Category: crime & punishment

It is pretty amazing that this guy only got 15 years for raping 11 children. The odds seem high that at some point he is going to do this again:

The prosecution requested the court to issue an arrest warrant for serial child rapist Kim Geun-sik, Saturday, two days before he was set to be released from prison, as a woman filed charges that he raped her 16 years ago when she was a minor.

Kim was expected to be released this Monday after serving 15 years in jail on charges of having raped 11 minors.

According to the prosecution, the victim recently recognized Kim’s face as the man who sexually assaulted her 16 years ago, as the media began to report on his release using his mugshot photo. She filed new charges against him with the prosecution.

Prosecutors said they analyzed relevant evidence and proved that Kim had been the attacker in the case. 

“Not only is Kim’s crime very serious, but also there’s a possibility of Kim running away as he has no permanent residence at the moment. He could recommit such crimes, or do harm to the victims. That’s why we requested an arrest warrant,” the prosecution said.

If Kim is released Monday, he is scheduled to move into a facility affiliated with the justice ministry that helps released prisoners reintegrate into society, by offering housing as well as psychiatric, educational and other services, similar to what is known in English as a “halfway house.” As Kim was assigned to enter such a facility located in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, residents who have children attending school nearby have expressed their worries. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

That is a lot of meth, hopefully they keep this guy in jail to do his full sentence:

A regional court meted out a 30-year prison term to a man on Thursday on charges of smuggling in 902 kilograms of methamphetamine from Mexico, the biggest amount of drug smuggling ever in South Korea, officials said. 

The 38-year-old, whose name was withheld, was accused of bringing in the drugs in December 2019 and July 2020 from Mexico in collusion with an international crime ring. 

He and his accomplice allegedly imported the drugs hidden inside helical gears and smuggled 498 kilograms back to Australia, according to court records. 

Worth about 3 trillion won (US$2.1 billion) in retail price and enough for 30 million doses, the smuggled drugs mark the biggest ever amount brought into the country in its drug smuggling history.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This would make for a great Dog the Bounty Hunter episode hunting this guy down:

South Korean prosecutors said Sunday that Do Kwon, the wanted founder of Terraform Labs accused of fraud following the massive collapse of the firm’s cryptocurrencies in May, is “obviously on the run” and not cooperating with the investigation.

The remarks came in response to Kwon’s claim in a tweet that “I am not ‘on the run’ or anything similar — for any government agency that has shown interest to communicate, we are in full cooperation and we don’t have anything to hide.”

On Saturday, Singapore police’s statement said the Terraform founder and CEO is no longer in Singapore.

The blockchain firm has been under investigation for alleged fraud and tax evasion after investors in its cryptocurrencies — TerraUSD and Luna — filed complaints against Kwon in May, accusing him of a Ponzi scheme over the loss of billions of won following the crash of both coins earlier that month.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is a bizarre murder case:

A woman believed to be the mother of two children whose bodies were found in suitcases in New Zealand last month was apprehended in South Korea on Thursday, police said.

The woman, known as a South Korean-born New Zealand citizen in her 40s, was arrested at an apartment in Ulsan, 307 kilometers southeast of Seoul, the National Police Agency said.

Local police had tracked down the woman at the request of New Zealand police after the remains of the two children believed to have been killed in 2018 at ages 7 and 10, respectively, were found on Aug. 11 in suitcases bought by a resident of Auckland, New Zealand, at an auction.

New Zealand police then launched a manhunt after presuming the woman as the mother of the two children and the murder suspect.

The woman born in South Korea is said to have acquired New Zealand nationality after her immigration, and her husband is reported to have died of a disease there.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but if this woman killed her two kids the police may want to investigate the circumstances around her husband’s death as well.

As the old saying goes, the cover up is usually worse than the original crime:

The 100-day special counsel investigation into the sexual abuse of Air Force Master Sgt. Lee Ye-ram came to a close on Tuesday, with eight officers indicted on new charges.

Special counsel Ahn Mi-young told a news conference that the officers of the Air Force’s 20th fighter wing where Lee served appear to have sought to help the perpetrator rather than the victim, and that the military investigators did not actively work to bring justice.

“Let this be a warning that when the armed forces investigate their own and attempt a cover-up, there will be consequences,” she said, adding that she worked with the “determination to fix the old flaws of the military criminal justice systems.”

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

It is pretty amazing that after all these years the police were able to make an arrest in regards to this bank heist:

On Dec. 21, 2001, an employee of a KB Kookmin Bank was fatally shot in the parking lot of one of its branches in Daejeon, and the two men involved took off with 300 million won ($223,000).    
   
More than two decades later, police have arrested the suspects.    
   
On Saturday, the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency said they identified the suspects using DNA samples taken from the crime scene and requested arrest warrants for two men on charges of murder and robbery. 

The Daejeon District Court issued arrest warrants on the same day for the two suspects, citing the risk of them fleeing or destroying evidence.  
   
Around 10 a.m. on the day of the crime, one of the suspects shot the 43-year-old bank manager surnamed Kim in the underground parking lot of Kookmin Bank’s Dunsan Branch in Daejeon’s Seo District. The bank robbers took off in a black vehicle with the bag of cash.   

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

I thought the accusations against Lee Jae-myung’s wife would just go away after the election, but it appears investigators must have some really good evidence to go after her like this:

 The wife of former ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung was grilled by police Tuesday about allegations related to her personal use of a provincial government corporate credit card years ago.

Kim Hye-kyung left the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency in Suwon, 50 kilometers south of Seoul, at about 6:50 p.m. after undergoing five hours of questioning, accompanied by her lawyer.

Upon emerging from the police agency, she was asked by reporters about whether she admitted to suspicions related to her corporate credit card use but did not reply.

Kim is accused of using a credit card of the Gyeonggi government for personal shopping and eating, while her husband was Gyeonggi governor from 2018-2021.

She is also suspected of forcing civil servants to run her personal errands, such as getting drug prescriptions, buying prescription drugs on her behalf and paying for meals at restaurants. 

Allegations of Kim’s corporate credit card misuse and other misconduct surfaced early this year ahead of the March 9 presidential election.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.