South Korea - The Korea Times

Calls rising for harsher punishment for juvenile crimes

By Lee Suh-yoonCalls are once again growing for the government to treat juvenile delinquents in the same way it treats adult offenders amid escalating violent crimes by minors who receive less severe penalties. According to the nation's Juvenile Act, perpetrators aged 14 and under cannot be sent to jail and those under the age of 18, who commit crimes punishable by the death penalty or life imprisonment, can only be given a prison term of up to 20 years. The latest case that has brought the issue back to the debate was a middle school girl in Incheon who committed suicide in July after having been raped by two classmates who are not subject to jail time thanks to their age. “Even if the crimes of the perpetrators ― 12 and 13 years old ― are proven true, they will not be subject to criminal punishment due to the Juvenile Act,” the victim's sister said in a petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website, last month. “The Juvenile Act is unjustifiable and unfair for my little sister who had to go to heaven without realizing her dreams.”Angered by the offenders' light pena

Oct 15, 2018

Koo Ha-ra to face ex-boyfriend over sex video scandal

Former Kara member Koo Ha-ra is mired in revenge porn scandal.By Lee Min-young Former girl group Kara member Koo Ha-ra will have to confront her hairdresser boyfriend Choi Jong-bum at a police station for questioning about their revenge porn case. Police said Monday that the two would be called in and face each other to check inconsistencies in their testimonies. The encounter will likely take place this week. Koo's ex-boyfriend is suspected of threatening to circulate videos of the couple having sex.Last Friday, police announced they have restored the data of a mobile phone seized from Choi during an earlier raid. Police searched Choi's house and car earlier this month and secured his mobile phone and a USB driver device. They also have the video Choi reportedly sent to Koo to threaten her. The ex-girl group member filed charges of sexual assault and intimidation against Choi.

Oct 15, 2018By Lee Min-young

Koo Ha-ra to face ex-boyfriend over sex video scandal

Six arrested for smuggling 112kg of meth

Seized bags of meth on display at Seoul Metropolitan Station, Monday. YonhapBy Jung Min-hoThe screw-making machine used in the drug-trafficking operation / YonhapSix members of an international drug syndicate have been arrested on charges of smuggling 112 kilograms of meth, police said Monday.According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, the six, including a Japanese, 32, and a Taiwanese, 25, allegedly colluded in smuggling 112 kilograms of meth into Korea on July 6.The amount, which is worth about 370 billion won ($327 million), is the largest seizure of the drug in the country.According to police, 112 bags of the drug were concealed inside a screw-making machine, which was transported from Bangkok to the Busan Port. Two Taiwanese men later moved the machine to a warehouse in Hwaseong, where they took it apart to get the drug.The two sold 22 kilograms of meth to a Japanese dealer, who eventually sold it to a Korean man for 1.1 billion won.Police said they were searching for four people believed to have planned the operation and given instructions to the other six.Police are wor

Oct 15, 2018By Jung Min-ho

Six arrested for smuggling 112kg of meth

Campus masturbation video enrages students

By Kim RahnStudents at Dongduk Women's University have been enraged after a man posted video clips of himself wandering around the campus, naked, and masturbating in a classroom.Police are investigating the case and trying to identify the man after a complaint from the student council.The case was made public Saturday after a student filed an online petition on Cheong Wa Dae's website, calling on the government to guarantee women's right to safety.According to the petition, a man posted photos and video clips on Twitter, Oct. 6, in which he was wandering around empty classrooms and corridors of a building of the women's university in the daytime naked. In one clip, he masturbated on a classroom desk.“As a student at Dongduk, the incident is so horrible, and as a student who takes lectures in the very classroom where he masturbated, it is so shameful,” the petitioner wrote.She said students felt unsafe at the school. “It is unacceptable that a man trespassed and did such acts at a school where students' safety should be guaranteed, and that he felt proud of his actio

Oct 14, 2018By Kim Rahn

Campus masturbation video enrages students

Police search Gyeonggi governor's home for election violations

By Kim Hyun-binPolice searched the home of Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung, Friday, over suspicion he forcefully committed his estranged brother to a mental hospital and lied about it during the local elections in June.Bundang Police Station sent 40 investigators and confiscated two mobile phones from Lee as well as going through several offices in Seongnam City Hall, where he previously served as mayor.“They took my cellphone. I don't know why they had to make a fuss and raid the place,” Lee said. “I will hold an official briefing on my brother's case soon.”Lee is affiliated with the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and won the provincial governor seat during the heated June local elections. He was also a contender during the presidential primary last year.In June, the minor Bareunmirae Party accused the mayor of committing his brother to the mental institution against his will and violating the election law for falsely denying the claim.The party also accused Lee of having an extramarital affair with an actress during the campaign and claimed he pre

Oct 12, 2018By Kim Hyun-bin

Ex-president files appeal against corruption verdict

By Kang Seung-wooFormer President Lee Myung-bak filed an appeal against a court ruling, Friday, that handed down a prison sentence for corruption a week earlier, his attorney said.Former President Lee Myung-bak / YonhapLee's decision was made public by his legal counsel Kang Hoon before he submitted a petition for appeal to the Seoul High Court. “Former President Lee has decided to appeal his conviction,” Kang said in a text message sent to reporters. On Sept. 5, Seoul Central District Court sentenced Lee, 76, to 15 years in jail for bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power, making him Korea's fourth former leader to be jailed. In addition, he was ordered to pay 13 billion won ($11.5 million) in fines and return 8.2 billion won.In a criminal trial, the defendant has a week to appeal after a court verdict. However, Lee's side did not lodge an appeal right after the court ruling last week, saying it would decide whether to do so near the deadline.“A frustrated Lee sees an appeal as meaningless, but on the other hand, he also believes it is the right move for him to ap

Oct 12, 2018By Kang Seung-woo

Ex-president files appeal against corruption verdict

Ex-President Lee appeals corruption ruling

Former President Lee Myung-bak will appeal the court ruling that found him guilty of corruption and other irregularities, his lawyer said Friday.Kang Hoon, Lee's legal counsel, said he plans to submit the required documents for an appeal to the Seoul High Court in the afternoon.Lee, president from 2008-2013, was convicted on Oct. 5 of bribery, embezzlement and other charges and sentenced to 15 years in prison.The court found that he was the de facto owner of his brother's auto parts company and that he used his presidential power to benefit the firm and himself, including accepting a 5.9 billion won (US$5.2 million) bribe from Samsung.Prosecutors have also appealed the ruling. (Yonhap)

Oct 12, 2018

Ex-President Lee appeals corruption ruling

Police raid Gyeonggi governor's residence in probe of election violations

Police raided the residence of Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung and two other locations on Friday as part of a probe into allegations that he told a falsehood about his family during the June general elections.The Bundang Police Station sent officers to search the property and confiscate evidence. They also raided parts of the Seongnam City Hall.Lee served as Seongnam mayor before he won the Gyeonggi governorship in June.He is accused of telling a lie in a television debate during the election period by denying that he used his authority to institutionalize his elder brother at a mental hospital. (Yonhap)

Oct 12, 2018

Police raid Gyeonggi governor's residence in probe of election violations

Gov't seeks to heavily punish drunk driving

By Kim Hyun-binThe government is seeking to strengthen punishment of drunk driving in the aftermath of a recent incident involving a soldier who was left brain dead after being hit by a drunk driver.Nearly 270,000 people have signed an online petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website as of Thursday to urge the government to take stern action against the illegality.The petition was posted by a friend of Yoon Chang-ho, the 22-year-old Korean soldier of the Korean Augmentation Troops to the United States Army (KATUSA), who fell victim to drunk driving last month and is currently in hospital.According to the petition titled “Drunk driving destroyed my friend's life,” Yoon was hit by a drunk driver in Busan on Sept. 25 while on leave during the Chuseok holiday. Yoon flew 15 meters and landed on concrete. He was taken to a hospital but was deemed brain dead.The driver was totally intoxicated with a blood alcohol content of 0.181 percent, a level that could revoke his driver's license. The police investigated him twice without detention. Only after the public outrage emerged over th

Oct 11, 2018By Kim Hyun-bin

Rare jail term given to man in 'revenge porn' case

K-pop star Koo Ha-ra talks to reporters outside Gangnam Police Station, southern Seoul, Sept. 18. / Korea Times fileBy Lee Suh-yoonA local court in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, sentenced a man to three years in prison Wednesday for spreading sex video clips of his ex-girlfriend online  — an unusually stern ruling compared to previous verdicts on similar “revenge porn” cases. The ruling comes amid rising voices for a more punitive crackdown on revenge porn crimes, sparked by K-pop star Koo Ha-ra's recent claims that her ex-boyfriend blackmailed her with a sex video.According to the court, the man posted the videos on various male-centered online community platforms 19 times under titles commonly associated with porn clips. He also sent the videos to around 100 of his acquaintances.“Spreading sex videos of one's ex-partner with malicious intent destroys the victims' lives, preventing them from building normal relationships in the future; hence the damage is serious,” presiding judge Kim Do-hyung said in the ruling. Under the Sexual Crimes Punishment Act,

Oct 11, 2018

Law & Crime