Bill 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

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FTC 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

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Judge 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.”

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Rules 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

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Ten 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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Court rules against ‘Lolita’ defense in pedophilia case

Korea Herald Feb. 20, 2007 Court rules against ‘Lolita’ defense in pedophilia case The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a mental illness involving sexual obsession with children cannot be an excuse for lessened punishment for sexual violence against children.The top court returned a molestation case to an appellant court for a retrial. The appellant court had reduced a life sentence imprisonment penalty to 15 years after recognizing the offender had so-called Lolita syndrome, or sexual attraction to prepubescent children. The

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First foreign listing likely delayed to June

Korea Herald Feb. 21, 2007 First foreign listing likely delayed to June The listing of the local stock exchange’s first foreign company will likely be in June at the earliest, the Korea Exchange said yesterday. Huafeng Textile International Group, which is already listed in Hong Kong, filed an application in December for a secondary floatation on Korea’s main bourse. Lee Young-tak, chairman and CEO of Korea Exchange, said in January that he expected the firm to be listed as early

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JU Group chief gets 12 years in jail

Korea Herald Feb. 21, 2007 JU Group chief gets 12 years in jail A Seoul lower court yesterday sentenced the chairman of JU Group, the nation’s biggest multilevel marketing firm, to 12 years in prison for fraud and embezzlement.Joo Soo-do, 51, was arrested last July on charges of deceiving over 110,000 people in a fraud case of 1.8 trillion won ($1.9 billion), instructing them to illegally pay a total of 130 billion won to JU Group’s affiliates and misappropriating 28.4

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North Korea Enacts Law Against Money Laundering;Intelligence Agency Says Pyongyang Has Highly Enriched Uranium Program

Korea Times Feb 21, 2007 North Korea Enacts Law Against Money LaunderingIntelligence Agency Says Pyongyang Has Highly Enriched Uranium Program By Park Song-wuStaff Reporter The National Intelligence Service (NIS) on Tuesday confirmed that North Korea recently enacted a law that prohibits money laundering. The standing committee of the North’s Supreme People’s Assembly adopted the legislation last October to ban financial transactions involving illegal earnings, the agency said in a press release. The enactment apparently aimed at settling the U.S. financial

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Go for 2-Term Presidency

Appeared in Korea Times on 01-31-2007 Dear Prof. Sean Hayes: An issue that has suddenly been proposed by President Roh Moohyun is the amendment of the Constitution to give the future president a four-year one-time renewable term and also to align the presidential election with the National Assembly elections. Currently, the president has a five-year non-renewable term and the presidential election is not held on the same date as the National Assembly elections, since Assemblypersons have four-year terms. Is Roh’s

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[News] Ex-governor Found Guilty and Sentenced for Rape

The Supreme Court reached a consensus for former South Chungcheong Province Governor An Hee-jung’s sentence for raping his female assistant, in the nation’s most noteworthy profile #Metoo movement scandal. The Supreme Court on September 9, 2019 confirmed that An Hee-Jung should serve a 3 ½ year prison sentence for his crime against his secretary. The Supreme Court stated that “The victim’s testimony is deemed credible given that it is consistent and very detailed without parts that are inconsistent.” The Supreme

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