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Wife of Belgium ambassador accused of assaulting clothing shop worker

By Bahk Eun-jiThe wife of Belgian Ambassador to Korea Peter Lescouhier is under investigation for allegedly assaulting a saleswoman at a clothing shop in Seoul, police said Thursday. YonhapAccording to Yongsan Police Station, it is investigating the allegation that the wife slapped a clerk in the face at a shop, April 9.“We are investigating the allegation, but can't confirm the details or the circumstances because the investigation is ongoing,” an official at Yongsan Police Station told The Korea Times. Diplomats and their family members hold diplomatic immunity which means they are not subject to prosecution under the laws of their host country in most cases. However, the official said police were proceeding with an investigation as part of due process.Ambassador Lescouhier was appointed to Korea in 2018, and his wife also came to Korea that year. The Belgian Embassy said it had no official response to the allegation.

Apr 15, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Wife of Belgium ambassador accused of assaulting clothing shop worker

Ex-Kumho Asiana chief grilled over unfair inter-affiliate deals

Former Kumho Asiana Group Chairman Park Sam-koo / YonhapPark Sam-koo, former chairman of Kumho Asiana Group, was questioned by prosecutors on Thursday over allegations of unfair transactions among group affiliates during his chairmanship.According to officials at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office, Park appeared before prosecutors around 9 a.m. as a suspect in their investigation into the group's suspected inter-affiliate financial deals that allegedly resulted in huge gains for the former chairman and his family.The 76-year-old Park resigned as chairman of Kumho Asiana Group and its affiliate Asiana Airlines in 2019 to take responsibility for controversial bookkeeping for the nation's No. 2 carrier.Park is accused of unfairly mobilizing Asiana Airlines and other group companies to support Kumho Buslines, a leading provider of bus and freight transportation services that was controlled by him and his family.The charges against him were revealed last year in an investigation by the antitrust watchdog Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC).According to the KFTC, Kumho Asiana Gro

Apr 15, 2021
Ex-Kumho Asiana chief grilled over unfair inter-affiliate deals

Police tighten security measures in Muslim communities for safety during Ramadan

gettyimagesbankThe police have stepped up security measures around Muslim communities across the country as safety precautions during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, according to police sources Thursday.The National Police Agency recently ordered provincial and local police authorities in 18 regions to increase security in Muslim communities during the Ramadan period, sources said.It also recommended authorities to look out for online activities that could portend dangerous activities or public disruptions.Ramadan, the holy Islamic month of fasting and spiritual reflection observed by Muslims, began Tuesday and will run through May 12 in most parts of the world, including South Korea. Muslims worldwide annually fast from sunrise to sunset during this period and pray five times a day. The Muslim community here has reportedly canceled or scaled down related events due to COVID-19 and has opted to hold online worship sessions in compliance with the government's social distancing measures. Local police are taking precautionary steps as radical Islamic terrorist groups, such as the Isl

Apr 15, 2021
Police tighten security measures in Muslim communities for safety during Ramadan

Drunk driver sentenced to 8 years in prison for hitting and killing Taiwanese student

Friends of Tseng Yi-lin speak to reporters at the Seoul Central District Court in southern Seoul, Wednesday. The court sentenced a man to eight years in prison for causing a car accident under the influence, which resulted in the death of the Taiwanese student. YonhapA man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for causing a car accident under the influence that resulted in the death of a Taiwanese student studying here last year, a Seoul court said Thursday. The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday handed down the prison term to the 52-year-old man, surnamed Kim, on charges of violating the anti-DUI law.The man was indicted for hitting and killing Tseng Yi-lin, a 28-year-old Taiwanese woman, while drunk driving in the southern Seoul ward of Gangnam on Nov. 6. Tseng, a doctoral student studying theology at a Seoul university, was crossing a crosswalk at the time of the accident. The driver was found to have violated the traffic signal and was driving faster than allowed.The deadly crash sparked public outrage in and out of Korea after her family posted a petition calling fo

Apr 15, 2021
Drunk driver sentenced to 8 years in prison for hitting and killing Taiwanese student

Samsung heir Lee to return to prison after surgery

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong / Korea Times fileSamsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the de facto leader of Samsung Group convicted of bribery, will return to prison later in the day, legal and industry sources said Thursday, nearly a month after an appendicitis surgery.Lee was transferred to Samsung Medical Center in southern Seoul on March 19 to receive an emergency surgery after suffering a ruptured appendix. The 52-year-old tycoon was supposed to return to Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, last Friday but was advised to stay a few more days at the hospital to recover, the sources said.He is said to have lost about 7 kilograms following the surgery and have refused doctors' advice to stay longer for medical care.Lee, the group's heir, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison on Jan. 18 in a retrial of a bribery case involving the impeached former President Park Geun-hye. He will be released in July next year. (Yonhap)

Apr 15, 2021
Samsung heir Lee to return to prison after surgery

Prosecutors demand death penalty for adoptive mother in death of toddler

Civic activists hold up banners saying "capital punishment" and "justice" in front of the Seoul Southern District Court, Wednesday, as a prison bus carrying the stepmother of a 16-month-old baby, Jung-in, arrives at the court for a hearing. YonhapProsecutors on Wednesday demanded the death penalty for the adoptive mother in a highly publicized child abuse case that led to the death of a 16-month-old baby girl. Prosecutors also requested during the trial at the Seoul Southern District Court that the defendant, surnamed Jang, be ordered to wear a tracking device for 30 years and be put under a five-year probation.For Jang's husband, who was also indicted along with her, the prosecution demanded a 7 1/2-year prison term. Jang was indicted for abusing their daughter, Jung-in, to death, and prosecutors later added a murder charge. The father was charged with child abuse and negligence.The toddler was adopted in February last year and died in October of severe abdominal injuries and internal bleeding that were caused by "strong external force." Her adoptive mother insisted the baby sustain

Apr 14, 2021
Prosecutors demand death penalty for adoptive mother in death of toddler

Chinese man under probe for violent behavior after 'dirty Chinese kimchi' argument

In this screenshot of a Weibo video from March 29, a man who appears to be naked wades in a pool of cabbage and grabs some of the vegetables soaked in a murky liquid while an excavator stirs them at a kimchi factory in China. Korea Times fileBy Ko Dong-hwanPolice on Tuesday said they are investigating a Chinese man who allegedly displayed violent behavior in a restaurant in Seoul after hearing other people talking about “dirty Chinese kimchi.”At a hotpot restaurant in the Sillim area of Gwanak District around 3 p.m., the Chinese man in his 50s, whose name is being withheld, heard a conversation from three men in their 70s sitting next to his table. The Chinese man, who was intoxicated at the time, started shouting at them after they said they had been reluctant to eat kimchi after watching a video of kimchi being made in China.The men were talking about a Weibo video from March that went viral in Korea after being shared on YouTube and Korean news outlets under the title, “China's obnoxious kimchi factory.”The video shows a naked man waist deep in a pool of br

Apr 14, 2021By Ko Dong-hwan
Chinese man under probe for violent behavior after 'dirty Chinese kimchi' argument

Drug smuggling into Korea soars during pandemic

Some of the drugs smuggled into Korea caught by Incheon Main Customs from January to March this year were concealed inside paper congratulatory cards and canned food, among others. Courtesy of Incheon Main CustomsBy Ko Dong-hwanThe number of visitors to Korea declined sharply due to lengthy self-quarantine measures amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But this has boosted shipments to Korea of online purchases from overseas, including illegal narcotics.Incheon Main Customs, which operates under the Korea Customs Service, said Monday that a total of 189 counts of smuggled drugs, weighing 99 kilograms in total, were confiscated between January and March this year. Sixteen people involved in the smuggling have been caught and handed over to prosecutors.Among the busted drugs, 96 kilograms were found concealed in international parcels or letters. That marks an increase of 68 percent year-on-year in terms of weight.Among the concealed drugs confiscated this year were 58 kilograms of methamphetamine, which is one of the most widely used illegal drugs in Korea. The amount was a big increase (by abou

Apr 13, 2021By Ko Dong-hwan
Drug smuggling into Korea soars during pandemic

Drug trafficking via international shipping surges in Korea amid pandemic

gettyimagesbankDrug trafficking using international shipping has sharply increased as overseas travel became nearly impossible and online purchases went up amid the coronavirus pandemic, a local customs office said Tuesday.The Incheon Main Customs said it busted 189 cases of drug smuggling into South Korea in the first quarter of this year and has referred 16 suspects to the prosecution. Of the total, 182 cases involved international shipments, compared with the 118 cases reported during the same period last year. The volume of drugs hidden in parcels or letters reached 96 kilograms, up 68 percent from 57 kg a year ago. In particular, the amount of confiscated methamphetamine more than doubled to 58 kg from 23 kg over the same period. The total amount of illicit drugs seized by the office reached 99 kg. Drug trafficking methods have become very sophisticated to avoid surveillance and detection, the customs office said.Many drug dealers buy drugs through secure messenger services or the dark web, an area of the internet only accessible through specific software or authorization, and m

Apr 13, 2021
Drug trafficking via international shipping surges in Korea amid pandemic

Drunk driver flees accident scene with blown tire

A Genesis SUV which collided with two parked cars in Busan's Buk District sits wrecked in the street without a rear tire, after the driver fled the scene. Courtesy of Busan Metropolitan Police AgencyBy Ko Dong-hwanA man is being investigated on suspicion of damaging parked vehicles and fleeing the scene of an accident while driving under the influence of alcohol.The 20-something driver of a black Genesis SUV allegedly crashed into two parked cars in the Gupo area of Busan's Buk District at around 1 a.m. The collision caused the Genesis' rear right tire to burst. Immediately, the driver drove on from the scene, with the rear tire rim shooting sparks as it ground against the asphalt road.A driver inside a Tuscan, one of the two cars hit, witnessed the getaway and reported it to police, which dispatched patrol cars to the area.Police pursued the Genesis for about two kilometers until the SUV was unable to drive any further. The SUV drove 14 kilometers in total with a blown tire.A police officer said the suspect refused to take a Breathalyzer test. He faces multiple charges including vio

Apr 12, 2021By Ko Dong-hwan
Drunk driver flees accident scene with blown tire
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