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Supreme Court upholds 20-year prison term for former President Park Geun-hye

Former President Park Geun-hye / Korea Times fileThe Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a 20-year sentence for former President Park Geun-hye in a high-profile corruption case, closing the yearslong saga that gripped the country and ultimately removed her from office in 2017.In the sentencing hearing over an appeal filed by prosecutors against a ruling in July that reduced Park's prison term, the country's highest court maintained the ruling, including a fine of 18 billion won (US$15 million) and the decision to clear Park of extortion and part of abuse of power charges.Park will have to serve 22 years in prison, which includes a two-year prison term for her 2018 conviction for illegal meddling in a nomination process of the then-ruling Saenuri Party. Given the time that she already served, she will get released in 2039.The final verdict Thursday brought to an end one of the country's biggest political scandals, three years and nine months after she was first indicted over the corruption case.Park was ousted from Cheong Wa Dae in March 2017 due to her involvement in the massive abuse-o

Jan 14, 2021
Supreme Court upholds 20-year prison term for former President Park Geun-hye

Open chat rooms become breeding ground for criminal activity

Concern is growing here over open chat rooms encouraging various criminal acts such as brutal animal abuse and sexual exploitation of minors. GettyimagesbankBy Bahk Eun-jiConcerns are growing over open chat rooms in which users show and encourage various criminal acts such as brutal animal abuse and the sexual exploitation of minors.Many have called for stricter regulation of such digital spaces and harsher punishments for those who take advantage of their anonymity to encourage and also perpetrate crimes, but some also worry that freedom of expression could be overly suppressed in the process. According to Seongdong Police Station, Wednesday, an investigation to identify certain chat room participants was recently launched after the Korean Animal Welfare Association filed a complaint with the police.In an open online chat room named “Gore Professionals” on KakaoTalk, the nation's most popular mobile messenger app, anonymous users reportedly shared pictures and videos that showed stray cats being brutally tortured and killed. A petition posted on the presidential office's

Jan 13, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Open chat rooms become breeding ground for criminal activity

Shincheonji leader found not guilty of hindering virus effort

Lee Man-hee, the founder of Shincheonji, speaks during a press conference held on March 3, 2020, in Gyeonggi Province. A court on Jan. 13, 2021, acquitted him of obstructing the government's response to COVID-19. Korea Times fileA local court on Wednesday acquitted the leader of a minor religious sect of charges of obstructing the government's response to COVID-19 during an outbreak at his church last year.Lee Man-hee, the 89-year-old founder of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, was indicted in August on charges of misleading health authorities on the size and locations of the church's gatherings in February, which were blamed for a massive spike in coronavirus cases in the country.Prosecutors sought a five-year prison sentence and a 3 million won (US$2,738) fine for Lee, saying he mocked the government's authority and obstructed its efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19.Lee has denied the charges against him. (Yonhap)

Jan 13, 2021
Shincheonji leader found not guilty of hindering virus effort

Trial begins for abusive adoptive mother on murder charge

Flowers and photos of Jung-in, a 16-month-old baby girl who died after being abused by her adoptive mother, are placed near the Seoul District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, Tuesday. YonhapSouth Korean prosecutors demanded Wednesday that the adoptive mother who is blamed for the death of a 16-month-old baby girl stand trial on a murder charge.On the first day of the high-profile case at the Seoul Southern District Court, prosecutors added a murder charge against the adoptive mother, surnamed Jang. She was previously indicted on charges including child abuse resulting in death. The adoptive father was charged with child abuse and neglect.Prosecutors, however, reevaluated the cause of her death with forensic experts after suspicions arose that Jang might have had an intention to kill the baby, or at least might have been aware that the girl could die from the suspected beatings and other abusive behaviors. If convicted, Jang is subject to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment or heavier.At the trial, Jang's lawyer denied the accusation that his client intentionally harmed the

Jan 13, 2021
Trial begins for abusive adoptive mother on murder charge

Victim cries as two CEOs found not guilty

Cho Soon-mi, one of the victims in the toxic humidifier sterilizer case, sheds tears in front of the Seoul Central District Court, Tuesday, after the court found both Hong Ji-ho, the former CEO of SK Chemical, and Ahn Yong-chan, the former CEO of Aekyung Industrial, not guilty of professional negligence resulting in deaths. The two were accused of manufacturing and selling a humidifier sterilizer that included harmful chemicals in the early 2000s, allegedly resulting in deaths and chronic illnesses. The court said the causal relations between the victims' lung-related illnesses and the chemicals have not been firmly established. / Yonhap

Jan 12, 2021
Victim cries as two CEOs found not guilty

Two former executives acquitted in humidifier cleaner deaths case

The former CEO of Aekyung Industrial Ahn Yong-chan enters the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho District on Tuesday for a trial on charge of manufacturing and selling a humidifier sterilizer that includes harmful chemicals in the early 2000s. YonhapHong Ji-ho, the former CEO of SK Chemical, leaves the Seoul Central District Court after being acquitted in a trial held Tuesday on charge of manufacturing and selling a humidifier sterilizer that includes harmful chemicals. YonhapA court on Tuesday acquitted the former heads of SK Chemical Co. and the consumer goods company Aekyung Industrial Co. in a deadly humidifier sterilizer case. found both Hong Ji-ho, the former CEO of SK Chemical, and Ahn Yong-chan, the former CEO of Aekyung Industrial, not guilty of professional negligence resulting in death.They were accused of manufacturing and selling Humidifier Mate, a humidifier sterilizer that includes harmful chemicals, in the early 2000s.But the court said the causal relations between lung-related illnesses such as asthma and the chemical substances used to make the product ― methylc

Jan 12, 2021
Two former executives acquitted in humidifier cleaner deaths case

Biz owners now face up to more than 10 years in prison for workplace deaths

A Korea Post worker sorts out boxes of parcels to deliver at a parcel depot handling the eastern Seoul zone in the city's Gwangjin District on Jan. 14, 2020. YonhapNew sentencing guidelines will subject business owners to up to 10 1/2 years behind bars in the event of their employees' deaths owing to lax safety or health protection measures, the top court said Tuesday. According to the Supreme Court, its Sentencing Commission fixed the guidelines on workplace disaster cases during its online meeting held a day earlier. The new guidelines call for jail sentences between one and two and a half years for business owners for on-duty deaths at their workplaces blamed on violations of safety and health protection requirements under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the court said.The sentencing could go up to 10 1/2 years for those who commit the crime repeatedly or again within five years of being convicted, the court said. Compared with the past, the updated guidelines stipulate a jail term of up to three years longer for workplace disasters. They also newly adopted a sentencing st

Jan 12, 2021
Biz owners now face up to more than 10 years in prison for workplace deaths

Lawyer gets suspended jail term over falsified refugee applications

gettyimagesbankBy Jun Ji-hyeA Korean lawyer has received a suspended jail term for falsifying information in refugee applications for 184 Chinese nationals, the Supreme Court said, Monday. The top court rejected the lawyer's appeal and upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced him to a one-year prison term, suspended for two years, for violating the Immigration Control Act.It also confirmed a 5 million won (4,600) fine imposed on a law firm for which the lawyer, identified only by his surname Kang, was working.According to the court verdict, Kang helped 184 Chinese people, who were seeking to continue working in Korea, apply for refugee status by forging relevant documents from October 2016 to December 2017, in return for 2 million won to 3 million won per case.A broker connected the lawyer with the applicants. In the applications, the lawyer fabricated various stories to support the refugee status applications, including assertions that the applicants would suffer oppression in China for being part of minor religious groups such as Falun Gong.The lawyer also employed an undocumente

Jan 11, 2021By Jun Ji-hye
Lawyer gets suspended jail term over falsified refugee applications

Police detain mother of 3-year-old over child abuse

By Bahk Eun-jiPolice have launched an investigation after a three-year-old girl was found outside her house without sufficient clothing Friday, during the ongoing recent cold snap in Seoul. Gangbuk Police Station said Sunday that they have detained the girl's mother on charges of child abandonment and neglect.gettyimagesbankAccording to police, they received a report at around 5:40 p.m. that a girl was seen on the street, near a convenience store close to her place of residence.The temperature in Seoul dropped to minus 11 degrees Celsius, Friday, with a wind chill factor taking it to minus 17 degrees, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).When she was found by a passerby, she asked for help and said she hadn't eaten anything all day. The three-year-old had been at home for about nine hours after her mother went to work in the morning. She went outside for a minute and accidentally locked herself out of the house. Officers immediately took the three-year-old girl into care before sending her to a close relative rather than a welfare facility.They said it was assum

Jan 10, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Police detain mother of 3-year-old over child abuse

Disclosing photos banned in international marriage ads

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family banned the disclosing of faces in 'international' marriage advertisements, Friday. / Screen captured from YouTubeBy Lee Hyo-jin The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced Friday that marriage broker agencies are now banned from disclosing photos of clients in their advertisements, following the enforcement of revisions to laws they are subject to.The revisions prohibits matchmakers from including clients' photographs in their ads, as well as personal information such as their weight and height.The ministry said although the regulations are mainly aimed at “international” marriage advertisements, the same rules apply to agencies targeting matchmaking between Koreans.Violators will face to up to three years in prison or a fine up to 30 million won ($27,400), as well as administrative measures such as suspension or cancellation of their business licenses.Also, marriage brokers must undergo mandatory education programs on the protection of human rights and understanding multicultural societies.Until Friday, only ads that di

Jan 8, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Disclosing photos banned in international marriage ads
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