Category: crime & punishment

The Korean left is likely rejoicing today with the news that they have finally gotten payback on former President Lee Myung-Bak for uncovering the corruption of former President Roh Moo-hyun:

Former President Lee Myung-bak was taken into custody by prosecutors after a local court issued a warrant Thursday night to detain him as a suspect in a criminal investigation over corruption allegations.

Lee, who served as president from 2008 to 2013, became the fourth former president to be detained on corruption charges.

He faces at least 18 charges for receiving bribes from businessmen and politicians, misappropriating secret operations funds from the country’s main spy agency and generating slush funds using a company registered under his family’s name.

After the Seoul Central District Court issued the warrant around 11:05 p.m. on Thursday, prosecutors went to his home in Nonhyeon-dong, southern Seoul, and transported Lee to the Seoul Dongbu Detention Center in Munjeong-dong, southern Seoul.

Earlier in the day, Judge Park Beom-seok reviewed the prosecution’s application for a detention warrant, which was submitted on Monday. Judge Park made the decision after reviewing documents from prosecutors and Lee’s lawyers. A hearing was not held because Lee refused to attend.

Prosecutors questioned the former president on March 14 and asked the court to issue a detention warrant for further investigation because they believed there was a high possibility of evidence destruction. Lee, they argued, might try to persuade witnesses to change their testimony.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but this could also be payback for the prison term that former Prime Minister during the Roh administration, Han Myeong-sook received for corruption.  This is just another example that politics in South Korea is a zero sum game.

I guess we will see how strictly this new law is enforced:

South Korea’s agriculture ministry said Wednesday it will implement a revised animal safety law to require dogs to wear a leash in public places, but it withheld a controversial plan to give cash rewards to those who report violators amid a backlash from animal lovers.

Starting from Thursday, dogs will be required to have a leash no longer than 2 meters in public places, and potentially dangerous breeds — pit bulls, Rottweilers, American pit bull terriers, American Staffordshire terriers and Staffordshire bull terriers — will have to wear muzzles as well.

Dog owners who fail to abide by the rules will be subject to penalties up to 500,000 won (US$466.40), which has been raised from the current 100,000 won.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

I have to wonder if this is the oldest guy ever convicted of attempted murder?:

   

A 99-year-old man has been sentenced to four years’ jail for stabbing his wife.

Jeju District Court on Thursday found the man, identified only by his surname Moon, guilty of attempted murder.

He had stabbed his wife, 87, three times in an argument at their eldest son’s house in September.

The court was told that Moon became enraged when his wife told not him to come back.

The wife recovered from the stab wound.

The court heard that in July, the wife had punched Moon during an argument, so he then went to live with his son.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

If half of the corruption allegations against former President Lee Myung-bak are true, then it looks like he may be in some serious trouble:

Troubled shipbuilder Sungdong Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering was the source of bribes former President Lee Myung-bak allegedly accepted from a banker, sources from the prosecution said Friday.

Lee, who was in office from 2008 to 2013, is being investigated over various corruption accusations. Of the 20 charges he is facing, one is an allegation that he had accepted a total of 2.25 billion won ($2.12 million) from Lee Pal-sung, then-chairman of Woori Financial Group, from 2007 until 2011. The banker allegedly paid the money to keep his job during Lee’s presidency.

According to prosecution sources, a memo was found in Lee Pal-sung’s home during a raid last month. It detailed his payments to Lee’s family, including the former president’s son-in-law.

The money came from Sungdong Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, which was in serious financial trouble at the time, the prosecution sources said. The midsize shipbuilder was established in 2003 but its financial situation deteriorated in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial meltdown. Up to now, the firm received 9.3 trillion won in bailouts, but has not been turned around. The government decided earlier this month to let the company file for court receivership.

Lawyers of the former president said Friday that Lee told the prosecution during questioning earlier this week that he had no knowledge of the bribery.

The JoongAng Ilbo reported Friday that the prosecution has secured testimony from a former CEO of auto component maker DAS that former President Lee accepted large amounts of secret funds from the company for years.

According to sources from the legal community, the prosecution suspects that Lee had took about 3.5 billion won from DAS. The auto parts maker is technically owned by Lee’s elder brother, but prosecutors believe that Lee is the actual owner.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

In addition to being an odd story, I am some what surprised he actually received 7 years in jail for rape:

A Korean man was sentenced to seven years in prison for raping the sister of his Filipino wife. The man, 39, surnamed Jeon, was also ordered to receive 120 hours of sex-crime prevention education.

An appellate court in Gwangju handed down the ruling on Wednesday, overturning a lower court’s acquittal.

“The accused raped his sister-in-law who came from the Philippines to attend his wedding ceremony. It’s really a bad crime,” wrote Judge Lee Jae-kwon in a ruling statement. “The victim experienced a great deal of humiliation, shame and mental shock, which caused serious depression, stress-driven emotional disorder and chronic insomnia.”

According to court documents, the incident happened on Feb. 15 last year, three days before the wedding ceremony. The groom-to-be raped his sister-in-law after they went out together to buy gifts for wedding guests.

A lower court acquitted him based on circumstantial and tangible evidence, with which it presumed the two to be in a romantic relationship.  [Korea Times]

Condolences to this man’s family after he was randomly murdered by someone with a long criminal history and yet is still not in jail.  This attack at least should lock him up for a long time:

A Korean man has died after a mysterious street attack in Waikiki, Hawaii, local media reported.

Kim Pil-sung, 29, lost consciousness after allegedly being punched and kicked by Cesarin Perez, 34, outside a bar early on Feb. 20. Kim was taken to a hospital but died on March 1.

Perez was caught Thursday and charged on suspicion of second-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter. His bail is $500,000.

Why Perez allegedly attacked Kim is unclear because there were no specific ties between the two. The suspect had been convicted multiple times of prostitution and drug use charges, among others, according to local media.

An autopsy determined Kim died from injuries to his brain from blunt-force trauma.  [Korea Times]

Here may be the beginnings of yet another nude photo scandal for the Pentagon:

Here is a strange sexual assault story involving a Japanese woman running a boarding house in Hawaii:

A Manoa woman who recruited exchange students from Japan raped one of her clients as many as 10 times while he was bedridden with an injury, police allege in court documents.

Police said she also threatened the victim, a 16-year-old Japanese national, if he went to authorities, saying she’d accuse him of rape if he reported her.

The suspect has been identified as 36-year-old Rika Shimizu.

She’s been indicted on five counts of second-degree sex assault and four counts of fourth-degree sex assault. She remains in custody on $600,000 bail.  [Hawaii News Now]

You can read more at the link.

Allegedly an English teacher was behaving badly in Cheongju:

Amid the spreading #MeToo movement, a native English-speaking teacher at a girls’ high school was recently fired over allegations of sexually molesting students and calling the East Sea the “Japan Sea.” It was the victimized students who told the school of his misbehavior.

According to Yonhap News, the instructor, who worked at the school in Cheongju, was booked without physical detention on suspicion of sexually molesting students. The school also terminated his contract.

The former instructor is from Western Europe and worked at the school for seven years.

The school became aware of his misbehavior in May last year and asked police to investigate.

The school confronted him with its findings and he admitted making unwanted physical contact with the students, and racial and sexually offensive remarks.  [Korea Times]

Here is his most shocking crime:

He also allegedly told the students that Korea and Japan should share Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo rather than fighting over them.

He should be exiled to live out his life on Dokdo after making a statement like that!  😉

It will be interesting to see what President Moon has to say about this considering that An Hee-jung was looked at as a possible successor to Moon in the next Presidential election:

South Chungcheong Province Governor An Hee-jung has been accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting his secretary over the past eight months.

During a TV interview on JTBC, a local cable channel, Monday, Kim Ji-eun who has served as An’s secretary since June, claimed that the 54-year-old assaulted her four times and frequently sexually harassed her.

He has reportedly admitted to having sexual relations with her, but insists they were consensual.

Kim said she will file a complaint with the prosecution Tuesday.

The shocking news of his behavior could bring about the end of his political career regardless of the nature of their relationship. An was regarded as one of the strongest hopefuls for the country’s next president.

“Our sexual relations were not consensual, and I’m sure he knows it,” Kim said. “I was not in a position where I could say no.”

She said there was no one that could help her.

The accusation comes amid the spread of the #MeToo movement here, which was triggered by female prosecutor Seo Ji-hyun in January.

“After the issue about the movement came into the spotlight, An appeared to be anxious,” Kim said. “On Feb. 25, he called me into his office and apologized. But then, he did it again … I thought I would never be able to get away from him at that time.”  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but I would not be surprised if this is something An has been doing for years and Kim Ji-eun just happens to be the first person to speak out against him.