Police to decide whether to disclose identity of rape and murder suspect Wednesday

Police said Monday they plan to decide whether to disclose the identity of a 30-year-old man arrested recently for sexually assaulting and murdering a woman on a hiking trail in Seoul in a review committee meeting later this week. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said the identity disclosure review committee will be convened Wednesday to determine whether to make public the rape and murder suspect's face photo, name and age. The suspect, currently identified only by his family name Choi

Aug. 21, 2023

New class policy leaves teachers open to child abuse accusations: experts

South Korea’s Education Ministry rolled out a set of new class policies last week to bolster waning teachers’ rights, but some experts have raised concerns that the measures would make teachers more vulnerable to child abuse accusations. When verbal discipline fails or students pose a physical threat to teachers or other students, the ministry’s guideline states that teachers will be allowed to use force to physically restrain disruptive students. They can also confiscate phone

Aug. 20, 2023

Police focus on proving Sillim attacker's 'intent to kill’

The police said Sunday they were looking for proof that a man who raped and beat a woman to death on Thursday had intended to kill her. The woman in her 30s was assaulted with brass knuckles in an alleged rape at a park in Seoul’s Sillim-dong on Friday. As she was pronounced dead on Saturday, the assailant’s alleged crimes were changed from rape and assault to rape and murder. "Since the victim has passed away, we changed the suspect’s charges to rape and murder,” sa

Aug. 20, 2023

Arrest warrant under review for assault, rape suspect in Seoul

A Seoul court will determine on Saturday whether to issue an arrest warrant for a 30-year-old man accused of assaulting and raping a woman on a hiking trail in Seoul earlier this week, police officials said. The suspect surnamed Choi was put under police custody on Thursday shortly after he allegedly beat and raped the victim he randomly picked on a hillside trail in the Sillim district in southwestern Seoul at 12:10 p.m. The woman was immediately transported to a hospital but remains unconsci

Aug. 19, 2023

Assault, rape suspect in Seoul says brass knuckles were used: police

The 30-year-old man accused of assaulting and raping a woman on a hiking trail in Seoul has said he used two brass knuckles when beating her, police officials said Friday. The suspect surnamed Choi was put under police custody the previous day shortly after he allegedly beat and raped the victim he randomly picked on a hillside trail in the Sillim district in southwestern Seoul at 12:10 p.m. The woman was immediately transported to a hospital but remains unconscious. The suspect told police the

Aug. 18, 2023

Endangered wildcat kitten put down by mistake

An injured leopard cat kitten was euthanized at an animal shelter in Taebaek, Gangwon Province, after staff mistook the animal to be a domestic cat. While the shelter and the veterinarian have claimed that there was little that could be done to have helped the animal, a number of issues with the handling of the situation has been raised. Leopard cats are listed as class II endangered wildlife, which means they are threatened with imminent extinction, and have been protected by the Ministry of En

Aug. 18, 2023

Child overcomes rare heart disorder with successful surgery in Seoul

An Indonesian boy born with his heart outside the chest cavity has been successfully treated at a South Korean hospital. Mikhael, a 7-year-old from Indonesia, was born with ectopia cordis, an extremely rare condition where the heart is located outside the chest cavity. Most infants diagnosed with the condition do not survive beyond their first three days of life. Medical professionals in Indonesia initially predicted he would only live for two years. Despite defying initial prognosis, Mikhael fa

Aug. 18, 2023

7 of 10 part-time workers has faced customer abuse: survey

A recent poll of part-time workers across the country showed that 68.3 percent have been subject to “gapjil” -- which refers to abusing of one’s position to make unreasonable and unfair demands of someone in a lower position -- by customers while on the job. Employees who work face-to-face with customers are more than twice as likely to experience gapjil than those who do not -- 74.1 percent versus 31.1 percent, according to the survey by Alba Cheonguk, a part-time job search w

Aug. 18, 2023

Stabbing threat at K-pop concert turns out to be prank by 11-year-old

The recent online threat of a mass stabbing at a K-pop group’s concert turned out to be a prank by an 11-year-old girl, local police said Friday. The child, whose identity has been withheld, posted an online threat Tuesday that claimed that she would stab fans gathered at a concert held at the Gocheok Sky Dome in western Seoul. Seoul Guro Police Station dispatched 39 officials to conduct an extensive search of the venue until after the concert was over at midnight that day. Officials track

Aug. 18, 2023

Brutal rape shakes Sillim

A man in his 30s has been arrested on charges of raping and seriously injuring a woman in Seoul's Sillim-dong, which was also the site of a recent indiscriminate knife attack. The man is suspected of attacking a woman in her 30s with brass knuckles, and sexually assaulting her in a park near Gwanaksan at around 11:40 a.m. Thursday. Hikers who heard the victim’s screams called the police at around 11:44 a.m. and the police apprehended him in the act at around 12:10 p.m. The suspect and

Aug. 18, 2023

Ex-defense minister gets commuted 2-year sentence for political meddling

Kim Kwan-jin, former defense minister under the conservative former Lee Myung-bak administration, was handed down a two-year jail sentence for instructing members of the ministry's Cyber Operations Command to write and distribute over 9,000 political comments online from 2011 to 2013 in a bid to sway public opinion during a period in which there were two national elections. The commuted sentence -- from the previous 2 1/3-year prison term by an appellate court in October 2020 -- had been wi

Aug. 18, 2023

Man sent to prosecution for driving under influence, fatally injuring passerby in Apgujeong: police

A man accused of hitting and fatally injuring a passerby while driving under the influence of drugs in a posh neighborhood in Gangnam earlier this month was referred to prosecutors for possible indictment, police said Friday. The 28-year-old man, identified only by his last name Shin, was formally arrested last Friday for allegedly dashing to a sidewalk while driving on a road near Apgujeong Station in southern Seoul, and hitting a woman in her 20s at 8:10 p.m. on Aug. 2. The victim underwent su

Aug. 18, 2023

Supreme Court permits Korean medicine doctors to use brain wave sensor

The Supreme Court said Friday that doctors of traditional Korean medicine, also known as Oriental medicine doctors, cannot be punished for using brain wave sensors, a modern medical device, to diagnose Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. The top court's ruling came after a Korean medicine doctor was slapped with a three-month license suspension by the health ministry in 2012 for using the electronic sensor in the diagnosis of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases at his

Aug. 18, 2023

S. Korea recognized for administrative city construction

As the National Agency for Administrative City Construction’s Multifunctional Administrative City project in Sejong comes to a close, Egypt and Mongolia are collaborating with South Korea to build administrative cities in their respective countries. Also known as “Happy City,” the city construction project focuses on building a self-governing city that centers on administrative functions. Since the inauguration of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, the project has gained attenti

Aug. 18, 2023

Man apprehended for beating, raping woman on hiking trail in Seoul

Police apprehended a man in his 30s Thursday for allegedly beating and raping a woman on a hiking trail in Seoul. The man is suspected of striking the victim with a blunt metal weapon before sexually assaulting her on a hillside in Sillim-dong, southwestern Seoul. He was caught at the scene at 12:10 p.m. by the police, who rushed there following a report from hikers that they had heard the victim's cries for help. The woman was immediately transported to a hospital but remains unconscious.

Aug. 17, 2023

Park employees burn down 50 trees in beehive removal attempt

An attempt to remove a beehive has resulted in about 50 trees being burned at a park in Incheon, fire authorities said Wednesday. According to the Incheon Fire Department, the fire broke out in a tree at a sports park entrance in Oryu-dong of Seo-gu, Incheon, at 1:18 p.m. on Wednesday. The fire is said to have started when park employees used a lighter and insecticide spray to remove a beehive found among the branches. No human casualties were discovered, but 50 Dwarf juniper trees were burned.

Aug. 17, 2023

More Koreans to suffer from 'climate depression': experts

A growing number of Koreans are suffering from "climate depression," after experiencing extreme heat waves, heavy rains and a typhoon this summer, according to local experts. Although no hard data has been presented, experts believe that the number of people suffering from climate depression will increase significantly in the future. “Already, the World Health Organization is taking the issue of climate depression seriously. If climate change continues, more and more people may s

Aug. 17, 2023

Teachers to be allowed to remove disruptive students, ban phones

Teachers will be allowed to remove disruptive students and confiscate their mobile phones if they continue to interrupt classroom operations and disturb other students starting next month, the Education Ministry said during a policy briefing Thursday. The new policy will apply to teachers working in elementary schools, middle schools and high schools. If a student fails to comply with a teacher’s instructions, teachers can ask the head of their schools for permission to hand out punishment

Aug. 17, 2023

Cleaner charged with animal abuse

A house cleaner has been charged with animal abuse after allegedly causing injuries to a client's pet cats. According to the cats' owner, the worker was hired through a cleaning service app. The cleaner was notified of the presence of cats beforehand and given instructions not to approach or touch the cats. However, when the cats' owner returned home after running errands, the owner found blood on the floor and on the cats. The cats were immediately taken to a veterinary hospital

Aug. 17, 2023

Volunteer fighter gets suspended prison term for illegal entry into Ukraine

A South Korean volunteer fighter indicted for entering Ukraine in 2022 to fight against Russia's invasion in violation of the passport law was given a suspended prison sentence by a court Thursday. The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Rhee Keun, a Navy SEAL-turned-YouTuber, to a prison term of one and a half years, suspended for three years, on charges of passport law violation and a hit-and-run involving the injury of a motorcyclist. The 39-year-old Rhee was also ordered to conduct 8

Aug. 17, 2023