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Man given 3-year imprisonment for starving over 1,000 cats, dogs to death

This photo provided by animal rights advocacy group Care shows activists staging a protest in front of a court, May 11. YonhapA man in his 60s was sentenced to three years in prison Thursday for starving to death more than 1,000 cats and dogs abandoned by breeding farms. The sentence, delivered by the Suwon District Court's branch in Yeoju, 61 kilometers southeast of Seoul, is the maximum penalty the country's Animal Protection Act allows for animal cruelty. The 66-year-old man was indicted on charges of starving more than 1,000 cats and dogs to death since February 2020. He took over the animals, abandoned by pet breeding farms for low commercial value, in exchange for receiving 10,000 won ($7.53) per pet.A total of 1,256 dead cats and dogs were found in his house in the nearby county of Yangpyeong. (Yonhap)

May 11, 2023
Man given 3-year imprisonment for starving over 1,000 cats, dogs to death

Investment firm head arrested for alleged stock manipulation

Ra Deok-yeon, a key suspect in a large-scale stock manipulation case, speaks in an interview with Yonhap News TV in Seoul, in this May 1 photo. YonhapThe head of an investment consulting firm was arrested Thursday for suspected stock manipulation that has shaken the local financial markets. The Seoul Southern District Court issued an arrest warrant for Ra Deok-yeon, the head of an unregistered investment consulting firm, citing the risk of him destroying evidence and fleeing.Prosecutors had filed for the writ late Wednesday and the court held a detention hearing earlier in the day.Ra's firm was at the center of the recent collapse of stock prices of nine companies, including energy firm Samchully and Seoul City Gas.The stocks of the nine listed companies had steadily risen for years before nose-diving late last month following mass sell-offs through SG Securities Korea Co., the local branch of the Societe Generale Group of France.About 1,000 investors are said to have suffered a huge loss estimated to be between 800 billion won ($606 million) and 1 trillion won.The 42-year-old Ra is

May 11, 2023
Investment firm head arrested for alleged stock manipulation

4 ex-labor union officials indicted for alleged espionage at N. Korea's instruction

A prosecutor gives a press briefing at the Suwon District Court, May 10. YonhapProsecutors on Wednesday indicted four former officials of South Korea's biggest umbrella union, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), on charges of using labor activities as a cover for espionage at the instruction of North Korea. The Suwon District Court indicted the four former senior KCTU officials, aged 54, 52, 51 and 48, respectively, under physical detention on charges of espionage, communicating and meeting with North Korean spies and other violations of the National Security Act. The identities of all of them have been withheld.The four allegedly formed an underground organization with an aim to gain control of the labor union and spearheaded labor protests on key political and social issues all at the instruction of North Korea, according to prosecution investigations.Adopted in late 1948 amid the Cold War, the National Security Act criminalizes praising or propagating activities of "anti-state" organizations or their members, notably from North Korea. Producing or possessing "enemy-be

May 10, 2023
4 ex-labor union officials indicted for alleged espionage at N. Korea's instruction

NK hacks university hospital intranet, steals personal info of patients in 2021

Lee Seung-woon, a head of the National Police Agency's Cyber Terror Response Team, briefing on North Korea's hacking into the intranet of Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) in 2021 at the National Police Agency, Seoul, May 10. YonhapNorth Korea hacked into the intranet of Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) in 2021, and stole personal information of about 830,000 patients and workers, police said Wednesday.A North Korean hacking organization penetrated SNUH's intranet between May and June 2021 via seven domestic and overseas computer servers, and stole the personal data, according to findings by the National Police Agency.The origin of the internet protocol address and the method of address laundering used in the attack matched those of North Korean hacking groups used in their previous hacking attacks, officials said.Police have yet to identify the organization, but officials presumed the state-backed North Korean hacker group Kimsuky might have been behind the hacking attack. Kimsuky is widely known for its 2014 hacking of Korea Hydro Nuclear Power, a South Korean powe

May 10, 2023
NK hacks university hospital intranet, steals personal info of patients in 2021

Criminal group formation charge to be applied to rental scammers

Protesters hold up signs calling for the auctions of affected homes to be postponed as a civic group supporting victims of a series of home rental scams under the country's "jeonse' housing rental system stages a protest rally in front of a district court in Seoul, May 1. Korea Times photo by Choi Ju-yeonHome rental scammers are expected to face far heavier punishments than before, as police here have decided to apply a charge of organizing a criminal group to them for the first time.The Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency said Wednesday it plans to transfer a group of 51 "jeonse" scam suspects to the prosecution on charges of fraud and apply the criminal group formation charge to 18 of them, including the mastermind, a 61-year-old man.Jeonse refers to a unique Korean system in which renters give landlords a large returnable deposit instead of paying monthly rent. But the long-term deposit rental system has recently emerged as a big social issue, due to a large number of jeonse fraud cases nationwide, in which scammers usually bought homes without many funds through a series of jeonse

May 10, 2023
Criminal group formation charge to be applied to rental scammers

Investment firm head nabbed over suspected stock manipulation

Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office / YonhapA key suspect in a large-scale stock manipulation case that has recently shaken the local financial markets was detained by prosecutors Tuesday.Ra Deok-yeon, head of an unregistered investment consulting firm, was apprehended at his home at around 10:25 a.m. and taken to the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office, according to the prosecutors who formed a joint investigation team with the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service 11 days ago.Ra's firm was at the center of the recent collapse of stock prices of nine companies.The stocks of the nine listed companies had steadily risen for years before nose-diving late last month following mass sell-offs through SG Securities Korea Co., the local branch of the Societe Generale Group of France.About 1,000 investors are said to have suffered a huge loss estimated to be between 800 billion won ($606 million) and 1 trillion won.The 42-year-old Ra is suspected of having manipulated the prices of the stocks through an "order matching" technique after taking over

May 9, 2023
Investment firm head nabbed over suspected stock manipulation

Prosecutors informed of 'irregularities' in opposition lawmaker's coin trading

Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Kim Nam-kuk heads to his office at the National Assembly, May 9. YonhapThe state financial crime watchdog, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), had detected suspected irregularities last year involving opposition lawmaker Kim Nam-kuk's cryptocurrency trading and handed over related data to the prosecution, officials said Tuesday. Kim of the Democratic Party of Korea recently came under intense media scrutiny after it was revealed he had owned around 800,000 Wemix coins in his digital wallet under the radar between January and February last year, worth about 6 billion won ($4.5 million) in total at that time. He reportedly withdrew all the coins from the digital wallet before the enforcement in March last year of the Travel Rule that requires virtual asset brokers or market operators to report the identities of sellers and buyers to the financial authorities for trading worth 1 million won or more. Prosecutors earlier said they had sought a search warrant last year to look into how Kim came to possess such a large amount of undisclosed cryptocurrency a

May 9, 2023
Prosecutors informed of 'irregularities' in opposition lawmaker's coin trading

Opposition lawmaker apologizes over cryptocurrency suspicions but claims innocence

Rep. Kim Nam-kuk of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea walks past reporters at the National Assembly, May 9. NewsisA lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) apologized Tuesday over suspicions surrounding his once-massive cryptocurrency holdings but claimed once again that no irregularities were involved in the transactions.Rep. Kim Nam-kuk has been under intense media and public scrutiny following revelations he had owned around 800,000 Wemix coins last year, worth about 6 billion won ($4.5 million) at that time, a massive amount that does not fit the frugal image of the first-term lawmaker.Suspicions have since arisen over such issues as where the money came from and whether he used insider information. Kim has sought to dispel such suspicions, disclosing some information on his transactions and claiming that no irregular means were used for his investment.Still, criticism has not died down, and some from Kim's own party also joined in criticizing him, saying that he was busy making such investments behind the scenes at a time when ordinary people

May 9, 2023
Opposition lawmaker apologizes over cryptocurrency suspicions but claims innocence

3 men, 1 woman found dead in car in apparent group suicide

A photo of the Gyeonggi Gwangju Police Station provided by the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency / YonhapFour people have been found dead inside a car in an apparent group suicide in the southern outskirts of Seoul, police said Tuesday.The four ― three men in their 30s and a woman in her 20s ― were discovered by a car-rental company employee inside the car parked under an overpass in Gwangju, 32 kilometers south of Seoul, at 5:20 p.m. on Monday.Inside the car, traces suggesting suicides were found, police said, adding there were no signs of intrusion or foul play. Four wrecked mobile phones presumably belonging to the deceased were also found on the scene.The car was reportedly leased last Friday but was not returned on time, prompting the employee to track its location.The police, while suspecting the four may have met online, plan to request an autopsy and conduct digital forensics on the destroyed cellphones. (Yonhap)

May 9, 2023
3 men, 1 woman found dead in car in apparent group suicide

Investment firm head nabbed over suspected stock manipulation

Ra Deok-yeon, a key suspect in a large-scale stock manipulation case, speaks in an interview with Yonhap News TV in Seoul, May 1. YonhapA key suspect in a large-scale stock manipulation case that has recently shaken the local financial markets was detained by prosecutors Tuesday.Ra Deok-yeon, head of an unregistered investment consulting firm, was apprehended at his home at around 10:25 a.m. and taken to the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office, according to the prosecutors who formed a joint investigation team with the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service 11 days ago.Ra's firm was at the center of the recent collapse of stock prices of nine companies.The stocks of the nine listed companies had steadily risen for years before nose-diving late last month following mass sell-offs through SG Securities Korea, the local branch of the Societe Generale Group of France.About 1,000 investors are said to have suffered a huge loss estimated to be between 800 billion won ($606 million) and 1 trillion won.The 42-year-old Ra is suspected of having manipulated

May 9, 2023
Investment firm head nabbed over suspected stock manipulation
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