A 43-year-old medical school professor in Incheon was found guilty on the charge of physically assaulting his wife, Yonhap News Agency reported Sunday.Incheon District Court ordered him to pay a fine of 1.5 million won ($1,320). (Yonhap)The man had physically assaulted his wife in November 2016. He had hit his wife’s head with the palm of his hand at first. He also admitted to kicking his wife several times after throwing her down on the floor. The wife reported that her husband had gotten angry

Social Affairs Oct. 22, 2017

A South Korean doctor in his 40s was indicted Wednesday for sexually assaulting a female intern at the hospital, according to local media outlet Dailian.Daegu District Court sentenced the doctor to 3 years in prison, 4 years of probation, 240 hours of community service and 40 hours of sexual abuse treatment sessions. The court also ordered that his identity be made public for 5 years.  Daegu District Court (Yonhap)According to police records, the doctor drank alcohol with the intern and two hosp

Social Affairs Oct. 19, 2017

A 29-year-old man surnamed Ahn has been ruled guilty on the charge of raping and intimidating his ex-girlfriend by threatening to notify her parents of their past sexual relations, according to media outlet News1 on Wednesday. Cheongju District Court sentenced Ahn to 4 1/2 years in prison and mandatory 80 hours of a sex abuse treatment program.  Cheongju District Court (Yonhap)The 23-year-old victim had ended her three-year romantic relationship with Ahn in late June. She reported to police that

Social Affairs Oct. 18, 2017

A taxi driver for the disabled has been subject to criminal scrutiny for allegedly spitting malicious words and confining a 16-year-old visually impaired passenger. Seongnam Sujeong Police relayed this case to the prosecution Monday for further investigation, according to local media outlet Yonhap News Agency. The taxi driver had first picked up the passenger from a school for the blind located in Seoul’s Jong-ro district on Sept. 15.  Seongnam Sujeong Police Station (Yonhap)When the passenger s

Social Affairs Oct. 17, 2017

A Gwangju high school athletics coach is under investigation by police for making unwelcomed sexual advances on a female student in his team, according to Yonhap News Agency on Monday. The female student filed a complaint with the Gwangju Ministry of Education on Monday, claiming that the coach made alleged sexual advances on several occasions.  (Yonhap)The school has suspended the coach from his position and requested that police conduct a follow-up investigation. According to an official of th

Social Affairs Oct. 16, 2017

A university in Busan has launched an investigation into reports that a professor had expressed intent to kidnap women and distribute anesthetics to students, according to a local media outlet Friday. A university lecture room (Yonhap)According to Dispatch, a student at the university made an anonymous Facebook post Thursday concerning the professors’ alarming comments detailing his experience with chloroform -- a drug used for anesthesia -- during a Wednesday lecture. The student said the profe

Social Affairs Oct. 13, 2017

Actor Song Seung-heon attended OCN’s upcoming new TV series “Black” production presentation Wednesday at Imperial Palace Hotel to promote his role, according to local media outlets, Thursday. Reporters questioned Song with regards to the high overlap in the grim reaper character between tvN’s popular series “Guardian: The Lonely and Great God” and “Black.”  The cast of the new TV series "Black" on cable channel OCN poses for photos before a press conference in Seoul on Oct. 11, 2017. (Yonhap)“It

Television Oct. 12, 2017

A 40-year-old man was arrested on Oct. 6 for secretly filming himself having intercourse with a prostitute, according to a report from The Herald Business, the sister paper of The Korea Herald. Gangnam Police Station reported Wednesday that the suspect was arrested on charges of filming the act without the woman‘s knowledge and was arrested on the spot at a hotel in Gangnam last Friday.  Gangnam Police Station (Yonhap)The suspect is charged with allegedly violating the Special Act on the Punishm

Social Affairs Oct. 12, 2017

Public interest in former President Park Geun-hye’s life in prison reached another peak following a recent leak of Seoul Detention Center prisoners’ weekly food menu, a local media outlet reported Wednesday.Food at the Seoul Detention Center is better than average school meals provided to students, according to Dispatch. The leaked menu included Western food, such as morning bread, soup and salad, and Korean staples such as rice cake soup, chapjae noodles and pork kimchi stew. Ex-President Park

Social Affairs Oct. 11, 2017

Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's top airline, said Thursday that it suffered a loss in the second quarter on currency-related issues.The country's flag carrier logged a net loss of 200 billion won ($175 million) in the April-June period, the company said in a regulatory filing. But its operating income surged 8.5 percent on-year to reach 173 billion won, with sales also rising 3.1 percent to 2.9 trillion won over the cited period.In the first six months of the year, Korean Air posted an opera

Industry Aug. 10, 2017

The remains of dozens of Koreans who died in Japan after being forced to work there during World War II have recently been returned home, according to a civic group Thursday.The remains of 33 identified Koreans arrived on Sunday at Gimpo International Airport, from Kokuhei Temple in Higashimurayama, northern Tokyo, where they had been enshrined, the National Commemorative Committee for the Repatriation of Victims of Forced Laborers said during a press conference at a restaurant in central Seoul.

Social Affairs Aug. 10, 2017

South Korea's National Security Council strongly urged North Korea on Thursday to immediately stop provocations and return to the dialogue table, saying dialogue was still possible should the communist state decide to cooperate."The standing committee of the NSC noted the security condition surrounding the Korean Peninsula was becoming serious due to North Korea's repeated provocations and threats," Park Soo-hyun, a spokesman for the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, told reporters."The NSC cal

North Korea Aug. 10, 2017

The governor of South Korea's central bank said Thursday that he has been closely watching North Korea risks as Pyongyang and Washington traded harsh rhetoric.BOK Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said he remained alert on economic and financial fallout the latest standoff over North Korea's nuclear and missile program could have on Asia's fourth-largest economy.Lee made the comments in an opening ceremony of an exhibition of old books at Seoul National University.  Escalating tensions between North Korea a

Economy Aug. 10, 2017

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said Thursday he wants to visit North Korea's capital of Pyongyang as part of efforts to bolster exchanges between the two cities so as to contribute to improving inter-Korean relations and eventually unification.Park made the remark during a discussion on North Korea and inter-Korean relations amid heightened tensions in the wake of the North's surprise threat to fire missiles into waters around the US territory of Guam as a warning against Washington. (Yonhap)"I want

North Korea Aug. 10, 2017

Police on Thursday requested a warrant to arrest the chief of a major drugmaker over alleged verbal harassment of his chauffeurs and illegal use of pills.Rhee Jang-han, chairman of Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Corp., is accused of hurling swear words at four of his private car drivers and offering his business partners erectile dysfunction pills as gifts without obtaining prescriptions.  Rhee Jang-han (C), surrounded by reporters, enters a police building in central Seoul to face questioning ov

Social Affairs Aug. 10, 2017