Tag: South Korea

Some of these sex offenders should be physically castrated, but chemical castration I guess is a start:

The National Assembly passed an amendment on Friday that would allow chemical castration as punishment for people found guilty of attempted rape, expanding the scope of a law punishing sex offenders.

The bill also stipulates that sex offenders whose acts lead to injury or the death of minors are added to the list of those subject to chemical castration.

Under the amendment, chemical castration does not apply to people who film parts of people’s bodies using a hidden camera. The government had proposed that the secret photographing of people be included under the scope of the law.

The law came into effect in 2011 — the first Asian country to adopt this type of treatment — amid public outcry over a series of rapists reoffending following their release.

Chemical castration involves administering medication — either via injection or tablets — to take away sexual interest and make it impossible for a person to perform sexual acts. The effects are reversible after the person stops taking the drug.  [Korea Times]

This is a horrible revenge tale:

A 55-year-old woman surnamed Lee and her son were both arrested on Thursday for burying her friend alive on her husband’s farm. The two face charges of murder and abandoning a corpse, while Lee’s husband has since committed suicide after police came to search his property.

On July 14, Lee called up her 49-year-old friend for a drive in Seongnam, Gyeonggi. They were longtime friends, having met at a social club in Seongnam over a decade ago. Lee’s 25-year-old son drove while Lee handed her friend a cup of coffee laced with sleeping pills. The mother-and-son pair drove to the farm of Lee’s husband in Cheorwon County, Gangwon, where they buried her friend alive.

Police began investigating the disappearance on Aug. 10, leaving open the possibility that the friend was being held against her will, given the inactivity they saw on her phone and bank account.

In September, police received reports that Lee had met the victim before her disappearance, and were able to confirm that Lee’s son had rented a car and driven to Cheorwon. Last Friday, the court issued an arrest warrant for Lee and Park on suspicion of holding the victim in confinement. Police arrested the two on Nov. 28.

The same day, police went to search the property of Lee’s husband. Though the 62-year-old husband was not regarded as a suspect, he hung himself in a storage room when they arrived, after excusing himself to the bathroom.

Lee and her son confessed to the crime late Tuesday. “She made me look like a thief,” Lee said.

In June last year, the victim had asked Lee to bring her some belongings from the home she was sharing with her abusive partner. But after the victim’s partner reported Lee to the police for larceny, the victim did not defend Lee. Lee was subsequently convicted and fined.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link, but hopefully the mother and son spend a long time in prison because that is a horrible way to die.

It looks like the newspaper delivery boy is on the verge of becoming obsolete:

Jang In-kil, the lone mailman on Deungnyang Island off the coast of South Jeolla, travels to a port in Goheung, some 40 minutes away from the island, by boat at 8 a.m. every day to pick up mail and packages for the residents of the island. By the time Jang returns with the mail, it’s already 3 p.m., which means it takes over eight hours every day for him to collect the mail for his neighbors on the island.

That eight-hour trip may be shortened to just one hour, thanks to a new delivery service by government-operated drones.

Korea Post, the national postal service provider, on Tuesday started a trial run of its delivery drone on Jang’s daily route. The drone flew the 3.8-kilometer (2.4-mile) trip from the port in Goheung to a community center on the island in just 10 minutes, half an hour less than the time Jang had to spend on the sea every day.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but I wonder if South Korea will have the same regulatory issues preventing drone delivery that Amazon is experiencing in the US?

For those that didn’t know abortion is still illegal in South Korea, but the law is hardly ever enforced.  The Moon Jae-in administration is now going to conduct a review on whether to legalize the practice of abortion:

Cheong Wa Dae said Sunday it will review the legitimacy of the nation’s anti-abortion law.

Cho Kuk, the senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, said the government will begin the task by collecting more facts through research next year.

The announcement came after more than 230,000 people signed a petition against the law, which carries a sentence of up to one year or a maximum fine of 2 million won ($1,850) for a woman who has an abortion.

“The fetal right to live is critical, but the current law pushes abortions underground,” Cho said.“Besides, the law holds women accountable only, excluding men who are also responsible.”

“Based on the outcome of the research, we can take a step forward and begin a new debate.”

According to the government’s latest survey conducted in 2010, about 169,000 abortions were performed that year ― most of them (94 percent) were done illegally, but only about 10 people were indicted.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

I am willing to bet that if a similar situation at the JSA were to play out again the North Koreans will probably commit bigger armistice violations by going across the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and try to drag the defector back.  In such a case would the US and ROK troops shoot at them?  I hope this is a response the JSA guards are trained to execute if need be:

North Korea violated an armistice agreement with South Korea this month when North Korean soldiers shot and wounded a North Korean soldier as he defected across their border and it must not do so again, South Korea’s defense minister said on Monday.

The defector, a North Korean soldier identified only by his surname, Oh, was critically wounded but has been recovering in hospital in South Korea.

The incident comes at a time of heightened tension between North Korea and the international community over its nuclear weapons program, but the North has not publicly responded to the defection at the sensitive border.

South Korean Minister of Defence Song Young-moo issued his warning to the North while on a visit to the border where he commended South Korean soldiers at a Joint Security Area (JSA), in the so-called Truce Village of Panmunjom, in the demilitarized zone, for rescuing the defector.

A North Korean border guard briefly crossed the border with the South in the chase for the defector on Nov. 13 – a video released by the U.N. Command (UNC) in Seoul showed – a violation of the ceasefire accord between North and South at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

“Shooting towards the South at a defecting person, that’s a violation of the armistice agreement,” Song said.  [Reuters]

You can read more at the link.

Using high-decibel speakers, SK starts to broadcast into NK re the defector who crossed the MDL. FM radio station "Voice of Freedom" broadcasting that he survived the mass shooting, is being treated at Ajou & was found to be suffering from malnutrition.https://t.co/RxTy4ontKr

— Noon in Korea (@NoonInKorea) November 26, 2017

Undeterred trekkers head toward the snow-covered Baekdudaegan, a trail of mountains that starts in North Korea and continues to Mount Jiri in South Korea’s southwest, on Nov. 26, 2017, from the entry point in PyeongChang, east of Seoul. Much of the city and its vicinity saw heavy snowfall overnight, up to 16.2 centimeters in some parts. (Yonhap)

According to this article in the Korea Times the closure of the Seoul Pub signals the death of the old Itaewon:

Seoul’s most popular and famous expat hangout, Seoul Pub, is set to close its doors for the last time in over two decades, Sunday.

Centrally located in Itaewon, across the road from the Hamilton Hotel, Seoul Pub was for years Seoul’s most popular bar, blending a patronage of English teachers, U.S. military personnel and businessmen, offering affordable beer, pool and entertainment from the manager, Master Jung.

It essentially paved the way for more European-style pubs, thanks to former manager Gunther Kampf, who went on to open the original 3 Alley Pub. Its low-key, no-frills atmosphere became a magnet for foreigners tired of the cowboy bars catering to a U.S. military clientele.

First opened in 1996, the popular premises saw its popularity peak during the 2002 Korea-Japan FIFA World Cup, as did many now defunct international bars.  (……..)

The closure of Seoul Pub signals the death of old Itaewon.  [Korea Times]

You can read the rest at the link, but I like the new Itaewon better then the old Itaewon even if it means older establishments like Seoul Pub are forced to close due to the increased competition.

At least this pedophile got jail time, but it seems to me he got off pretty light by receiving only three years for committing statutory rape of a 11-year old girl:

An elementary school teacher was sentenced to three years in prison for having sexual relations with a 12-year-old girl.

Suwon District Court handed down the verdict on Monday, finding the teacher 32, surnamed Shin, guilty of violating the Sexual Crime Act against Minors. He was also ordered to undergo 80 hours of anti-sexual crime education.

According to court documents, the teacher got to know the student, then 11, through an unidentified app in October last year. The teacher introduced himself as a 19-year-old and suggested offline dating. The two met at a cafe in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, and had sex. He took photos of the girl’s naked body.

“He cannot be forgiven,” wrote Judge Song Kyung-ho in a ruling statement. “Despite his position as an elementary school teacher, he tricked the teenage girl, who has not reached the age to fully understand sexual relations.”

The teacher claimed he didn’t know his partner was an elementary student, but the court dismissed it.  [Korea Times]

Considering this pedophile is an elementary school teacher I wonder if this was his first victim or are there others?  I also wonder if after this guy is released from prison he will some how end up back in a classroom again?

Here is another example of strategic assets being used as a show of force towards North Korea:

The United States is planning to send six F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets to a joint air force exercise in South Korea next month in what is believed to be U.S. action to put maximum pressure on North Korea, military officials here said on Thursday.

“Six F-22 fighters from the U.S. Air Force are scheduled to join the joint South Korea-U.S. air force exercise Vigilant Ace from Dec. 4-8,” the officials said.

The fighters will fly to the Korean Peninsula from Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan and stay at an air base in South Korea throughout the exercise, according to officials. Up to four F-35A Lightning stealth fighters are also likely to join the deployment, they said.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.