South Korea - The Korea Times

Police raid North Jeolla governor's office in cash-handout scandal

Police on Monday raided the office of North Jeolla Governor Kim Kwan-young over allegations that he handed out cash to multiple people last year, officials said. Kim is accused of doling out money to 20 people, including local council members and public servants, at a restaurant in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, on Nov. 30. The Jeonbuk Provincial Police sent anti-corruption investigators to Kim's office in Jeonju to secure documents in connection with the allegations. Kim has said he handed out a total of 680,000 won ($450) at the time, ranging from 10,000 to 100,000 won per person, adding that they were meant as chauffeur fees as they had been drinking. He has also said he retrieved them the next day after determining they had been inappropriate. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea expelled Kim last week after the allegations surfaced. Kim, who is seeking reelection in the June local elections, has filed for a court injunction against the expulsion.

Apr 6, 2026By Yonhap

Police raid North Jeolla governor's office in cash-handout scandal

Special counsel seeks 10-year prison term for ex-President Yoon in obstruction of justice appeals trial

A special counsel team on Monday demanded a 10-year prison term for former President Yoon Suk Yeol during the appeals trial of his obstruction of justice case stemming from his 2024 imposition of martial law. Special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team sought the sentence at the final hearing at the Seoul High Court, double the five-year term handed down by a lower court in January. Yoon was convicted by the lower court of obstructing investigators from detaining him last year and calling only select Cabinet members to a meeting to review his martial law plan. He was also found guilty of creating and then discarding a false proclamation after the martial law decree was lifted but acquitted of charges that he ordered the distribution of false press statements. "The nature of the crime is bad as he abused his position as president to destroy the constitutional order and privatized state power," a special counsel team member said, referring to Yoon's alleged orders to the Presidential Security Service to block his detention. "Since the first ruling, he has had an opportunity to apologize to the peopl

Apr 6, 2026By Yonhap

Special counsel seeks 10-year prison term for ex-President Yoon in obstruction of justice appeals trial

Court rejects activist's injunction request against passport return order

A Seoul court has dismissed an injunction request by a female activist seeking to nullify the foreign ministry's order to return her passport for entrance into the Gaza Strip, according to sources Saturday. The Seoul Administrative Court rejected the request by the activist seeking to enter the Gaza Strip, Friday, after a failed attempt in October last year, the sources said. The activist previously attempted to enter Gaza aboard a ship with humanitarian activists in October last year but was intercepted by Israeli forces and released after two days of detention. The foreign ministry earlier ordered the activist to return her passport, warning that unauthorized travel to the area would result in punishment. Korea currently designates the Gaza Strip as a travel ban zone, and unauthorized visits can lead to a jail term of up to one year or a fine of up to 10 million won ($6,540).

Apr 4, 2026By Yonhap

Court rejects activist's injunction request against passport return order

Police refer notorious 'drug kingpin' to prosecution for trafficking over $6.6 mil. worth of drugs

Police said Friday they have referred a notorious drug smuggler repatriated from the Philippines to the prosecution for allegedly trafficking over 10 billion won ($6.6 million) worth of illegal drugs. Park Wang-yeol, who arrived in his home country under police custody last week, is accused of smuggling, distributing and selling or attempting to sell 13.1 billion won worth of drugs in Korea. Police have discovered 17.7 kilograms of drugs that Park tried to distribute, including 12.7 kg of methamphetamine, between November 2019 and August 2024 in addition to suspected criminal earnings of 6.8 billion won. Park, who was convicted in the Philippines for the murder of three Koreans in 2016, is suspected of running his drug trafficking operation from behind bars using the messaging app Telegram. Park allegedly used drug mules and international special cargo to smuggle in 12.3 kg of drugs from the Philippines, Mexico and Vietnam across six occasions. He is suspected to have connected with buyers in Korea via Telegram, with accomplices dropping drugs at designated locations in an effort to evade

Apr 3, 2026By Yonhap

Police refer notorious 'drug kingpin' to prosecution for trafficking over $6.6 mil. worth of drugs

FTC penalizes LS Group affiliate over subcontracting violations

Korea’s antitrust regulator has ordered Sunwoo Co., a construction and maintenance affiliate of industrial conglomerate LS Group, to correct its subcontracting practices following a probe into deficient contract documentation. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said Thursday that Sunwoo violated the Subcontracting Act by failing to issue proper written contracts to partners between February 2021 and June 2022. The lapses occurred during the outsourcing of electrical and instrumentation work for smelting and petrochemical plants. According to the regulator, Sunwoo failed to specify critical project details — including the scope of work and project locations — in 48 separate instances, including one primary contract and 47 additional work orders across eight project sites. The documents also lacked the required signatures or legal seals from both parties. Under Korean law, primary contractors must provide finalized, signed documentation before work begins. The regulation is designed to prevent “top-down” contract notifications, in which a dominant firm unilaterally dictates terms,

Apr 2, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan

FTC penalizes LS Group affiliate over subcontracting violations

Supreme Court confirms life sentence for teacher over student's murder

The Supreme Court on Thursday confirmed a life sentence for a teacher convicted of killing a 7-year-old student at their school in the central city of Daejeon last year. The court handed down the ruling to Myeong Jae-wan, 49, who was found guilty of luring the student, Kim Ha-neul, to a classroom on Feb. 10 last year and stabbing her with a weapon she had prepared in advance. The teacher was also convicted of kicking and damaging a school computer and assaulting another teacher several days before the murder. During the trial, Myeong admitted to the crime but claimed she was in a mentally impaired state. The prosecution sought the death penalty. Both the district and appellate courts sentenced her to life in prison and ordered her to wear an electronic tracking device for 30 years. The Supreme Court confirmed that order as well. "The accused cannot be considered to have been in a mentally impaired state at the time of the crime, given that she carried out the crime according to a prepared plan and later tried to cover it up, and the detailed statements she gave on the crime process," the c

Apr 2, 2026By Yonhap

Supreme Court confirms life sentence for teacher over student's murder

Couple attend arrest warrant hearing over killing mother, abandoning body

A woman in her 20s and her husband are set to attend an arrest warrant hearing at a court Thursday on charges of murdering her mother and abandoning the body. The husband, also in his 20s, is accused of beating his mother-in-law in her 50s to death with his hands and feet at his officetel in central Daegu, 250 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on March 18. The couple are suspected of placing the victim's body in a suitcase and abandoning it in the city's Sincheon Stream. The hearing is scheduled to begin at the Daegu District Court on Thursday morning and its decision is expected to be released in the afternoon. The couple were detained Tuesday after confessing to abandoning the body. The husband told police later that he committed the crime because his mother-in-law, who was living with the couple, was usually noisy and did not organize her belongings.

Apr 2, 2026By Yonhap

Couple attend arrest warrant hearing over killing mother, abandoning body

Gov’t warns Tesla owners against unauthorized use of self-driving software

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport warned Tuesday that activating Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature without authorization is illegal, after Tesla Korea reported a software vulnerability that could be used to unlock the system on vehicles where it is not permitted. The ministry said cases have been reported overseas in which unofficial external devices — typically costing about 500 euros and plugged into a vehicle’s controller area network — are used to bypass software restrictions and enable FSD on vehicles where it is not permitted. It warned that similar attempts could spread to Korean owners, including through publicly available source code. Under Korea’s Motor Vehicle Management Act, vehicles with unauthorized FSD activation are deemed noncompliant with safety standards and cannot be legally operated. The ministry said such use constitutes an unauthorized modification of safety-critical software under Article 35 of the law, punishable by up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won ($14,500). The warning, however, highlights a regulatory

Apr 1, 2026By Jhoo Dong-chan

Gov’t warns Tesla owners against unauthorized use of self-driving software

5 ex-presidents listed as ‘anti-constitutional actors’ in new reckoning on historical state violence

Five former presidents of Korea made it onto a list of perpetrators of state violence in Korea's authoritarian past. Syngman Rhee, Park Chung-hee, Choi Kyu-ha, Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo are among the 312 public officials who are identified as "anti-constitutional actors" in a series of books on the subject. Aimed at bringing Korean historical atrocities to light, part of the list was read aloud Tuesday during a press conference held by the Committee for the Compilation of Biographical Accounts of Anti-Constitutional Actors at the Kim Koo Museum & Library near Seoul’s Hyochang Park. Since the establishment of democratic civilian government, efforts to address past cases of state violence have been undertaken at various times. Though incomplete and still ongoing, the facts behind numerous incidents have been established, revealing the truth in cases that have ended and destroyed many lives. Some victims have had their honor restored, and state compensation has been provided. While acknowledging the importance and meaningfulness of victim-centered transitional justice work, arguments

Apr 1, 2026By Jack Greenberg

5 ex-presidents listed as ‘anti-constitutional actors’ in new reckoning on historical state violence

Couple under probe for abandoning mother's body in suitcase

Police said Wednesday they are investigating a woman in her 20s and her husband on charges of placing her mother's body in a suitcase and abandoning it in a stream in the southeastern city of Daegu. The couple were urgently detained Tuesday night after confessing during police interrogation that they put the body in a suitcase at their home in central Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province, on March 18, then walked to the nearby Sincheon Stream and left it there. The interrogation took place after residents reported the suitcase floating in the stream and the police confirmed through CCTV analysis that the couple were seen leaving their home dragging the same bag. The police plan to determine the exact cause of the death of the mother in her 50s through an autopsy and a search of the couple's home. The police are focusing on whether the couple directly killed her mother, whether others were involved, and what motivated them to abandon the body, according to the Daegu Bukbu Police Station. They plan to seek arrest warrants for the couple once the circumstances of the case are clarified.

Apr 1, 2026By Yonhap

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