Unavoidable to raise electric fees; those who land firm in chronic deficit should be held liable

Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco), a state-run firm with a monopoly on power transmission and distribution, reported a record-high operating loss of 7.78 trillion won ($6.06 billion) in the first quarter of this year. The figure is much larger than the company’s operating loss of 5.86 trillion won logged for the whole of last year. Considering that its 2021 annual loss was the worst ever, the third-quarter loss is astronomical. If this trend continues, its operating loss for the year wi

Pyongyang must accept help from Seoul to save its people from fast-spreading virus

While the entire world was fighting tooth and nail to contain the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years, North Korea remained tightly closed and insisted it is coronavirus-free in a way that spawned much speculation. Last Thursday, Pyongyang finally broke its silence and reported through state media that the country had its first COVID cases. Since then, a flurry of bad news has been coming out, turning hitherto educated guesses into a stark reality. The communist regime said Sunday it a