Category: crime & punishment

I wonder how much of this questioning is motivated by how the opposition party has been attacking President Yoon’s wife over the handbag from hell?:

The wife of opposition leader Lee Jae-myung was questioned by prosecutors Thursday over allegations of corporate credit card misuse while Lee served as Gyeonggi governor.

Kim Hye-kyung, accompanied by a lawyer, appeared at the Suwon District Prosecutors Office, south of Seoul, to face questioning, which lasted for about two hours.

The investigation centers on allegations that the couple used a corporate credit card from the Gyeonggi provincial government for personal purposes in 2018 and 2019, while Lee served as governor, by having a subordinate buy food items with the card. 

In July, prosecutors notified Lee, currently chair of the main opposition Democratic Party, and Kim to appear for questioning as part of the investigation. 

Lee’s side responded that he would face questioning after his party’s national convention on July 18, but he has yet to appear before prosecutors.

Thursday’s questioning was expected to last into the night, but ended in two hours after Kim exercised her right to remain silent.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is some more information about the ROK intelligence agent that was leaking the identity of undercover agents in China:

A military intelligence official indicted for allegedly leaking the identities of undercover South Korean agents has admitted to working for a Chinese operative since 2017, military prosecutors said Wednesday. 
  
The 49-year-old official, who worked for the Defense Intelligence Command before his suspension, initially denied leaking military secrets but eventually told investigators that he was recruited by Chinese intelligence in 2017 during a visit to Yanji, the capital of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Jilin Province, to meet his contacts. 
  
According to military prosecutors, the official claimed he was detained by Chinese officials at the Yanji airport and offered a chance to work for a Chinese intelligence agent in exchange for his family’s safety. 
  
Military prosecutors indicted the official on Tuesday on charges of bribery, aiding the enemy and violating the Military Secrets Protection Act by leaking classified information. 
  
While the official said he began selling military secrets in 2017, prosecutors said they were able to confirm he had received payments since 2019 and leaked classified information since June 2022, two years before counterintelligence officials caught wind of his suspicious activities.

Total payments to the suspect that have been tracked thus far by South Korean counterintelligence amount to 160 million won ($120,000). 
  
Prosecutors said the suspect gathered secrets by taking photos and screenshots of information on computer screens at the Defense Intelligence Command’s headquarters in Seoul, which he then uploaded to a Chinese cloud server at home.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but I have to wonder how real the supposed threats to his family were? I would not be surprised if he was looking for money from the start. Considering he only got paid $120,000 he sold out his country for a paltry sum.

Deep fake sex images are now the biggest story in South Korea and it is problem that is going to be highly difficult stop due to the spread of AI technology that makes this possible:

 Police will carry out an intensive crackdown on deepfake sex images as a recent series of such crimes stoked fears that any woman could fall victim, officials said Tuesday.

During the seven-month crackdown set to begin Wednesday, police will aggressively hunt down those who produce and spread such images, especially those of children and teens, the National Police Agency said.

According to the police agency, 297 cases of deepfake sexual exploitation crimes were reported nationwide from January and July. Among 178 people charged, 73.6 percent, or 113 individuals, were known to be teenagers. 

Political parties and rights groups also called for stern punishment and an active investigation.

“Fear is growing, with nearly 220,000 members estimated to have participated in these deepfake porn chat rooms on Telegram,” said Son Sol, a co-chair of the minor opposition Progressive Party’s task force on the issue.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the AI deep fakes have also been linked to the ROK Army with a chatroom that specializes in passing images of female Soldiers as well. It makes me wonder how long before this becomes a problem in the U.S. military as well?

Another sign that Korea’s drug problem continues to spread:

Members of a college social club comprising hundreds of members from South Korea’s 13 colleges, including the nation’s most prestigious schools like Seoul National University and Korea University, administer drugs at an amusement park. (Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office)

A 30-something graduate student at KAIST, South Korea’s top science-specialized university, was recently arrested by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office for distributing and using drugs within a social fraternity he created in 2021 which included members from 13 other elite universities.

Three other university students were also apprehended, and two others were indicted without physical detention for breaching the Narcotics Control Act. Eight other students who took drugs but were not suspected of other offenses were granted deferred prosecution on condition they participated in a rehabilitation program.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

Here is another example of a U.S. Soldier being a drunken idiot in Seoul:

Police in South Korea arrested a U.S service member earlier this month on suspicion of brandishing a knife and scissors inside a pub in Seoul. The unidentified troop’s charges — intimidation and obstruction of business — were referred to prosecutors on Tuesday, a Mapo Police detective told Stars and Stripes by phone that day. The detective did not release the service member’s branch of service or his name.

South Korean law enforcement agencies typically do not identify suspects unless charged with a serious crime, and officials regularly speak to the media on a customary condition of anonymity. Police responded around 7:15 a.m. July 5 to a disturbance call saying a person had a deadly weapon inside a pub in Mapo District, the detective said. Mapo is a popular area of Seoul known for its numerous bars and nightclubs.

The service member, who is stationed at Camp Casey, a U.S. Army outpost 13 miles south of the Demilitarized Zone that separates North Korea from South Korea, entered the pub alone and went inside the kitchen, where he picked up a knife and scissors, according to the detective. He proceeded to the dining area and made a “stabbing motion with his hands, but did not stab himself,” the detective said.

The pub’s patrons fled outside but the service member did not explicitly threaten them, according to the detective. The service member was arrested without incident and taken to Mapo Police Station, where he was later picked up by U.S. military police, the detective said. No injuries were reported.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

I am not sure how someone would be able to catch this guy as long as he remains in North Korea:

 The United States offered Thursday to provide a reward of up to US$10 million for information on a North Korean cyber actor targeting America’s critical infrastructure, as it strives to prevent Pyongyang’s ability to generate revenue through illicit means to fund its weapons programs.

The State Department announced the reward, accusing Rim Jong-hyok — a North Korean national associated with a cyber group known as Andariel — and others of being involved in malicious cyberactivities targeting U.S. hospitals, government entities, defense contractors and others.

U.S. law enforcement investigators have documented that Andariel actors victimized five healthcare providers, four U.S.-based defense contractors, two U.S. Air Force bases and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, according to the department.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.