Articles by Kim Yon-se
Kim Yon-se
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Lawmakers face bribery charges
The prosecution is set to indict two ruling party lawmakers and one from the opposition on charges of taking kickbacks as early as this week.The three are Reps. Jo Hyun-yong and Park Sang-eun of the Saenuri Party and Rep. Kim Jae-yun of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, all of whom have been detained since Aug. 21 on allegations of bribe-taking.Jo is suspected of receiving bribes worth 160 million won ($155,000) from railroad track component maker Sampyo E&C in return for
Social Affairs Sept. 4, 2014
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Seoul to unveil wage peak funding plan
Policymakers are scheduled to unveil detailed measures to promote employment of the elderly later this month, targeting a soft implementation of a national wage peak system in the overall industry.The National Assembly passed a bill in April 2013 that would make it mandatory for the public sector and big businesses with 300 or more employees to extend the retirement age to 60 or above from 2016 and others, including small businesses, from 2017.The wage peak system will extend the retirement age
Social Affairs Sept. 3, 2014
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High court favors sanction on professor over political activities
An appellate court has overturned a Seoul court’s earlier ruling in favor of a professor at a state-run graduate school, who had been reprimanded for his political activities.The Seoul Administrative Court ruled in July 2013 that the decision of Korea Development Institute School of Public Policy and Management to suspend Yoo Jong-il for one-month, citing his activities and expressions in support of the main opposition party were “too severe.”The initial verdict had clarified that Yoo simply exp
Social Affairs Sept. 2, 2014
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Prosecution targets opposition lawmakers over bribe charges
Prosecutors are intensifying their investigation into bribery allegations involving opposition politicians and a college, though a Seoul court has rejected the prosecution’s proposal that arrest warrants be issued for two incumbent lawmakers.The prosecution recently summoned Jeon Hyun-hee, a former lawmaker of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, to question her about the suspicion that several lawmakers took kickbacks from Seoul Arts College.While Jeon is not an investigatio
Social Affairs Sept. 2, 2014
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Hacker gets one year in prison
A Seoul court on Monday sentenced a habitual hacker in his 40s to a one-year jail term for stealing and illicitly trading the personal information of more than 100,000 people.The culprit, surnamed Shin, was found to have hacked the private information of about 29,000 customers of the Internet portal Daum Communications through a desktop computer in the Philippines in September 2007.The information included Daum customers’ names, resident registration numbers, phone numbers and copies of identifi
Social Affairs Sept. 1, 2014
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Probe finds 3 more bags intended for Yoo
The prosecution said Monday that it had obtained three more bags of the late Yoo Byung-eun, which are believed to have been brought to a hideout of the Sewol ferry owner after the April 16 sinking disaster.According to investigators, the three bags were found at the residence of a devotee of the Salvation Sect, which was led by Yoo, who was found dead on June 12.“While there was no cash, premium fountain pens and other luxurious products were included in the bags,” an investigator told a news br
Social Affairs Sept. 1, 2014
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Ferry owner Yoo laid to rest
A funeral ceremony was held on Sunday for Yoo Byung-eun, the owner of the sunken ferry Sewol who was found dead in a southern port city on June 12, at a religious stronghold in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province.The irregularity-ridden Yoo was buried on a hill at the Salvation Sect’s compound Geumsuwon. The sect, which had been led by the late business tycoon, is the de facto owner of Chonghaejin Marine Co., the operator of the Sewol.The burial of Yoo, who died at 73, is likely to aggravate difficulties
Social Affairs Aug. 31, 2014
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[Weekender] Flourishing silver industry key driver of future growth
Industries catering to senior citizens in Korea have been expanding at a rapid pace in recent years as the pensionable population grows.The market for goods and services geared toward the elderly is projected to grow at an annual average rate of 12.9 percent until 2020, according to a report by the Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry, while the average overall growth rate is estimated to stay at about 4.7 percent.The Ministry of Health and Welfare also projects the scale of silver businesses wo
Social Affairs Aug. 29, 2014
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Woongjin chairman gets 4-year prison term
A Seoul court on Thursday sentenced Woongjin Group chairman Yoon Seok-keum to a four-year jail term for inflicting losses among investors and entire business units by masterminding irregular funding for the group’s financially distressed units. The prosecution had asked for six years in prison.Yoon had been indicted on charges of raising funds by issuing commercial paper worth 100 billion won ($97 million) from July to August 2012 while concealing some of Woongjin subsidiaries’ insolvent financi
Social Affairs Aug. 28, 2014
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Cheonggyecheon gets phone battery chargers
Citizens are now able to recharge their smartphone and tablet PC batteries through a hydropower-generation station at Cheonggyecheon Stream in downtown Seoul.Seoul City on Wednesday set up five booths around the stream that generate electricity using flowing water. This marked the first time a mobile-device recharging station backed by hydropower has been unveiled in Korea.“The small-scale hydropower generation facility minimizes negative effects on the environment as it produces electricity wit
Social Affairs Aug. 27, 2014
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Incheon island may host landfill for Seoul area
An island in Ongjin-gun county, Incheon, is being mentioned as a strong candidate for the next landfill to take waste from Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province.The usage of the Sudoggwon Landfill, which is located across Seogu district, Incheon, and Yangchon-myeon district, Gimpo, expires in December 2016. Incheon City, under its new governor, is initiating the move to unveil the next site, and city officials said in a statement that the single preferred candidate will be picked in September.Som
Social Affairs Aug. 26, 2014
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Park’s former aide questioned
The prosecution said Monday that it had recently summoned a close male confidant of President Park Geun-hye as part of its ongoing investigation into the Sankei Shimbun over its Aug. 3 article.The Japanese newspaper speculated in its report that Park was staying with her close male aide, Chung Yoon-hoi, at a private residence in Seoul when the ferry Sewol capsized on the morning of April 16.The 59-year-old Chung, who recently appeared before the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, report
Social Affairs Aug. 25, 2014
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Prosecution faces credibility crisis
The prosecution is continuing to face a crisis of credibility with a series of personal misdeeds committed by a number of prosecutors and investigators over the past few years.Further, the prosecution received public criticism for handing down mild sanctions on “family,” or incumbent prosecutors, engaged in sex or bribery scandals. The severity of the punishments appears to have been somewhat milder than those for ordinary suspects.Following the recent case of lewd conduct by former chief of Jej
Social Affairs Aug. 25, 2014
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Former Jeju prosecutor admits lewd public acts
The former top prosecutor on South Korea’s southern island of Jeju admitted Friday to committing lewd behavior in public last week.Kim Soo-chang, the 52-year-old former chief of Jeju District Prosecutors’ Office, is accused of masturbating in public near his residence on the resort island on Aug. 12.Kim said he accepts “the outcome of the police investigation and will sincerely cooperate with the judicial process in the future,” according to his lawyer, Moon Sung-yoon.Kim also said he will activ
Social Affairs Aug. 22, 2014
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Seoul to build separated families’ genetic database
South Korea will launch a project to build a database of genetic information for senior citizens whose loved ones are in North Korea after being separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, the unification ministry said Friday.“Of the separated family members who filed for a gene test, the ministry will first select 1,200 people based upon their seniority, carry out the test starting Monday and preserve their genetic information,” spokesman Kim Ui-do said at a regular briefing.The genetic data will allo
North Korea Aug. 22, 2014
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