of laws governing the capital market and external audits, and breach of trust during the merger between Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T, as well as accounting fraud at another group affiliate, Samsung Biologics. The prosecution also indicted 10 former senior executives of Samsung on similar charges for allegedly assisting Lee in the fraudulent activities surrounding the merger. “It is a case that can have grave consequences. Also, we have clear-cut evidence against them and the case is of interest to the public. With this backdrop, we conclude the case needs a judicial review,” said prosecutor Lee Bok-hyun, head of the investigation team, Tuesday. In response, Samsung criticized the prosecution, saying it was politically charged and had th

Sep 1, 2020By Kim Se-jeong

Another legal battle set to haunt Samsung heir

Society

Remembering Homer Hulbert

Kim Dong-jin, right, chairman of the Hulbert Memorial Society, holds a flower during an event held in Seoul, Monday, to commemorate the 71st anniversary of the death of Homer Hulbert (1863-1949), an American educator who helped Korea's independence movement. He was also an advocate for the Korean language and died in Korea in 1949. Next to Kim are Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Seoul regional office head Lee Seong-choon, center, and Nam Jong-woon from Mapo-gu Office. / Courtesy of Hulbert Memorial Society

Aug 31, 2020By Kim Se-jeong

Health

Doctors continue strike despite government's threat of punishment

An inpatient enters Seoul National University Hospital in Seoul, Sunday./ YonhapBy Kim Se-jeong Trainee doctors vowed Sunday to continue their ongoing strike in protest of the government's healthcare system reform plan, a move expected to pose a bigger threat to Korea in its response to COVID-19. Representatives of interns and resident doctors met Saturday night for an overnight meeting to decide whether to continue the ongoing strike. The first round of a general vote among representatives didn't land on a majority decision, yet the second vote found 134 votes in favor of the strike, out of 186. Korea has about 13,500 trainee doctors.The Minister of Health and Welfare quickly slammed the decision, calling it inconsiderate of the lives of 51 million citizens. Also the ministry criticized the trainee doctors for their stubbornness.“The move came after the government stepped back. The government proposed to scrap the plan in exchange for them returning to work and to start talking to doctors about the reforms after the pandemic crisis in Seoul metropolitan area subsides,” a

Aug 30, 2020By Kim Se-jeong

Doctors continue strike despite government's threat of punishment

Health

Korea gripped by 2nd wave of COVID-19 pandemic

Residents of Guro-gu in southwestern Seoul wait to be tested for COVID-19 outside the district health center, Thursday. /YonhapBy Kim Se-jeongKorea appears to have entered the much-feared second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reporting 441 new coronavirus infections Wednesday, the highest daily total since March.The KCDC said 313 of the cases were in the Seoul metropolitan area where more than half of the country's population lives. The remaining 121 were reported nationwide, the first time for the figure to exceed 100 since the nation saw a triple-digit increase two weeks ago. The total number of COVID-19 cases has now reached to 18,706, with 313 fatalities so far. The quarantine authorities said the outbreak over the last two weeks posed a bigger threat than the first one in Daegu that began in February. While most cases there were linked to one church, the recent cases in the capital have involved many smaller outbreaks with unclear transmission routes.Officials said the Seoul Metropolitan Government has been trying t

Aug 27, 2020By Kim Se-jeong

Korea gripped by 2nd wave of COVID-19 pandemic

Books

Author goes public about rape by her father

Gim Young-seo, the author of “Even Tears Shine in the Light”By Kim Se-jeong When Author Gim Young-seo had her book published in 2012, she didn't have the courage to reveal her name.As her book, “Even Tears Shine in the Light,” detailed Gim's experience of being raped by her biological father, she eschewed all publicity associated with the book's publication.In March this year, a revised version of the book came out, and this time she decided to reveal her name. “The perpetrator died last year and I felt a huge burden lifted off me. Then, I thought I could do it (revealing my name).” she said during a recent interview with The Korea Times. She called her father “the perpetrator” throughout the interview.Her horrendous experience started when she was a fifth grader. The book whose English version isn't yet available in bookstores details repeated rapes, how she eventually managed to escape and how she is healing herself from the experience. In one chapter, she narrates about her suspected pregnancy and how her father made up a fake story

Aug 27, 2020By Kim Se-jeong

Author goes public about rape by her father

Society

Flights, ferry services halted as Bavi moves northward

A man barely stands against typhoon-driven wind gusts on Jeju Island, Wednesday. YonhapPowerful typhoon expected to hit Seoul early ThursdayBy Kim Se-jeong All domestic flights and ferry services were halted in Korea, Wednesday, as Typhoon Bavi pounded Jeju Island and southern coastal regions with powerful winds and heavy rainfall. No deaths or injuries have been reported so far. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), Bavi was around 170 kilometers west of Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, as of 8 p.m. Wednesday, moving north at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour. As the typhoon was predicted to hit Seoul between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. Thursday, the KMA issued a typhoon warning in the capital, beginning from 11 p.m. Wednesday. Jeju International Airport canceled all 330 flights scheduled to depart and land on the island Wednesday. The airport also imposed a wind shear advisory, a warning for sudden changes in wind direction. Gimpo International Airport in Seoul also saw all flights to and from Jeju, Gimhae, Gwangju, Cheongju, Yangyang, Daegu and Ulsan canceled on the same

Aug 26, 2020By Kim Se-jeong

Flights, ferry services halted as Bavi moves northward

Health

Virus infections fan out nationwide

Quarantine workers disinfect a bus at a local depot in Jungnang District, northeastern Seoul, Thursday, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the capital. /YonhapSeoul city to ban gatherings of 10 or more people from todayBy Kim Se-jeongThe Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 288 new COVID-19 infections for Wednesday, the third straight day of over 200, with an increasing number outside the Seoul metropolitan area, signaling that the nationwide spread is becoming a reality and that it will be a while until the number of cases decreases.Locating participants in an anti-government rally held last Saturday in Seoul has become the biggest challenge for the authorities.“We have found 53 so far and they were scattered through nine provinces and cities nationwide. Also, 70 percent of them involved people in their 60s or older,” Kim Gang-lip, a senior official responsible for the government response to COVID-19, said Thursday morning. Later in the day, the government added eight more cases. The authorities were continuing to track down the rally partic

Aug 20, 2020By Kim Se-jeong

Society

From kitchen sink to animal farm: Life cycle of food waste in Seoul

An employee of Dobong Food Disposal Processing Plant manually removes plastic, bones and seeds from the food waste which has just arrived on a conveyor belt. /Korea Times photo by Kim Se-jeongBy Kim Se-jeong The almost ten million residents of Seoul produce roughly 2,100 tons of home food waste every day.More recently in Seoul's large residential apartment complexes, residents dispose of food waste in modern communal electronic bins that measure how much food waste each apartment disposes of and charges a monthly waste management fee accordingly, while residents of other types of housing load their food waste into dedicated plastic bags or containers before leaving them outside for collection. A visit to Dobong Food Disposal Processing Plant located in Dobong District, northeastern Seoul, shows what happens next.As the waste arrives at the center in collection trucks, non-recyclable food waste items, for example chicken bones and peach seeds, are removed by hand and machine. The usable waste is then crushed into a puree and spin- and air-dried to create a powder. This stage of the pr

Aug 19, 2020By Kim Se-jeong

From kitchen sink to animal farm: Life cycle of food waste in Seoul

Politics

Teens say no to Samsung's coal project

Youth 4 Climate Action Korea members make a performance during a press conference outside Samsung's office in Seoul, Wednesday. / Courtesy of Youth 4 Climate Action KoreaBy Kim Se-jeong Young environmental activists in Korea gathered outside Samsung's headquarters in Seoul Wednesday, adding pressure on the electronic giant's construction arm not to participate in a coal plant construction project in Vietnam. Samsung C&T is currently considering participation in the Vung Ang 2, a 1,200-megawatt coal power plant construction project in Vietnam's Ha Tinh province. “Coal is the biggest contributor to the world's greenhouse gas emissions. If humanity is wiped out from the Earth because of climate change what good would Samsung's quality goods and services be?” Nam Dae-hee, 18, a member of Youth 4 Climate Action in Korea, said during a press conference.In a letter to Samsung C&T, the young activists argued: “With the help of the Green New Deal, the Korean government pledged to reduce 12.29 million tons of greenhouse gases by 2025. But the coal plant in Vietnam is

Aug 19, 2020By Kim Se-jeong

Health

Coronavirus spreading out of control in South Korea

Residents of Sungbuk District in Seoul wait to be tested for COVID-19 outside the district health center, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-hanGov't bans face-to-face worships in Seoul metropolitan areaBy Kim Se-jeongThe COVID-19 crisis appears to be spinning out of control in Korea with the Seoul metropolitan area recording triple-digit increases in new infections over the past five days.The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 246 new cases Monday, pushing up the total caseload to 15,761 with 306 deaths. Among the 246, 201 were in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, as the total number of cases over the last five days reached 991. Mass infections were reported to have started in churches and then spread to people at restaurants, coffee shops, military bases, protest sites and police stations. COVID-19 is posing a grave challenge to quarantine officials who have branded the current situation worse than the outbreak among the Shincheonji Church of Jesus members in Daegu in February and March.In response, the government banned all church activities in

Aug 18, 2020By Kim Se-jeong

Kim Se-jeong

Read more

Another legal battle set to haunt Samsung heir

Remembering Homer Hulbert

Doctors continue strike despite government's threat of punishment

Korea gripped by 2nd wave of COVID-19 pandemic

Author goes public about rape by her father

Flights, ferry services halted as Bavi moves northward

Virus infections fan out nationwide

From kitchen sink to animal farm: Life cycle of food waste in Seoul

Teens say no to Samsung's coal project

Coronavirus spreading out of control in South Korea

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