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Police investigating 400 unregistered baby cases; 15 confirmed dead

This photo shows the entrance of the National Office of Investigation in Seoul, Feb. 24. YonhapPolice are investigating 400 unregistered baby cases, and the number is expected to keep rising, the National Office of Investigation said Wednesday, as a nationwide campaign is under way to confirm the well-being of more than 2,000 undocumented babies born since 2015.A total of 420 "ghost baby" cases had been referred to police as of 2 p.m. Tuesday, and 400 of them are currently under investigation, the office said, more than double the 193 cases announced a day earlier.Fifteen babies have so far been confirmed dead, and eight of the cases are under investigation after criminal suspicions were detected, while five other cases were closed as no signs of foul play were found, the office said. The two remaining cases were referred to the prosecution Friday after police found the bodies of two babies in a refrigerator in Suwon, 30 kilometers south of Seoul, and arrested the mother on charges of murder and concealing of a corpse. An investigation is under way to locate the whereabouts of 353 ot

Jul 5, 2023
Police investigating 400 unregistered baby cases; 15 confirmed dead

Police investigating teachers union over mass emails urging opposition to Japan's water release

Members of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union take part in a rally in front of the presidential office in Seoul to condemn Japan's planned discharge of treated radioactive water from the crippled nuclear reactors in Fukushima into the ocean, Wednesday. YonhapPolice have launched an investigation into a teachers union for sending out mass emails to teachers in Seoul to call for their participation in a signature campaign against Japan's radioactive water release plan, officials said Wednesday.The National Police Agency has recently assigned the case against the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union's Seoul branch to the Jongno Police Station for an investigation on suspected violations of the personal information protection law and the state public officials act, according to police officials.Last month, the union's Seoul branch sent out mass emails to all 70,000 school teachers in Seoul, urging them to participate in a signature campaign opposing Japan's plan to release contaminated water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.The union was later found to

Jul 5, 2023
Police investigating teachers union over mass emails urging opposition to Japan's water release

No. of drug offenders soars to record-high 18,395 last year

An officer of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency holds a media briefing on drug offenders, Seoul, April 26. YonhapThe number of apprehended drug offenders surged to a record high of 18,395 last year, driven by crimes among young people and foreigners, a prosecution report showed Wednesday. According to the 2022 white paper on drug crimes published by the Supreme Prosecutors Office, the figure marks an upsurge of 45.8 percent from 2018, when the corresponding number reached 12,613. The number of apprehended drug offenders stood at 16,044 in 2019, 18,050 in 2020 and 16,153 in 2021, the report also showed. The office attributed the sharp increase to soaring drug crimes among younger generations made possible by the dark web and social media platforms where drugs can be sold and bought online. Of the drug offenders detected last year, 10,988, or 59.8 percent of the total, were those in their 30s or younger. The corresponding number in 2018 was 5,257.The number of foreign drug offenders, meanwhile, reached 2,573, nearly tripling from 948 in 2018, the report also showed. A total of 1,392

Jul 5, 2023
No. of drug offenders soars to record-high 18,395 last year

Police expand probe into unregistered babies

Police search for the body of an infant, Tuesday, who was allegedly murdered by his mother five days after birth and buried next to a stream in Geoje City, South Gyeongsang Province, based on the mother's confession during police questioning. YonhapBy Lee Hae-rinOut of 209 reported cases of “ghost babies,” 193 are now under investigation, police said, Tuesday, raising concerns that there could be more cases of undocumented newborns caused due to a loophole in the country's childbirth management system.The term “ghost baby” refers to an infant who has a birth record but remains officially unregistered.Police confirmed the whereabouts of 20 unregistered newborns and are continuing to investigate the remaining 177. Twelve of the newborns, including two who were found to have been murdered by their mother and stored in a refrigerator in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province last month, were all confirmed dead.The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency is now investigating four of the twelve. Five were confirmed to have died in hospital, while the mother of the two victims of

Jul 4, 2023By Lee Hae-rin
Police expand probe into unregistered babies

Police take aim at cram schools after president criticizes university entrance exam test

Yoon Seung-young, center, head of the Investigation Bureau under the Korean National Police Agency, speaks during a press conference at Sejong Government Complex, Monday. YonhapBy Ko Dong-hwanPolice began investigating a cram school teacher and possible accomplices, Tuesday, for allegedly leaking questions that were to be kept confidential until this year's College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT).The Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) assigned two related cases to the Special Investigation Division, which specializes in major crimes committed by high-ranking officials or involve large sums of money.The cases were originally filed by the Ministry of Education, which said a certain cram school instructor leaked confidential questions to students after telling them he had met insiders linked to this year's CSAT. The police did not reveal the instructor's identity.The police said they will look into whether the instructor actually leaked the questions and, if so, whether money was received in exchange. The instructor could face charges of meddling in the affairs of the Korea Institute f

Jul 4, 2023By Ko Dong-hwan
Police take aim at cram schools after president criticizes university entrance exam test

Ex-DPK lawmaker indicted on sexual harassment charges

This July 5, 2021 file photo shows Rep. Park Wan-joo at a meeting of the party's Supreme Council at the National Assembly in Seoul. Korea Times fileRep. Park Wan-joo, an independent lawmaker expelled from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), was indicted without detention on Tuesday on sexual harassment and other charges, prosecutors said.The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office charged Park with sexually abusing a female assistant in December 2021 and causing her to sustain post-traumatic stress disorder and other injuries.Park was also charged with abuse of power for giving disadvantages in personnel management to the victim in April last year and with defamation for disclosing information on the sexual harassment case.Park was expelled from the DPK in May last year after the victim lodged a formal criminal complaint against him. Police then began an investigation into Park on suspicion of sexually harassing the victim and attempting to dismiss her by submitting a forged letter of resignation to the National Assembly. Prosecutors have excluded the private docu

Jul 4, 2023
Ex-DPK lawmaker indicted on sexual harassment charges

Woman admits to burying undocumented baby's body on hill in Busan

Busan Metropolitan Police Agency building / Korea Times fileAn additional unregistered baby is believed to have been secretly buried on a hill in the southeastern city of Busan, police said Tuesday, the latest in a string of undocumented "ghost baby" abuse cases.The baby's mother told police the baby was born in February 2015 but died, and she abandoned the body on a hill near her home in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, the police said.It was unclear why the baby died and when.Should her statement be true, she will not be punished because the seven-year statute of limitations for body abandonment has already expired.The police said they will try to dig up the body but foresee difficulties as the landscape around the site where the mother said she buried the body has undergone some changes."We will question her as to how the baby died while securing more clues on the burial site before conducting an exhumation," an official said.It was the latest in a series of shocking child abuse cases revealed under a nationwide campaign to check the well-being of more than 2,000 undocume

Jul 4, 2023
Woman admits to burying undocumented baby's body on hill in Busan

Police investigating 193 unregistered baby cases; 11 confirmed dead

A search is under way on a hill in Geoje to locate the body of a baby boy, who was allegedly murdered and buried by his mother, in this July 3 photo provided by the police. YonhapThe National Police Agency is investigating 193 cases of babies not registered at birth, officials said Tuesday, amid a string of child abuse cases involving such undocumented babies, including the shocking discovery of two dead newborns being kept in a refrigerator.Police have been expanding its probe into cases of "ghost babies" who have medical records of birth but no official birth registration, as the government launched a nationwide campaign to check the well-being of more than 2,000 unregistered babies.The campaign came after a mother was apprehended last month on charges of strangling her two newborns, in 2018 and 2019, respectively, and secretly keeping their bodies in a refrigerator in her apartment in Suwon, 30 kilometers south of Seoul.Officials said the police agency has received 209 ghost baby cases so far, and 193 of them are currently under investigation. Of them, 20 have been located, and an

Jul 4, 2023
Police investigating 193 unregistered baby cases; 11 confirmed dead

Prosecutors decide not to indict actress Son Sook on graft charges

Actress Son Sook / YonhapProsecutors have decided not to indict veteran actress and former Environment Minister Son Sook on charges of illegally receiving a golf club as a gift from a golf club distributor while serving in a public position, sources said Monday.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office made the decision Friday to suspend indictment of Son, 79, on the graft charge in consideration of her advanced age as well as the fact that she had no previous criminal record and the amount was not so big, according to the sources.Son was previously referred to prosecutors on charges of receiving a golf club worth more than 1 million won ($765) from a golf club distributor between 2018 and 2021.Son, a stage and screen actress by occupation, served as an environment minister in 1999, and was serving in a public institution at the time of the alleged graft.By law, public officials are prohibited from taking a gift worth 1 million won.Prosecutors suspend indictment of a suspect in consideration of various circumstances, including health condition, even though charges against the sus

Jul 3, 2023
Prosecutors decide not to indict actress Son Sook on graft charges

Woman's body found in Seokchon Lake

Seokchon Lake in Songpa district, Seoul / YonhapA woman's body was found in Seokchon Lake in southeastern Seoul on Monday, police said.An employee at the Lotte World theme park found the body at the western part of the lake, near the theme park's outdoor entrance, in Seoul's Songpa district at 8:18 a.m., according to Lotte World and fire authorities.The fire authorities handed over the body to the police at 8:40 a.m.While no signs of foul play were found, the police plan to verify the woman's identity through an autopsy and investigate the exact cause of death. (Yonhap)

Jul 3, 2023
Woman's body found in Seokchon Lake
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