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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.

14-year sentence confirmed for man who killed girlfriend, hid body in cement

A man in his 50s who murdered his live-in girlfriend and hid her body in cement in a rooftop apartment has been sentenced to 14 years in prison, 16 years after the crime. According to the legal sources Wednesday, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling that sentenced the 59-year-old man, surnamed Kim, to 14 years for murder and an additional two years and six months for violating the Narcotics Control Act. Kim had been living with a woman in her 30s in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, since May 2007. In October 2008, after finding her with another man, Kim bludgeoned her to death following an argument. He then placed her body in a suitcase, sealed it with bricks and cement on the apartment’s outdoor veranda, and continued living there. The victim’s remains were discovered in August last year, 16 years after the killing, when the landlord removed the cement structure during waterproofing work. Her fingerprints were still intact, allowing police to identify Kim as the suspect. While under police investigation, Kim was also found to have purchased and used 0.5 grams of methamp

Oct 30, 2025By Hankookilbo
14-year sentence confirmed for man who killed girlfriend, hid body in cement

Ex-president Yoon to appear for insurrection trial for 1st time in 4 months

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol will appear in his insurrection trial slated for later this week, his lawyers said Wednesday, in what would mark the ousted president's first attendance at the proceedings in about four months. "Former President Yoon will attend the insurrection trial on Thursday," his lawyers said. Yoon has not appeared at the trial since he was placed under arrest for a second time in July. He is being tried on charges of leading an insurrection and abusing his power through his failed imposition of martial law in December. The former president, however, attended the first hearing of another trial on martial law-related charges in September, as well as a separate hearing on his request for bail. Kwak Jong-keun, the former chief of the Army Special Warfare Command, is set to testify at Thursday's hearing. Kwak has claimed that he received orders from Yoon to drag out lawmakers from the National Assembly during the short-lived martial law imposition. Meanwhile, Yoon's lawyers have requested for the Constitutional Court to review the mandatory broadcast of his trial, citing a

Oct 29, 2025By Yonhap
Ex-president Yoon to appear for insurrection trial for 1st time in 4 months

Prosecutors appeal court acquittal of Kakao founder on stock manipulation charges

Prosecutors have appealed the recent court acquittal of Kim Beom-su, founder of tech giant Kakao Corp., on stock manipulation charges related to the company's takeover of K-pop agency SM Entertainment, officials said Tuesday. The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office recently filed an appeal against the not-guilty ruling on Kim, court officials said, claiming factual and legal misunderstandings behind the decision. Last week, the Seoul Southern District Court acquitted Kim, now head of Kakao's Future Initiative Center, of charges of violating the Capital Market Act by inflating SM share prices above rival HYBE's tender offer price in order to block its takeover of SM in 2023. Based on the time intervals between Kakao's purchases of SM shares, it was difficult to conclude the company intended to fix the share price above the market price, the bench said at the time. In addition, it ruled there was not sufficient basis to support the prosecution's argument that the SM takeover was essential for Kakao at the time. Prosecutors claimed that Kakao engaged in price fixing to block HYBE's ta

Oct 28, 2025By Yonhap
Prosecutors appeal court acquittal of Kakao founder on stock manipulation charges

Customs seize record drug shipments from air travelers

Korea has experienced a surge in air travelers attempting to smuggle narcotics into the country this year, with seizures already exceeding last year’s total. International air travelers caught smuggling drugs into Korea this year have nearly tripled the 2024 total, government data released Tuesday shows. From January through September, 303 passengers were intercepted at Incheon International Airport, far exceeding the 102 apprehended in all of 2024, according to figures provided by the office of Rep. Kim Eun-hye of the main opposition People Power Party. The total amount intercepted this year reached 168.3 kilograms, valued at 18.4 billion won ($13 million). The sharp rise has been driven largely by Chinese nationals, whose numbers have jumped from 27 last year to 97 so far in 2025. The quantity of drugs intercepted from Chinese travelers also jumped from 5.6 kilograms in 2022 and 15.3 kilograms in 2023, to 23.1 kilograms last year and 39.2 kilograms so far this year. The lawmaker is concerned that a visa-free entry policy introduced for Chinese group tourists last month would lead to a

Oct 28, 2025By Jung Min-ho
Customs seize record drug shipments from air travelers

56 more scam crimes involving Koreans in Cambodia reported in September: FM

Fifty-six cases of Korean nationals abducted or confined in job scam crimes in Cambodia were additionally reported in September, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun told lawmakers Tuesday. The disclosure came as Korea has been doubling down on responding to crimes targeting Koreans in Cambodia, such as online scams, following the torture and death of a Korean college student lured to a scam center in the Southeast Asian country. With the September monthly figure, the total number of reports of Korean nationals being abducted or confined in the country reached 386, Cho told lawmakers of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee during a parliamentary audit. When including the 220 cases reported last year, 102 cases still remain unresolved, he said. Cho acknowledged that the ministry's response measures, based on a traditional consular system, failed to cope with the sharp increase in transnational crimes, saying the ministry should have sought governmentwide efforts to counter such a trend. He said the foreign ministry and the police will strengthen on-site coordination with Cambodian authoritie

Oct 28, 2025By Yonhap
56 more scam crimes involving Koreans in Cambodia reported in September: FM

Police transfer 66 suspects of Cambodian scams to prosecution

Police on Tuesday transferred 66 suspects to the prosecution over their alleged involvement in online scam rings in Cambodia. The Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police and the Chungnam Provincial Police separately announced the result of their investigations after respectively handling 15 and 45 of the 64 suspects repatriated from Cambodia earlier this month. The 64 suspects were flown back under police custody following a crackdown on criminal organizations believed to be behind the abduction and detention of Koreans. The Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police said it transferred 11 suspects to the prosecution for allegedly participating in romance scams from August 2024 until last month by posting dating advertisements on social media and tricking victims into sending them up to hundreds of millions of won. The number of confirmed victims is 36, while the total amount of damage is 1.6 billion won ($1.1 million), the regional police agency said. The figures are expected to grow as the investigation continues. Meanwhile, the Chungnam Provincial Police said it transferred a total of 55 suspects to th

Oct 28, 2025By Yonhap
Police transfer 66 suspects of Cambodian scams to prosecution

Formal trial for Unification Church leader to begin in December

The formal trial for Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja, who is accused of bribery linked to the administration of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, will begin in December, a court said Monday. The first hearing will be held Dec. 1 and be followed by one to two hearings a week, the bench overseeing the trial at the Seoul Central District Court said during a preparatory hearing. An additional preparatory hearing will be held Nov. 18, it said. Han was indicted by a special counsel team earlier this month on charges of violating the Political Funds Act and the anti-graft law, among other offenses. She is accused of colluding with a former church official surnamed Yun to hand 100 million won ($69,700) to People Power Party Rep. Kweon Seong-dong in January 2022 in exchange for his help in gaining favors for the church in the event of Yoon's election as president. Yoon went on to win the election in March that year. Han is also suspected of involvement in gifting a luxury necklace and Chanel bags to Yoon's wife, Kim Keon Hee, while requesting favors, embezzling the church's money to purchase th

Oct 27, 2025By Yonhap
Formal trial for Unification Church leader to begin in December

Special counsel team raids home of ex-PM Hwang

A special counsel team attempted to raid the home of former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Monday over suspicions of inciting an insurrection following former President Yoon Suk Yeol's bid to impose martial law in December. The team of special counsel Cho Eun-suk arrived at Hwang's home to execute a search and seizure warrant but the door was locked and investigators waited outside to be let in. "(The raid) has to do with a case filed with the police regarding insurrection incitement charges related to former Prime Minister Hwang's actions on the day martial law was imposed," assistant special counsel Park Ji-young said during a press briefing. "We hope he will cooperate over a court-issued warrant, as he is a jurist who previously served as the minister of justice," she added. The former prime minister, who served under former President Park Geun-hye, was reported to the police in December by an online news outlet over Facebook posts he made on the day Yoon declared martial law on Dec. 3. In the posts, he called for using the emergency decree to "eradicate" pro-North Korea forces and th

Oct 27, 2025By Yonhap
Special counsel team raids home of ex-PM Hwang

Prosecution's civic committee convenes to review 'Choco Pie theft' case

The prosecution on Monday convened a civic committee to review prosecutorial proceedings made in the case of "Choco Pie theft" that has drawn public outcry and questions over the role of law. In May, a court fined a subcontractor worker 50,000 won ($34.80) for taking a 400 won Choco Pie — a chocolate-covered marshmallow-filled snack — and a 650 won Custard cake from a company refrigerator and eating them without permission last year. The decision over the seemingly minor incident sparked public outcry and questions over the role of law, with some criticizing the prosecution for taking the case to court. The Jeonju District Prosecutors Office held a closed-door session of the committee, which consists of about a dozen members from various backgrounds, to review whether the steps it took on the case were appropriate. The prosecution will take the results of the meeting into consideration in future proceedings. The meeting takes place days before an appellate trial hearing for the case scheduled for Thursday. Based on the meeting's results, prosecutors may even seek lighter punishment, s

Oct 27, 2025By Yonhap
Prosecution's civic committee convenes to review 'Choco Pie theft' case

1 dead, 1 critically injured in lotto ticket dispute stabbing in northern Seoul

One of two restaurant owners attacked in a stabbing in Seoul’s Gangbuk District has died, police said Monday, after a man in his 60s assaulted the couple in a dispute over a promotional lottery ticket. According to the Gangbuk Police Station, one of the victims — a husband-and-wife team in their 60s who ran the restaurant — died from injuries sustained in the attack, while the other remains in critical condition after surgery. The suspect, also in his 60s, was arrested at the scene on Sunday afternoon on charges of attempted murder, which were later upgraded to murder. Police said the man attacked the couple at their restaurant in Suyu-dong, allegedly shouting that they “refused to give him a lotto ticket.” Witnesses said the restaurant, which reopened in July, had been offering 1,000-won ($0.73) lottery tickets as a promotion to cash-paying customers. The suspect had visited the restaurant the day before but did not receive a ticket. When he returned the next day and was told that the event did not apply on Sundays, he became enraged and pulled out a knife from his pocket, acco

Oct 27, 2025By Hankookilbo
1 dead, 1 critically injured in lotto ticket dispute stabbing in northern Seoul
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