South Korea - The Korea Times

Eastar Jet founder gets suspended prison term for election law violations

Rep. Lee Sang-jik / Korea Times fileRep. Lee Sang-jik, an independent lawmaker and founder of budget carrier Eastar Jet, was given a suspended prison sentence Wednesday for violating election laws. The local district court in Jeonju, 240 kilometers south of Seoul, sentenced Lee to 16 months in prison, suspended for two years. Lee is the first sitting lawmaker of the 21st National Assembly to receive a prison term for violating election laws.If the ruling is confirmed by the top court, he will lose his parliamentary membership. A lawmaker is deprived of his or her seat when receiving 1 million won (US$894.62) in fines or heavier punishment for election law violations.Lee, formerly affiliated with ruling Democratic Party (DP), was indicted for offering alcoholic beverages and books to electorates in Jeonju in 2019 before he ran in the 2020 parliamentary elections. He was also accused of colluding with city councilors in sending text messages to fee-paying party members to encourage them to participate in a nonmember's open primary to pick the DP's candidate.His accomplices received sus

Jun 16, 2021

Eastar Jet founder gets suspended prison term for election law violations

Over 600 drug offenders arrested in 3-month crackdown

gettyimagesbankAn intensive police crackdown on drug offenses for the past three months resulted in the arrests of over 600 suspects, the National Police Agency (NPA) said Tuesday.The three-month-long crackdown that began in March led to the detention of 2,626 drug offenders and 614 of them were put under arrest, the NPA said.Foreign nationals accounted for 16.5 percent, or 432, of the detained suspects, it said.By age, people in their 20s accounted for 947, or 36.2 percent, of the detained suspects, followed by 644 in their 30s (24.5 percent), 436 in their 40s (16.6 percent), 319 in their 50s (12.2 percent), 104 in their 60s (4 percent) and 102 in their teens (3.9 percent), the agency noted.It said 1,793 suspects, or 68.3 percent, were caught using or peddling psychotropic drugs, such as methamphetamine, synthetic hemp and ecstasy, followed by 625 suspects related to marijuana (23.8 percent) and 208 suspects related to poppy, cocaine and fentanyl (7.9 percent).The agency said 1,948 suspects, or 74.2 percent, were caught using drugs and 538 suspects, or 20.5 percent, were detained fo

Jun 15, 2021

Over 600 drug offenders arrested in 3-month crackdown

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