Police are investigating whether the chairman and floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party and the chairman of the minor conservative Our Republican Party encouraged conservative protesters to stage a mass rally in front of the National Assembly a week ago. On Dec. 16, around 2,000 demonstrators surrounded the National Assembly, demanding the parliament drop contentious fast-tracked bills on new election rules and prosecution reforms. The protesters refused to disperse, and some

Social Affairs Dec. 22, 2019

The National Assembly Research Service, the legislature’s think tank, proposed that the country’s law enforcement system adopt sting operations to combat child pornography.　 In a report published Wednesday, the think tank argued that undercover operations could effectively deal with perpetrators on the dark web, an area of the internet that users can enter using special software and maintain anonymity. Sting operations could help reduce the extensive harm caused by child pornograph

Social Affairs Dec. 22, 2019

Prosecutors on Thursday questioned the former lead prosecutor in the eighth of the Lee Chun-jae serial killings that occurred in the 1980s and 1990s. The former prosecutor was booked Tuesday on charges of abuse of power including unlawfully detaining the man who would later be convicted of the crime, surnamed Yun. Yun filed for a retrial after Lee Chun-jae, who is already in prison for raping and killing his sister-in-law, admitted to the serial killings. While the former prosecutor will not

Social Affairs Dec. 19, 2019

Prosecutors on Wednesday raided the Seoul-located Civil Affairs Office under the Prime Minister’s Secretariat in Sejong and secured office records including electronic hardware belonging to an official only identified by the surname Moon, in the ongoing election-meddling probe. Moon, who was then working at the Blue House Civil Affairs and Justice Office, is suspected of tampering with intelligence with his superiors, and of tipping off police with the intention to influence the 2018 Ulsa

Social Affairs Dec. 18, 2019

Police said Tuesday that they have pressed power abuse charges against a prosecutor and police officers who interrogated a 53-year-old surnamed Yun who was sentenced to life in prison for the eighth murder of the Hwaseong serial killings that took place here in the 1980s and ’90s. “We have booked a total of eight law enforcement officials on charges that include abuse of power,” the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Policy Agency said at a press briefing. The accused include a lead

Social Affairs Dec. 17, 2019

South Korea’s National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang is planning to introduce bills he contends will work to restore strained relations between Seoul and Tokyo over local court rulings that ordered Japanese companies to compensate Koreans forced to work for them during World War II Korea’s two Supreme Court rulings a year ago plunged Seoul-Tokyo ties to a fresh low as Japan responded with outrage, saying the 1965 agreement -- which normalized bilateral relations following

Foreign Affairs Dec. 17, 2019

Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk appeared at the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning Monday. Cho is accused of wrongly suspending an internal investigation of former Busan Vice Mayor Yoo Jae-soo in 2017, then a senior official at the Financial Services Commission. Yoo, who is detained, was indicted Friday. Yoon Do-han, senior secretary to the president for public communication, denied that the Blue House stopped the inspection. He said Cho’s office ran the ins

Politics Dec. 16, 2019

A police officer has admitted to torturing a 53-year-old surnamed Yun during the investigation into the Hwaseong serial killings from the 1980s to 1990s. Yun was later convicted for the eighth murder in the case. A local media outlet said Friday that the Suwon Prosecutors’ Office recently called in three former detectives who investigated Yun. One of the officers acknowledged that he had deprived Yun of sleep. But he denied that he had beat Yun or forced him to do squat jumps as alleged

Social Affairs Dec. 13, 2019

A special unit of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office launched Nov. 11 to reinvestigate the 2014 Sewol ferry disaster raided the Board of Audit and Inspection on Thursday, and secured audit records for the responsible government ministries from the aftermath of the sinking. Shortly after the disaster, the audit agency conducted probes into those government bodies, including the Coast Guard, to find out why a new locally developed Navy ship was not mobilized to aid the rescue operations. 

Social Affairs Dec. 13, 2019

Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk will soon be questioned by prosecutors about his involvement in alleged power abuse involving Cheong Wa Dae. Cho is already under investigation over corruption allegations involving his family. On Wednesday, Cho appeared before the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office for a third round of questioning on the corruption accusations. Cho allegedly influenced battery firm WFM to undersell its shares to his wife, and rigged the university applications of h

Social Affairs Dec. 12, 2019

The Justice Ministry is seeking to overturn a pending prosecution reform bill that would strip prosecutors of its investigative powers and delegate them to police, a local media outlet reported Wednesday. The reports said a senior Justice Ministry official met with several lawmakers -- from both sides of aisle -- and discussed restrengthening the prosecution, amid a prolonged parliament deadlock over the reform bill. The senior official reportedly told legislators that the prosecution should b

Social Affairs Dec. 12, 2019

In South Korea, the heated debate on the introduction of prosecution reform bills continues to rage on, leaving the National Assembly paralyzed over their passage and deepening a social divide. The proposals have been prompted by the prosecution’s long history of failing to dig deep into corruption allegations involving prosecutors, among other misconducts. The bills create an independent anti-corruption body to investigate corruption allegations involving senior public officials, inclu

Politics Dec. 11, 2019

DAEJEON -- A prosecution with only the power to indict is what we see in developed countries, Hwang Un-hah, commissioner of the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency, said Monday. “Besides indicting, our prosecutors go on investigating numerous cases they either shouldn’t or needn’t,” Hwang said at an event marking the release of his book, which explores the much-debated prosecution reform. Checks and balances are not found in the prosecution, he added. The commissioner, w

Social Affairs Dec. 10, 2019

The National Assembly decided Monday to suspend voting on the fiercely contested fast-tracked bills, including election and prosecution reforms, and to postpone its plenary session until Tuesday. With the help of the National Assembly speaker, the three major parties – the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, Liberty Korea Party and minor conservative Bareunmirae Party – came to the interim agreement. The longstanding battle over the reform proposals came to a cease-fire as the Liber

Politics Dec. 9, 2019

The National Assembly will vote on fiercely contested fast-tracked bills -- including election and prosecution reforms -- during its plenary session Monday and Tuesday. But the bills could come to a vote Wednesday, when the parliament convenes a special session, as the main opposition Liberty Korea Party is keen to stage a filibuster to block voting. On Friday, the floor leaders of the three parties – the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, Liberty Korea Party and minor conservative Bareu

Politics Dec. 8, 2019