South Korea - The Korea Times

Suspect in murder, rape of baby girl sparks public outrage

gettyimagesbankPublic outrage has been boiling in South Korea over a man who allegedly abused and murdered a baby girl in June, with some people planning to stage rallies calling for the death penalty.The 29-year-old man, surnamed Yang, was recently indicted on charges of sexually assaulting and abusing the 20-month-old toddler to death at his home in Daejeon, about 165 kilometers south of Seoul, on June 15. A little past midnight on that day, Yang, who was drunk at the time, allegedly covered the baby girl with bedclothes and punched and stomped on her, because she would not stop crying, until she died.Yang and his wife, surnamed Jeong, hid the victim's body in an ice box in their bathroom.He was also accused of raping the victim before the abuse, according to the prosecution. Exactly when the alleged rape occurred remained unclear.The man had told the police he was the baby's biological father, but a DNA test revealed he was not. His wife was confirmed as the girl's biological mother.Yang has been living with Jeong and her daughter since his release from prison over fraud, the pros

Aug 30, 2021

Suspect in murder, rape of baby girl sparks public outrage

Confiscating counterfeit products

Officials inspect counterfeit shoes imported from China at Busan Main Customs, Thursday. The customs office identified three people who allegedly imported counterfeits ― about 2,000 pairs of shoes labeled as Nike, Gucci or Balenciaga ― and sold them through online markets. Yonhap

Aug 26, 2021

Disabled people suffer more than 2 sex crimes daily on average: report

gettyimagesbankMore than two cases of sex crimes are committed against disabled people per day on average in South Korea, a police report showed Thursday.According to the National Police Agency report submitted to independent lawmaker Lee Yong-ho, a total of 2,432 cases of sex offenses targeted disabled people from 2017-19, which roughly translates into a daily average of 2.2 cases a day.The yearly tally stood at 785 in 2017, 843 in 2018 and 804 in 2019. Of the total, a supermajority of 2,242 cases, or 92.1 percent, was found to have involved female disabled victims. Disabled men were victims in only 160 cases, or 6.6 percent. The gender for victims in the remaining 30 cases, or 1.3 percent, was not disclosed.The report also showed that sex offenders targeted young people in over half of the cases. Victims were in their 20s in 738 cases, or 30.3 percent, and underage in 582, or 23.9 percent. The number of victims in their 30s, 40s and 50s was tallied at 422 (17.3 percent), 303 (12.5 percent) and 248 (10.2 percent), respectively.By type of offenses, indecent acts by compulsion account

Aug 26, 2021

Disabled people suffer more than 2 sex crimes daily on average: report

Vaccination phishing scams increasing

gettyimagesbankBy Jun Ji-hyeThe Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) has warned against an increase in financial scams in which swindlers send text messages containing web links to fake COVID-19 vaccination certificates, with the intention to acquire passwords and other personal information of victims.Bae Gyung-taek, a senior KDCA official, said during a media briefing, Monday, that the agency has recently received an increasing number of reports about “smishing” ― a portmanteau of short message service (SMS) and phishing ― related to vaccinations, as the country's vaccination program has been gaining speed. More than 25.9 million people, or 50.5 percent of the entire population here, have received at least their first vaccine shot as of Sunday, according to the KDCA. “We never ask people to offer their personal information, except for when they book their vaccination schedules via reservation programs,” Bae said. “To receive digital vaccination certificates, people should download a relevant mobile application available on devices running

Aug 24, 2021By Jun Ji-hye

Father receives suspended prison sentence for child neglect

gettyimagesbankBy Kwon Mee-yooAn appellate court has upheld a lower court decision that gave a 76-year-old man a suspended prison sentence on charges of raising five children in an unclean, moldy house and keeping one son from attending elementary school. The appellate department of the Chuncheon District Court in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, said it upheld the lower court ruling that sentenced the man to six months in jail suspended for two years on charges of child abuse and neglect in violation of the Child Welfare Act. He was also ordered to attend 40 hours of education on child abuse prevention. According to the court, the man married a woman of Cambodian nationality in 2008 and has five sons from two to 10 years old.He is accused of allowing one son not to go to elementary school from Nov. 14, 2017 to May 23, 2018, depriving the son's right to education. According to the court, he told his son he wouldn't attend school until he reached middle school age.The father claimed that his son didn't want to go to school at first and his truancy was unintentional, but the court said the

Aug 23, 2021By Kwon Mee-yoo

Father receives suspended prison sentence for child neglect

Namyang dairy chairman's wife accused of violating social distancing rule

The headquarters of Namyang Dairy Products in southern Seoul / YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiLee Woon-kyung, 69, the wife of Namyang Dairy Products Chairman Hong Won-sik, has been accused of violating social distancing rules by holding a dinner gathering of more than 10 people at her house in June, according to police, Sunday. It was her former housekeeper who reported the violation to the police.When Lee hosted the party, a social distancing measure prohibiting private gatherings of more than four people was in effect in the Seoul metropolitan area. In addition, the incentive system for vaccination, such as lifting the gathering ban for fully vaccinated individuals, had not yet been implemented.Namyang Dairy Products Chairman Hong Won-sik sheds tears while announcing his plan to step down from his post during a press conference at the company headquarters in Seoul in this May 4 photo. Korea Times fileA woman who had worked as a housekeeper at the chairman's house earlier this year filed the complaint along with photos taken during the dinner party as evidence, according to the police. Police

Aug 22, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

Namyang dairy chairman's wife accused of violating social distancing rule

Appellate court refuses to cancel seizure of annex to ex-President Chun's house

An annex inside residential compound owned by former President Chun Doo-hwan's family / YonhapUpholding a lower court's decision, an appellate court on Friday rejected a request to cancel the seizure of a residential building owned by former President Chun Doo-hwan's family in western Seoul.The lawsuit was filed by one of Chun's daughters-in-law in October 2018 after prosecutors seized her house, an annex inside the ex-president's residential compound, to collect unpaid penalties from him. The Seoul High Court dismissed the appeal, saying, "The lower court's ruling was fair, considering that the plaintiff is tied with Chun as family." Chun's entire residence in Seodaemun Ward in western Seoul was put up for auction that year at the request of the prosecution.Chun, a former Army general who seized power in a 1979 military coup and served as president from 1980 to 1988, was ordered by the Supreme Court in 1997 to forfeit more than 220 billion won ($186 million) for amassing slush funds. But the 90-year-old has refused to pay the bulk of his forfeit and has also been stripped of his pri

Aug 20, 2021

Appellate court refuses to cancel seizure of annex to ex-President Chun's house

Controversial Seoul church ordered to close for breaking COVID-19 rules

An official from Seongbuk-gu Office, center, delivers an official notice of closure to a lawyer, left, representing Sarang Jeil Church in front of the church in northern Seoul, Thursday. YonhapA Seoul church led by a controversial right-wing pastor was ordered Thursday to shut down for repeatedly holding in-person worship services in violation of COVID-19 rules. The office of Seongbuk Ward said it delivered an official notice of closure to Sarang Jeil Church in northern Seoul in the afternoon. The church, led by the provocative right-wing pastor Jun Kwang-hoon, has held in-person Sunday services for five straight weeks since July 18, violating the Level 4 social distancing rules imposed in the greater Seoul area to rein in the fourth wave of the pandemic. Until the government amended the Level 4 rules to allow on-site worship sessions at 10 percent capacity or with fewer than 100 attendees last Monday, all religious ceremonies had to be held virtually. The ward office has suspended Sarang Jeil Church's activities and imposed fines for breaking COVID-19 rules, but the church refused t

Aug 19, 2021

Controversial Seoul church ordered to close for breaking COVID-19 rules

Protest against McDonald's

A member of a committee demanding social responsibility from McDonald's wears a take-out paper bag upside-down in a performance to criticize the fast food restaurant chain for laying blame on part-time workers for replacing expiration dates on hamburger buns and tortillas. The sit-down protest took place in front of the McDonald's Korea headquarters in downtown Seoul, Thursday. The committee, consisting of the social democratic minor opposition Justice Party, the Arbeit Workers Union and other civic organizations, urged McDonald's to take more responsible action regarding the issue of expiration date stickers having been replaced, including to conduct a full inspection and implement measures to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future, rather than suspending the part-time workers for three months. Yonhap

Aug 19, 2021By Kwon Mee-yoo

Court orders seizure of Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy's assets in Korea over forced wartime labor

In this 2019 July file photo, a woman walks past the company sign of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Tokyo. AP-YonhapA South Korean court has ordered the seizure of Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' assets here to provide compensation to forced wartime labor victims' families, according to judicial sources Thursday. According to Haemaru Lawfirm, the Anyang branch of Suwon District Court, just south of Seoul, recently ordered the seizure of about 850 million won ($725,000) worth of bonds the Japanese company owns in LS Mtron, a South Korean industrial machinery manufacturer.The value is the equivalent of the total 340 million won of damages ordered to be provided to four victims of Japan's forced labor during World War Ⅱ in a 2018 Supreme Court ruling, as well as approximate losses incurred from the delay of the compensation.Earlier this month, the surviving families of the victims asked the court to seize Mitsubishi Heavy's bonds in Korea after confirming business transactions between the Japanese firm and the local machinery manufacturer. The request was made to move forward t