The majority of South Koreans agree that the death penalty should be abolished and replaced with alternative forms of punishment, the state-run human rights body announced Wednesday. According to data from the National Human Rights Commission of Korea, 7 out of 10 Koreans are against retaining capital punishment on the condition that serious punitive measures are put in place to deter crime.(Yonhap)The commission released the data at a conference held to mark World Day Against the Death Penalty.

Social Affairs Oct. 11, 2018

Prosecutors raided the office of a former Constitutional Court justice nominee who is suspected of using private information to profit from stock investments and make hundreds of millions of won, investigators said Thursday. A team of investigators at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office that specializes in stock-market crime cases said it had searched the office of Lee You-jung, a lawyer at One Law Partners in Seoul’s Gangnam area, as well as three other places, Monday.Lee is suspect

Politics Oct. 11, 2018

The prosecution enforced search and seizures into the car of former Supreme Court Chief Yang Sung-tae and homes and offices of former top court justices on Sunday, closing in on figures at the center of the judiciary power abuse scandal. It is the first time the court has granted warrants requested by the prosecution against the former top court figures since the prosecutorial investigation kicked off in June, amid public calls for thorough investigation into the judiciary.　 Protestors hold sign

Social Affairs Sept. 30, 2018

PALERMO, Italy  (AFP) -- Pope Francis visits the Italian island of Sicily on Saturday to pay homage to a priest murdered by the mafia 25 years ago after trying to save youngsters in poor neighbourhoods from falling into their hands.　The Argentinian pontiff‘s visit will be brief but is part of a wider campaign he has been waging against organised crime. 　He is expected to arrive in Palermo at 10:45 am (0845 GMT) and will say mass, then head to the Palermo parish where Father Giuseppe “Pino” Pugli

International Sept. 15, 2018

The National Human Rights Commission recommended Tuesday that South Korea accede to an international protocol renouncing the use of death penalty.The 11 members of the commission unanimously made the recommendation that the country join the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which aims to the abolish the death penalty, during the first meeting presided over by new Chairperson Choi Yeong-ae. (Yonhap)South Korea is one of four members of the 36-na

Social Affairs Sept. 11, 2018

NEW DELHI -- India's Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a colonial-era law that made gay sex punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a landmark victory for gay rights that one judge said would "pave the way for a better future.'' The 1861 law, a relic of Victorian England that hung on long after the end of British colonialism, was a weapon used to discriminate against India's gay community, the judges ruled in a unanimous decision. "Constitutional morality cannot be martyred at the altar of s

International Sept. 7, 2018

“Waiting for the jury to come in” is a good description of what this August has felt like. We’ve all been wondering how our legal system would cope with President Trump -- even as we awaited the broader verdict of public opinion that will come with the November midterm elections. Many Americans will probably remember how they heard the news Tuesday that 12 of our fellow citizens had voted to convict Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort on eight felony counts, and that Trump’s personal

Viewpoints Aug. 27, 2018

The government’s passage of a human rights action plan, which recommends introducing laws prohibiting discrimination, has been hit by severe opposition from religious groups.On Tuesday, the government passed the National Plan of Action for Human Rights in a Cabinet meeting, to serve as human rights guidelines in effect from 2018 to 2022.The action plan, released by the Justice Ministry, carries 272 policy instructions in eight categories of human rights goals -- such as protecting the rights of

Social Affairs Aug. 8, 2018

Two Yemeni asylum seekers have been taken into custody on the southern island of Jeju for using violence against each other in a fight over washing dishes, police said Monday.The two, who are aged 36 and 37 and work as crewmen, allegedly brandished weapons or punched each other Sunday afternoon after quarreling over washing dishes in the crewmen's quarters they live in, police said.Police said they're questioning the two and will decide how to deal with them after consultations with immigration

Social Affairs July 2, 2018

Two separate rallies were held in central Seoul late Saturday with supporters and protesters from each side showing contrasting sentiment regarding hundreds of Yemini asylum seekers in the southern island of Jeju. A group of protesters, who named themselves People's Solidarity Against Illegal Asylum Seekers, staged a rally in Gwanghwamun Plaza, calling for government measures to fend off "fake refugees." "We do not reject those who seek asylum for religious, political and racial reasons," one of

Social Affairs July 1, 2018

(Yonhap)진행자: 김다솔, Paul Kerry1. Political hate crimes spike as elections near (6일자 3면)아이튠즈(아이폰): https://itunes.apple.com/kr/podcast/koliaheleoldeu-paskaeseuteu/id686406253?mt=2팟빵 (안드로이드): http://www.podbbang.com/ch/6638기사 요약: 613 지방선거가 다가오면서 선거 유세를 펼치고 있는 특정 정치인들을 향한 증오에 의한 범죄가 증가하고 있다. [1] A series of attacks on politicians have taken place in South Korea, heightening concerns about a rise in hate crimes as local elections close in.* hate crime: 증오에 의한 범죄, 혐오 범죄* a series of attacks: 일련의 공격, 연달

Podcast June 6, 2018

　According to a World Justice Project report, people in Singapore feel the safest, while people in Pakistan feel the least secure.　The report measured the prevalence of common crimes in 113 countries, including homicides, kidnappings, burglaries, thefts, armed robberies and extortions, as well as people’s perceptions of safety. 　Japan was the second safest in Asia and eighth in the world, while South Korea ranked third in the region and 22nd in the world. Despite the tension with North Korea, pe

World News May 28, 2018

More than half the number of female employees working at the Justice Ministry and the prosecution experienced sexual harassment and/or assault by other employees, and most of the incidents were kept secret, a special ministry panel revealed Thursday. In a press meeting, the independent panel looking into sexual crime at judicial bodies reported that 61.6 percent of 7,407 female workers, including prosecutors and ministry officials, responded that they had experienced sexual harassment and/or ass

Social Affairs May 17, 2018

More than 270,000 South Koreans have signed an online petition asking for the fair investigation of online and digital sexual violence cases, regardless of the perpetrators' gender, after a female suspect was arrested for secretly taking a photo of her male colleague while he was posing nude for university students, and then distributing it online without the victim’s consent. 　Those who signed the petition say that while the authorities’ treatment of the case has been just and ideal, the way th

Social Affairs May 13, 2018