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Yoo Ah-in appears before police over alleged use of illegal drugs

Actor Yoo Ah-in, right, enters the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency building in Seoul, Monday, for questioning for his alleged use of illegal drugs. YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyeA-list actor Yoo Ah-in appeared before police for questioning, Monday, over his alleged use of illegal drugs. He had tested positive for four drugs: propofol, marijuana, cocaine and ketamine.Yoo, whose real name is Uhm Hong-sik, entered the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency building in Seoul's Mapo District at about 9:20 a.m., as police summoned him as a suspect.The police launched an investigation into the 37-year-old actor's drug use after the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety reported earlier this year that he had been prescribed propofol 73 times in 2021 alone.Propofol is a prescription drug used to induce anesthesia during medical procedures. Highly frequent prescriptions often lead to suspicion about its use for nonmedical purposes.Police collected Yoo's hair and urine samples immediately upon his return from the United States on Feb. 5 and sent them to the National Forensic Service for testing.The hair test yielde

Mar 27, 2023By Jun Ji-hye
Yoo Ah-in appears before police over alleged use of illegal drugs

Hankook Tire chief indicted over alleged illicit inter-affiliate trading, embezzlement

Hankook Tire's Chairman Cho Hyun-bum, center, at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office, March 27 / YonhapThe chief of tire giant Hankook Tire Technology was indicted Monday on charges of illicit inter-affiliate trading, embezzlement and breach of trust, prosecutors said.The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office charged Chairman Cho Hyun-bum for his involvement in Hankook Tire's purchase of overpriced tire molds from its affiliate, Hankook Precision Works, according to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office.The unfair business practice that lasted from 2014 to 2017 allegedly inflicted financial losses of around 13 billion won ($9.84 million) on Hankook Tire, they said.Prosecutors also suspect the unfair profits obtained by Hankook Precision Works eventually were pocketed by Cho and his family.Cho is also suspected of funneling corporate funds worth billions of won for personal use, including the purchase of high-end imported cars and home repairs between 2017 and 2022, prosecutors said.Prosecutors suspect the amount of Cho's embezzlement and breach of trust reached

Mar 27, 2023
Hankook Tire chief indicted over alleged illicit inter-affiliate trading, embezzlement

One of two Kazakhstanis who fled Incheon Int'l Airport nabbed

Korean Air planes are parked at Incheon International Airport, Nov. 1, 2022. YonhapOne of two Kazakhstanis who fled from Incheon International Airport after being denied entry into the country has been arrested, officials said Monday.The two, aged 21 and 18, climbed over a fence near a runway of the airport at around 4:20 a.m. Sunday while waiting for a repatriation flight, according to the airport police.The 21-year-old was arrested in the central city of Daejeon, 140 km south of Seoul, Sunday night, they said.Police said they are chasing the other man.They had been waiting for the flight to be sent back home after being denied entry into the country for unspecified reasons. (Yonhap)

Mar 27, 2023
One of two Kazakhstanis who fled Incheon Int'l Airport nabbed

Supreme Court finalizes decision not to punish Iranian refugee for illegal entry

The building of Supreme Court in Seoul / Korea Times FileThe Supreme Court has finalized a decision not to punish an Iranian national charged with obtaining a visa based on a fake document, citing an international refugee convention prohibiting the punishment of refugees for illegal entry.The Iranian applied for refugee status in South Korea in March 2016 after entering the country on a short-term visa he got from the Korean Embassy in Iran using a falsified invitation letter from a Korean company.The Ministry of Justice had initially denied him refugee status. He lodged an administrative lawsuit challenging the decision and eventually won refugee status from the top court in November 2020 on grounds that his conversion to Christianity could subject him to religious persecution in Iran.Separately, he had been sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for two years on charges of using a fake document to get his visa. But the 2018 sentence was overturned by an appellate court after the Supreme Court's decision to give him refugee status.And recently, the Supreme Court upheld the appel

Mar 27, 2023
Supreme Court finalizes decision not to punish Iranian refugee for illegal entry

Actor Yoo Ah-in appears for questioning over alleged drug use

Actor Yoo Ah-in enters the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency building in Seoul, March 27. YonhapActor Yoo Ah-in appeared before police for questioning Monday over allegations of illegal drug use.The 37-year-old actor, whose real name is Uhm Hong-sik, entered the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency building in Seoul without responding to any questions from reporters.Yoo has been under investigation after the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said his prescription purchases of propofol for nonmedical purposes have been too frequent since 2021. It is a powerful sleep-inducing drug commonly used in surgeries.Police earlier sent his hair and urine samples to the National Forensic Service for tests, and Yoo additionally tested positive for marijuana, cocaine and ketamine. (Yonhap)

Mar 27, 2023
Actor Yoo Ah-in appears for questioning over alleged drug use

Families of foreign construction workers can receive retirement pay: court

Judges attend a hearing to pronounce a verdict at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, Sunday. YonhapBy Lee Hae-rinKorea's Constitutional Court ruled Sunday that it is illegal to exempt foreigners from the legally entitled retirement funds of family members who died while working at Korean construction sites. The court said the exemption is unconstitutional and violates the country's conditional principles of equality.The court decided unanimously that clause 2 of article 14 of the Act on the Employment Improvement of Construction Workers, which excluded bereaved foreign families who were not in Korea at the moment of their kin's death, from receiving retirement payments after the death, is unconstitutional.The ruling came after a petition was filed by a Vietnamese national who applied for the retirement payments ― to the Construction Workers Mutual Aid Association ― after her husband died at a tunnel construction site in Korea in September 2019. She filed a constitutional petition as the association rejected her demand, citing the law.The court ruled that denying the retirement fund e

Mar 27, 2023By Lee Hae-rin
Families of foreign construction workers can receive retirement pay: court

Chun Doo-hwan's grandson to apologize to victims of Gwangju uprising

This combined photo shows Chun Woo-won, left, the grandson of late former authoritarian leader Chun Doo-hwan, streaming live on his Instagram on March 16, and Chun Doo-hwan lying with his grandchildren. Captured from InternetBy Lee Hae-rinChun Woo-won, grandson of the late former authoritarian leader Chun Doo-hwan, who has been making online revelations on his family's criminal activities, plans to arrive in Korea on Tuesday to apologize to the victims and bereaved families of the 1980 Gwangju pro-democracy movement, the younger Chun said, Sunday.The 27-year-old Woo-won, currently based in New York and son of Jae-yong, second son of the former Korean dictator, posted his flight itinerary to Korea on his Instagram account (@hope.with.jesus). He wrote, “I will go to Gwangju as soon as I get there (Korea). I don't know anything and don't know where to reach the bereaved families. Please help."The e-ticket shows that he will depart New York's John J. Kennedy International Airport on Monday and arrive at Incheon International Airport at 5:20 a.m., the following day.This captured ima

Mar 26, 2023By Lee Hae-rin
Chun Doo-hwan's grandson to apologize to victims of Gwangju uprising

Korean police search for 2 Kazakhstanis who fled airport

This photo, provided by Incheon International Airport, shows the airport west of Seoul. Korea Times fileKorean police are trying to capture two Kazakhstanis who fled Incheon International Airport on Sunday, after they were denied entry into the country for unspecified reasons, officials said. The two individuals, aged 21 and 18, respectively, climbed over a fence near a runway at around 4:20 a.m. after breaking a terminal window to get out of the airport, according to the airport police.They had been waiting for a repatriation flight after being denied entry into Korea on Friday. The reason for their denial of entry remains unclear."At the moment, we have identified who they are, and we are tracking them," a police officer said on condition of anonymity.The two were able to escape from the airport despite the airport's various security measures, such as advanced monitoring technology and barbed wire lining the fence. Police are currently checking security footage to track the two Kazakhstani nationals. (Yonhap)

Mar 26, 2023
Korean police search for 2 Kazakhstanis who fled airport

Korea to seek extradition of crypto fugitive Kwon from Montenegro

This undated photo screen captured from Terraform Labs' Facebook shows a portrait of Do Kown, the co-founder of Terraform Labs Korean prosecutors said Friday they will seek the extradition of Do Kwon, the wanted co-founder of Terraform Labs, behind a multibillion-dollar crash of the firm's cryptocurrency last year, after he was arrested in Montenegro.The National Police Agency (NPA) said the person arrested at the airport in the capital Podgorica on Thursday was confirmed to be Kwon through fingerprint comparison.The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office will begin the process to request Montenegro to transfer Kwon, who was arrested at the airport in the capital Podgorica on Thursday. His identity was confirmed through fingerprint comparison earlier in the day.It is unclear, however, whether Kwon would be sent to Korea. As he is also facing criminal charges in the United States, he could be handed over to the U.S. The Bloomberg news agency reported earlier in t

Mar 24, 2023
Korea to seek extradition of crypto fugitive Kwon from Montenegro

Constitutional Court rejects petitions against prosecution reform legislation

The Constitutional Court in Seoul opens a hearing on March 23, to give a verdict on the constitutionality of prosecution reform bills aimed at significantly reducing the prosecution's investigative powers. YonhapThe Constitutional Court on Thursday struck down petitions seeking to nullify a package of law revisions designed to significantly reduce the prosecution's investigative powers even though it recognized procedural flaws in the legislation's passage through the National Assembly.The court made the decision in two separate rulings, effectively concluding that the revisions to the Prosecutors' Office Act and the Criminal Procedure Act are valid.The legislation was aimed at significantly reducing the prosecution's investigative powers by limiting prosecution probes to only two types of crime: corruption and economic crime. Critics denounced the legislation as a "complete deprivation of the prosecution's investigative power."Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon and six prosecutors later filed a petition seeking to nullify the legislation on grounds that prosecutors' investigative rights

Mar 23, 2023
Constitutional Court rejects petitions against prosecution reform legislation
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