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Supreme Court set to rule on Lee Jae-myung's election law violation case

The Supreme Court is set to make a ruling on Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung's election law violation case Thursday. The top court's full bench will deliver the ruling at 3 p.m., which will be televised live to the public. Lee will not appear in court, as a defendant's attendance is not mandatory at the top court. The ruling comes after prosecutors appealed a high court ruling last month that acquitted Lee of lying as a presidential candidate during the 2022 election campaign and overturned a lower court sentence of a suspended prison term. The Supreme Court received the politically sensitive case just over a month ago, and Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae referred it to the full bench. For the ruling, the court will likely either confirm and finalize the high court's ruling or send it back to the lower court if it finds fault. The court appears to have sped up proceedings for the case, considering that a guilty ruling could affect Lee's eligibility to run for office, ahead of the June 3 presidential election. Those who receive a fine of 1 million won ($700) or mor

May 1, 2025By Yonhap
Supreme Court set to rule on Lee Jae-myung's election law violation case

Police launch formal probe into SK Telecom's customer data leak

Police said Wednesday they have launched a formal investigation into a recent hacking incident involving SK Telecom, the country's largest mobile carrier, that has prompted a rush of customers seeking to replace their USIM cards or transfer to other carriers. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's cyber investigation unit said it formed a 22-person task force to look into the alleged cyberattack on April 18, when the carrier detected signs of a massive leak of customers' universal subscriber identity module (USIM) data. "We have swiftly secured relevant digital evidence and activated a mutual assistance system involving domestic and foreign partners to look into the details of the hacking and its mastermind," a police official said. In response to the data leak, the carrier has offered free replacements of USIM chips for all of its 23 million users. The police, who had been conducting an internal probe into the case, decided to launch a formal investigation in consideration of the high level of public interest and concern it has attracted.

Apr 30, 2025By Yonhap
Police launch formal probe into SK Telecom's customer data leak

Student uses weapon at high school; 6 people injured

A special-ed student attacked people with a weapon at a high school in Cheongju on Monday, injuring six people, including a teacher, officials said. The attack happened around 8:40 a.m. in the city some 110 kilometers south of Seoul. The victims were taken to hospitals with minor to serious injuries to the face, abdomen and other areas, and are being treated there. None of them are in critical condition, officials said. The student jumped into a nearby reservoir after the attack but was rescued and also transferred to a hospital. Police and education authorities are looking into the exact circumstances.

Apr 28, 2025By Yonhap
Student uses weapon at high school; 6 people injured

Appeals court confirms 2.5 years sentence for singer Kim Ho-joong

A court of appeals on Friday upheld a lower court's 2 1/2-year prison sentence for popera singer Kim Ho-joong accused of ramming his car into a taxi while driving drunk and fleeing the scene last year. The appellate division of the Seoul Central District Court handed down the ruling to Kim, finding him guilty of dangerous driving resulting in injury, a hit-and-run resulting in injury and failure to take necessary measures after a car accident. Kim, 33, was given the same sentence by the Seoul Central District Court in November last year. He was indicted on charges of driving his car into a stationary taxi in the opposite lane in Seoul's Gangnam Ward on May 9 last year, leaving the scene without taking appropriate measures and then making his manager turn himself in.

Apr 25, 2025By Yonhap
Appeals court confirms 2.5 years sentence for singer Kim Ho-joong

Man turns himself in for killing woman near Mount Seorak 10 days ago

A man in his 50s has been taken into custody after confessing to the murder of a woman near a popular trail at Mount Seorak in Gangwon Province, police said Thursday. According to Gangneung Police Station, the suspect turned himself in around midnight on Thursday, saying he had killed a woman in her 60s near the perimeter trail of Mount Seorak National Park in Sokcho, 10 days earlier. He was reportedly intoxicated at the time of the confession. Officers arrested him on suspicion of murder and later found the woman’s body at 6:58 a.m. near a remote section of the trail, away from nearby roads and footpaths. Police identified the victim as someone with whom the man had previously been involved in a business relationship. In his statement to police, the man said their business had fallen into difficulty and that the two had traveled around the east coast region, including Gangneung and Sokcho, intending to die by suicide together. He claimed the woman failed in the attempt, prompting him to kill her before surviving alone. The woman had been reported missing by her family after failing to

Apr 25, 2025By KTimes
Man turns himself in for killing woman near Mount Seorak 10 days ago

Police raid POSCO E&C over collapse of subway construction site

Police and labor authorities on Friday raided POSCO E&C and its subcontractors over the recent collapse of a subway construction site near Seoul that left one worker dead and another injured. A tunnel under construction by POSCO E&C for the Shinansan Line, a new metropolitan rail line between Ansan of Gyeonggi Province and Seoul's Yeouido, collapsed in the city of Gwangmyeong on April 11. Two workers were trapped after the accident. One of them was rescued after 13 hours but the other was found dead on April 16. About 60 investigators from the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency and some 90 officials from the labor ministry's Seongnam branch office participated in the raid, searching nine locations of seven companies, including POSCO E&C's head and field offices and its subcontractors and supervisors, for possible evidence related to the collapse accident. Based on documents and evidence seized from the raid, police and the labor officials plan to comprehensively investigate the cause of the tunnel collapse and whether safety rules were followed at the site. Police have so far booked

Apr 25, 2025By Yonhap
Police raid POSCO E&C over collapse of subway construction site

Prosecution to reinvestigate stock manipulation allegations involving ex-first lady Kim Keon Hee

Prosecutors said Friday they will reinvestigate a stock price manipulation case allegedly involving former first lady Kim Keon Hee. The Seoul High Prosecutors Office said the decision was made in light of the Supreme Court's confirmation of the convictions of nine people involved in the manipulation of stock prices of Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealer in South Korea, from 2009-2012. The reinvestigation comes after the prosecution decided not to indict Kim last October after looking into her alleged involvement in the scheme. Separately the prosecutors office said it rejected an appeal demanding a reinvestigation into Kim's alleged illegal acceptance of a luxury handbag.

Apr 25, 2025By Yonhap
Prosecution to reinvestigate stock manipulation allegations involving ex-first lady Kim Keon Hee

All eyes on Supreme Court as DPK’s main presidential contender awaits ruling

After an appeals court in Seoul found Lee Jae-myung, the leading presidential contender of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), not guilty of violating the election law on March 26, party officials said it would be virtually impossible for the Supreme Court appeal to be concluded before the June 3 election. They may be wrong. After taking over the case, Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae referred it to a full-bench review and held the first deliberation session on the same day — a rare move. Just two days later, on Thursday, the court convened its second session, signaling an unusually swift pace. Many experts view the move as a clear indication that the court is determined to resolve the case before the June 3 presidential election — a prospect that has heightened anxiety among DPK politicians. “Given the steps taken by the court so far, the justices are likely to issue a ruling before the voting day,” Lee Hyun-gon, a former judge, told The Korea Times. “Part of the reason for the court to speed up is to avoid a more confusing situation following the election.” The scenario the lawyer

Apr 24, 2025By Jung Min-ho
All eyes on Supreme Court as DPK’s main presidential contender awaits ruling

Court upholds 16-year sentence for doctor who prescribed drugs to Rolls-Royce driver and raped patients

The Supreme Court has finalized a 16-year prison sentence for a doctor who prescribed illegal drugs to the driver involved in the high-profile “Rolls-Royce incident” and raped multiple women while they were under sedation. The Supreme Court, presided over by Justice Oh Seok-jun, upheld a lower court ruling on Tuesday, sentencing Yeom, whose full name was withheld, to 16 years in prison and a fine of 5 million won ($3,700) for violations of the Narcotics Control Act and quasi-rape. Yeom was indicted for illegally prescribing and administering a variety of controlled substances, including propofol, midazolam and ketamine, to Shin, the Rolls-Royce driver who in August 2023 fatally struck a pedestrian near Apgujeong Station in Seoul while under the influence of drugs. The court concluded that the drugs were not used for medical purposes. In addition to the drug charges, Yeom was also convicted of repeatedly raping over 10 female patients while they were under sedation and illegally filming their bodies hundreds of times without consent. The Seoul Central District Court initially sentence

Apr 23, 2025By KTimes
Court upholds 16-year sentence for doctor who prescribed drugs to Rolls-Royce driver and raped patients

1 dead, another wounded in stabbing rampage in Seoul

A woman was killed and another wounded Tuesday after a man went on a stabbing rampage in Seoul, police said. The suspect in his 30s stabbed the two women while wielding a knife at a supermarket near Mia Station in northern Seoul at around 6:20 p.m., according to the police. One of the victims in her 60s was transported to a nearby hospital in cardiac arrest but later pronounced dead. The second victim in her 40s is receiving treatment at a hospital, and she is not in critical condition. The suspect was detained shortly after the incident and is currently under investigation. The motive behind the attack was not immediately known, and the suspect and the victims were not acquainted, according to the police officials. The suspect reportedly opened a package containing the weapon inside the supermarket before launching the attack. He was wearing a hospital gown at that time, they added.

Apr 22, 2025By Yonhap
1 dead, another wounded in stabbing rampage in Seoul
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