South Korea - The Korea Times

Head of 'comfort women' shelter found dead amid probe: police

A shelter for surviving victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery in Mapo, Seoul. The head of the shelter was found dead on Sunday at her apartment in Paju, north of Seoul.  Korea Times fileA woman running a shelter for South Korean victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery has been found dead in her home, police said Sunday, amid a widening probe into a corruption scandal involving its owners.Prosecutors are investigating allegations that activist group the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance misused funds meant for the so-called "comfort women" -- a euphemism for Japan's former war-era sex slaves.The 60-year-old woman was believed to have taken her own life, police said. "She came home by herself and the door was locked," police told AFP without giving the woman's name.Officers said they did not believe anyone else was involved in her death. The reason for her death was not known, but South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported she previously said she was going through a hard time after prosecutors raided the shelter.The plight of comfort women has been a thorny issue bet

Jun 7, 2020

Head of 'comfort women' shelter found dead amid probe: police

Donors sue operator of shelter for Japan's sex slavery victims in donation scandal

The House of Sharing in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province / Korea Times fileA group of donors to a residential facility for surviving victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery has filed a lawsuit against the center's operator amid allegations of fund misappropriation. Employees of the House of Sharing foundation have recently accused the organization of misusing billions of won collected for the so-called former “comfort women.” Five women currently live in the shelter in Gwangju, southeast of Seoul, affiliated with the nation's largest Buddhist sect, the Jogye Order. "There are suspicions that the House of Sharing intended to use billions of won in donations to build a hotel-style nursing home, not to support the elderly victims," said Kim Young-ho, who heads an internet-based association of about 130 donorsTwenty-three members of the donors' group filed a lawsuit with the Seoul Central District Court on Thursday. They demand the foundation return their donations valued at 50.74 million won ($41,995)."The fund was meant for the welfare of the women and should not be used for th

Jun 6, 2020

Donors sue operator of shelter for Japan's sex slavery victims in donation scandal

Military admits security failure over illegal Chinese entrants on boats

Police search the boat allegedly used by a group of Chinese who smuggled themselves into Korea, in the coastal city of Taean, South Chungcheong Province, May 25. YonhapMilitary radars, coastal CCTVs and other surveillance equipment captured a small rubber boat smuggling a group of Chinese into South Korea last month, but guards on duty failed to notice it until after the Chinese reached the shore and fled, officials said Friday.On May 21, eight Chinese arrived in the western coastal city of Taean undetected on a 1.5-ton leisure rubber boat and then fled. The boat was found two days later after a report by civilians, according to the Coast Guard and the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS)."Our probe found that the boat involved in the May case was captured by military radar six times, but soldiers in charge of the monitoring failed to detect the boat," a JCS officer told reporters.Coastal CCTVs and thermal observation devices (TODs) also captured their arrival several times, but the troops simply thought it was an ordinary boat being used by civilians for leisure activities, he added. A simil

Jun 5, 2020

Military admits security failure over illegal Chinese entrants on boats

Court begins process to sell assets of Japanese firm involved in wartime forced labor

This file photo shows Korean workers forcibly taken to Japan during the Japanese colonial rule of Korea (1910-45). On Oct. 30, 2018, the Supreme Court upheld a 2013 ruling on damages claims filed by four victims and ordered Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. (NSSM) to pay each victim 100 million won ($87,720). YonhapA local court has embarked on a process to effectuate its ruling on seizing assets of a Japanese firm involved in wartime forced labor as the country's government failed to deliver it.According to the legal representatives for four Korean plaintiffs Wednesday, the Pohang branch of Daegu District Court, in southeastern Korea, decided Monday to publicly notice the court's ruling made last year on seizing the Korean assets of Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. over Tokyo's World War II forced labor.The assets in question are 194,794 shares, worth around 973 million won ($799,400), in PNR, a joint venture set up by Nippon Steel and South Korean steelmaker POSCO, which recycles byproducts from steelmaking.In 2018, South Korea's Supreme Court order

Jun 4, 2020

Court begins process to sell assets of Japanese firm involved in wartime forced labor

Prosecutors seek arrest warrant for Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong over accounting fraud

Samsung Group heir Jay Y. LeeSouth Korean prosecutors have requested an arrest warrant against Samsung Group heir Jay Y. Lee and two former company executives, they said on Thursday, in an investigation of a controversial 2015 merger and alleged accounting fraud.The move spells fresh legal trouble for Lee, who already faces trial on a charge of bribery aimed at winning support to succeed ailing group patriarch Lee Kun-hee, and which involved former President Park Geun-hye.Prosecutors said the warrant against Lee was sought on suspicions of stock price manipulation, among other offences.Samsung declined to comment.Lee, 51, spent a year in detention until the bribery case was suspended in 2018, but the possibility of a tougher sentence has emerged after the Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling on the case last year.Prosecutors have been investigating suspected accounting fraud at drug company Samsung Biologics after the Korean financial watchdog complained the firm’s value had been inflated by 4.5 trillion won ($3.7 billion) in 2015.Last month, Lee was questioned by pros

Jun 4, 2020

Prosecutors seek arrest warrant for Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong over accounting fraud

Last-ditch effort to rescue Samsung heir

Professor accused of raping graduate student

Kyung Hee UniversityBy Park Si-soo A professor at Kyung Hee University is under criminal investigation over allegations he raped an intoxicated graduate student.Police recently wrapped up their preliminary investigation and forwarded the case to the prosecution, suggesting the professor be indicted. According to police, the professor drank alcohol with two graduate school students in early November. On their way back home drunk, the professor saw one off, saying “I will take care of her (the alleged victim) to her home.” Then he took her to a motel and raped her, police said.The professor denies the allegations. The case drew media attention recently after the alleged victim complained to the school over the professor teaching after the investigation began. A school official said a separate investigation is under way to figure out what happened and the school will decide on how to handle him based on its results.

Jun 3, 2020

Professor accused of raping graduate student

KBS comedian under probe over spycam case

KBS Courtesy of KBSBy Park Ji-wonThe police are investigating a KBS comedian for his alleged involvement in the installation of a hidden camera disguised as a mobile phone charger in a women's bathroom of the broadcaster. His name has not been made public due to privacy concerns. He has been working for KBS as a comedian since 2018 mainly for its flagship stand-up comedy show “Gag Concert.” He debuted as a comedian in 2018 and signed a one-year contract with KBS as a freelance comedian back then.KBS claimed he is not a full-time employee, threatening to take legal action against any media outlets that identify the suspect as a KBS employee.Feeling pressure, the comedian made his Instagram account private on Tuesday.He also voluntarily appeared for police questioning over the charges of violating the special law on sexual violence on Monday. He did not reply to questions asking for confirmation of the case.He was questioned days after police started their investigation after a KBS producer found the illegal device on May 28. The building where the device was installed has

Jun 3, 2020By Park Ji-won

KBS comedian under probe over spycam case

Man accused of posting threats on White House website acquitted

The White HouseThe Korea Times published an article titled “S. Korean gets jail term for threatening to kill US envoy to Seoul” on Nov. 11, 2016. It said a South Korean man was sentenced to an 18-month prison term for posting letters on the White House website, threatening to kill the top U.S. envoy to Seoul and rape the second daughter of U.S. President Barack Obama.However, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court's not guilty verdict for him on March 12, 2020. He said he never accessed the White House website, nor did he post any threatening messages. He has welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court, which cleared his name.

Jun 3, 2020

Man accused of posting threats on White House website acquitted

Korean drivers angry at new school zone traffic law

Two students walk on a road in a school zone in Seoul in this file photo. A new law delivers harsher punishment to drivers who either kill or injure children in school zones, but it has also drawn a backlash from drivers for possible discrimination against them. Korea Times fileBy Kim Se-jeongKorea is not a safe place to be a pedestrian. According to OCED statistics, Korea has the highest pedestrian casualty rate from car accidents, 3.3 per every 100,000 compared to the OECD average of one. The same goes for children in school zones.Although drivers are required to slow down to 30 kilometers an hour in designated school zones, not all children are protected ― last year six lost their lives and 577 were injured.Lax law has been to blame. In March, the law was finally toughened, triggered by another tragic accident, imposing graver punishments on drivers who either kill or injure children in school zones. Under the revised law, a driver who kills a child younger than 13 years old is now subject to a minimum three years in prison and up to life imprisonment. If a child is injured, the d

Jun 2, 2020By Kim Se-jeong

Korean drivers angry at new school zone traffic law

Stepmother 'forced son, 9, into suitcase'

The woman allegedly pushed her stepson into a suitcase.By Park Si-soo Police are investigating a child abuse case in which a woman allegedly pushed her nine-year-old stepson into a suitcase against his will. The woman, 43, reportedly admitted to police what she had done, and police plan to seek an arrest warrant.According to police, a neighbor called the 119 emergency service Monday evening after finding the boy in a suitcase outside the woman's house in South Chungcheong Province.The boy was unconscious, according to investigators, who added that there were several bruises across his body. The boy is recovering in hospital.

Jun 2, 2020

Law & Crime