South Korea - The Korea Times

Migrant workers up in arms over 'violent' immigration officials

By Chyung Eun-ju, Park Si-sooMigrant workers are calling for a thorough investigation of immigration officials who allegedly used violence against undocumented foreigners.A group of migrant workers staged a rally in front of the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office on Thursday, demanding that the prosecution launch an investigation into what happened during a crackdown on undocumented foreign workers by immigration officials on June 14.“Although they are unregistered, they have the right to be treated safely, not violently,” they chanted. “To be detained in the same place with attackers who are immigration office employees, is a violation of human rights,”The immigration office’s Suwon office led the controversial crackdown during which an undocumented Chinese worker was severely injured by violent officials, according to the Joint Committee with Migrants in Korea, a civic group dedicated to protecting migrant workers’ human rights.The Chinese worker at a construction site in Yongteong-gu, Suwon, is said to have been kicked, punched and battere

Sep 17, 2017

Migrant workers up in arms over 'violent' immigration officials

Gov't official accused of selling information about N. Korean defectors

By Chyung Eun-ju, Park Si-sooAn official of the Ministry of Unification that manages inter-Korean relations was accused of selling classified information about North Korean defectors here, police said Sunday.The official is suspected of having sold personal information of 48 defectors, including their home addresses and phone numbers, to a “broker” who helped them escape from the reclusive state between 2012 and 2015 for 14.7 million won ($13,000).The broker, a North Korean defector surnamed Bae, is said to have sought the information to receive “unpaid fees” from the defectors. An investigation is under way to find out whether the broker handed over the information to the North. 

Sep 17, 2017

Gov't official accused of selling information about N. Korean defectors

Two North Korean defectors vanish in China

2 firefighters killed as burning pavilion collapses

/ YonhapTwo firefighters were killed Sunday after being trapped in a pavilion in the city of Gangneung on South Korea's east coast that collapsed following a blaze, firefighting authorities said.The two were extinguishing the fire at Seoknan Pavilion, one of the scenic spots around the city's Gyeongpo Lake, before the pavilion collapsed around 4:29 a.m. They were pronounced dead after being rushed to hospitals.About 10 minutes after the building collapsed, the firefighters, a 59-year-old and 27-year-old both identified only by their last name Lee, were rescued but were in cardiac arrest.The fire at the pavilion started around 3:51 a.m. after a fire had been extinguished at the structure the previous day, firefighters said. Built in 1956, the 10-meter-high wooden pavilion has a floor space of 40 square meters.Police and firefighting authorities are investigating what caused the accident. (Yonhap)

Sep 17, 2017

2 firefighters killed as burning pavilion collapses

Human traffickers targeting foreign women busted

A group of local traffickers has been busted after smuggling foreign women disguised as singers or artists into South Korea to help them illegally work at bars and other entertainment facilities, immigration officials said Saturday.The Seoul Immigration Office said its investigators have cracked down on a ring of seven traffickers accused of helping foreign women disguised as artists or signers obtain E-6 visas from the Seoul government and work as a prostitute or lewd service provider at various facilities nationwide.The office said that the seven people, whose identities were withheld, had helped a total of 115 foreign women enter South Korea from January 2015 to December 2016 on a fake E-6 visa, which was obtained after the presentation of manipulated videos of music or art performances.The seven people, along with 12 businesspeople who employed the foreign women at their bars or other entertainment facilities, have been referred to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office for further investigation, it noted. They were all booked without physical detention.The smugglers pock

Sep 16, 2017

Human traffickers targeting foreign women busted

Police to set up independent body to monitor abuse

 By Lee Kyung-min The National Police Agency is seeking to set up an independent body to monitor human rights abuses, it said Friday.Details will be finalized by the end of the year.The announcement followed a set of recommendations made by a committee comprised of outside experts on the reform of the 140,000-strong law enforcement body often criticized for abuses of power.The committee recommended that the body handle affairs involving whistle-blowing including protection of informants and reports received from them.It also said reports from the public on abuse should be filed and preserved and that measures will be set up to launch investigations into the accused officers.Guidelines should be established, it added, to prevent police from abusing the execution of emergency arrest, which they can use to detain suspects for up to 48 hours without court-issued arrest warrants.      

Sep 15, 2017

Court, prosecution at odds over warrants

By Lee Kyung-min The court and prosecution are in conflict over a series of rejections of arrest warrants for key criminal suspects from the two former administrations.The Seoul Central District Court rejected an arrest warrant for a former executive at Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), Wednesday, dismissing the prosecution’s claim he should be punished for tampering with evidence.The court said while the official did order his underlings to shred documents containing key company information including accounting data, he did so to protect his self-interest, not to protect that of others whose influence he was under.An individual destroying evidence is not subject to criminal punishment because such an act is a Constitutional right against self-incrimination, it said.However, this determination triggered a heated response from the prosecution.“Under such narrow and restrictive reasoning, not one individual will be subject to punishment for tampering with evidence. We strongly denounce the court’s decision,” it said.Park was the third among four suspects fo

Sep 14, 2017

Court, prosecution at odds over warrants

Ma Kwang-soo: literary martyr or social outcast?

Banned book ‘Happy Sara’ back in spotlight after author’s deathBy Kang Hyun-kyungProfessor and author Ma Kwang-soo, who was found dead on Sept. 5, is still at the center of controversy for his watershed fictional work “Happy Sara.”  The book was banned in 1992 for “depraving and corrupting” the younger generation.Tied up with rope, Ma Kwang-soo (1951-2017), the former professor of literature at Yonsei University and the author of the banned fictional work “Happy Sara,” appears at the Seoul Central District Court on Dec. 2, 1992. He was arrested earlier that year while teaching a class at the university for “creating and disseminating obscene materials” through his book. / Korea Times file photoA posthumous debate about the author goes on whether he was an intellectual who had lived way ahead of his time and consequently was persecuted, or an unrepentant social outcast. In 1992, the court sentenced Ma to an eight-month jail term with two years suspended for “creating and disseminating obscene materials&r

Sep 14, 2017

Ma Kwang-soo: literary martyr or social outcast?

Critics apologize for denouncing driver who left child alone at bus stop

Video footage from a security camera at a stop for Bus 240 shows a child, 7, getting off near Konkuk University Station on Monday. / Captured from YTNBy Chyung Eun-juSometimes things are not what they seem.On Tuesday, people criticized the driver of a Seoul transit bus 240 who allegedly did not stop immediately when a mother realized her child had been left behind.But after Seoul Metropolitan City on Wednesday released a closed-circuit video, critics retracted their criticism when they realized the incident had not been the driver’s fault.“I was the first person who posted a complaint about the bus,” a complainant posted on the Seoul Bus Transporting website.He is one of many who used the site to publicize the incident at a bus stop near Konkuk University Station in Gwangjin-gu.Critics denounced the driver, who reportedly also yelled at the desperate woman. “After the post went viral I read articles that said the driver was not responsible for the incident,” the complainant said.“My heart is upset because I feel responsible for making the situ

Sep 13, 2017

Critics apologize for denouncing driver who left child alone at bus stop

Gov't to revise egg coding system

 By Lee Kyung-min The government will require egg farms to implement a revised coding system that identifies how their chickens are reared and when its eggs are produced, it said Wednesday.The measure, which will be implemented next month, came in response to public outrage after the government inspection last month found insecticide-tainted eggs. The eggs also had the wrong coding on them or had no coding at all.The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety notified the public about the revised regulations governing egg production.Under the revised coding, egg sellers are required to identify the date eggs were laid, the farm code and rearing method. The four rearing methods include organic rearing, pasturing, barn rearing and cage rearing.Currently, sellers are only required to code eggs to identify where they were produced. Only region identification and farm name were required, but few followed the rules as the punishments were mere verbal warnings.Under the revised law, those who fail to follow the new system, even for the first time, will be subject to a 15-day suspension of b

Sep 13, 2017

Investigation may target ex-President Lee Myung-bak

By Jung Min-hoFormer President Lee Myung-bak may face investigation after the National Intelligence Service (NIS) revealed that his administration created a blacklist of artists to cut off from state subsidies prior to the Park Geun-hye administration doing the same.The prosecution said Tuesday that it is considering whether to expand the team investigating illegal activities the NIS allegedly committed under the two conservative governments.On Monday, the reform committee of the NIS disclosed the list it had of 82 cultural figures, including movie director Park Chan-wook, singer Yoon Do-hyun, comedian Gim Gu-ra and actor Lee Joon-gi. They were among the critics of some of the Lee government’s policies.Following the news, actress Kim Gyu-ri, one of the 82, said, “I can’t believe my previous tax money was used to kill me.”Some of the artists claimed they felt “excluded” from TV shows and other commercial activities during President Lee’s five-year term, saying the revelation only confirmed their suspicions.Ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK

Sep 13, 2017

Law & Crime

Law & Crime

Migrant workers up in arms over 'violent' immigration officials

Gov't official accused of selling information about N. Korean defectors

2 firefighters killed as burning pavilion collapses

Human traffickers targeting foreign women busted

Police to set up independent body to monitor abuse

Court, prosecution at odds over warrants

Ma Kwang-soo: literary martyr or social outcast?

Critics apologize for denouncing driver who left child alone at bus stop

Gov't to revise egg coding system

Investigation may target ex-President Lee Myung-bak

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