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2 Air Force officers arrested in relation to sexual harassment case

Two Air Force noncommissioned officers have been arrested for allegedly trying to persuade a female subordinate, who later took her own life, to drop a sexual harassment complaint, officials said Saturday. YonhapTwo Air Force noncommissioned officers have been arrested for allegedly trying to persuade a female subordinate, who later took her own life, to drop a sexual harassment complaint, officials said Saturday. The victim, identified only as MSgt. Lee, was allegedly groped and suffered other abuse by a colleague in a car after a drinking session in March. She was found dead at her home inside the base in the western city of Seosan late last month. The colleague, surnamed Jang, was arrested on June 2 on charges of sexual harassment.A military court in the defense ministry held a hearing Saturday afternoon before deciding whether to issue an arrest warrant for the two officers ― a senior master sergeant and a warrant officer.The two, both surnamed Noh, are accused of failing to report Lee's sexual abuse complaint against Jang to their superiors and trying to persuade her to drop the

Jun 12, 2021
2 Air Force officers arrested in relation to sexual harassment case

Arrest warrant requested for 2 Air Force officers in sexual harassment case

A visitor pays her respects at the funeral altar of MSgt. Lee in the Korean Armed Forces Capital Hospital, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, June 7. YonhapMilitary prosecutors have requested arrest warrants for two Air Force noncommissioned officers for allegedly trying to persuade a female subordinate who later took her own life to drop a sexual assault complaint, the defense ministry said Saturday. The victim, identified only as MSgt. Lee, was allegedly groped and suffered other abuse by a colleague in a car after a “forced” drinking session in March. She was found dead at her home inside the base in the western city of Seosan late last month. The colleague surnamed Jang was arrested June 2 on charges of sexual assault.A military court in the defense ministry is to hold a hearing Saturday afternoon before deciding whether to issue warrants for the two NCOs ― a senior master sergeant and a warrant officer.The two, both surnamed Noh, are accused of failing to report Lee's sexual abuse complaint against Jang to their superiors and trying to persuade her to drop the case, accord

Jun 12, 2021
Arrest warrant requested for 2 Air Force officers in sexual harassment case

Man sent to prosecution over filming, sharing nude videos of boys, men

Kim Young-jun, who is accused of filming and distributing nude photos and videos of boys and men, comes out of Jongro Police Station in Seoul, June 11. / YonhapPolice on Friday sent a man to the prosecution on charges of filming and distributing nude photos and videos of more than 1,300 boys and men.Kim Young-jun, whose identity was disclosed by the police earlier this week, is accused of filming about 27,000 nude videos of the victims, including 39 minors, and sharing them online from 2013 until recently. On Friday morning, the 29-year-old appeared in front of reporters for the first time as police officers took him from Jongno Police Station in central Seoul, where he has been in pretrial detention, to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office for further investigation."I want to say that I am very sorry to the victims," he said when asked if he admitted to the charges."I will live in repentance," he said, adding that he committed the crimes alone.According to the police, Kim posed as a woman in order to meet men on chatting apps and filmed them naked during video calls.To avoi

Jun 11, 2021
Man sent to prosecution over filming, sharing nude videos of boys, men

Top court sends bribery case of disgraced ex-vice justice minister back to lower court

Former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-ui walks out of the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday, after the Supreme Court sent his bribery case back to a lower court for a retrial. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-hoThe top court on Thursday sent the bribery case of former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-ui back to a lower court for a retrial, calling into question the reliability of testimony used against him.The Supreme Court said it "cannot rule out the possibility" that a key witness could have changed his testimony that led to Kim's conviction, because of appeasement or pressure from the prosecution.The court said the prosecutors should "prove" that there were no such illegal actions based on documents that recorded the process of questioning and investigation.The witness, a businessman surnamed Choi, initially denied bribing Kim but changed his position after being grilled by investigators.The court also allowed Kim to be freed on bail, eight months after he was arrested in court on bribery charges.Later in the afternoon, Kim was released from the Seoul Detentio

Jun 10, 2021
Top court sends bribery case of disgraced ex-vice justice minister back to lower court

Korea logs record high number of drug offenders in 2020: report

gettyimagesbankKorea saw the annual number of drug offenders shoot up to a record high level last year, driven in part by an increase in juvenile and foreign drug criminals, a judicial report showed Thursday.According to the 2020 juridical yearbook, published recently by the Supreme Prosecutors Office (SPO), a total of 18,050 people were nabbed for drug-related crimes last year, up 12.5 percent from a year before.The 2020 figure marks the highest yearly number of drug offenders ever since the SPO began to compile the official data in 1990.Of the apprehended, 4,793 were drug manufacturers and traffickers, up 13.4 percent on-year. The report attributed the recent increase mainly to the prevalence of drug dealings on global online platforms, such as the dark web and social network services, which facilitate easy contact between drug providers and consumers.Such easier contact, in particular, drove up drug crimes among young people aged 19 and below. The number of drug offenders in the age bracket surged by 31 percent to 313, the report showed. "More teenagers are buying illegal drugs ou

Jun 10, 2021
Korea logs record high number of drug offenders in 2020: report

Prosecution seeks life imprisonment for Optimus CEO in fund scam case

The prosecution sought a life sentence on Tuesday for the CEO of Optimus Asset Management, who is at the center of a massive financial fraud.At the sentencing hearing at the Seoul Central District Court, prosecutors demanded Kim Jae-hyun, head of the scandal-ridden private equity investment firm, be put behind bars for the rest of his life on charges of fraud and embezzlement.They also asked the court to assess him a fine of 4.057 trillion won ($3.6 billion) and a forfeiture of 1.43 trillion won. They demanded a prison term of 25 years for Lee Dong-yeol, the company's second-largest shareholder, and 20 years for Yoon Seok-ho, an executive at the company, on the same charges.The Optimus scandal centers on allegations that the private equity company solicited funds worth about 1.2 trillion won from thousands of people from April 2018 to June 2020 for investments in public institutions, but actually funneled most of the money into risky assets, causing huge losses to the investors. The prosecution said it is hard to understand how it was possible for the defendant to commit such a massi

Jun 8, 2021
Prosecution seeks life imprisonment for Optimus CEO in fund scam case

Rumormongers concerning med student's death belatedly seek forgiveness

Lawyers from One and Partners speak to reporters before entering Seocho Police Station in Seoul, June 1. The law firm is representing a friend of Son Jeong-min, a medical college student who was found dead in the Han River on April 30. YonhapBy Nam Hyun-wooMore than 700 YouTubers and online gossipers who spread rumors suggesting that a 22-year-old medical student, Son Jeong-min ― found dead in the Han River in April ― was murdered by his friend who was last spotted with him, are seeking forgiveness. One and Partners, the law firm representing the friend, said it has received more than 700 apologies via e-mail, KakaoTalk messages and other means, as of Monday night, after the law firm announced Friday that it would sue all rumormongers who claimed that the friend was involved in the death. The law firm said it will have “no tolerance for anyone spreading groundless rumors, suspicions and other insults about the friend and his family,” but will accept apologies for those asking for leniency or wanting to avoid being sued.Son, a 22-year-old medical student in Seoul, was foun

Jun 8, 2021By Nam Hyun-woo
Rumormongers concerning med student's death belatedly seek forgiveness

Military prosecutors grill airmen over death of sexual assault victim

A visitor offers her condolence at the funeral of MSgt. Lee in the Korean Armed Forces Capital Hospital, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, June 7. YonhapMilitary prosecutors on Tuesday called in colleagues of the Air Force noncommissioned officer who committed suicide last month following sexual harassment over allegations they might have tried to cover up the incident, the defense ministry said Tuesday.The victim, identified only as MSgt. Lee, was groped and suffered other abuse by a colleague in a car after a drinking session in March and was found dead at her home inside the base in the western city of Seosan late last month."Starting today, the questioning is now under way," ministry spokesman Boo Seung-chan said during a regular press briefing.Subject to Tuesday's questioning were two of the victim's superiors who were relieved of duties last week for allegedly trying to coax the victim to drop the complaint, as well as a technical sergeant who drove the car when the incident took place. The technical sergeant is the only witness to the incident but has reportedly testified that he w

Jun 8, 2021
Military prosecutors grill airmen over death of sexual assault victim

Man's jail sentence upheld over violence toward foreign women for 'giving wrong directions'

The Seoul Central District Court building / Korea Times fileBy Lee Hyo-jin An appellate court in Seoul upheld a lower court ruling on Monday that sentenced a man to one year in prison for assaulting two women of foreign nationality for “giving the wrong directions.”The appellate department of the Seoul Central District Court issued the sentence to the man, in his 40s, who was convicted of verbally and physically assaulting the women at around 6 p.m., June 6, 2020, in Seocho District, Seoul. He attacked the women after they gave him the wrong directions. He threw a plastic bag filled with canned beverages and swore at them “for lying to him.”He was also additionally accused of assaulting an employee at a bar in the district, at around 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 29 of last year, who stopped him from repeatedly approaching foreign women at the bar. The women were trying to avoid him by changing seats. He shoved the employee and then ran away, but when the employee went after him, he assaulted the worker.The lower court sentenced him to one year in prison, and the appeals

Jun 7, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Man's jail sentence upheld over violence toward foreign women for 'giving wrong directions'

Military seeks belated measures on sexual violence

Kim Seong-jun, center, head of the Office of Personnel and Welfare at the Ministry of National Defense, presides over the first meeting of the military's task force to improve the military's sex crime prevention system, at the ministry headquarters in Yongsan District, Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of Ministry of National DefenseBy Jung Da-minFollowing a series of sex crimes, the military is seeking measures to stop sexual violence by launching a task force to improve the military's sexual violence prevention system. Still, criticism is mounting that such a move is belated, and that the fundamental problem lies not with the system, but with the military's practice of concealing problems and propagating distorted gender stereotypes. The Ministry of National Defense on Monday launched the temporary taskforce to improve the military's sexual violence prevention system. The taskforce will be in operation until August.Public outrage over the issue of the military's poor handling of such crimes within the organization recently escalated in response to the case of a female Air Force master sergea

Jun 7, 2021
Military seeks belated measures on sexual violence
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