South Korea - The Korea Times

Spycam porn protesters speak out against male-centered ruling

Protestors chant slogans near Hyehwa Station in Seoul, Saturday against Korea's judiciary system, which they believe favors men in spycam cases. / Korea Times fileBy Jung Hae-myoung Tens of thousands of anti-hidden camera protesters had a shot at the nation's judiciary system whose ruling on hidden camera crimes is allegedly based on gender inequality, Saturday, after taking issue with biased police investigations.Around 60,000 women, with red umbrellas and raincoats, gathered near Hyehwa Station for their fifth protest against spycam porn. The first rally was held on May 19 to speak out against police investigations that were “exceptionally” into the illicit filming of an alleged crime against a male nude model at Hongik University.Unlike the previous four rallies, the latest protest focused on criticizing the judicial authorities, who have made male-centered judgments.“We will never stop until proper laws are enacted, a rational system is implemented and women set themselves free,” the protest organizer said, with the slogan saying, “The Courage to be

Oct 8, 2018

Spycam porn protesters speak out against male-centered ruling

Lotte chairman freed with suspended jail term

By Kim Hyun-binLotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin was given a suspended sentence Friday after being found guilty of bribery involving former President Park Geun-hye, and was released from prison. The Seoul High Court sentenced Shin to two-and-a-half years in prison suspended for four years.Upon the ruling, the chairman was released from confinement after 234 days behind bars.Shin was arrested and indicted for “donating” 7 billion won to the K-Sports Foundation, run by Park's close confidante Choi Soon-sil, in exchange for favors for Lotte group to obtain licenses to operate duty free stores in the capital.The donation was made after March 2016 when Shin had an exclusive meeting with Park and K-Sports Foundation officials. But was returned in June that year, just before the prosecution conducted a search of the group.The court acknowledged the 7 billion won as a bribe and declared him guilty.However, it added that Park asked for the payment and Shin was in a difficult position to reject the demand.“The president first requested the payment and Shin passively agreed.

Oct 5, 2018By Kim Hyun-bin

Lotte chairman freed with suspended jail term

Appeals court finds former leader Park Geun-hye's aides guilty over 'whitelist'

By Kim RahnFormer presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choonA local court sentenced former President Park Geun-hye's chief of staff Kim Ki-choon to one- and-a-half years in prison for illegally helping conservative civic groups gain financial support. Ex-Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Cho Yoon-sun was sentenced to one year in prison suspended for two years after being found guilty of the same charge.The Seoul Central District Court handed down the verdicts on the two former aides, and upon the ruling, Kim was taken to prison immediately, just 61 days after he finished serving 18 months in prison on other charges.Kim is suspected of having forced the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) to provide 2.3 billion won to 21 conservative groups from February 2014 to April 2015, so they could rally in favor of the Park administration's policies and against liberal political parties and civic groups.Cho allegedly forced the FKI to provide 3.5 billion won to 31 such groups for about a year from January 2015 when she was senior presidential secretary for political affairs. She was also sus

Oct 5, 2018By Kim Rahn

Appeals court finds former leader Park Geun-hye's aides guilty over 'whitelist'

Appeals court suspends Lotte Group chief's jail term

Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin was released from jail on Friday after an appellate court suspended his sentence on bribery charges. The Seoul High Court sentenced Shin, 63, to 2 1/2 years in prison, suspended for four years. Shin had been in a detention center since February over involvement in a corruption scandal that led to the ousting of former President Park Geun-hye last year. The lower court sentenced him to 30 months in prison for giving 7 billion won (US$6.2 million) in bribes to a nonprofit foundation controlled by Choi Soon-sil, Park's old friend at the heart of the scandal, also now in jail. The appeals court on Friday ruled in line with the lower court's judgment that the nation's fifth-largest conglomerate gave the money to win government blessing for its duty-free business. But it ruled that Shin made the decision "passively" for fear that refusing Choi's request would hurt Lotte's interests. (Yonhap)

Oct 5, 2018

Appeals court suspends Lotte Group chief's jail term

Ex-President Lee Myung-bak gets 15-year jail term over corruption

South Korea's former President Lee Myung-bak was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday in a corruption case badly tainting his status as the country's first leader with a business background who once symbolized the country's economic rise.Lee's conviction came six months after his successor and fellow conservative Park Geun-hye was convicted in a separate corruption scandal that triggered the country's biggest political turmoil in decades. She is serving 33 years in prison. The back-to-back scandals badly wounded conservatives in South Korea and deepened a national divide.Few past South Korean leaders are free from corruption scandals. Before Lee and Park, former liberal President Roh Moo-hyun jumped to his death in 2009 amid a high-profile corruption investigation on his family. His liberal predecessor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Kim Dae-jung was forced to apologize at the close of his term after all three of his sons were arrested or embroiled in scandals.On Friday, the Seoul Central District Court convicted Lee of embezzling 24.6 billion won ($21.7 million) from a

Oct 5, 2018

Ex-President Lee Myung-bak gets 15-year jail term over corruption

28 dating violence cases a day: police data

By Park Si-soo On average, 28 cases of dating violence were reported to police daily between 2013 and 2017, police data showed on Thursday. By year, 10,303 cases were reported in 2017, up 23 percent from 8,367 in 2016.Dating violence refers to the perpetration or threat of an act of violence by at least one member of an unmarried couple on the other member within the context of dating or courtship.Rep. So Byeung-hoon of the ruling Democratic Party revealed this with information from the National Police Agency. “Many efforts have been made to counter dating violence, but it's not easy work to be done by police alone,” So said. “It will be done only with government-wide measures and people's attention and cooperation.”

Oct 4, 2018

28 dating violence cases a day: police data

Drug smuggling by travelers jumps

The amount of narcotics caught being smuggled into the country by travelers in the first half of this year was already three times more than the total detected for the whole of last year, data analysis by an opposition lawmaker showed Thursday.According to the report provided by the office of Rep. Park Myung-jae of the Liberty Korea Party and based on statistics from the Korea Customs Service, some 47,370 grams of narcotics were nabbed from travelers in 26 cases during the January-June months. The amount has a street value equivalent to 139.3 billion won (US$124.37 million). In 2017, the total amount of illegal drugs caught reached 15,360 grams.Most of the smuggling attempts were by air travelers, totaling 46,896 grams, the data indicated.The customs office reported 385 cases of drug smuggling during the year, totaling 146,939 grams worth 203.3 billion won. Smuggling by travelers account for approximately 32 percent of the total. The numbers up till June are also an increase from 69,133 grams worth 88 billion won for the same period last year.Cocaine showed the biggest increase in th

Oct 4, 2018

Corruption charges: 12-year jail term sought for Booyoung chairman

Booyoung Group Chairman Lee Joong-keun faces multiple criminal charges. YonhapBy Lee Min-youngProsecutors Wednesday sought a 12-year prison term and a fine of 7.3 billion won for Booyoung Group chairman Lee Joong-keun on charges of embezzlement and tax evasion, among other crimes. Lee was arrested in February and charged with embezzling 430 billion won from the medium-sized building conglomerate and pocketing 1 trillion won of illicit gains by bloating construction costs to inflate rental apartment prices.Lee was released on bail for health reasons in July. He came to court in a suit carrying a cane. "He inflicted a great deal of damage to ordinary people," the prosecutor said during a hearing at the Seoul Central District Court. Booyoung, its business portfolios focusing on building and leasing apartments, has been embroiled in an alleged corruption scandal since tax authorities started to zero in on it. Meanwhile, prosecutors rejected an arrest warrant request sought by police Tuesday for Lee Hwa-kyung, the vice chairwoman of the nation's largest confectionery maker Orion Group, on

Oct 3, 2018By Lee Min-young

Corruption charges: 12-year jail term sought for Booyoung chairman

Lifer will get retrial for first time

By Kim Hyun-binA woman, serving a life sentence for murdering her father, will get a retrial, according to the top court, Wednesday.The Supreme Court decided, Friday, to grant a retrial for Kim Shin-hye, 41, who has been in prison for 18 years, after agreeing to her claim that she made a false confession due to coercive interrogation by police. It is the first time the top court has decided to allow an inmate to stand retrial.In March 2000, due to her father's continuous sexual abuse, Kim put sleeping pills in his alcoholic beverage and once he fell asleep, she killed him and abandoned the body at a bus stop in Wando, South Jeolla Province. Kim was arrested after her uncle told the police “Kim Shin-hye killed her father.”Police considered the continuous sexual molestation by her father to be the motive for the crime.Kim confessed to the police of the crime, but later in the trial she claimed “I think my younger brother killed my father” and added that she falsely confessed to the crime to be imprisoned instead of her younger sibling. However, Kim had no eviden

Oct 3, 2018By Kim Hyun-bin

Koreans attack two Yemenis on Jeju Island

Jeju Dongbu Police StationBy Park Si-sooA group of Koreans attacked two Yemenis on Jeju Island on Tuesday. Reasons for the attack were unclear. Photos released by a Jeju-based newspaper show one Yemeni with a severely injured left eye while the other had a scratched forehead and left cheek. They received hospital treatment and are resting at their homes, police said. Jeju Dongbu Police Station said the alleged unprovoked attack happened at 2:40 a.m. Tuesday. About six Koreans approached the two Yemenis near Jeju City Hall. “They surrounded us and started kicking and punching,” one of the Yemenis was quoted as saying in the newspaper. “They tried to extort something from us ― perhaps passports or money. But we couldn't (give). I'm sad because we were attacked when we did nothing wrong.” They reportedly told police the attack started after a Korean said “Give me money.” Further information was not available. Police will question the Yemenis and identify the offenders with CCTV footage from around the city hall.

Oct 3, 2018

Koreans attack two Yemenis on Jeju Island

Two Koreans questioned for allegedly assaulting Yemenis

Law & Crime