A patient who assaulted a nurse and started a fire in the hospital he was in after she was stopped from smoking was sentenced 2 years in prison on Tuesday. Jeonju district court said the 48-year-old man surnamed Kim had turned violent when the nurse on night-duty found him smoking in the hospital and confiscated his lighter and cigarettes.   (123RF)Kim punched the nurse and started a fire in the hospital, which resulted in 4-week hospitalization for the nurse and more than 30 million won ($25,00

Social Affairs May 10, 2016

A corpse was found in the water tank of an apartment in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, Monday, following a report of a foul smell coming from the tap water.Police confirmed the identity of the deceased as 38-year-old Chinese surnamed Wong, who had worked on the crew of a ship in nearby Pohang, a coastal city in the same province about 120 kilometers from Gumi. (123RF)Wong’s padded coat was found next to the water tank, as well as a note that claimed he had not received 5.4 million won ($4,600)

Social Affairs May 10, 2016

CNN reporter Will Ripley tweeted on Monday that North Korea has expelled BBC correspondent Rupert Wingfield-Hayes from the country, under charges of disrespectful reporting toward the reclusive regime. Wingfield-Hayes was in Pyongyang ahead of the Workers Party Congress, accompanying a delegation of Nobel prize laureates. (BBC video capture)BBC said Wingfield-Hayes, as well as two other staff, producer Maria Byrne and cameraman Matthew Goddard, were detained on Friday as they were about to leave

North Korea May 9, 2016

A 42-year-old bar owner in Daejeon surnamed Kim was detained last week for charging drunk customers 100 times more than they owed. Most of them failed to recognize the scam in their inebriated state, until the next day by which time the money had already been transferred. Kim procrastinated on canceling the transactions. (123RF)One of the victims, a 60-year-old man surnamed Lee, recalls the shock he experienced upon finding an automated text message from his bank alerting him that he had spent 2

Social Affairs May 9, 2016

A 63-year-old Ukrainian captain was detained on Sunday for a hit-and-run case at sea. According to the Ministry of Public Safety and Security’s Yeosu maritime branch, the man is being accused of sailing a 62,000-ton Singaporean oil tanker that collided with a four-ton fishing vessel on Thursday, 17 kilometers east off Ando-ri, Nam-myeon, of South Jeolla Province’s Yeosu City.The 62,000-ton oil tanker. (Yonhap)The fishing vessel’s captain fell into the sea due to the collision and was found dead

Social Affairs May 9, 2016

Two Korean pimps who extorted money from a Chinese prostitute after she expressed her desire to quit her job were detained on Monday in Busan. According to the Busanjin police, the two 27-year-old pimps, surnamed Kim and Yeo, had allegedly deceived the 37-year-old Chinese woman by saying that they would help her get to the airport and instead driving her to a rural mountain in Jinju city, South Gyeongsang Province, where they took 18 million won ($15,430) from her. (123RF)The woman spent the nig

Social Affairs May 9, 2016

A false biochemical terrorism alarm was raised Sunday after a foreigner was spotted sprinkling white powder on Seoul’s Mount Daemosan. However, the powder was found to be flour, which the foreigner was using to marking the path for a cross-country run.  According to the Suseo police, a middle-aged Korean man reported the case around midday, saying, “A foreigner sprinkled white powder on trees and rocks at the mountain peak and ran down. The powder looks like anthrax I saw on TV.”(123RF)The man h

Social Affairs May 9, 2016

South Korea should not rush to raise corporate tax rates amid a gloomy outlook for its economy, a local business lobby group said Monday, citing a survey of local experts.The corporate tax issue is expected to emerge as a hot topic in the 20th National Assembly to open at the end of this month. The National Tax Service headquarters (Yonhap)The liberal main opposition Minjoo Party will hold 123 seats in the unicameral parliament, while the number of lawmakers with the conservative ruling Saenuri

May 9, 2016

A man who attempted to rape a woman who had agreed to have sexual relations in return for money was handed down 30 months in prison with four years’ stay of execution on Sunday. The man, aged 33 and surnamed Kim, became violent when the 23-year-old woman who met him at a motel room asked for the cash up-front.  (123RF)The Jeonju district court said, “This crime resulted from Kim’s misguided belief that it was acceptable to disregard a woman’s sexual autonomy if she agreed to have sexual relation

Social Affairs May 8, 2016

A man who had been on the run after duping women with a false identity as a Harvard graduate has been caught after four years. The Yeongdeungpo police said Sunday they arrested the man, 61 and surnamed Cheon, on charges of fraud.  (123RF)Cheon had appropriated roughly 40 million won ($34,200) from three women he had met through an online chatting site in 2011. The women, all in their forties, did not suspect anything when Cheon lied to them about his age, saying he was 10 years younger than he r

Social Affairs May 8, 2016

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said his country “as a nuclear state” will work toward the denuclearization of the world, the country’s official media reported Sunday. South Korean experts and government officials say the comment hints at the softened attitude of Kim, who has stepped up nuclear and missile threats against Seoul and Washington, but by no means implies its intent to take actual steps toward its own denuclearization as demanded by the allies.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un spea

North Korea May 8, 2016

A couple fell to their death while kissing on a rooftop in Itaewon on Sunday.According to the Yongsan police, at around 2 a.m., a 31-year-old man from the United States and a 26-year-old woman from South Africa accidentally fell from a three-story building while kissing precariously close to the banister.  (Yonhap TV Capture)Witnesses have reported that the woman fell first and the man, while attempting to catch her, fell after her. The two were taken to the hospital but did not survive due to h

Social Affairs May 8, 2016

Police on Saturday arrested Jo Sung-ho, the suspect in a case involving a dismembered body found in Daebudo Island at Gyeonggi province’s Ansan city last month, revealing his full name and face to the public in a rare occurrence. Jo, 30, appeared for his arrest warrant hearing without a mask covering his face. His name and other details were revealed after the warrant was issued. Jo's Facebook account is now deactivated. (Jo Sung-ho's Facebook)The police said the degree of brutality of the crime

Social Affairs May 8, 2016