Category: crime & punishment

People best think twice before sharing any images or videos of ex-lovers while living in South Korea:

The government and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea will push ahead with legislation to toughen penalties on revenge porn.

If the National Assembly passes the new law, which it is very likely to, those who attempt to humiliate ex-lovers by sharing images online or videos of their naked bodies, won’t just be slapped on the wrist with a fine as many of them are currently. Instead, they may face up to five years in prison without the option of a fine.

Under the current law, such criminals face up to five years in prison or a maximum fine of 10 million won ($8,800), and most end up with the fine.

Hong Nam-ki, head of the Office of Government Policy Coordination, announced a package of measures Tuesday to better protect people from the crime, which has become a social issue in recent years.

Those who commercially use such images or videos could face up to seven years in prison.

The new law will also require offenders to pay the costs of removing the contents online.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

I feel so bad for the victim’s parents that this murderer was only sentenced to 20 years for this horrible crime:

The Incheon District Court on Friday sentenced the suspect who murdered an 8-year-old girl and dismembered her body to 20 years in prison, and doled out a life sentence for the accomplice. The court also said the two must wear ankle monitors for 30 years.

“Kim very carefully planned the crime,” the court said. “And Park was in a close relationship with Kim and she was her accomplice through the act.”

The suspect is a 17-year-old female student surnamed Kim. Her accomplice is an 18-year-old female student surnamed Park.

The Juvenile Act prevents anyone under 18 from receiving a life sentence or death penalty for murder or other serious crimes. The act says a minor convicted of murder can receive a sentence of up to 15 years. But Kim was sentenced to 20 years after the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes was applied to her case.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

This is an example of why I never use a credit card in a bar or restaurant when traveling overseas.  Scams like this I remember were common in the villes outside US military bases back in the day:

A promise of a fun night out at a bar in Itaewon left an American tourist with a booze tab totaling 17 million won ($15,000).

Seoul police said on Thursday owners and employees at three bars in Itaewon, Yongsan-gu, have been indicted without detention for overcharging foreign tourists.

One of the indicted bar owners, surnamed Lee, allegedly charged an American tourist 17 million won for drinks he had during his one hour and 40 minutes stay at the bar.

The tourist found out about this overcharging only after returning to the US and receiving his credit card bill.

Two other indicted bar owners allegedly conspired to rip charge a German tourist about 7.9 million won.

The police are investigating whether the bar owners deliberately intoxicated the tourist, as traces of zolpidem and other narcotics were found in his hair.  [Korea Herald]

You can read more at the link.

Bus driver charged with DUI https://t.co/eCe5k4IYdW

— KingSejong (@KingSejong) September 16, 2017

Via a reader tip comes this absolutely horrible assault of a 14-year old girl in Busan:

A horrific attack in South Korea’s Province of Busan has caused outrage around the globe after pictures of the victim were revealed online.

A group of middle school students attacked and nearly killed a 14-year-old girl in Busan, South Korea. The four attackers were captured on CCTV attacking the girl with a metal pipe, a chair, several soju bottles, and lit cigarettes. The girls then took pictures of the bloodied victim after the attack and sent it to other students to ‘brag’ about what they did.

While the victim was 14 years old, three of her attackers were of the same age as she was too. One of the attackers was only 13 years old. They attacked her for 1 hour and 30 minutes before leaving her to die.  [Viral 4 Real]

You can read the rest at the link, but this was actually the second time they assaulted her in response to the victim accepting a phone call from the boyfriend of one of the attackers.

What I learned from this article is that if you commit fraud under a religious pretext it is perfectly legal.  By the way who knew being a shaman could be so lucrative?:

A shaman who was taken to court on charges of fraud was ruled not guilty by the Seoul Southern District Court on Wednesday.

“Shamanism is, for the most part, aimed at gaining consolation and inner peace. Even if shamanistic rituals do not yield the promised outcome, it is difficult to hold the shaman accountable for the failure,” the court said.

The shaman in the case had blamed the spirits of the victim’s aborted twin babies for her husband’s flagging business and suggested the victim appease the spirit babies through special rituals.

The prosecution accused the shaman of fraud for carrying out an excessive number of rituals and charging over 560 million won ($499,000). The shaman provided 133 rituals in the period between January 2011 and December 2015. During the time, she sent mobile text messages to the alleged victim using baby talk as if she was possessed with the twins’ spirits.

The text messages read, “I know how you feel mommy. Please don’t feel sad. We love you,” “We ate loads of the meat you sent us. We love it very much.”  [Korea Herald]

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest example of a senior military officer having a mid-life crisis:

An Air Force officer who engaged in an unprofessional relationship with an airman 20 years his junior while commanding a small expeditionary base in Africa will be forced out of the service following a general court-martial last week.

A military judge ruled late Friday that Lt. Col. Denis Paquette should be dismissed from the service, the equivalent of a dishonorable discharge for enlisted personnel. The dismissal means that Paquette, a C-17 pilot and married father with more than 18 years in the Air Force, won’t be eligible for retirement benefits.

Paquette chose to have his case decided by a military judge. He pleaded guilty to fraternization; violating a lawful general order on one occasion by drinking more than two alcoholic drinks at a deployed location in less than 24 hours; and to impeding an investigation.  [Stars & Stripes]

I recommend reading the whole thing at the link because this guy was running a base in Tunisa like a frat house while hitting on an 18-year old airman.  I recommend to people having a midlife crisis to buy the sports car instead because ruining a military career over something like this is not worth it.

I suspect it was more than playing golf that got his wife this upset to cut off his penis and flush it down the toilet:

A woman has been arrested on charges of cutting off her husband’s penis while he was sleeping, police said Monday.

According to Yeosu Police Station, the incident happened at an apartment in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, at 11:58 p.m. on Saturday.

The woman, 54, whose is unidentified, allegedly cut off the tip of the penis with a kitchen knife and flushed the flesh down the toilet.

A neighbor found the husband, left in pain, and took him to a nearby hospital, where he is in stable condition.

A police investigation revealed that the couple were on unhealthy terms.

Not only had the husband been violent to the woman, she had harbored a grudge because he gave her no money, but spent lavishly on his own enjoyment, such as like playing golf. [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

I guess the moral to this story is that the teacher should have waited until the student was 13 which is just a creepy as having sex with a 12 year old:

A female teacher has been arrested for allegedly having sex with an elementary student.

According to police and South Gyeongsang Province education office, the teacher, 32, had sex with a male student, 12, in the classroom and her vehicle. They had sex several times between June and early August by what the teacher claimed was mutual consent, police said.

Having sex with a minor aged under 13 is punishable, even if it is consensual.

The case was reported to the police by the student’s parents, who found photos of the half-naked teacher on their son’s mobile phone.

They also found text messages from the teacher saying, “I love you,”and “I’ll buy you dumplings, come outside.”  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

This couple will spend three years and six months in jail for what they did to this homeless girl:

A couple in their 20s has been jailed for forcing a homeless teenage girl into prostitution and sadistically punishing her when she refused.

Daegu District Court on Monday sentenced the couple to three years and six months jail on charges of forcing prostitution, intimidation and inflicting critical injuries.

The judges said the crime was “immoral and extremely grievous in its sadism,” causing the victim “indelible trauma.”

The court heard that the man, 25, and the woman, 21, met the girl in January after she ran away from home. They abused the girl for 16 days, forced her into prostitution 50 times and took the money she earned.

When the victim refused to offer sex services, the couple burned her with a cigarette and forced her to eat dog food mixed with their saliva.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.