South Korea - The Korea Times

Calls grow for tougher punishment for workplace bullying

By Kim Hyun-binA growing number of people are calling for stricter measures against bullying by superiors in the workplace place, which often involves physical attacks, because current regulations are seen as ineffective. The demands have become especially strident after the disclosure of video clips in which Yang Jin-ho, CEO of WeDisk and Hankook Mirae Technology, is seen abusing and assaulting a worker, and ordering employees to kill chickens with a crossbow and a sword.Many labor human rights groups say the bizarre abuse by Yang portrays only the tip of the iceberg in some Korean work environments.Gabjil 119, a labor human rights organization, said it received reports of 225 cases of workplace abuse solely last month. “Gabjil” is a Korean term referring to bullying by people in higher-ranking positions.Some cases include a superior at a company get-together posing to hit an employee with a soju bottle and another choking a subordinate at the office.“There are superiors who treat junior employees as servants and abuse them verbally and physically. Such things are

Nov 5, 2018By Kim Hyun-bin

Calls grow for tougher punishment for workplace bullying

886 foreigners caught during 100-day crackdown

By Kim Jae-heunA total of 886 foreigners were apprehended for violence and illegal gambling among other crimes during a 100-day crackdown that started mid-July, with 89 being detained, according to police, Sunday.The crackdown _ between July 16 and Oct. 23 _ targeted foreign nationals involved in violent organized crime as well as those smuggling drugs and offering gambling. According to the National Police Agency, out of 402 cases, assault and violent crime ranked top with 115, followed by gambling at 89, drug trafficking with 81 cases and counterfeiting fourth with 53.Most of the violence involved physical fights between foreigners, alongside acts of vandalism, while intoxicated. Police enforced organized crime laws on foreigners engaged in sex trafficking and loan-sharking at local casinos. Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said they arrested nine foreigners and detained one, for loaning gambling money to Chinese tourists at a hotel casino in July and assaulting those who failed to pay them back. They also arrested 23 Chinese for smuggling methamphetamine into Korea in October. In

Nov 4, 2018By Kim Jae-heun

Court reviews military service exemption for personal beliefs

By Kim Hyun-binThe nation's top court is reviewing another case regarding objection to military service, but this time based on personal beliefs, not religious faith, according to legal circles, Sunday.A 20-year-old, surnamed Kwak, has been refusing to do his military service, claiming the mandatory conscription was unconstitutional, and the Supreme Court has been reviewing the case since September.The case review came to light after the court ruled, Thursday, religious belief is a valid reason to refuse compulsory military service, overturning its 2004 decision. In October 2016, Kwak received a notice of enlistment but was indicted as he did not show up and was sentenced to 18 months in prison at his trial which was upheld on appeal.Kwak's case is different from Jehovah's Witness conscientious objection as his beliefs are strictly personal rather than religious. “Military personnel can be recruited voluntarily, but the government has mandatory conscription without any alternative options, which is unconstitutional and a violation of individual rights,” Kwak claims. &ldqu

Nov 4, 2018By Kim Hyun-bin

Public rage growing over indiscriminate assault murder

A petition calling for strong punishment for the defendant in a brutal murder case has garnered over 300,000 supports as of Saturday. Captured from Cheong Wa Dae websiteBy Jung Da-minPublic rage is growing over the case of a man in his 20s who brutally assaulted and killed a woman in her 50s. A petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website calling for strong punishment of the man surpassed 300,000 as of Saturday, three days after it was posted. The presidential office is expected to respond to the petition, as it has passed the 200,000 threshold at which this is mandatory.The 20-year old defendant, surnamed Park, assaulted the victim at about 2:36 a.m. Oct. 4 ― repeatedly beating her about the head and face ― on the side of a road near a marina in Gohyeon-dong, Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province. The assault by the 180-centimeter tall man on the 130-centimeter tall women lasted for more than 30 minutes. The victim was 58, had no family, and was making a living by collecting waste cardboard and paper. CCTV Video: https://bit.ly/2BEs466 (from Yonhapnews YouTube channel)Passersbys intervened

Nov 3, 2018

Public rage growing over indiscriminate assault murder

Police raid 'abusive' CEO's home, offices

Investigators from the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency carry seized materials from their search of the office of WeDisk, a company owned by Yang Jin-ho, an IT CEO, in Bundang, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. Yang is accused of abusing and assaulting workers. / YonhapBy Kim Rahn Police have searched the offices and home of Yang Jin-ho, an IT entrepreneur, over his alleged abuse and assault of workers and killing of chickens.  His companies will also be subject to labor authorities’ special inspection for alleged violation of labor-related laws.  On Friday, some 40 investigators from the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency searched 10 locations, including Yang’s house in Bundang in Seongnam, and the offices of WeDisk nearby and Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province ― two of several companies Yang owns.  The search followed the recent disclosure of video clips in which he slaps a former employee of WeDisk and forces workers to kill chickens with a crossbow and a Japanese sword at a workshop. The inv

Nov 2, 2018By Kim Rahn

Police raid 'abusive' CEO's home, offices

Besieged IT chief resigns

By Kang Seung-wooAn IT entrepreneur, under heavy fire for abusing employees and killing chickens, said Thursday that he would step down as CEO of his two companies. Yang Jin-ho“I made huge mistakes to others without understanding that my dogmatic and arrogant behavior could seriously hurt them,” Yang Jin-ho, chairman of online storage service provider WeDisk and robot developer K-Technology, said in his written apology posted on social media.“I sincerely apologize for the offense that I have caused and I will take full responsibility for what I have done.”He concluded: “I will resign from all my positions and not assume any posts that could affect executives and employees.”Yang's apology came after his wrongdoings came to light after an independent news outlet revealed footage of him abusing and insulting an ex-employee earlier this week. In addition, a subsequent video showed him ordering his employees to kill chickens with a crossbow and a Japanese sword to make chicken soup for dinner at a workshop in 2016. These videos led police to launch an i

Nov 1, 2018By Kang Seung-woo

Police start probe into CEO's attack on ex-worker

Yang Jin-ho, CEO of Hankook Mirae Technology, assaults an ex-employee in the face several times in this video released by News Tapa, Tuesday. The video was taken in April 2015 in the office of WeDisk, an online file-sharing site Yang owns in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province. / Screen capture from News TapaBy Jung Hae-myoung The police have launched an investigation into Yang Jin-ho, CEO of Hankook Mirae Technology, for physically and verbally assaulting a former employee of one of his companies, according to the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency. The abuse became known through a video clip disclosed on Tuesday by News Tapa, a news outlet run by the Korea Center for Investigative Journalism. In the video taken in April 2015, Yang slaps a former staffer's head several times and curses the man in front of other workers in the office of WeDisk, an online file-sharing site Yang owns. He orders the man to kneel down in apology, but hits him because he thought the apology was not sincere enough. Yang assaulted the man because the worker left comments critical of him on a bulletin board of t

Oct 31, 2018

Gov't confirms soldiers' assaults during Gwangju uprising

By Kim Jae-heunThe government has confirmed a number of cases of sexual violence committed against female citizens by soldiers during the May 18 Democratic Uprising in Gwangju in 1980. This is the first time any government has acknowledged the past administration's sex crimes against civilians.A joint fact-finding team, launched by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the Ministry of National Defense and the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) announced Wednesday it had found 17 cases of sexual violence by troops operating under martial law, other cases of sexual harassment and the torture of citizens.The government launched the investigation into what happened 38 years ago, after an anonymous victim testified about sexual assault in May this year. The joint investigation team has been collecting victims' statements and related documents since then.Rape victims were threatened with guns before being raped by multiple soldiers, according to the testimonies. Victims varied in age from teenage students to housewives in their 30s. Female protesters who were detained

Oct 31, 2018By Kim Jae-heun

Ruling on wartime forced laborers paves way for more compensation suits

Lee Chun-sik talks at a press conference held at the office of Lawyers for a Democratic Society, near the Supreme Court in southern Seoul, after winning his compensation suit against Nippon Steel for forced labor during Japan's colonial rule of Korea. / YonhapBy Lee Suh-yoonThe Supreme Court's landmark decision made Tuesday, which recognized the right of wartime forced laborers to claim damages from a Japanese firm, is expected to open the floodgates for compensation suits by other victims. “Tuesday's ruling will help draw out new compensation lawsuits from other victims,” Kim Se-eun, the lawyer who represented the four plaintiffs against Nippon Steel, told The Korea Times, Wednesday. “After the ruling, the court administration reached out to me to schedule court hearings for the other forced laborer cases I am representing, against Mitsubishi, Nachi-Fujikoshi, and Nippon Steel — cases that have been pending in the lower courts for a while.”The Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling, ordering Nippon Steel to pay 100 million won ($87,000) to each

Oct 31, 2018

Ruling on wartime forced laborers paves way for more compensation suits

VIDEO Brutal CEO orders employees to slaughter chicken

A WeDisk employee strikes out with a Japanese blade at a chicken that was flung into the air by another employee during the company's workshop at a mansion in Hongcheon County in Gangwon Province in 2016. Captured from News TapaBy Lee Min-youngA team of investigative journalists has revealed another video that contains the bad behavior of Hankook Mirae Technology Chairman Yang Jin-ho, who ignited public rage Tuesday when a video showing him brutally attacking a former employee was disclosed. This one shows him slaughtering a chicken.The second video report, produced by investigative journalist teams News Tapa and Sherlock, was put on Facebook Wednesday under the title "Yang Jin-ho's order: Kill the Chicken."# Click here to watch the videoIn the video, made during a workshop, Yang sets a chicken free in a yard and forces his employees to hunt it down with a bow and arrow.A meter-long blade is also involved in the brutal slaughter of the bird, with Yang ordering his employees to strike the chicken while it is in the air. As the employees continuously miss the target, Yang hysterically

Oct 31, 2018By Lee Min-young

Law & Crime

Law & Crime

Calls grow for tougher punishment for workplace bullying

886 foreigners caught during 100-day crackdown

Court reviews military service exemption for personal beliefs

Public rage growing over indiscriminate assault murder

Police raid 'abusive' CEO's home, offices

Besieged IT chief resigns

Police start probe into CEO's attack on ex-worker

Gov't confirms soldiers' assaults during Gwangju uprising

Ruling on wartime forced laborers paves way for more compensation suits

VIDEO Brutal CEO orders employees to slaughter chicken

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