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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

Former President Lee to comment on probes into election meddling scandal against him

Former President Lee Myung-bak is set to explain his position Sunday over a flurry of probes into the allegations that the spy agency and military meddled in politics during his term from 2008-2013.His aides have said that Lee would briefly comment on the investigations before he departs for Bahrain to deliver a lecture on South Korea's economic rise at the request of the Manama government.His four-day trip to the Middle East was overshadowed by public calls to bar him from leaving the country pending the investigations. As of Saturday afternoon, some 3,000 people filed petitions online for a travel ban.On Saturday, former Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin was arrested over his possible link to the cyberwarfare command's online activities allegedly aimed at swaying public opinion in favor of Lee's conservative government.Kim's arrest has triggered calls for Lee to face justice as speculation persisted that the ex-commander-in-chief might also be involved in the political maneuvering scheme, either directly or indirectly.The National Intelligence Service has also been suspected of mobiliz

Nov 12, 2017
Former President Lee to comment on probes into election meddling scandal against him

Over 400,000 petition to retry rapist

Over 400,000 have signed a petition calling for a retrial of a child rapist Cho Doo-soon, who is set to be released from prison in 2020. However, this is unlikely to happen, based on legal grounds.The petition on Cheong Wa Dae’s website had 429,000 signatories Friday, calling for Cho to be kept in prison for life.The petition’s support is not only based on public outrage against the crime, but also concerns of him committing further offenses.In 2008, Cho raped an eight-year-old school girl, which left her with permanent damage to multiple organs. He was sentenced to a 12-year prison term, based on the fact that he was intoxicated at the time of the offense, which stirred public uproar for leniency.However, a retrial will take not take as these are only held when the trial was biased against the defendant, or if new evidence is found.Based on this, voices are growing for stricter monitoring of Cho when he is released.

Nov 10, 2017

Police clear singer's wife of allegations

By Kim Bo-eunPolice cleared the late singer Kim Kwang-seok’s wife Seoh Hai-soon of allegations that she caused the death of herSeoh Hai-soondaughter and committed fraud, Friday.Kim’s older brother Kwang-bok filed a complaint against Seoh with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in September, claiming Seoh had caused her ill daughter to die by neglecting her, in order to claim the copyrights of her deceased husband.The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said it forwarded the case to the prosecution, offering a non-indictment opinion.Seoh faced allegations of causing her daughter Kim Seo-yeon's death in December 2007 by not getting her proper treatment when she developed acute pneumonia.She also faced allegations of fraud. At the time of her daughter’s death, a suit was ongoing on Kim's copyright materials. However, Seoh did not report the death to the court, which brought about the allegation that she did so to earn an advantageous position in the suit.Police summoned Kim’s brother twice and Seoh three times for questioning. Police also questioned 47 w

Nov 10, 2017
Police clear singer's wife of allegations

'Schizophrenic' draft-dodger gets caught by IQ test score

South Korean males salute the national flag before their military enlistment at 102 Replacement Depot in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. / YonhapBy Rha Hae-sungBusan NamBu Police Station arrested a man Tuesday on charges of draft-dodging by pretending to suffer schizophrenia.Under South Korean law, any attempt to avoid the military draft is subject to a maximum five years in prison.The man, 31, whose name was withheld, allegedly faked he is a schizophrenia patient at a mental hospital in Busan. In his diagnosis paper, his intelligence score was recorded at 53. But it turned out he had been working as a journalist and a salesman at a foreign car company.He was caught when he attempted to regain his driver’s license. In acquiring the license, he unwittingly scored 114 on an IQ test. Police became suspicious when they compared it with what he scored at the hospital.“He studied schizophrenia deeply and acted it out so well that even professional doctors believed that he was mentally ill,” a police official said.During the police investigation, the man first denied the char

Nov 9, 2017
'Schizophrenic' draft-dodger gets caught by IQ test score

Ex-president faces questioning

Ex-defense minister says he was ordered to spread political propagandaBy Jung Min-hoFormer President Lee Myung-bak will likely be questioned soon by prosecutors after the former defense minister disclosed that Lee ordered him to operate a military team to spread pro-government propaganda while he was in office.The prosecution has requested an arrest warrant for Kim Kwan-jin, who is under suspicion of creating and running a secret team to “back up” the right-wing Lee government online against liberal politicians and their supporters between 2010 and 2012.Kim served in the post from December 2010 to June 2014 and became the National Security Office chief under Park Geun-hye, Lee’s successor from the same party.Kim reportedly told the prosecution that he was directly ordered by Lee to pick “our people only” when the ministry was recruiting people for the mission at its cyberwarfare unit.It is obvious that “our people” were not those from the Jeolla provinces, the stronghold of the liberal parties. In fact, the prosecution found clues that the mi

Nov 9, 2017
Ex-president faces questioning

Private university president, directors, staff used tuition fees for leisure: ministry

By Chyung Eun-juThe president, board of directors and professors from a Seoul private university allegedly misappropriated tuition fees to pay for leisure activities, according to the Ministry of Education on Wednesday.The school falsely recorded minutes without holding a board of directors’ meeting, the ministry said. This was likely to avoid having to submit an audit report to the Korea Foundation for the Promotion of Private School.The ministry said the directors must repay 809 million won ($725,000). Over 29.5 million won from state funds was spent on overseas travel, lawsuit costs of 253 million won and 1.6 million won on screen golf.The professors who took leave to travel abroad granted students credits for classes that were not open. The school also used money for freshmen who did not attend orientation to increase the scholarship rate, one of the nation’s school evaluation indexes.The ministry has asked prosecutors to investigate those allegedly involved on charges of embezzlement and malpractice.“After the inspection, we will adhere to a zero-tolerance poli

Nov 9, 2017
Private university president, directors, staff used tuition fees for leisure: ministry

Horrific crime: South Koreans fear release of pedophile rapist from 2008

The Minister of Justice Lee Kwi-nam speaks to pedophile rapist Cho Doo-soon at Cheongsong Prison, Mar. 16, 2010. Cho was sentenced to 12 years in prison for raping a girl, 8, in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, in December 2008. / Korea Times fileBy Ko Dong-hwanA pedophile rapist’s inhuman act in the city of Ansan in 2008 tested South Koreans’ resilience to extreme shock.About 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 11, Cho Doo-soon, then 56, saw a girl, 8, in front of a commercial building in the Gyeonggi Province city.The drunken man gagged her with his hand and carried her to a public toilet in the building. He bashed and choked her until she fell unconscious. He then sexually assaulted her, causing horrific internal injuries. About 30 minutes later, he left the unconscious victim at the scene and went home.Danwon police arrested Cho two days later after their investigation found his fingerprints in the toilet and bloodstains on his clothes and shoes.Despite prosecutors’ demand for life imprisonment, the final court ruling dismissed the unrepentant Cho’s appeal and sentenced him to 12

Nov 9, 2017
Horrific crime: South Koreans fear release of pedophile rapist from 2008

Ex-spy agency chief grilled over corruption

Nam Jae-joon, former chief of the National Intelligence Service, speaks to reporters as he enters the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul, Wednesday. / YonhapBy Jung Min-hoNam Jae-joon, former chief of the National Intelligence Service (NIS), underwent questioning Wednesday over allegations the spy agency bribed key aides of former President Park Geun-hye while she was in office.Nam, who served the post from March 2013 to May 2014, is suspected of offering hundreds of millions of won (hundreds of thousands of dollars) in bribes to three former presidential secretaries ― Ahn Bong-geun, Lee Jae-man and Jeong Ho-seong.He is one of the three former NIS chiefs facing the accusation.Nam is also suspected of being involved in deceiving prosecutors in a scheme to derail their investigation into the NIS’ smear campaign against Moon Jae-in in the 2012 presidential election.For that task, the NIS formed a special team consisting of its officials and three prosecutors who were on detached duty there at that time. One of the things they did was set up a fa

Nov 8, 2017
Ex-spy agency chief grilled over corruption

Firefighters in 15-hour battle to beat Hwasun mine fire

/ Yonhap By Chyung Eun-juFirefighters took more than 15 hours to extinguish a big fire in a coal mine in Hwasun, South Jeolla Province, Hwasun Fire Station said Tuesday.The fire started 200 meters from the entrance to the L-shaped mine on Monday. Four workers left the mine at 4 p.m. during a shift change before the fire began.“There were small fires during the 28 years I’ve worked as a miner,” one man said. “But this is the first huge fire. If the fire occurred while we were working, 140 people down there would have been injured.”Police said a coal conveyor’s motor overheated, causing timber slabs between rails below the belt to catch fire./ YonhapFirefighters had a hard time extinguishing the blaze because the narrow mine was filled with smoke and poisonous gas. They entered the mine about 9 p.m. Monday and were able to go in 150 meters by 11:30 p.m.They spent the night putting out the fire but smoke has not yet cleared.Twenty-nine fire trucks and 179 firefighters were sent to the site.Police and the fire brigade will investigate the fire&rsq

Nov 7, 2017
Firefighters in 15-hour battle to beat Hwasun mine fire

Presidential secretary under probe

Prosecution signals ‘boundless’ corruption probeBy Lee Kyung-minThe prosecution searched a sports organization, formerly headed by presidential secretary for political affairs Jun Byung-hun, over a corruption allegation, Tuesday.This is considered a move to disprove the opposition party’s claimed “political retaliation” against two former conservative administrations.Investigators of the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office searched Korea e-Sports Association in Mapo, Seoul, and the home of a person surnamed Yoon, the former assistant to Jun.Prosecutors executed court-issued arrest warrants for Yoon and two others. They are suspected of pocketing part of the 300 million won ($270,000) Lotte Homeshopping donated to the association in 2015. They are also suspected of embezzling the association’s funds and receiving gift certificates from the business group.The prosecution is looking into whether Jun pocketed part of the donations in return for any favors.Jun first came under suspicion for his alleged involvement in the creation and management of t

Nov 7, 2017
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