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Smartphone users can soon detect sex offenders by shaking phone

gettyimagesbankSmartphone users will soon be able to shake their phones to detect registered sex offenders if they are wearing an electronic anklet and within a 20-meter radius, the Ministry of Justice said Monday.The new service, which was developed in concert with the Gyeonggi provincial government, will launch Wednesday for a trial run in 15 cities and counties in the province surrounding Seoul, the ministry said.The program has been designed so that anyone who installs the relevant app on their smartphone can find out if a sex offender is nearby by shaking their device three or more times. The sex offender has to be wearing an electronic anklet for the system to work.Shaking the phone will send the user's location to the justice ministry's electronic monitoring system. The ministry's location tracking control center will then check if a registered sex offender is within a 20-meter radius, and if confirmed, call the person to discourage any bad behavior.If necessary, probation officers will also be sent to the location after checking footage on security cameras.Justice Minister Pa

Jul 26, 2021
Smartphone users can soon detect sex offenders by shaking phone

COVID-19 patient from Uzbekistan captured after escaping from treatment facility

gettyimagesbankAn Uzbek national, infected with the new coronavirus, was captured shortly after he escaped from a residential treatment center in a South Chungcheong Province city earlier this week, sources said Thursday.The 24-year-old ran away from the Police Human Resources Development Institute in Asan, about 100 kilometers south of Seoul, at around 2 p.m. Tuesday.The institute is currently being used as a treatment facility for COVID-19 patients with mild or no symptoms. Upon learning of the escape, local health officials began a search and found the patient hiding at a residence in Cheonan, where his coworkers had been put under a mandatory self-quarantine.The patient was readmitted to the treatment center at 5:20 p.m., about three hours after his escape. According to the sources, the man was diagnosed with COVID-19 at an airport here Saturday upon entering the country on a work visa with a group of coworkers. Local residents called for measures to prevent similar cases from happening. (Yonhap)

Jul 22, 2021
COVID-19 patient from Uzbekistan captured after escaping from treatment facility

Teacher gets suspended jail term for underwear homework assignment

Members of civic group Political Mamas hold a press conference in front of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, in this May 13, 2020 photo, before filing a petition calling for punishment of a male elementary schoolteacher for using inappropriate language and behavior toward first graders. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiA male teacher at an elementary school in Ulsan has received a suspended jail term for ordering his students to upload photos of them washing their underwear to the class' online community, and posting inappropriate comments about his students. The Ulsan District Court said, Wednesday, that it sentenced the former elementary school teacher in his 40s to one year in prison, suspended for three years, for violating the law on child abuse. It also ordered him to receive 40 hours of lectures on sexual violence prevention and banned him from working in any jobs related to children for five years.The man's inappropriate behavior was made public in April last year, when a parent shared screenshots of the teacher's comments on social media.He ordered his fir

Jul 21, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Teacher gets suspended jail term for underwear homework assignment

Top court confirms opinion rigging conviction of President Moon's key aide

South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo speaks to reporters in front of the provincial government building in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, July 21. YonhapThe top court upheld the opinion rigging conviction of South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo, a close aide to President Moon Jae-in, on Wednesday, a decision that will strip Kim of his governorship and potentially deal a political blow to the president.The Supreme Court maintained the verdict by the appeals court in November that Kim colluded with a team of online bloggers, including Kim Dong-won, widely known by his alias Druking, to illegally generate favorable opinions about the president ahead of the 2017 presidential election.The 53-year-old was indicted in August 2018 for conspiring with Druking to jack up the number of "likes" on political comments by using computer software to benefit Moon in the presidential poll.The top court rejected Kim's claims that he was not aware of Druking using the software to influence public opinions. It, however, upheld the lower court's decision to acquit him of allegedly

Jul 21, 2021
Top court confirms opinion rigging conviction of President Moon's key aide

Man busted for making massive amount of illegal drug in Gumi

This photo shows the equipment set up inside the residence of the man who allegedly made methamphetamine in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, after studying how to do it online. Courtesy of the Busan Metropolitan Police AgencyBy Ko Dong-hwanA man who allegedly made methamphetamine ― an amount described as “enough for 33,000 people” ― at his residence in Gumi has been arrested.The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency's narcotics investigation team said on July 19 that the suspect, in his 30s, was arrested in Busan. He was visiting the city to meet a potential buyer interested in his homemade drug. Police said that they apprehended the two after being tipped off about the deal.The amount of the illegal drug produced by the man was about 1 kilogram, worth 3.3 billion won ($2.86 million). He allegedly made it in his rooftop one-room studio flat, which he had rented starting from last April. He rented two one-room units on the top floor of the building, thinking that the smell from the drug-making process could alert people to his activities.He purchased all the equipment needed to

Jul 20, 2021By Ko Dong-hwan
Man busted for making massive amount of illegal drug in Gumi

Investigators raid home of presidential aide over illegal travel ban case

Lee Gwang-cheol. a presidential secretary for civil affairs and justice / YonhapA state anti-corruption probe agency raided the home of a presidential civil affairs secretary on Tuesday over his suspected involvement in an allegedly illegal travel ban on a former justice minister, informed officials said.Investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) searched the home of Lee Gwang-cheol, a presidential secretary for civil affairs and justice, to secure evidence related to his charge of abuse of power in allegedly orchestrating an illegal exit ban on former Vice Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui in 2019 and other illegalities targeting Kim, they said.The CIO also asked Cheong Wa Dae, the presidential office, to voluntarily submit documents and other materials related to Lee's suspected charges.The raid came as the CIO intensified its probe into three senior prosecutors also suspected of being involved in the alleged illegal process of imposing an exit ban on Kim. Kim was stopped at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Se

Jul 20, 2021
Investigators raid home of presidential aide over illegal travel ban case

Optimus CEO gets 25 years in prison for fraud

Korea Times fileThe CEO of the scandal-ridden private equity investment firm, Optimus Asset Management, was sentenced to 25 years in prison Tuesday for running one of the largest fund fraud schemes in the country's financial history.The Seoul Central District Court found Kim Jae-hyun guilty of fraud and embezzlement in the fraudulent fund case but imposed a prison term significantly below the life imprisonment sought by prosecutors against Kim.The court also imposed a fine of 500 million won (US$434,000), on top of the 75.1 billion won in forfeiture to cover his fraud.Both Lee Dong-yeol, the company's second-largest shareholder, and Yoon Seok-ho, an executive at the company, were sentenced to eight years in prison on the same charges.The vast fraud scheme run by the private equity company took in money of about 1.35 trillion won from approximately 3,200 individual and institutional investors from April 2018 to June 2020, by lying that the money would be invested in safe public institutions. However, most of the money was actually funneled into risky assets or used to pay returns to i

Jul 20, 2021
Optimus CEO gets 25 years in prison for fraud

Four teens killed, 1 injured in car accident in Jeonju

gettyimagesbankFour teenagers were killed and one injured in a car accident in the southwestern city of Jeonju on Tuesday, local authorities said. According to Deokjin Police Station and Jeonbuk Fire Safety Headquarters, a car driven by a 19-year-old crashed into a 14-ton truck that was making an illegal left turn around 4:05 a.m. on a road in Jeonju, about 240 kilometers south of Seoul. The truck was found to have made the left turn on the third lane of the road where such an act is prohibited. Four of the five teenagers aboard the car, including the driver, were killed in the fatal crash. The other passenger was sent to a nearby hospital after sustaining a serious injury to his head. The driver had a license, but the car was owned by one of the parents of the teenagers, according to the authorities. The police said they arrested the truck driver, in his 60s, at the scene and will investigate the details of the accident. (Yonhap)

Jul 20, 2021
Four teens killed, 1 injured in car accident in Jeonju

Korean man gets 2-year jail term for confining, assaulting Uzbek national

Incheon District Court / Korea Times fileBy Jun Ji-hyeA Korean man in his 50s was sentenced to two years in prison for confining and assaulting a 23-year-old man from Uzbekistan, after drugging him with a sedative and handcuffing him. The Incheon District Court handed down the prison sentence to the Korean national, Monday, on charges of injury and confinement. According to the court, the victim visited the perpetrator's home after seeing a job ad from an employment agency looking to hire a guide to carry baggage for tourists. The ad also said that the employer would provide accommodation and meals for 10 days. The victim went to the perpetrator's apartment in Incheon on Jan. 20 and was given a drink spiked with Zolpidem, a sedative often used for the treatment of insomnia. After the victim lost consciousness, the perpetrator handcuffed him.The perpetrator then confined the victim and physically attacked him with a blunt instrument for eight hours. As a result, the victim suffered injuries to his head, jaw and right hand.After being assaulted, the victim barely managed to escape from

Jul 20, 2021By Jun Ji-hye
Korean man gets 2-year jail term for confining, assaulting Uzbek national

Major umbrella labor group members under probe for holding rally amid pandemic

gettyimagesbankPolice said Monday they have booked 23 members of a major umbrella labor group for holding a massive rally in downtown Seoul in defiance of antivirus rules, which has sparked concerns over further infections amid rising new cases.The Seoul Metropolitan Police said a special investigation team has launched a probe into 25 members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) over their role in holding the rally on July 3 and booked 23 of them for allegedly violating quarantine regulations. Around 8,000 members of the KCTU participated in the rally to demand a revision to the labor act, despite authorities' repeated calls to cancel it amid the pandemic. Most of the demonstrators wore masks but stayed close to one another during the rally.So far, at least three protesters who attended the street rally have tested positive, while all attendants are required to take coronavirus tests under an administrative order issued by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The police probe came as the nation is gripped by the fourth wave of the pandemic with a sha

Jul 19, 2021
Major umbrella labor group members under probe for holding rally amid pandemic
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