South Korea - The Korea Times

Top court confirms 2-yr sentence for Don Spike over drug use

Don Spike / YonhapThe Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court's two-year prison sentence for Don Spike, a disgraced composer and television personality who was convicted of habitual drug use.The 46-year-old musician, whose real name is Kim Min-su, was indicted in October last year for purchasing and using methamphetamine on multiple occasions and a lower court sentenced him to a three-year prison term, suspended for five years, in January this year.But the Seoul High Court revised the sentence and imposed a two-year prison term for him in June.The Supreme Court said there was no error or misunderstanding of the legal principles in the lower court's verdict on the defendant. (Yonhap)

Sep 14, 2023

Top court confirms 2-yr sentence for Don Spike over drug use

Executive of SK Hynix subcontractor sentenced to 1 year in prison for leaking core technology to China

Headquarters of SK hynix in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province / YonhapA Seoul court handed down a prison term Wednesday for an executive of an SK Hynix subcontractor on charges of leaking the company's core semiconductor technology to China and stealing advanced technology from a Samsung subsidiary.The vice president of the supplier for SK Hynix, along with seven other employees, are accused of leaking semiconductor manufacturing technology known as HKMG (High-K Metal Gate) to a rival company in China since 2018. They were also charged with developing cleaning equipment by using stolen blueprints and industry secrets obtained by former employees of Semes, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, and exporting them to China.The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday sentenced the 59-year-old executive to one year in prison on charges of violating the unfair competition prevention act and the industrial technology protection act but exempted him from court custody.The court also gave suspended prison terms or fines to the seven other employees and ordered the subcontractor company to pay a fine

Sep 13, 2023

Executive of SK Hynix subcontractor sentenced to 1 year in prison for leaking core technology to China

Fear of stalking remains a year after Sindang Station murder

Members of the Seoul Metro labor union pay silent tribute near Sindang Station in Seoul, Monday, to mark the first anniversary of the death of a subway station worker who was killed by a male colleague. NewsisExperts say early response is important to prevent stalking from escalating to murderBy Jun Ji-hyeThe number of stalking suspects apprehended by police has already exceeded 7,000 this year, police data showed Tuesday, indicating that the dangers of such crimes remain, though nearly a year has passed since the murder of a subway station worker by a colleague who had stalked the victim for years.Experts say the country's punishment for stalking cases tends to be too weak to prevent the crime and that measures taken by police and courts against offenders, such as restraining orders, have frequently failed to protect victims.They urge law enforcement authorities to react more sternly to the crimes and enhance protection for victims. On Sept. 14 last year, Jeon Joo-hwan, a 31-year-old former employee of the Seoul Metro, was apprehended at Sindang Station on Line No. 2 after stabbing

Sep 12, 2023By Jun Ji-hye

Fear of stalking remains a year after Sindang Station murder

Rape-murder suspect says he took cue from similar case in Busan

Choi Yun-jong, the suspect behind the rape and murder of a woman in Seoul's Sillim district, speaks to reporters at the Seoul Gwanak Police Station, Aug. 25. YonhapThe suspect in last month's attempted rape and killing of a woman on a hiking trail in Seoul has told investigators that he took his cue from a similar case last year in which a man kicked a woman unconscious for a suspected rape attempt in the southeastern city of Busan, according to prosecutors.Such details were revealed as prosecutors indicted the 30-year-old suspect, Choi Yun-jong, on charges of fatally beating, throttling and attempting to rape the victim he randomly picked on a hillside hiking trail in Seoul's southern district of Sillim on Aug. 17.The victim, an elementary school teacher in her 30s, had been left unaided for around 20 minutes before being found by the police and moved to a hospital. She died two days later due to brain damage caused by the strangulation.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office charged Choi Yun-jong with murder combined with rape although the office concluded Choi's rape attempt

Sep 12, 2023

Rape-murder suspect says he took cue from similar case in Busan

Prosecutors question actor Yoo Ah-in over alleged drug abuse

Actor Yoo Ah-in / YonhapProsecutors on Tuesday questioned actor Yoo Ah-in on charges of using illegal drugs, in the first questioning since his referral to the prosecution in June. Yoo is charged with habitually taking more than eight types of drugs in violation of the Narcotics Control Act.Police launched an investigation last year following reports by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, which accused Yoo of taking over 4,000 ml of propofol across 73 times during 2021.Police investigations and drug test results by the National Forensic Service showed the actor had taken over eight types of narcotics, including marijuana, propofol, cocaine, ketamine, zolpidem, midazolam and alprazolam.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office brought Yoo in early Tuesday for questioning about his alleged drug use and whether there are any accomplices.In May, police requested an arrest warrant for Yoo, citing the actor's risk to flee or destroy evidence after two rounds of questioning, but the district court rejected the warrant.Prosecutors said they will review the option of seeking an arrest

Sep 12, 2023

Prosecutors question actor Yoo Ah-in over alleged drug abuse

Anti-corruption agency finds 353 cases of hiring irregularities at election watchdog

Deputy Chairman Jeong Seung-yoon of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission speaks in a press briefing at the government complex in Seoul, Sept. 11. YonhapThe state anti-corruption agency said Monday that it has uncovered a total of 353 cases of hiring irregularities within the National Election Commission (NEC) over the past seven years.Announcing its investigation into a hiring corruption scandal, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission said that it has identified 58 individuals who were hired at the election watchdog for experienced positions through illegal means.The commission said it has filed complaints against 28 of them and intends to seek investigations into the remaining 312 cases."We were unable to assess the overall employment status of non-civil servant positions or determine family relationships or other connections between individuals employed in experienced civil servant roles and their employers due to the NEC's lack of cooperation in providing data," the commission said.The commission further said that a thorough investigation by the prosecution or

Sep 11, 2023

Anti-corruption agency finds 353 cases of hiring irregularities at election watchdog

Prosecutors demand 6-year sentence for ex-Ulsan mayor in election meddling case

Former Ulsan Mayor Song Cheol-ho, center, arrives at the Seoul Central District Court, Sept. 11, to attend a hearing on the 2018 Ulsan mayoral election scandal. YonhapProsecutors on Monday demanded imprisonment of six and five years, respectively, for former Ulsan Mayor Song Cheol-ho and opposition lawmaker Hwang Un-ha in a court hearing on a 2018 election-meddling scandal in the southeastern city.Song, a longtime friend of former President Moon Jae-in, was indicted in January 2020 on charges of conspiring with Hwang and some presidential aides to win the 2018 Ulsan mayoral election.Hwang, who served as Ulsan's police chief at that time, was indicted on suspicion of conducting a controversial investigation into the camp of Song's election rival and incumbent ruling party chief, Kim Gi-hyeon, at the request of Song and some aides to Moon.Making prison sentence demands in the hearing at the Seoul Central District Court, prosecutors said an unprecedented government intervention in the 2018 Ulsan mayoral election and abuse of police authority undermined the fairness of the election."Song

Sep 11, 2023

Prosecutors demand 6-year sentence for ex-Ulsan mayor in election meddling case

National Forensic Service to create new division dedicated to narcotics crimes

Investigators examine drug samples confiscated from narcotics offenders at Suwon District Prosecutors Office in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, April 7. NewsisBy Lee Hae-rinThe National Forensic Service (NFS) will form a new division to tackle the growing number of narcotics rimes in Korea. The government already allocated a portion of next year's budget to form such a division, according to the Ministry of Interior and Safety, Sunday.The new division, which will be composed of about 10 officials, will be established next year if the National Assembly passes the budget by the end of this year.On top of the establishment of the division, the budget will be used to purchase new drug testing equipment and develop a drug monitoring platform.Currently, the NFS has no separate division dedicated to drugs. The forensic toxicology division has carried out assessments and studies on drugs, along with six institutes across the country. The creation of the new division is expected to make drug investigations more efficient and enable more related research, the NFS said.The budget allocated for the ne

Sep 11, 2023By Lee Hae-rin

National Forensic Service to create new division dedicated to narcotics crimes

Chinese father arrested for abandoning 9-year-old son on Jeju Island

Seogwipo Police Station on Jeju Island / YonhapBy Kim Hyun-binA Chinese national in his 30s, who abandoned his 9-year-old son on Jeju Island, has been charged with violating the Child Welfare Act, according to the Jeju District Prosecutors' Office, Friday. The father is accused of leaving his son, who was sleeping, in a park in Seogwipo, southern Jeju Island, on Aug. 25. He also left an English message saying, “I hope that my child will live in a good facility in Korea.”The son woke up and looked for his father, at which point a Seogwipo City official discovered him and alerted the police. After analyzing footage captured on CCTV cameras, the police arrested the father the following day. According to the police, the two stayed in some local accommodation for three days after arriving in Jeju with a tourist visa on Aug. 14. After running out of money, the two had slept outdoors as of Aug. 17. The father confessed to the crime, saying he could not provide proper care for his son without his wife and hoped that his son could grow up in a better environment in Korea. Meanwhi

Sep 8, 2023By Kim Hyun-bin

Chinese father arrested for abandoning 9-year-old son on Jeju Island

Busan's education chief fined for premature electioneering

Ha Yun-su, the education chief of Busan, leaves the Busan District Court, Sept. 8, after being sentenced with a fine for violating the election law. YonhapBusan's education chief was sentenced to 700 million won ($5,252) in fines Friday for using a private education forum for his election campaign, a sentence that would remove him from office if finalized at the Supreme Court.Superintendent Ha Yun-su of the office of education in the southeastern city was indicted in November last year on charges of premature electioneering for using the education forum he founded in 2021 for his campaign for last year's local elections.The Busan District Court said the nature of Ha's crime is "very bad" in that he "artificially interfered with the course of opinion forming, which is the basis of democracy."By law, elected officials are stripped of their positions if sentenced to a fine of 1 million won or more for violating the election law. (Yonhap)

Sep 8, 2023

Law & Crime