A Korean American couple in Southern California was arrested after police stumbled upon a marijuana growing operation worth an estimated $1 million.

Cops were responding to a tip about a burglary in the tony coastal suburb of Rancho Palos Verdes, an affluent community that doesn’t see a lot of crime.

They didn’t catch the burglar but discovered a large-scale indoor marijuana farm operated by Tom Kim, 37, and his common-law wife Molly Hwang, 45. Continue Reading »

A Korean American man from Orange, Calif., has been arrested and charged with the murder of his roommate, a former Army veteran who was set to graduate from college in a few weeks.

Police charged 54-year-old Kwang Chol “K.C.” Joy with the murder of Maribel Ramos, 36, a student at Cal State Fullerton and a sergeant for the U.S. Army who served in Iraq and South Korea. Ramos was last seen on the evening of May 2 when she dropped off a rent check at her landlord’s office, the Orange County Register reports. When Ramos failed to appear at a softball game the following day, her family alerted authorities.

For weeks, people have tried to locate Ramos’s whereabouts and Thursday her body was finally found near a road in an area heavy with brush. Continue Reading »

A youth minister from the San Francisco Bay Area was arrested last week after he was caught in a prostitution sting in Orlando, Fla., authorities said.

Samuel Yoon, 45, arrived at a predetermined location on May 8 expecting to have sex with a 14-year-old girl but was instead arrested by undercover detectives, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

Police said Yoon, in town for a youth ministry conference, is a youth pastor at New Community Mission Church in San Leandro, Calif., and has no prior arrest history. Continue Reading »

Incheon International Airport

Enough with the groping and fondling, already!

A young Korean Canadian man was arrested on Monday at Incheon International Airport for sexually assaulting a female passenger, according to news reports.

The 19-year-old-man, identified only by his last name Park, is accused of fondling a 20-year-old woman’s breasts on two separate occasions during the Korean Air flight from New York to Incheon. The woman — a Korean international student studying in Canada — informed a flight attendant who later confronted Park.

Initially, the Canadian denied the claim and said he thought it was someone he knew. Later, he confessed and apologized to the victim. Continue Reading »

The woman who accused actor Park Si-hoo of raping her last February has decided to drop the charges against him, prompting speculation from both the Korean media and fans.

Prosecutors said the accuser canceled her claim against Park on May 9 and Park, in turn, dropped his libel civil suit he had filed against the woman, her friend and his former talent agency.

He has not dropped his lawsuit against the friend, referred to as “B” in media reports and his former agency. In the suit, Park claims that his agency encouraged the rape case to go forward in retaliation for his leaving the company. Continue Reading »

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