South Korea - The Korea Times

Ex-staffer at US Embassy in Seoul given jail term for selling fake brand bags

By Bahk Eun-jiA former employee of the United States' Embassy in Korea and his wife have received prison terms for selling counterfeit goods while they were working here. According to a press release issued by the U.S. Department of Justice on March 18, Gene Leroy Thompson, 54, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and three year's supervised release, while his wife, Guojiao Becky Zhang, 40, was sentenced to three years of supervised release, including eight months of home detention. The couple were also fined $229,302. Thompson, who was in charge of the information service at the U.S. Embassy in Korea, was found to have sold fake brand handbags through multiple e-commerce platforms from September 2017 to December 2019.The United States Embassy building in Seoul / YonhapAccording to the court documents, the couple conspired with another person in Nisa, Oregon, where Thompson once lived, and sold 5,000 fake purses with fabricated tags of the popular U.S. handbag brand, Vera Bradley.Thompson used his State Department computer at the embassy in Seoul to create a number of account

Mar 23, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji

Police investigate obstetrician accused of performing C-section while drunk

A public petition posted on the Cheong Wa Dae website, Sunday, demands heavy punishment of an obstetrician who allegedly performed a C-section operation under the influence of alcohol, during which one of the twin babies died. / Screen captured from the Cheong Wa Dae websiteBy Lee Hyo-jinThe police have launched an investigation into the allegation that an obstetrician of a maternity clinic located in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, performed a C-section operation while drunk, resulting in the death of one of the patient's twin babies. Cheongju Heungdeok Police Station said Tuesday that they have confirmed that the doctor was drunk during the surgery, performed on Oct. 9, 2020, and are conducting a further investigation into the case.Police had booked the doctor for driving under the influence on his way to the hospital on the same day. To determine whether there had been any medical malpractice during the operation, the law enforcement authorities have requested an investigation at the Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency, as well as the Korea Medical Associa

Mar 23, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin

Police investigate obstetrician accused of performing C-section while drunk

Police searching man who 'threw coffee at women for no reason'

GettyimagesbankPolice said Tuesday they are searching for a man who allegedly threw lukewarm coffee at women on the street in a suspected hate crime against females.Police in Changwon, 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul, received reports that a man on a bicycle hurled coffee at a total of six women who were alone at a bus stop or on a bench at night from March 9-21. The victims are all in their 20s. Police are trying to track down the suspect through closed-circuit TV footage."As it is suspected as a crime targeting women, we are mobilizing all possible resources to track down the suspect," an officer said. (Yonhap)

Mar 23, 2021

Police searching man who 'threw coffee at women for no reason'

Golf-related prostitution on rise in Korea

GettyimagesbankBy Ko Dong-hwanAs people are discouraged from large gatherings in person due to new norms of social distancing to prevent the risk of COVID-19 transmission, the public have turned to all manner of online services, even for purchasing sexual services. Prostitution remains a ubiquitous yet illegal service in Korea and online brokers sell services that on the surface appear to be pairing golfing companions but in fact connect golf-playing buyers of sex with stick-swinging prostitutes.The practice is difficult for police to monitor because the brokers connecting clients and prostitutes avoid using direct language that implies the actual activity when communicating with involved parties online ― rather using jargon or language better understood in a colloquial sense ― for what is put up as setting up a friendly round of golf with a player partner.According to a screenshot of a mobile text message sent by one of the brokers in response to a service inquiry, the broker used Koreanized English vocabulary: “after” and “handi.” The former refers to the se

Mar 22, 2021By Ko Dong-hwan

Golf-related prostitution on rise in Korea

Police raid LH regional office in land speculation probe

The LH office in Jeonju, Monday / YonhapPolice on Monday raided a regional office of the state housing developer, Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH), as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of land speculation by LH employees.The Jeonbuk Police Agency said its investigators seized relevant materials at the LH office in Jeonju, 243 kilometers south of Seoul, and the home and vehicle of an unnamed person involved in the case."We are executing search warrants for two separate cases and will reveal the details after further investigation," a police official said.An LH official based at the regional office declined to comment on a matter that is currently under investigation.The operation is the latest in a series of police raids conducted after two civic groups accused 14 LH officials of using insider information to buy land in Gwangmyeong and Siheung, both south of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province, before the areas were designated as public housing development sites last month.A government task force has since identified a total of 20 LH officials and 23 employees of local governm

Mar 22, 2021

Police raid LH regional office in land speculation probe

Gov't identifies 28 more public sector employees in probe into LH scandal

Vice Minister of government policy coordination at the Prime Minister's Office Choi Chang-won, left, speaks during a press conference at Government Complex Seoul in Jongno District, Friday. YonhapThe government has identified 28 more public sector employees who bought land at "new town" development sites, including 23 suspected of engaging in speculative transactions, an official said Friday.Choi Chang-won, vice minister of government policy coordination at the Prime Minister's Office, said the 28 public servants and public corporation employees were uncovered during the second stage of an inquiry into a massive land speculation scandal centered on the state housing developer, the Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH)."Of the 28, we suspect speculation by 23 and will refer them (to the police) for investigation," Choi, who heads an interagency government task force in charge of dealing with the LH scandal, said during a press conference.The remaining five are believed to have inherited the land from family members and their cases will be transferred to a government investigative team as

Mar 19, 2021

Gov't identifies 28 more public sector employees in probe into LH scandal

LH officials summoned by police in widening land speculation investigation

Man found not guilty of murdering Cambodian wife

Gettyimagebank By Yi Whan-wooA Korean who was charged with killing his pregnant wife from Cambodia in a staged car crash was found not guilty by the Supreme Court, Friday.The top court, however, said the man was responsible for causing the accident by falling asleep at the wheel and accordingly sentenced him to two years behind bars.The case infuriated advocates of multicultural families and Cambodian residents, after the man was charged with murder and insurance fraud.The man was arrested for crashing his van into a truck parked on the side of a highway in August 2014. His Cambodian wife, who was seven months pregnant, was in the passenger seat and was killed.He was charged with both murder and insurance fraud after it was revealed that he bought insurance policies for his wife, entitling him to billions of won upon her death.A district court found the man not guilty. But a high court later sentenced him to life in prison.

Mar 19, 2021By Yi Whan-woo

Man found not guilty of murdering Cambodian wife

LH officials summoned by police in widening land speculation investigation

A Korea Land and Housing Corp employee is escorted to inside the Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency in Suwon's Jangan District in Gyeonggi Province, Friday, to receive an interrogation on suspected charges of illegalities in land purchases. YonhapEmployees of a state housing development corporation at the center of an unfolding land speculation scandal were summoned by police on Friday to be grilled about their suspected illegalities in land purchases.A special investigation team of the Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency called in employees of the state-run Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH), who are accused of using insider information to buy farmland in districts southwest of Seoul ahead of their designation by the government as candidate sites for new town development. The summons came 17 days after the civic groups People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and Lawyers for a Democratic Society accused 14 LH employees of purchasing land in Gwangmyeong and Siheung, Gyeonggi Province cities just southwest of Seoul, based on insider information. On March 11, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun ann

Mar 19, 2021

LH officials summoned by police in widening land speculation investigation

Gov't identifies 28 more public sector employees in probe into LH scandal

Police hand over girl's death, baby swap case to prosecutors

Police officers escort a woman, center, who is accused of switching her baby with her adult daughter's baby, out of Gumi Police Station in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, Wednesday. YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyePolice wrapped up their investigation into the death of a three-year-old girl and alleged baby swap by her biological mother and transferred the case to the prosecution, while many allegations remain unsolved. Gumi police said, Wednesday, they faced limitations in finding out the truth as the biological mother, the key suspect, continues to deny all allegations in the absence of concrete evidence.The case has shocked the public as DNA tests confirmed that the baby's biological mother was her 48-year-old grandmother according to the family registry, identified only by her surname Seok, and not the 22-year-old woman ― Seok's daughter ― who raised the baby.The girl was found dead in an empty home in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, Feb. 10, after the 22-year-old woman, believed to be the girl's mother, identified only by her surname Kim moved out leaving the three-year-old girl to fend fo

Mar 17, 2021By Jun Ji-hye

Police hand over girl's death, baby swap case to prosecutors

Property speculation scandal sweeps Korean politics

Apartment buildings in Seoul / YonhapAllegations of unfair or illicit real estate speculation by public officials are sending shock waves throughout South Korea, with a potential political storm brewing a year ahead of the presidential election. Many expect it to dominate state affairs in the final year of the Moon Jae-in administration. The explosive issue could affect not only the April 7 mayoral by-elections in Seoul and Busan but also the presidential poll next March, depending on the results of far-reaching investigations.At least 20 employees at Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH), the government's housing supply arm, are suspected of having purchased huge swathes of undeveloped land around Seoul over a few years with undisclosed information on plans to construct major residential towns there.The scandal has rocked the political circles as it emerged at a time when public discontent over the nation's soaring housing and rent prices runs high. Moon's approval ratings, already affected by his left-leaning administration's failure to curb the hikes, fell significantly once again.The

Mar 17, 2021

Property speculation scandal sweeps Korean politics

Police raid land ministry over mounting LH scandal

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