The National Human Rights Commission recommended on Feb. 26, 2007 that a clause requiring HIV/AIDS testing for all females working in businesses with links to prostitution, including massage parlors, be removed from a bill proposed by the Health Ministry. The bill by the Ministry is intended to revise the AIDS prevention law in order to deal with modern realities. The bill, if passed, would require two annual mandatory AIDS tests for female workers with a year in prison or fines
Continue readingAuthor: Sean Hayes
Sean Hayes is the first non-Korean employed as a foreign attorney by the Korean Court System (Constitutional Court of Korea) and one of the first non-Koreans to be a full-time regular member of a Korean law faculty. He is rated a Top Attorney by numerous legal rating agencies and is known for his street-smart advice, candor and aggressive & non-conflicted advocacy.
Sean has been quoted by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNN, Money Today, US Today, The Korea Times, The Korea Herald, France 24, Asia Legal Business and other leading news sources.
IPG was, recently, rated a top Dispute Resolution Law Firm and Sean a Top 100 Lawyer for International Law.
Supreme Court Justice Kim Yong-dam on Judges/Prosecutors and Public Trust
A Joongang Daily editorial on Feb. 27, 2007 entitled Judges, prosecutors seeking to regain public trust summarizes a speech giving by Justice Kim Yong-dam to other judges. The editorial is enlightening to the fact that the legal system is trying to make a concerted effort to change its public image. The nation’s courts have given the impression that they are lenient to the haves but cold-hearted to the have-nots, Kim Yong-dam, a Supreme Court justice, said yesterday. During a lecture
Continue readingConstitutional Revision Bill Delayed
A Chong Wa Dae spokesman announced on Feb. 26, 2007 that the Constitutional Revision Bill will be delayed until late in March due to “technical problems.” The technical problems mentioned by the Blue House include difficulty in finding a solution to the possible occurrence of a vacancy in office. Many believe that the “technical problems” are simply a cover for the problem of lack of widespread support for the revision. On Jan. 9, 2007 Roh suggested, among other changes, that
Continue readingHow to Keep . . . Competitive (Bill Gates)
An article by Bill Gates on how the U.S. has remained competitive is a lesson for all nations. His simple advice to the U.S. should be followed by all nations. [Bill Gates]How to keep U.S. competitive For centuries people assumed that economic growth resulted from the interplay between capital and labor. Today we know that these elements are outweighed by a single critical factor: innovation. Innovation is the source of U.S. economic leadership and the foundation for our competitiveness in
Continue readingViolence in Korean Schools Rising
On Feb. 27, 2007 numerous Korean and English language newspapers reported that school violence has become such a problem that the Ministry of Education setup a program to enable students threatened by violence to receive an escort on the way to and from school. The program, to be implemented in April, will also include counseling to assist students in learning how to prevent violence. According to the Ministry, 15.9% of students have experienced violence in school and the percentage of
Continue readingLegal system hinders class action suits
Korea Herald Feb. 26, 2007 Experts say the burden of proof limits room for shareholders to maneuver Class action suits have mostly been cumbersome, costly and highly risky for shareholders filing complaints in the United States, but their gains clearly deserved such a demanding process. American firms had paid a total of $26 billion to settle collective legal complaints from 1997 to 2005, and each case cost $35 million on average. The record was rewritten as Enron Corp. and WorldCom
Continue readingProsecutor with cancer ‘only doing her job’
Korea Herald Feb. 26, 2007 Jin Hye-won, a 32-year-old prosecutor, has been the focus of media attention after it was revealed that she worked around the clock despite having brain cancer. The prosecutor with the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office underwent an operation to remove the tumor on Jan. 24, just two days before an appellant court sentenced the defendant in the case to eight months in prison and two years of probation. The defendant had originally been acquitted last
Continue readingFraud sentence stands against ex-Doosan boss
Joongang Daily February 23, 2007 The Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced Park Yong-oh, a former Doosan Group chairman, to a three-year suspended jail term for embezzlement.Mr. Park, 69, was convicted by the Seoul Central District Court a year ago of embezzling 29.7 billion won ($31.5 million) from the business group between 1996 and 2005. Last July an appeals court upheld the three-year jail sentence, suspended for five years, and 8 billion won in fines. Kim
Continue readingGovernment Investigating Credit Card Commissions
Donga Ilbo Feb. 23, 2007 There are reports of widespread discontent over the way credit card issuers charge merchants commission fees. South Korea’s financial regulatory body has begun to investigate the issue. “We commissioned the Korea Institute of Finance to find out what costs credit card issuers face. We are going to assess whether each card issuer charges fair commissions to merchants. Then we will propose a standard for card issuers to levy a commission,” said an official from the
Continue readingFour oil companies fined for price rigging
Korea Herald Feb. 23, 2007 The Fair Trade Commission yesterday slapped fines of 52.6 billion won ($54.5 million) on four major oil refineries for illegal price-fixing. The antitrust watchdog said SK Corp., Hyundai Oilbank Corp., GS Caltex Corp. and S-Oil Corp. were found to have conspired to raise prices of petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel and kerosene in 2004. The FTC also decided to file a complaint against the four companies to the prosecution. “The oil cartel, between April
Continue reading153 indicted in gaming scandal
Korea Herald Feb. 23, 2007 ‘Sea Story’ scandal nabs 153 Prosecutors said today they have arrested 45 people and indicted 108 without detention in connection with an illegal arcade gaming scandal that erupted last year. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office today announced the results of its six-month probe into the “Sea Story” scandal, involving lawmakers, high-ranking government officials, gang members, arcade businesspeople and gift certificate issuers. A popular video slot game, “The Sea Story” was outlawed last year because
Continue readingLobbying to Be Legalized
Korea Times Feb. 23, 2007 By Kim RahnStaff Reporter In an effort to root out bribery, the government is considering revising the law on lobbying. Lobbying is currently illegal in Korea because it is associated with bribes. According to the plan proposed in a report submitted by Justice Minister Kim Sung-ho to President Roh Moo-hyun, lobbyists will be asked to register and to report their activities to the government. “Legalizing lobbyists is a part of efforts to boost trust and
Continue readingFTC expands price-fixing probe in education market
Korea Herald Feb. 22, 2007 The Fair Trade Commission is expanding an investigation into the education sector amidst speculation over possible cartels and abuses of market dominance to raise prices of textbooks, school uniforms and tuition fees. In addition to its examination of high-priced textbooks sold by the state-funded Educational Broadcasting System last year, the antitrust watchdog is probing a suspected cartel of school uniform suppliers. The FTC is currently discussing whether the alleged textbook overpricing is a case of
Continue readingFormer Aide Accuses Ex-Mayor of Bribery
Korea Times Feb. 22, 2007 By Kim Sue-young Staff Reporter Kim Yoo-chan A former secretary of Lee Myung-bak, a strong presidential hopeful of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) and a former Seoul mayor, Wednesday detailed a case of bribery. In a press conference, Kim Yoo-chan said Lee is not entitled to become president and that made him come forward to present evidence of illegal actions. “Lee Kwang-chol, a former secretary to Lee, gave me a total amount of
Continue readingSexual Violence on Children Rises 33%
Korea Times Feb. 22, 2007 By Bae Ji-sook Staff Reporter Child molestation is becoming a serious social problem with the number of cases of sexual violence on children under 13 increasing every year. In 2006, the number of victims under 13 was 980 or 6.4 percent of the total of 15,326 reported cases of sexual violence, according to the National Police Agency. This represents a significant rise from 738 or 5.5 percent of 13,446 cases in 2005 and 721 or
Continue readingBill Sought to Limit FDI in Key Sectors
Korea Times Feb. 22, 2007 By Kim Yon-seStaff ReporterA group of lawmakers and policymakers are moving to legislate a law aimed at placing restrictions on foreign investment in some key industries. The move is aimed at blocking takeover attempts in the weapons, energy and steel sectors and other high technology areas that have some comparative advantages.The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE) is reviewing the bill in consideration of national security concerns. Last year, Rep. Lee Sang-kyeong of the
Continue readingFTC plans a monopoly investigation of 3 portals
JoongAng Ilbo Feb. 21, 2007 As early as next month, the Fair Trade Commission will begin investigating whether three major Internet portals, Daum, Naver and Nate, are a monopoly.“We will form a task force team and begin a direct-authority investigation on the Internet portal companies,” said Lee Dong-gyu, secretary general of the Fair Trade Commission. The watchdog agency said it feels the influence of the top portals is growing rapidly in the market.The concern is that they are using their
Continue readingJudge Urges Chief Justice to Resign
Donga Ilbo Feb. 21, 2007 A presiding judge called for an explanation from Supreme Court chief justice Lee Yong-hoon, questioning his morality. He blames the chief justice for distrust in legal community, most recently proven in crossbow attack on a senior high-court judge. Jung Young-jin, presiding judge at the Seoul Central District Court, posted a paper on the court’s local area network (LAN) titled, “Urge the Chief Justice to Explain His Course of Action with respect to the Crossbow Attack.”
Continue readingRules to Change for Entertainment Spending
Chosun Ilbo Feb. 21, 2007The existing government regulation that requires a receipt for corporate entertainment spending exceeding 50,000 won will be tightened. Entertainment spending which will require a receipt will be lowered to 30,000 won in 2008 and 10,000 won in 2009. In response, businesses are expressing their anger against the government’s measure, saying it will increase the tax burden and add more work for them. They also argued that the government’s excessive intervention may lead to contraction of business
Continue readingTen Petrochemical Companies Fined For Price Fixing
Chosun Ilbo Editorial Feb 21, 2007 Price Fixing Is a Serious Crime. The Fair Trade Commission has fined 10 petrochemical companies W105.1 billion (US$1=W939) for price rigging between 1994 and 2005. The firms including SK Corp., LG Chemicals and Samsung Petrochemicals were found to have held monthly executive meetings to set standard sales prices and “monitored” each other to make sure nobody undercut them. The FTC estimates the price-fixing cost consumers an estimated W1.56 trillion due to steady increases in
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