South Korea - The Korea Times

National Assembly urged to remove scandal-linked judges

Members of civic groups hold a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Tuesday, urging the Assembly to impeach six judges involved in the judiciary power abuse scandal. / YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooA ruling party lawmaker, progressive lawyers and civic groups have urged the National Assembly to submit a motion to impeach six judges linked to a judicial power abuse case.The call is in line with last week's nearly all-party agreement to form an independent judicial panel to “fairly” deal with the scandal, in which former Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae allegedly used high-profile trials as bargaining chips in dealings with the presidential office over the establishment of a new court of appeals. “It has been five months since the power abuse scandal came to light,” the group said at a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Tuesday. “Despite ever-escalating distrust of the judiciary, judges who collaborated with the crimes by Yang and the National Court Administration still remain in their posts. “Rather than just exclud

Oct 30, 2018By Kang Seung-woo

National Assembly urged to remove scandal-linked judges

Porous security: Foreigners slip in illegally through Incheon Port

In this June 2016 photo, Korean cars wait at the Port of Incheon to be exported. Korea Times fileBy Ko Dong-hwanPoor security at the Port of Incheon on Korea's west coast has been blamed for allowing two foreignsailors to enter the country illegally in the past week.A Chinese sailor, 53, entered through Dongbang storage yard at the international harbor's North Port at 9 a.m. on Oct. 22.Incheon Port Security said its personnel appear to have led the man through the port's main entrance after thinking he was a Korean working at an unloading dock. On Oct. 28, a Vietnamese sailor, 24, slipped through port security. He arrived on the Belize-registered ship JIGUI three days before.The sailor made his move at Hyundai Steel Wharf at the North Port. Security cameras showed he “walked away” through the port's main entrance.The city's immigration office has started searching for the sailors.The Port of Incheon said it was investigating how the two could have left the port unchecked while security personnel were in position.“We are very perplexed over these repeated incidents a

Oct 30, 2018By Ko Dong-hwan

Porous security: Foreigners slip in illegally through Incheon Port

VIDEO CEO's brutal attack on ex-employee

In this scene from a video report containing a clip that was released Tuesday by News Tapa, Yang Jin-ho, the chairman of Hankook Mirae Technology, is seen attacking a former employee at the WeDisk office in Seongnam in 2015. By Ko Dong-hwanYang Jin-ho, chairman of Hankook Mirae Technology. Captured from Yonhap News TVA video from a Korean investigative journalism team released Tuesday reveals the shocking moment a high-profile online business guru attacks a man at one of the companies he owns.In the video report jointly produced by News Tapa and its investigative team Sherlock, a former employee of Korean online file-sharing site WeDisk follows Yang Jin-ho, the company's largest shareholder, to an office crowded with white-collar workers. There, Yang condemns the man in front the workers for leaving critical comments on a bulletin board on the company's website. The businessman then slaps the former IT developer twice and demands a “sincere apology.” As the man, whose name was withheld, kneeled and apologized, Yang beats the back of his head, demanding more sincerity

Oct 30, 2018By Ko Dong-hwan

CEO's brutal attack on ex-employee [VIDEO]

$87,000 each: Japanese firm ordered to compensate wartime forced laborers

Lee Chun-sik, right, the last surviving plaintiff in a compensation lawsuit filed by Korean forced laborers against Nippon Steel, sheds tears outside the Supreme Court in southern Seoul, after winning the suit, Tuesday. On the left is the widow of Kim Kyu-soo, one of the deceased plaintiffs. / Korea Times photo by Shin Sang-soonSupreme Court affirms lower court ruling against Nippon SteelBy Lee Suh-yoonIn a long-delayed ruling likely to strain relations with Japan, Korea's top court ordered a Japanese steel firm, Tuesday, to compensate four Koreans who were forced to work in its factories during the 1910-45 Japanese occupation of the country. A panel of 13 judges, including Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su, rejected an appeal submitted by Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corp., thus affirming a lower court ruling that ordered the company to pay 100 million won ($87,000) to each victim. The 13-year-long legal battle started after Japanese courts previously dismissed the case in 1997, saying the compensation issue was “already solved” by the 1965 treaty normalizing diplomatic tie

Oct 30, 2018

$87,000 each: Japanese firm ordered to compensate wartime forced laborers

Japan denounces South Korean court decision as "unthinkable"

$87,000 each: Top court orders Japanese firm to compensate forced Korean laborers during WWII

The Supreme Court reaffirmed Tuesday a 2013 ruling that ordered a Japanese steelmaker to compensate four South Koreans for wartime forced labor and unpaid work. The top court upheld the damages claims filed by the four victims and ordered Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. (NSSM) to pay each victim 100 million won ($87,720).Tuesday's ruling provides effective closure to a long-pending case that began more than 13 years ago. The top court ruled that the Japanese court's decision that dismissed the victims' claims was based on the disputable premise that its 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea was legal, which is contrary to the South Korean Constitution.It also maintained the previous ruling that the 1965 bilateral treaty signed between South Korea and Japan to settle colonial-era issues does not terminate individual rights to damages. (Yonhap)Nippon Steel 'regrets' the ruling Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp said on Tuesday a ruling by Korea's top court that the Japanese company should compensate four South Koreans for their forced labour during World War Two is

Oct 30, 2018

$87,000 each: Top court orders Japanese firm to compensate forced Korean laborers during WWII

Governor Lee summoned over multiple accusations

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung answers journalists’ questions at Bundang Police Station in Seongnam, Monday. /YonhapBy Kim Jae-heunGyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung appeared before police for questioning, Monday, on multiple allegations involving his family members, an alleged affair with an actress and bribery suspicions. This was the first time he answered police questions since he won the June 13 local election. Lee arrived at Bundang Police Station in Seongnam and shook hands with supporters before standing at a photo line to answer questions from journalists.“The police investigation will uncover everything,” Lee said. “There are always ups and downs in life. I've never abused my power for personal purposes. Justice will prevail in the end.”Lee said he wanted people to pay more attention to his policies instead of the allegations against him, saying, “I hope people become more interested in how to improve their lives and change the future of the country.”Asked if he had any complaints about the police investigation, Lee

Oct 29, 2018By Kim Jae-heun

Governor Lee summoned over multiple accusations

Dead farmer activist's family to receive W60 mil. in compensation

By Kim Hyun-binThe bereaved family members of farmer activist Baek Nam-ki will receive 60 million won ($52,700) in compensation from three police officers who were involved in the 65-year-old farmer's death which was a result of police water cannon operations. The victim fell unconscious after being hit by a police water cannon during an anti-government rally in November 2015 and remained in a coma for over 10 months before he died of acute renal failure in September 2016.According to police and the Seoul Central District Court, Monday, the three policemen _ Shin Yun-kyun, who was then-chief of the 4th Riot Squad, and two low-level officers who operated the water cannon _ agreed to settle and pay a total of 60 million won, or 15 million won to each of four bereaved family members. The payment is in addition to the government's compensation of 490 million won which was settled in January. On Nov. 14, 2015, Baek took part in an anti-government rally in Seoul, where a physical clash took place between protesters and police officers. He was trying to tie a rope to a police bus and police

Oct 29, 2018By Kim Hyun-bin

Asylum seekers - Malaysia's lessons for Korea

Ethnic communities serve as conduit for refugee migrationBy Kang Hyun-kyungSONGDO ― Over the past decade, the expat population in South Korea has grown fast, surpassing 2 million last year and making up 4 percent of the population. The demographic change has come amid South Korea wrestling with population decline woes, implying the ratio of the foreign-born population will go up further in the foreseeable future. In an era of creative economy, diversity has been praised as a source of new ideas and innovative thinking.Amid the positive outlook of diversity, however, some significant implications of the gradual demographic changes were understated ― diversity occasionally serves as a conduit for refugee migration. Like other racially diverse countries, Malaysian activist Brian Lariche says, his country has benefitted from the thriving ethnic minority communities as migrant workers are helping the Southeast Asian country's tourism sector relieve labor shortages. However, he said ethnic minorities also have become a source of the influx of asylum seekers. Brian Lariche, head o

Oct 28, 2018By Kang Hyun-kyung

Asylum seekers - Malaysia's lessons for Korea

Former senior judge arrested in judiciary power abuse scandal

A former senior judge was arrested early Saturday for his alleged role in illicit lobbying and trial manipulation involving the previous Supreme Court chief justice.The Seoul Central District Court issued the writ for Lim Jong-hun, former deputy head of the National Court Administration (NCA), the top court's governing body, saying that his charges are acknowledged and that he presents the risk of destroying evidence.Lim, 59, is suspected of being the key man who helped former Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae use trials as bargaining chips in dealings with the presidential office under the administration of then-President Park Geun-hye. He worked for the NCA from 2012-2017.Prosecutors filed the writ request Tuesday on a string of charges including abuse of power, dereliction of duty, leaking confidential information and obstruction of justice by use of authority.The court held the arraignment hearing on Friday.Prosecutors believe Yang sought to curry favor with Park's office by having the NCA devise plans to influence politically sensitive trials to Park's advantage, so as t

Oct 27, 2018

Former senior judge arrested in judiciary power abuse scandal

Police raid Hanwha Investment in probe of improper debt sales

Police raided the headquarters of Hanwha Investment & Securities Co. on Friday as part of an investigation into suspicions one of its employees sold company bonds without fully disclosing some key information to investors.Six investigators from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency searched the premises to confiscate evidence related to the allegations.Police began the probe into the Hanwha brokerage after Hyundai Motor Securities Co., one of the investors that bought the corporate debts Hanwha was selling in China, filed a complaint seeking a criminal investigation.Hyundai Motor Securities claimed it suffered huge losses from the investment because the Hanwha employee did not notify them of some important details about the bond sales.An official at Hanwha Investment said the ongoing raid is confined to the employee's desktop and documents, and the company is cooperating with the police probe. (Yonhap)

Oct 26, 2018

Law & Crime