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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

Appeals court raises Yoon’s term to 7 years over obstruction of duty charges

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol was sentenced to seven years in prison on Wednesday after an appellate court found him guilty of abusing his presidential authority, obstructing official duties and fabricating documents over his handling of the 2024 martial law declaration and the subsequent investigation into his actions. The Seoul High Court increased his prison term to seven years, up from the five years handed down in the first trial. This case focused on the allegations that Yoon blocked his own arrest, overstepped his authority and tampered with documents. It is separate from the insurrection case that led to a life sentence on Feb. 19. “As sitting president at the time of the crimes, Yoon bore a heavy responsibility to uphold the Constitution and to protect and advance the people’s freedoms and rights, but instead he betrayed that duty and deepened social unrest through this case,” Judge Yoon Seong-sik said. The appeals court found that he infringed on the deliberation rights of nine Cabinet members who were left out of the Cabinet meeting that preceded the martial law decree

Apr 29, 2026By Jung Min-ho
Appeals court raises Yoon’s term to 7 years over obstruction of duty charges

Ex-President Yoon denies all charges in 1st trial hearing over interference in Marine death probe

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol's lawyers on Wednesday denied all charges during the first hearing of his trial over allegations of interfering in a probe into the 2023 death of a Marine. The ousted former president has been indicted on abuse of power and other charges for allegedly exerting undue influence on the probe to cover up its results that found a senior Marine commander responsible for the Marine's death in July 2023. "We deny everything in the indictment," Yoon's lawyer said at the Seoul Central District Court, claiming the former president does not know the now former Marine commander. "There is no motive to intervene in the investigation." Yoon, who appeared for the hearing, also argued against the case, dismissing allegations that he erupted in anger upon hearing the probe's results. Other defendants in the case, including former National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong and former Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup, also denied charges raised against them. The special counsel team believes Yoon made unlawful orders to the defense ministry and the presidential office at the time, com

Apr 29, 2026By Yonhap
Ex-President Yoon denies all charges in 1st trial hearing over interference in Marine death probe

Ex-Seoul councilor admits giving money to lawmaker in 1st trial

Former Seoul city councilor Kim Kyung admitted in her first trial Wednesday to giving 100 million won ($67,700) to former Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) lawmaker Kang Sun-woo for a party nomination ahead of the 2022 local elections. At the Seoul Central District Court trial, Kim's lawyers admitted the charges but said they may contest the prosecution's breach-of-trust and bribery claims. Kang's former aide, surnamed Nam, who arranged her meeting with Kim, also admitted to the charges. Kang's lawyers said they will state their position at the next hearing after reviewing all records. All three defendants appeared in court on the day. The next hearing is set for May 29. Kang and Kim were arrested and indicted last month on charges of accepting and giving bribes during their meeting at a hotel in Seoul's Yongsan district in January 2022. Kim was subsequently elected to the Seoul Metropolitan Council after being nominated by the DPK. In January this year, Kang left the DPK to become an independent and Kim resigned from the council.

Apr 29, 2026By Yonhap
Ex-Seoul councilor admits giving money to lawmaker in 1st trial

Over 6,700 kids repeatedly reported for suspected abuse last year

Over 6,700 children were repeatedly reported to police for suspected abuse last year, a lawmaker said Wednesday, citing data from the Korean National Police Agency. The number of children reported two or more times in 2025 due to suspected child abuse totaled 6,795, according to the police data released by Rep. Suh Beom-soo of the main opposition People Power Party. The police revamped the Abuse Prevention Officer system in January last year and have since tracked repeated reports by victim child, not the reporter's phone number. The largest group — 4,362 children — was reported twice, followed by 1,306 reported three times and 490 reported four times. As many as 114 children were reported 10 or more times. Separate welfare ministry data shows 50,242 suspected child abuse reports in 2024 and 24,492 of them were confirmed as abuse cases after government investigations. Meanwhile, child abuse cases where suspected perpetrators are not referred to the prosecution increased from 1,233 in 2021 to 1,735 in 2022, 2,399 in 2023 and 2,854 in 2025, according to police data.

Apr 29, 2026By Yonhap
Over 6,700 kids repeatedly reported for suspected abuse last year

Appeals court set to rule on ex-President Yoon's obstruction of justice case

An appeals court was set to rule Wednesday on former President Yoon Suk Yeol's trial on obstruction of justice and other charges stemming from his failed martial law bid, after a lower court sentenced him to five years in prison. The Seoul High Court was scheduled to hand down its verdict in a live-televised hearing at 3 p.m., following the ousted former president's January conviction for obstructing investigators from detaining him last year over his martial law declaration in late 2024. The lower court also found him guilty of violating the rights of his Cabinet members by calling only select members to a meeting to review his martial law plan, and creating and then discarding a false proclamation after the decree was lifted. The lower court had acquitted him of abuse of power charges for ordering the distribution of false press statements defending his declaration. Both Yoon and special counsel Cho Eun-suk's team appealed the ruling, with the special prosecutor demanding a 10-year sentence as they did at the lower court. The jailed former president has been standing a total of eight tr

Apr 29, 2026By Yonhap
Appeals court set to rule on ex-President Yoon's obstruction of justice case

Constitutional Court to hear GC Biopharma's case in 1st complaint against court ruling

The Constitutional Court said Tuesday it will hear biopharmaceutical company GC Biopharma Corp.'s constitutional complaint against a court ruling over a fine levied by the anti-trust regulator. It marks the first court ruling to be reviewed by the court since the recent enactment of a judicial reform law that allows constitutional complaints to be filed against finalized rulings. Since the law took effect last month, the court has received 525 complaints, rejecting 265 of the 266 cases that underwent preliminary review. The biopharmaceutical company is disputing a Supreme Court ruling that upheld the Fair Trade Commission's fine for rigging vaccine purchase bids between April 2017 and January 2019. The company had filed an administrative suit against the regulator's decision, but the Supreme Court ultimately rejected it in February without formal deliberation. The company filed the constitutional complaint against the ruling last month, arguing the Supreme Court denied its right to a trial.

Apr 28, 2026By Yonhap
Constitutional Court to hear GC Biopharma's case in 1st complaint against court ruling

Appeals court increases sentence for ex-first lady to 4 years for corruption

An appeals court on Tuesday increased the sentence for former first lady Kim Keon Hee from 20 months to four years in prison on corruption charges. The Seoul High Court handed down the sentence during a hearing that was televised live, after finding her partially guilty of involvement in a stock price manipulation scheme and guilty of accepting luxury gifts from the Unification Church. It acquitted her, however, of receiving free opinion poll results from a self-proclaimed power broker, upholding the lower court's ruling. Special counsel Min Joong-ki's team had sought a 15-year prison term for the wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol after indicting her on charges of violating the Capital Markets Act, the Political Funds Act and a law on the acceptance of bribes for mediation. The team accused her of manipulating the stock price of Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealer in Korea, to make 810 million won ($549,000) in illegal profits from 2010-12, receiving free opinion poll results from the power broker ahead of her husband's 2022 presidential election, and accepting two Chanel bags and a Graff

Apr 28, 2026By Yonhap
Appeals court increases sentence for ex-first lady to 4 years for corruption

Court orders partial cancellation of corporate taxes for Netflix Korea

A Seoul court on Tuesday ordered authorities to cancel 68.7 billion won ($ 46.6 million) in taxes levied on the local unit of U.S. streaming giant Netflix. The Seoul Administrative Court ruled partly in favor of Netflix Services Korea after the company filed a lawsuit seeking to nullify corporate tax and other levies imposed by local tax authorities in November 2023. In 2021, the National Tax Service slapped approximately 80 billion won in taxes on Netflix following an audit amid controversy that the company was paying relatively low corporate tax compared to the volume of its sales. The streaming service firm challenged the measure, seeking a cancellation of around 76.2 billion won of the levied taxes. At the center of the controversy is whether the payments made by Netflix's Korean unit to a Dutch affiliate should be treated as "copyright royalties" or "business profits." Tax authorities have argued that the money transferred to the Dutch affiliate should be regarded as copyright royalties, which are subject to taxation. The local unit of Netflix, however, claimed that payments under su

Apr 28, 2026By Yonhap
Court orders partial cancellation of corporate taxes for Netflix Korea

Police seek arrest warrant for teen in jewelry store theft

Police said Tuesday they plan to request an arrest warrant for a teenager accused of stealing gold bracelets from a jewelry store. The teenager posing as a customer entered a jewelry store in Gwangju, 30 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Monday afternoon, smashed a display case and fled with several gold bracelets, according to the Gyeonggi Gwangju Police Station. He allegedly used a bus emergency escape hammer to strike the display stand and committed the theft within seconds. He was apprehended on a street near the store about an hour later. The police are looking for the bracelets stolen by the teenager, which the store owner claims are worth 50 to 70 million won ($47,500).

Apr 28, 2026By Yonhap
Police seek arrest warrant for teen in jewelry store theft

Appeals court sentences former PPP floor leader to 2-year prison term over funds from Unification Church

An appeals court on Tuesday sentenced Rep. Kweon Seong-dong of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) to a two-year prison term on charges of accepting illegal political funds from the Unification Church. The Seoul High Court handed down the sentence after finding him guilty of accepting 100 million won ($68,000) in January 2022 from a church official seeking favors from the former administration of President Yoon Suk Yeol. The sentence matched the ruling of a lower court in January. "This case is far more serious than typical violations of the Political Funds Act, making severe punishment inevitable," a judge at the sentencing hearing said. "Even though the charges were corroborated by various evidence, he denied the crime from the investigation stage." The court also ordered Kweon to forfeit 100 million won, in line with the lower court ruling. Kweon, a five-term lawmaker once known as one of Yoon's close confidants, had argued he met the church official for a meal but did not receive money. His lawyers had also claimed the case did not fall under the mandate of special counsel Min

Apr 28, 2026By Yonhap
Appeals court sentences former PPP floor leader to 2-year prison term over funds from Unification Church
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