Tag: Seoul

The police have caught the people who actually committed the crime, but not the person who paid them to do it yet:

Police are hunting down the mastermind who commissioned a teen to spray paint 44-meter-long graffiti on the walls of a historic palace in central Seoul earlier this month, officials said Tuesday.

A 17-year-old, only identified by his surname Im, was arrested last week after spray painting the phrase “free movie” in Korean on both sides of the western gate to Gyeongbok Palace and palace walls near the National Palace Museum of Korea on Dec. 16. 

Investigators have since found that Im was paid 100,000 won to commit the crime.

In an effort to track down the mastermind, police have conducted digital forensics on Im’s mobile phone, looked into the bank account used for the crime, and are scrutinizing the dialogue the two had on the messenger Telegram, according to national police chief Yoon Hee-keun.

But officials said they are having difficulty tracking down the mastermind due to strong security features of the messaging app and its server being based overseas.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is horrible that this man had to jump from his apartment holding his child and died from the impact, but the child survived:

A father in his 30s died Monday after jumping from the fourth floor of a high-rise apartment building in Seoul carrying his young child, in a desperate attempt to flee from a fire on Christmas Day.

He was one of two fatalities from the fire, which broke out at the apartment building in Banghak-dong, in Seoul’s Dobong district. As of Monday afternoon, 30 suffered injuries.

According to local news reports, the 30-something-year-old victim, wife and two children aged 7 months and 2 years, were residents of a unit right above the third floor where the blaze started.

His wife also jumped with another child. She survived despite suffering life-threatening injuries. The two children were reported to be injured but in stable condition.

Another victim of the fire was a 38-year-old individual identified by the surname Lim, a resident of the 10th floor. Lim was discovered in full cardiac arrest on the stairs of the 11th floor. Fire authorities suspect that Lim succumbed to smoke inhalation while attempting to evacuate, according to news reports.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

This arrest makes me wonder how many countries and how long these thieves have been pickpocketing people?:

Police arrest three Russian nationals suspected of pickpocketing at a subway station in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, on Nov.13. [SEOUL METROPOLITAN POLICE AGENCY]

Prosecutors on Thursday indicted three Russian nationals suspected of pickpocketing subway riders for two weeks in Seoul, their office said Monday. 
  
The three Russian nationals, comprising two men aged 45 and a woman aged 38, entered Korea on a tourist visa on Nov. 1. 
  
The police said the three individuals focused on finding victims among subway riders during rush hour.

They mainly targeted women with handbags, approaching them in a coordinated manner, with one person standing in front of the victim to impede movement while another created distraction among the surrounding crowd so that the third person could pick up the victim’s purse. 
  
The three-member group was apprehended by the police on Nov. 13 who were on a stakeout. 
  
Authorities found that the three had collectively spent 45 hours riding the subway over nine days since their arrival in Seoul. 
  
The police estimated that the three stole a total of 7.13 million won ($5,400), including 5.6 million won in cash, in addition to three mobile phones.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Guys like this need a swift death penalty for such a brutal crime:

Choi Yun-jong, the suspect behind the rape and murder of a woman in Seoul’s Sillim neighborhood, speaks to reporters at the Seoul Gwanak Police Station, in this file photo taken Aug. 25, 2023. (Yonhap)

Prosecutors on Monday demanded the death penalty for a 30-year-old suspect behind the attempted rape and killing of a woman on a hiking trail in southern Seoul.

Choi Yun-jong was indicted on charges of fatally beating, throttling and attempting to rape the victim he randomly picked on a hillside hiking trail in the Sillim neighborhood on Aug. 17.

In the final hearing at Seoul Central District Court, prosecutors demanded the death penalty for Choi, arguing that he poses a high risk to society if released without any sign of repentance.

Prosecutors also stressed that he caused irrevocable damage to the family members of the victim and said there is a need to show that anyone who causes such crime would face heavy punishment.

The victim, an elementary school teacher in her 30s, had been left unaided for around 20 minutes before being found by the police and moved to a hospital. She died two days later due to brain damage caused by the strangulation.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

If you use the Seoul subway to get to work be ready for alternate transportation means if you ride these subway lines:

Unionized workers of Seoul Metro, the operator of Seoul subway lines No. 1-8, will stage a strike starting Thursday in protest of the company’s manpower reduction plan, officials said Wednesday.

The labor union has threatened to take the collective action after the company announced a plan to reduce its workforce by 2,212, or 13.5 percent, by 2026 to overcome its chronic deficit and normalize management.

The labor and management of the company, run by the Seoul city government, have held rounds of talks since July, but failed to narrow differences, the officials said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.