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Pet ownership survey: People call for heavier punishment for animal abusers

gettyimagesbankBy Kim Rahn Public awareness on animal protection and rights has increased, but nearly three out of 10 pet owners have thought about giving up raising their animals due to various difficulties, a survey showed Friday. According to the survey, conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on 5,000 citizens last October, 27.7 percent said that they were raising at least one pet. When calculating the number of households nationwide, 6.38 million are estimated to be raising pets.More than 48 percent of the respondents said that existing punishments for animal abuse were too light, while 40.6 percent said they were adequate.Over half of the people said animal abusers should be subject to stricter punishment. In particular, 96.3 percent of the respondents said that stricter punishment is a must for types of physical abuse, such as beating or setting fire to an animal.If they were to witness animal abuse, 53.4 percent said they would report it to the police or local government, while 48.4 percent said they would seek help from animal protection organization

Apr 23, 2021By Kim Rahn
Pet ownership survey: People call for heavier punishment for animal abusers

Police search public housing developer in bribery investigation

The headquarters of Seoul Housing and Communities Corp. in southern Seoul / YonhapPolice searched offices of a public housing corporation in Seoul on Friday as part of an investigation into bribery allegations involving its employees.The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said investigators searched the headquarters and two branch offices of Seoul Housing and Communities Corp. (SH) affiliated with the city government.Three employees of the company are being probed over suspicions they took bribes from real estate agents operating in an SH-led housing development area.The suspects are alleged to have provided information related to the project and received money and entertainment in return. "We will analyze the items seized from the locations and question those involved in the case. The target of the investigation could be expanded down the road," a police officer said.Police got the information while they were looking into whether SH employees were involved in a snowballing land speculation scandal.Hundreds of people, including public servants and employees of the state housing develop

Apr 23, 2021
Police search public housing developer in bribery investigation

Appellate court rules in favor of asylum seeker

Lawyers and civic group members hold a press conference in front of the Seoul High Court, Wednesday, after the court ruled in favor of an asylum seeker. The lawyers said the government should guarantee the man's right to make a refugee application. YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyeAn appellate court in Seoul ruled in favor of an asylum seeker, saying it was illegal for the Korean government to reject his refugee application simply because Korea was not his final destination but a transfer point.The Seoul High Court issued the ruling Wednesday as the man, whose nationality was not revealed, had filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Justice.The latest ruling came after the ministry lodged an appeal following its loss in a lower court trial last June.After arriving at Incheon International Airport in February last year, the man tried to apply for refugee status, saying that he had suffered political persecution in his home country and that about 10 of his family members and acquaintances had been killed there.The airport's immigration service under the justice ministry, however, rejected his applic

Apr 22, 2021By Jun Ji-hye
Appellate court rules in favor of asylum seeker

3 accused of displaying animal cruelty videos on chat room

Three people have been accused of displaying videos and photos of them brutally abusing animals on a member-only online chatroom, the police said, Monday. The two cats in this photo are unrelated to the story. Korea Times fileBy Lee Hyo-jin Seongdong Police Station announced Monday that it had referred three people to the prosecution for allegedly distributing videos and photos in a members-only online chat room of them brutally abusing and killing animals. The suspects were accused of violating the Animal Protection Law, while one was additionally accused of violating the Wildlife Protection and Management ActThey were among about 80 participants in the anonymously run chat room to have been called in for police questioning. Others were not referred to the prosecutors' office as officers did not find any evidence of their direct involvement in cruelty to animals. The case was made public in January by the Korea Animal Welfare Association (KAWA), a local animal rights group, which filed a police report and publicly disclosed some of the content and conversations shared in the chat ro

Apr 20, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
3 accused of displaying animal cruelty videos on chat room

Korea, China to jointly crack down on illegal fishing

In this photo from March 18, 2021, a Korea Coast Guard officer inspects a Chinese ship that was illegally fishing on Korea's eastern waters near Yeonpyeong Island of Incheon's Ongjin District. Courtesy of Korea Coast GuardSouth Korea's oceans ministry said Tuesday it plans to conduct a joint operation with its Chinese counterpart to curb illegal fishing activities in the Yellow Sea.Fisheries authorities from both countries will conduct joint rounds of inspections in the Yellow Sea from Wednesday to Sunday, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.Under the plan, South Korea will deploy a 2,000-ton patrol boat, while China will send a 3,000-ton vessel.South Korea and China have been carrying out joint operations since 2014. So far, a total of 31 unauthorized Chinese fishing boats were caught through the joint crackdown."We have been making diplomatic efforts to prevent illegal fishing activities by Chinese boats," the ministry said in a statement. "We plan to continue cooperate with Chinese authorities to protect our marine resources." (Yonhap)

Apr 20, 2021
Korea, China to jointly crack down on illegal fishing

Ex-SNU dog breeder gets suspended sentence for fatal abuse of cloned dog

May, the retired cloned sniffer dog, died after being used for experiments carried out by Seoul National University's veterinary medicine college. Captured from Beagle Rescue Network's InstagramBy Jun Ji-hyeA former dog breeder who worked for Seoul National University (SNU) has been sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years, for mistreating 20 dogs, including a retired cloned sniffer dog, which were used in experiments carried out by the university's veterinary medicine college. The Seoul Central District Court said Monday it found the 25-year-old guilty of violating the Animal Protection Act.The breeder was working for a research team led by veterinary professor Yi Byeong-cheon from 2018 to 2019.The alleged mistreatment of experimental dogs by the SNU research team was first made known to the public after the animal rights group Beagle Rescue Network posted a petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website in April 2019. The group filed a complaint with the prosecution against Prof. Yi for alleged violation of the Animal Protection Act, but the professor claimed that it was t

Apr 19, 2021By Jun Ji-hye
Ex-SNU dog breeder gets suspended sentence for fatal abuse of cloned dog

Embattled senior prosecutor questioned in ex-vice minister travel ban case

Lee Sung-yoon, chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office / Korea Times fileProsecutors have questioned the chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office over alleged abuse of power in connection with an illegal travel ban imposed against a scandal-ridden senior official two years ago, officials said Sunday. Lee Sung-yoon was questioned at the Suwon District Prosecutors Office as a suspect on Saturday over allegations that he exercised undue influence in 2019 to bring an end to an investigation into the alleged illegal exit ban imposed on former vice justice minister Kim Hak-ui.According to the investigation team, Lee was accompanied by his lawyer and was questioned for approximately nine hours. Saturday's probe was conducted following repeated refusals by Lee to comply with subpoenas. Kim was stopped at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, from leaving the country in March 2019 as prosecutors sought to reinvestigate allegations that he received sexual favors from a local constructor more than a decade ago.The Suwon prosecutors have been investigating Le

Apr 18, 2021
Embattled senior prosecutor questioned in ex-vice minister travel ban case

Con man gets 18 months in prison for romance scam

gettyimagesbankBy Kim RahnA man has been jailed for swindling his girlfriend's mother out of over 30 million won by lying about his academic record and career, a local court said, Sunday.The man told the victim's family he graduated from prestigious schools here and abroad. But in reality, he was a day laborer with no such credentials.The Daejeon District Court said it recently sentenced the man, 47, to 18 months in prison on charges of fraud.“It was a typical romance scam, swindling money out of the girlfriend and the family by lying about academic achievements and career. The victim and her daughter not only suffered financial losses, but serious mental pain as well,” the court said in the ruling.The man told the mother of his girlfriend in January of 2016 that he had graduated from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and obtained a doctorate of engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He said he had worked at General Electric in the U.S. and was working as a freelancer in Korea at the time.After gaining the trust of the mot

Apr 18, 2021By Kim Rahn
Con man gets 18 months in prison for romance scam

Digital sex crimes against children increased nearly 20% in 2019

gettyimagesbankDigital sex crimes against underage people rose nearly 20 percent in 2019 from a year earlier, a government report showed Sunday.The number of criminals convicted of digital sex crimes reached 266 in 2019, up 19.3 percent from 223 previous year, according to the report published by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.Digital sex crimes refer to the sending of online sexual online messages to children, filming and producing sexual videos and photos of minors, or threatening to disclose of the illegal footage.The number of victims more than doubled to 505 from 251 over the cited period.The gender ministry said the number of digital sex offenders is far larger than that of victims, as each criminal commits crimes against multiple children or juveniles.Among the crimes, 299 cases involved illegal video recording using spy cameras, while 93 were related to production of sexually abusive videos of children.On the other hand, the report said the total number of criminals convicted of sex crimes, including sexual harassment, rape and sex trafficking, decreased 14.5 perc

Apr 18, 2021
Digital sex crimes against children increased nearly 20% in 2019

Drug crimes by foreigners on the rise, violent crimes fall

gettyimagesbank By Lee Hyo-jin The number of drug-related crimes committed by foreign nationals in Korea has more than doubled over the last four years, while over the same time the number of violent crimes such as murder and assault has decreased, according to a lawmaker, Thursday.Rep. Kang Gi-yun of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) revealed data received from the National Police Agency that included the number of crimes committed by foreigners between 2017 and 2020, based on the number of cases booked.There has been an average of 37,000 booked cases every year; 36,069 in 2017, 34,832 in 2018, 39,249 in 2019 and 39,140 in 2020. The number of foreign suspects booked for drug crimes has more than doubled from 620 in 2017 to 1,428 in 2020. The number of non-violent crimes such as fraud and scamming stood at 7,002 cases last year, up 53 percent from 4,571 in 2017. Meanwhile, violent crimes including murder and robbery decreased during the same period. The n

Apr 17, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Drug crimes by foreigners on the rise, violent crimes fall
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