South Korean prosecutors seek drone chief arrest over operation in North Korea
The special counsel team last week summoned the chief of the Drone Operations Command, Kim Yong-dae, over allegations that Yoon ordered a covert drone operation into the North last year to inflame tension between the neighbours to justify his martial law decree. The impeached Yoon has denied the allegations.
On Friday, Kim told reporters that the incident was part of a "clandestine military operation" in response to trash balloons from the North and not to provoke the neighbour.
In October, North Korea said the South had sent drones to scatter anti-North Korea leaflets over Pyongyang, and published photos of the remains of a crashed South Korean military drone.
South Korea at the time declined to disclose whether it had sent the drones.
Kim was arrested on Friday without a court warrant, local media reported.
Prosecutors and police are permitted to conduct an "emergency arrest" if they have a strong belief that someone is guilty of a serious crime and that there is a risk that the individual might flee or destroy evidence.
Prosecutors stepped up investigations into the drone operation after indicting the jailed ex-President Yoon on additional charges for his short-lived declaration of martial law in December.
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CNA
3 minutes ago
- CNA
Man who got into two sham marriages for money gets jail
SINGAPORE: In order to pay off his debts, a man entered into two sham marriages one after the other, gave his Singpass credentials away and hired a maid in his name even though she performed cleaning work elsewhere. Goh Cheng Feng, Alex, 31, was sentenced on Monday (Jul 21) to 20 months and six weeks' imprisonment and fined S$18,000 (US$14,000). If he cannot pay the fine, he will have to serve another 36 days' jail in default. He pleaded guilty to seven charges under the Immigration Act linked to the sham marriages, Computer Misuse Act for relinquishing his Singpass information and Employment of Foreign Manpower Act for the maid offences. Another 12 charges were taken into consideration. The court heard that Goh came to know a person called Jason in 2021 through playing poker. Jason was later established to be Ng Chee Hon, a Singaporean who is at large. During the games, Jason raised the idea of a marriage of convenience with a Vietnamese woman to prolong her stay in Singapore, asking Goh to consider it. Sometime between end-2022 and early 2023, Goh owed Jason money for losing a poker game hosted by Jason. Jason then repeated the sham marriage proposal to Goh. He was to act as his foreign spouse's local sponsor and apply for visit passes for her to remain in Singapore. Jason also said Goh would get a divorce if the long-term visit pass application for his spouse was rejected. In return, he would be paid S$4,000 on the day of solemnisation, S$1,000 every month after solemnisation and S$6,000 on approval of the long-term visit pass. Needing money, Goh agreed. He got married to Dolly Luong Gia Linh, a 24-year-old Vietnamese woman, solemnising their marriage in April 2023 at Hard Rock Hotel in Sentosa. He received the S$4,000 from Dolly after the ceremony. They did not stay together and did not have a real marriage. Goh made an application for a long-term visit pass for Dolly, but it was rejected in June 2023. He made an appeal, but this was also rejected. Dolly later told Goh that she would initiate proceedings to dissolve the marriage, as Goh could not get the pass for her and there was no reason to continue with it. Goh was told he would continue to get the monthly payment of S$1,000 and was asked to apply for a short-term visit pass for Dolly to remain in Singapore until the marriage was dissolved. The annulment was finalised in December 2023. By then, Goh had successfully made five short-term visit pass applications for Dolly, failing three others. To avoid leaving evidence, Goh deleted messages and photos of the sham marriage arrangement. He was also approached by Jason to act as a witness for someone else's sham marriage and received S$100 for that as a "transportation fee". In total, Goh received S$11,500 from Dolly for the marriage of convenience. THE SECOND MARRIAGE In January 2024, Jason and Dolly offered Goh proposals to enter into a second sham marriage under the same terms. Initially, Goh rejected them, but eventually agreed as he wanted to pay off his debt. Dolly linked Goh up with his second wife - 31-year-old Vietnamese national Phan Thi Trang. They got married at a restaurant at Marina Bay Sands in March 2024 and Goh received S$2,950 in total from Dolly and Jason as his reward. Dolly then told Goh that she would pay him S$6,000 if he succeeded in getting a long-term visit pass for his second wife. He submitted an application, lying in the declarations, but it was rejected by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in June 2024. Other than these offences, Goh also agreed to employ a foreign domestic worker under his name - a ploy suggested by Jason in December 2023. Under the arrangement, the maid would carry out freelance cleaning work in Singapore, and Goh would be paid S$1,200 for every maid he employed. To facilitate this, Goh made a false statement to the Ministry of Manpower to employ a maid. Although the maid was issued a work pass, she never worked for him. Instead, she did freelance home cleaning services between April 2024 and December 2024, renting rooms in Housing Board flats for between S$500 and S$600 a month instead of staying with Goh. Goh also admitted disclosing the login credentials of his Singpass account to an unidentified person on Telegram for S$3,000 that he never received. Unknown criminals used his Singpass details to open bank accounts, with more than S$4 million flowing through them in total. More than S$440,000 of this money was linked to scams. ICA arrested Goh in June 2024 for the sham marriage with Phan, while MOM began investigating him for the maid offence half a year later. Goh's lawyer, Mr Riko Isaac from Amolat & Partners, said his client was "desperate for finances" when he committed the offences. He had lost his job in part due to COVID-19 as well as a failed business venture that wiped out his savings. This led Goh to borrow from a bank and licensed moneylenders, causing his debt to swell to S$60,000, said Mr Isaac. He was on the brink of bankruptcy when he spoke to Jason, who offered him "easy money".
CNA
3 minutes ago
- CNA
Japan faces rice shortage as South Korea battles oversupply
HAENAM, South Korea / TOKYO: Japan is grappling with rice shortages and price hikes, forcing it to ramp up imports. Just across the sea, South Korea is facing the opposite problem — an overwhelming surplus that has driven prices so low, some regions are practically giving rice away. As shortages and surpluses hit wallets and livelihoods, the instability of rice supply could have an impact far beyond the dining table, said observers. TACKLING OVERSUPPLY Farmer Park Geun Sik spent his life working the land in Haenam, a farming town in South Jeolla province, about 330km south of Seoul. When he started, everything from planting seedlings to threshing rice was done by hand. Rice was so scarce that there were designated no-rice days banning its sale. Then, machines arrived and high-yield rice varieties were introduced as South Korea embarked on a drive for self-sufficiency. Like most farmers in South Korea, Park is a member of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation Nonghyup. Nonghyup buys rice directly from farmers, then handles everything from drying and storing it to packaging and distribution. 'There is never a year when we can't sell the harvested rice,' Park told CNA. 'Most co-op members find it more convenient that way.' Every year, the South Korean government imports and also purchases rice from farmers to ensure food security. It also buys 'quarantine rice', which is the supply it wants to take off the market in order to stabilise prices. The government purchased 1.2 million tonnes of rice from 2021 to 2024, according to official data. This amounts to about US$1.9 billion worth of rice sitting in government storage. Haenam County Office said the government stores about 17 to 18 per cent of annual rice consumption in case of disaster or war. That is around 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes. Kim Ung Il, an officer with the office's distribution support division, said older reserves are usually sold to manufacturers of processed food, and recent harvests to low-income families, for as little as US$2 for a 10kg pack. For rice released for retail, the price fluctuates based on factors such as harvest yields. Korean farmers frustrated by thinning margins have taken to the streets to demand change. Gu Gwang Seok, executive director of the non-profit Korean Peasants League (Gwangju), said rice prices have barely risen in the 30 years he has been farming, blaming imports for pushing down prices. 'Every year, we import about 13 per cent of our domestic rice production. In terms of volume, that's around 408,000 tonnes (required under World Trade Organization agreements),' he added. 'That is why farmers are protesting. They are demanding that the government guarantee the price of rice and stop importing it.' Meanwhile, the door to exporting rice has never really opened. Most countries do not favour the short-grain, sticky Japonica rice South Korea produces except Japan. DEALING WITH SHORTAGE In April, Japan bought Korean rice for the first time since 1999 when it was facing a rice shortage. Rural Japanese families traditionally get their rice at negotiated prices from a local dealer or directly from farmers. At supermarkets across Japan, rice is selling at record prices or simply out of stock. Rice prices doubled from a year ago in May this year. In July, it's about US$27 on average for a 5kg pack, prompting the government to release emergency reserves. But the sales are massively depleting stockpiles, with only about 100,000 tonnes of rice left. Japan imports 770,000 tonnes of rice a year under WTO rules. Anything more brought in by the private sector incurs hefty tariffs of about US$2.30 per kilogram. But as domestic rice prices soar, private sector imports are rising. In May, they amounted to some 10,600 tonnes - mostly from the United States - up from just 115 tonnes a year ago. Kazuyoshi Fujimoto owns a 15-hectare rice farm in Kakogawa city - passed down for generations - but began shifting away from growing rice two years ago due to high costs. 'To tend to paddy fields, you need to invest in machinery,' he said. 'If it malfunctions, it costs 5 million to 6 million yen (US$33,700 to US$40,400) to replace it. So eventually, I plan to move entirely from paddy fields to growing figs.' Japan began paying farmers to reduce rice acreage in the 1970s to tackle overproduction and keep rice prices high. Now, production targets are still set by the government and influenced by Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA) which nearly all farmers belong to. Around 70 per cent of crops harvested are sold through JA, according to experts, and the rest to wholesalers, retailers or straight to consumers. It sent Fujimoto a flyer offering to buy his rice for at least 11,500 yen (US$77.50) for every 30kg this year, which is about twice as much as last year. 'Until three years ago, prices (paid by JA) were stable,' said Fujimoto. 'But in the past year or two, prices rose a little, by 30 per cent. Then this year, it was a big hike." Rice production has tumbled over the years, from a peak of 14.45 million tonnes in 1967 to less than 7 million tonnes last year. Farmers told CNA they were puzzled by the sudden severe shortage, with some pointing to the complexity of the supply chain. In Nagano, known for its mountainous terrain and high-quality rice, some farmers said middlemen are paying three times more for their rice compared to last year. Poor harvests caused by heatwaves and a spike in inbound tourism are being cited as factors for the shortage. Japan's farming population, too, is steadily shrinking. Analysts said it is critical to stop reducing rice acreage and consolidate small-scale farms by encouraging their owners - who are mostly elderly - to lease their land to larger operations. 'Full-time farmers will be richer by accumulating more land. They could improve the efficiency of rice production,' said Kazuhito Yamashita, research director at the think tank Canon Institute for Global Studies. 'But it is not easy to implement in Japanese politics because we have to face politically powerful agricultural cooperatives.' LOOKING FOR ALTERNATIVES Meanwhile, South Korea's growers are watching closely. In Haenam, conditions are ripe to adapt rice fields for other crops. Farmers like Kim Jun Hyeong get government incentives to switch from rice to beans. 'In the case of rice farming, you usually have to grow the seedlings for about 20 days before transplanting. But when there is no need for that process (such as when growing beans), it becomes more advantageous,' he said. 'For beans, they go for about 4,000 to 4,500 won (US$2.90 to US$3.30) per kilogram,' he added. 'Rice, on the other hand, doesn't even fetch 2,000 won per kilogram." Kim now sets aside half his farmland for beans. His income has almost doubled, propelled by the incentives. In cities like Seoul, rice is finding a second life. Rike Bakery, which opened a few months ago, sets itself apart by using rice flour — a pricier alternative to wheat flour — as its key ingredient. The government is also promoting it as a substitute to raise rice consumption. 'I think rice has a better image than wheat,' said Jeon Hee Ju, owner of Rike Bakery. 'So when customers hear it's made from rice, they feel it's healthier and more comforting to eat.'
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Japan PM Ishiba vows to stay on despite "harsh judgment" election result
Scroll up for the next video X Japan PM Ishiba vows to stay on despite "harsh judgment" election result
