South Korea - The Korea Times

Scammers use young fans' love to rip off millions of won

Fans waiting behind the photo line at Incheon International Airport to take photos of their favorite celebrities. Some who cannot make it to the scene hire photographers, but are sometimes scammed by those who take advantage of such ardor. / YonhapBy Jung Hae-myoung Diehard fans of singers and actors will do anything they can do if they can get a close look at their favorite celebrities, or even a good photo of them.However, their ardor often becomes the target of fraud. A 17-year-old girl was scammed by a fake photographer, surnamed Chang, who said he would take pictures of BTS at the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), a K-pop award ceremony, in Hong Kong in 2017. She paid more than 100,000 won ($89) for high quality close-up shots of the boy group.“The scammer told me to wait because the connection is poor in Hong Kong,” she said. “But the photos never came.” The only information she has about the scammer is the name and bank account number. Usually there are photographers among the fandom who take pictures of celebrities at a concert or an awards ceremony for

Sep 21, 2018

Scammers use young fans' love to rip off millions of won

NCA to be shut down after judicial power abuse scandal

Protestors, dressed up as former Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae (right) and former NCA head Park Byeong-dae, demand justice in the recent judiciary abuse scandal in front of the Supreme Court, Seocho-gu, Seoul, on Sept. 13.  / YonhapBy Lee Suh-yoon Supreme Court Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su ordered the administrative organ of the judiciary branch to be shut down and its function transferred to a separate committee comprised of outside members, Thursday, after months of mounting political pressure to hold court members accountable for a massive power abuse scandal. “The National Court Administration (NCA), which has been pointed out as the starting point of many problems, will be shut down,“ Kim announced in an online post on the court's intranet bulletin board. “As soon as the relevant legal clauses are ready, the NCA's administrative function will be transferred to a separate committee.”Kim said he will first decrease the number of full-time judges dispatched to the NCA by one-third in next year's personnel shift. He also hinted at the establis

Sep 20, 2018

NCA to be shut down after judicial power abuse scandal

S. Korean Supreme Court embroiled in lobbying scandal

Renowned play director Lee sentenced to 6 years in prison

Lee Youn-taek heads for a courtroom at the Seoul Central District Court, Wednesday, for a hearing over sexual violence allegations. / YonhapBy Jung Hae-myoungLee Youn-taek, a renowned play director, was sentenced to six years in prison Wednesday, after being found guilty of decades-long sexual misconduct against his staff. The Seoul Central District Court also ordered him to undergo 80 hours of sexual violence education and imposed a 10-year restriction on employment at organizations dealing with children.He is the first person to be found guilty of sexual misconduct among dozens of figures accused amid the #MeToo movement in Korea. “Lee repeatedly sexually assaulted and harassed his staff members, who were under his absolute influence, under the pretext of performance training,” the court said. It said Lee, 66, did not reflect on his wrongdoing. “He tried to avoid responsibility by claiming his acts came from the desire to provide good plays and he did not know of the victims' suffering because they did not refuse his sexual advances. He also shifted responsibility

Sep 19, 2018

Renowned play director Lee sentenced to 6 years in prison

Escaped puma shot dead

Police hunt a puma that escaped from a Daejeon zoo Tuesday evening. The puma was shot dead. YonhapBy Oh Young-jin A puma that escaped from a Daejeon zoo Tuesday evening was shot dead after a three-hour hunt, according to 119 emergency workers. The eight-year-old female, weighing 60 kilograms, was shot twice with a tranquilizer gun but kept going. When it approached areas in the zoo where people gathered, police used live ammunition to kill it. Initial reports said the puma was tranquilized and captured alive. The puma that escaped from O World zoo in Daejeon is loaded onto a truck after it was shot dead. YonhapThe animal escaped from its cage in the O World zoo at 5:10 p.m. A zookeeper later said he failed to lock the cage after a morning check. It is not clear whether the zoo or the keeper delayed reporting the escape to authorities. City Hall sent an emergency text message alerting people to the danger in areas near Mount Bomum, telling them to stay inside. The puma, also known as mountain lion or panther, usually preys on small animals such as rodents but it can attack humans. It

Sep 19, 2018

Man kills himself at shooting range in Myeong-dong

By Kim Jae-heunA man in his 30s committed suicide Sunday, shooting himself with a pistol at a live ammunition shooting range in Myeong-dong, central Seoul. Namdaemun Police Station said it checked surveillance cameras at the shooting range which showed the man shooting himself in the neck with a revolver. When they arrived at the scene, he was already dead.No other customers were there at the time, just than the owner and staff.All customers have to be accompanied by one staff member while shooting according to safety rules. A staffer went into the shooting room with the man, but was hit by a stun gun the customer was carrying.He ran out of the room to seek help, but the man then killed himself. The staffer told police that the man appeared to be sober and wasn't acting suspiciously.

Sep 17, 2018By Kim Jae-heun

Man kills himself at shooting range in Myeong-dong

Prisoner with 'buttocks touching' charge draws street supporters

By Ko Dong-hwanThis closed circuit television footage shows the encounter inside a restaurant in Daejeon between the jailed man and his alleged victim in November 2017, after which the woman accused the man of grabbing her buttocks.Sympathizers plan to stage a street protest against the jailing of a husband for six months for touching a woman's buttocks in a restaurant, and after his wife claimed his innocence in a bitter online petition.“My Life for Happy,” an online community on South Korean portal site Naver set up to support the man two days after he was jailed on Sept. 6, said Saturday the protest was set Oct. 27. The community had drawn more than 3,000 members as of Monday, which the site's staff deemed large enough to stage a protest. The venue has not been decided but staff said they had visited Seoul City Hall square and the Supreme Court as possible venues.The community urged its visitors not to leave any gender-biased post as the site, supporting the jailed man who claims had been misunderstood by his female accuser of touching her buttocks at a Daejeon restaur

Sep 17, 2018By Ko Dong-hwan

Prisoner with 'buttocks touching' charge draws street supporters

Steamy petition: 'My jailed husband didn't touch her buttocks'

Probe team tentatively concludes defective rotor mast as cause of chopper crash

A team of civilian, government and military experts has tentatively concluded that defects in the rotor mast caused the July crash of a marine chopper that killed five troops, a source said Monday.The team explained the interim results of its investigation to the families of the victims on Sunday. The military authorities had planned to announce the results to the media on Monday, but delayed the plan, citing the need for more time.The MUH-1 Marineon, the Marine variant of the KUH-1 Surion helicopter, crashed shortly after a maintenance checkup at a military airport in the southeastern city of Pohang on July 17. It was seen falling after its rotor blades became separated from the fuselage just seconds after takeoff.Investigators apparently believe that cracks were created in the rotor mast due to a flawed heat treatment process by a subcontractor.The team plans to verify their investigation outcome with foreign experts who participated in the investigation into the crash of the Super Puma helicopter in Norway in 2016.The Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), a South Korean defense firm,

Sep 17, 2018

Probe team tentatively concludes defective rotor mast as cause of chopper crash

A private plane crashed in Wanju, killing 2 people on board

A private light plane crashed Sunday near a lake in Wanju, North Jeolla Province, killing two people on board, authorities said.The plane went down on a small mountain near the lake around 3:29 p.m. and two civilians were found dead inside, fire officials said.The plane was destroyed beyond recognition and is believed to have been on its way to Gongju, South Chungcheong province, where it took off.The authorities are investigating the exact cause of the crash. (Yonhap)

Sep 16, 2018

A private plane crashed in Wanju, killing 2 people on board

Dozen indicted over propofol abuse

By Lee Kyung-min A dozen people were indicted over their involvement in the illegal use of intravenous injections of propofol, a sleep inducer used for surgery or medical procedures, prosecutors said Sunday. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office arrested and indicted a plastic surgeon in Gangnam, southern Seoul, surnamed Hong, for allegedly administering 21,905 milliliters of propofol to 10 people on 247 occasions between April and June. He received 550 million won ($530,000) as payment.Two medical staffers at his clinic were also indicted without detention.Prosecutors said the amount of propofol Hong injected and the compensation amount he was paid for it at his clinic were the largest since 2011 when propofol was designated as a narcotic. Prosecutors said Hong charged 500,000 won per 20-milliliter ampoule of propofol, 170 times the original price. He also did not heed dosage restrictions, which is highly dangerous given that 61 people have died due to propofol overdose between 2010 and last year.It is alleged that Hong and his staffers falsified records of the propofol use

Sep 16, 2018By Lee Kyung-min

Teachers accused: #MeToo movement gains momentum in schools

Students protest against sexual harassment. YonhapBy Jung Hae-myoungStudents across Korea are raising their voices against sexual harassment, saying they, too, have long been victimized by abusive teachers.This month alone, students from 19 middle and high schools have accused teachers of using their authority to sexually harass them, sharing stories via social media and calling on authorities to take proper action.A girl who introduced herself as a middle school student in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, claimed her ethics teacher told her he would give her a perfect score if she sat on his lap. More cases are reported on Facebook, with reports not only from students but also female teachers victimized by fellow teachers. At a middle school in Incheon, dozens of students have accused a teacher of repeatedly using foul language. They covered windows and blackboards with sticky notes that said “We'll win” and “Come clean!” Some schools and regional education offices have taken appropriate measures such as launching their own investigations and making the teachers apologize