my timesThe Korea Times
South Korea

Law & Crime

Juvenile offenders bearing no 'criminal responsibility' steadily rising

gettyimagesbank The number of teenage felons aged between 10 and 13, who under law are not liable for criminal responsibility, has been steadily rising in recent years, a police report showed Thursday. Last year, 8,474 people in the age group committed violent crimes, marking an increase for the third consecutive year from 7,081 in 2019 and 7,535 in 2020, according to a National Police Agency report submitted to Rep. Kim Hoi-jae of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. Currently, those aged 14 and younger cannot be held criminally responsible for their actions and are sent to juvenile detention facilities, not prisons, or do community service, according to the Juvenile Crimes Act.A total of 35,390 young teenagers were sent to juvenile courts between 2017 and 2021 on felony charges, such as murder, sexual assault, robbery, theft and arson.The report also showed that 22,202 13-year-olds committed felonies over the past five years, accounting for the biggest share of j

Mar 24, 2022
Juvenile offenders bearing no 'criminal responsibility' steadily rising

Prison term increased to 5 years for Vietnamese mom for beating baby to death

The Gwangju High Court / Korea Times file A three-year prison sentence was increased to five years in an appellate ruling Wednesday for a young Vietnamese mother accused of beating her 7-month-old daughter to death. The Gwangju High Court's regional branch in Jeonju, 240 kilometers south of Seoul, found the 23-year-old Vietnamese woman guilty of murdering her daughter by willful negligence.A lower court had not recognized the murder charge and ruled her guilty of child abuse resulting in death, but the appeals court overturned the decision on the grounds that she was aware of the possibility of the child's death while using violence.The mother allegedly hit the then 7-month-old baby with her hands and a towel and flung her to the ground on several occasions between March 7 and 12 last year, eventually resulting in her death. "The accused raised the victim up to shoulder high and flung her down several times, resulting in the infliction of severe brain damage ... and

Mar 23, 2022
Prison term increased to 5 years for Vietnamese mom for beating baby to death

Woman fined for throwing dog out of high-rise building window after argument with husband

Ulsan District Court / Korea Times file A woman has been fined 3 million won ($2,470) for killing her husband's pet dog by throwing it out of their apartment window after he asked for a divorce, a court said Wednesday. The woman, whose identity was withheld, was indicted for tossing the dog from their high-rise apartment in Ulsan, about 415 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in March last year after her husband went outside for a smoke following a fight with her.Earlier, she had asked the husband to put the dog up for adoption, blaming the dog for her having a premature birth, but he refused the request and asked for a divorce.On the day of the crime, the woman came back home drunk and fought with her husband over his love for his pet, and when he went out for a smoke, she locked the door and threw the dog out the window. The couple was found to have first met each other at a pet lovers' club. "The accused killed the dog cruelly and was not forgiven by her husband," the

Mar 23, 2022
Woman fined for throwing dog out of high-rise building window after argument with husband

96 child sex offenders apprehended in police undercover investigations

Korea Times file Police have apprehended 96 child sex offenders and arrested six of them in undercover investigations begun last year into digital sex crimes against children, officials said Tuesday. Police conducted 90 investigations after undercover methods were allowed through the amendment of the Act on the Protection of Children and Youth against Sex Offenses in September following a series of shocking child sex exploitation cases that were revealed in 2020.In the cases, investigators did not disclose their police identity in 81, nabbing 24 suspects, and used fake identities in the remaining nine, catching 72 suspects. Most of the investigations, or 83.3 percent, uncovered the sales, distribution or advertisements of material containing child sex abuse, followed by the production of such materials at 11.1 percent, possession of such materials at 3.3 percent and the act of approaching children for sexual exploitation at 2.2 percent. The National Police Agency sa

Mar 22, 2022
96 child sex offenders apprehended in police undercover investigations

Police looking into online chatter about hiring hit man to kill President-elect Yoon

gettyimagesbank Police have begun a preliminary investigation into online posts talking about hiring a hit man to kill President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, officials said Monday.In the posts uploaded on pro-government online communities, unidentified writers talked about hiring a foreign hit man to assassinate Yoon before he takes office May 10, according to the National Police Agency.Some people alerted police about these postings that began to appear on online communities after Yoon was elected March 9 and have since spread.The writers have yet to be booked but can face multiple charges, including conspiracy and violation of the Communications Network Act, police said. (Yonhap)

Mar 21, 2022
Police looking into online chatter about hiring hit man to kill President-elect Yoon

7 shipping firm officials indicted over deadly sinking of Stellar Daisy

This undated file photo shows the Stellar Daisy, an ore carrier that sank in 2017, leaving 22 people unaccounted for. YonhapSeven people have been indicted on ship-burying and other charges recently, about five years after the cargo ship Stellar Daisy sank in the South Atlantic Ocean and left 22 people unaccounted for, officials said Friday.After the accident on March 31, 2017, 12 people were indicted in February 2019 but only on charges of violating the Ship Safety Act. Family members of the missing sailors have called for punishing those responsible on additional ship-burying charges.The seven people, indicted for ship-burying and manslaughter by negligence, included the 67-year-old CEO of Stellar Daisy's operator. Their indictment came ahead of the scheduled expiry of the five-year statute of limitations on ship-burying charges.Investigations found the ship was damaged due to persistent operation with cargo overload and a major change made to its bulkhead, but the operator did not inspect or repair the ship, officials said. The ship was carrying 260,000 tons of ore at the time of

Mar 18, 2022
7 shipping firm officials indicted over deadly sinking of Stellar Daisy

Korea to launch antidumping probe into copper pipes from China, Vietnam

gettyimagesbank Korea's trade commission said Thursday it plans to launch an antidumping investigation into seamless copper pipes from China and Vietnam.The Korea Trade Commission under the industry ministry said it has decided to launch the antidumping probe on the judgment that cheap imports of such products caused damage to the related industry in Korea.Seamless copper pipes are commonly used in air conditioners, refrigerators, and cooling and heating systems due to their high levels of corrosion resistance and thermal conductivity.In September last year, two Korean producers asked the government to conduct an antidumping investigation into imports of those products.As of the end of 2020, seamless copper pipes from China and Vietnam had accounted for about 30 percent of the Korean market, trailing a share of 60 percent by domestically-produced goods, according to the trade ministry.The trade commission plans to decide whether to impose antidumping duties after a

Mar 17, 2022
Korea to launch antidumping probe into copper pipes from China, Vietnam

2 indicted for smuggling in record amount of 'meth' from Mexico

gettyimagesbank Two people have been indicted on charges of smuggling 902 kilograms of methamphetamine into Korea from Mexico, in the largest drug seizure ever, prosecutors said Thursday.A 38-year-old Australian, whose name was withheld, was indicted with detention on drug smuggling charges, along with a 36-year-old accomplice who was indicted without detention, the Busan District Prosecutors Office said. In collusion with an international crime ring, the Australian allegedly brought in the drug, hidden inside helical gears, on two occasions in December 2019 and July 2020. Of this, 498 kilograms were transshipped on to Australia, according to prosecutors. Worth about 90.2 billion won ($73.8 million) wholesale, the smuggled drug marks the largest amount ever brought into the country since records began to be kept. The accomplice was freshly indicted in the latest case after getting a 15-year prison sentence in a previous, separate drug smuggling incident. (Yonhap)

Mar 17, 2022
2 indicted for smuggling in record amount of 'meth' from Mexico

Vietnamese sailor jailed in Korea for killing compatriot crewmember

The Daejeon District Court / Korea Times file A Vietnamese sailor has been sentenced to nine years in prison for stabbing another Vietnamese sailor to death while they were drinking together last year, a court said Thursday. The killing happened July 20, when the accused and the victim, both 27, were having a drink with four other people at a residence in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province.After getting into a fistfight with some of them, the accused went out and returned with a sharp weapon and ended up stabbing the victim. The victim tried to fight him off with a metal pipe but was stabbed again and killed. The Daejeon District Court said the accused should receive stern punishment considering the gravity of the crime, noting he tried to escape from the crime scene and hide the weapon after stabbing the victim.The court did not accept the accused's claim he was suffering from temporary insanity at the time of the crime due to the influence of alcohol, but it too

Mar 17, 2022
Vietnamese sailor jailed in Korea for killing compatriot crewmember

7-year prison term confirmed for mother for beating adult son to death

The Supreme Court / Yonhap The Supreme Court confirmed Wednesday a seven-year prison term for a 64-year-old woman for beating her adult son over 2,000 times with a bamboo stick for more than two hours, causing him to die.The mother was indicted on charges of beating to death her 35-year-old son at a Buddhist temple in August 2020 by either assaulting him with a stick or kicking him. Two lower courts sentenced her to seven years in prison.According to CCTV footage, the assault took place for about 2 1/2 hours. The son later died of shock following symptoms of subcutaneous hemorrhaging all over his body.The mother was found to have beaten her son after he said he would make unspecified internal problems with the temple public. The son was staying at the temple to prepare for a civil servant exam.Police initially charged her with death resulting from bodily injury but the prosecution later applied murder charges. The courts, however, dismissed the murder charges, sayin

Mar 16, 2022
7-year prison term confirmed for mother for beating adult son to death
previous page
295296297298299
next page

Most Read in South Korea