Tag: crime

This has been one of the cyber crime areas that North Korea has been using to raise revenue:

 South Korea and the United States have agreed to strengthen their cooperation in combating North Korea’s stealing of virtual assets, the presidential office here said Thursday.

According to the office, Wang Yun-jong, the third deputy national security adviser, visited Washington from Monday to Wednesday and discussed the issue with Anne Neuberger, the U.S. deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies.

Their talks also covered internet of things security and maritime cybersecurity.

Wang also attended the fourth round of meetings by the Counter Ransomware Initiative (CRI) for in-depth discussions on responding to ransomware and bolstering international cooperation in that area.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

A business deal that went bad led to an attempted murder:

The Seoul High Court said recently it upheld a six-year prison term for a 67-year-old North Korean defector for the attempted murder of another defector over a faulty investment opportunity.

A defendant was found guilty of attempted murder, after he stabbed the 70-year-old victim nine times and assaulted him with his fist at 11:40 p.m. on Nov. 14. The court turned down his claim of not intending to murder the victim, pointing out that he called the police after the crime and said he had “just committed murder today.”

The victim recovered after six weeks of medical treatment.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link.

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 feel bad for SSG Black’s family, but as the saying goes play stupid games, win stupid prizes and he got quite the prize:

A court in Russia’s far eastern city of Vladivostok on Wednesday convicted a visiting American soldier of stealing and making threats of murder, and it sentenced him to three years and nine months in prison. Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, 34, flew to the Pacific port city to see his girlfriend and was arrested last month after she accused him of stealing from her, according to U.S. officials and Russian authorities.

Russia’s state news agencies Tass and RIA Novosti reported that the judge in Pervomaisky District Court in Vladivostok also ordered Black to pay 10,000 rubles ($115) in damages. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of four years and eight months in prison.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on the U.S. Army NCO jailed in Russia:

A U.S. soldier, stationed in South Korea but detained in Russia on suspicion of stealing from his girlfriend and threatening to kill her, went on trial on Thursday, the state news agency RIA reported. Gordon Black was detained on May 2 in Vladivostok in Russia’s far east on suspicion of stealing from his Russian girlfriend.

Citing local prosecutors, Russian independent media reported he had also subsequently been charged with threatening to kill her. Black, a U.S. Army staff sergeant posted at Camp Humphreys outside Seoul, pleaded guilty to theft in May, RIA reported at the time, citing interior ministry officials.

Stars & Stripes

Here is also more details on what he is alleged to have done:

Prosecutors said the couple had quarrelled and the American had subsequently “forcibly grabbed the girl by the neck, which she perceived as a real threat to her life.” Black is then alleged to have stolen 10,000 roubles ($110) from her purse and fled their shared apartment, according to media reports. He was later arrested at a local hotel, where he had purchased plane tickets and intended to fly back to the U.S.

You can read more at the link, but the more I read about this case the more likely to me that this was not some kid of honey trap and instead this guy just being an idiot and now facing the consequences of his actions.

Crime may be dropping in Seoul, but the perception apparentlhy is that crime is a growing problem to be concerned about:

The number of crimes in Seoul has been declining, however, anxiety about the issue among residents is increasing, particularly among women and older adults, according to a report released by the Seoul Foundation of Women and Family, Sunday.

The foundation published the report based on data provided by Statistics Korea, which interviewed 3,007 Seoulites aged 20 and older in 2022.

According to the report, the number of crimes in the city declined from 296,178 in 2020 to 279,507 in 2022. The five major violent crimes — murder, robbery, theft, assault and sexual violence — also decreased from 92,679 to 90,339 during that period.

Despite this decline, residents’ sense of safety has not improved. On a scale from 1 (very safe) to 5 (very unsafe), the average score increased slightly from 3.13 in 2020 to 3.17 in 2022, indicating a growing perception of insecurity.

The report highlighted that women feel more anxious than men about potential crimes in their daily lives. On a scale from 1 (feeling very safe) to 10 (feeling very anxious), women scored 6.38 compared to men’s 5.4.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but I think the media highlighting major crimes is probably what feeds into the public’s anxiety.

Somebody must have said something for the Thai police to have found a body in a barrel filled with concrete in a reservoir:

Thailand plans to request South Korea hand over a suspect in the murder of a South Korean tourist and disposal of the body in Pattaya, a local media report said Wednesday. 

Thai authorities are seeking the extradition of one of the three suspects, who was arrested in a provincial county in South Korea on Monday, the Khaosod daily reported quoting a local police official. 

Thai police are investigating the brutal murder case, in which the body of the 34-year-old victim was found in a plastic container filled with cement in a reservoir in Pattaya.

A Bangkok court has also issued arrest warrants for the three suspects on charges of abduction and murder, the news outlet said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.