Most Popular
-
1
Yoon sorry for shortcomings but insists policies were right
-
2
1 in 3 Koreans live alone, family types becoming diverse
-
3
S. Korea ‘strongly’ protests Japan’s claim over Dokdo in diplomatic bluebook
-
4
US 'incredibly concerned' about suspected NK-Iran military ties
-
5
Korean won weakens amid heightened uncertainty
-
6
Korea, Japan finance chiefs vow to tame rampant FX market volatility
-
7
Seoul says will cut power to porn festival planned on Han River
-
8
Sewol victims commemorated on tragedy's 10th anniversary
-
9
K-pop group's manager dismissed for setting up spycam in theater dressing room
-
10
Chanel, Louis Vuitton see muted growth in Korea
-
[Editorial] Turnabout at end of term
President Moon Jae-in said in a meeting on global energy supply issues on Friday that South Korea should utilize nuclear energy sufficiently for the next 60 years as its main source of power supply. Referring to four nuclear power plants whose construction has been delayed -- Shin Hanul 1 and 2 and Shin Kori 5 and 6 -- he said that the government must work hard to start their normal operation as quickly as possible. His remarks are baffling. It is questionable if Moon is trying to deflect crit
March 1, 2022
-
[Editorial] Economic impact of war
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sparked a wave of dire warnings about the global economy, with financial markets jittery about increased volatility in energy prices and more unpredictable shocks coming from the conflict. As with other countries tightly linked through the integrated supply chains and financial markets, South Korea is vulnerable to turbulence generated by the war in Ukraine. The stakes are immensely high for Asia’s fourth-largest economy, which is struggling to re
Feb. 28, 2022
-
[Editorial] Let Ukraine be a lesson
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops to “maintain peace” in two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, after recognizing them as independent states. Then US President Joe Biden said Russia had begun “an invasion” of Ukraine and announced a new sanctions package against Russia. For starters, Russia’s aggression is an illegal act of war on a sovereign state. Putin said “to maintain peace” but it is nothing but a pretext to whitewash violent inf
Feb. 25, 2022
-
[Editorial] Distorted view
The South Korean media industry has been struggling to cope with a slew of challenges in recent years, such as declining ad revenue, shrinking subscriber numbers and weakening influence in an era of social media. For the embattled media, there is one more critical thing to overcome: the sheer hostility of the two main presidential candidates toward the media. Resentment against journalists and media outlets is nothing new. On social media, a number of people do not hesitate to call reporters
Feb. 24, 2022
-
[Editorial] Anachronistic spirit
The pledge by Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of the opposition People Power Party, to make efforts to attract a shopping complex to Gwangju has emerged as an election issue. “Gwangju citizens are longing to have a shopping complex that all other big cities have, but the Democratic Party of Korea has opposed the entrance of one into the city,” Yoon said, “Does the ruling party have the right to keep a large shopping mall off Gwangju despite citizens wanting one?&rdq
Feb. 23, 2022
-
[Editorial] Unrealistic promises
Major presidential candidates are making a series of costly campaign pledges. But they remain vague about how the required budget could be secured amid ballooning fiscal deficits and national debts. Worse, both ruling and opposition parties agreed to pass an extra budget designed to help small businesses hit by COVID-19 on Monday, which will add to the fiscal shortfall. Big-budget campaign pledges look enticing for both candidates and voters, but if such plans go ahead without securing speci
Feb. 22, 2022
-
[Editorial] Next-door mystery
The Gyeonggi Housing and Urban Development Corp. (GH) is reportedly renting an apartment right next door to Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea. A public enterprise affiliated with the Gyeonggi Provincial Government is said to have leased Lee’s next-door apartment in August 2020 when Lee was governor of the province. The lease period is two years. It was on a “jeonse” lease in which tenants pay landlords a lump-sum deposit and get
Feb. 21, 2022
-
[Editorial] Impending crisis
The Russia-Ukraine conflict is feared to have a negative impact on the South Korean economy, which has already been battered by a slew of negative factors sparked by COVID-19. There was a glimmer of hope that a peaceful resolution might be possible, as Russia claimed it had withdrawn some of its troops near the border with Ukraine. On Thursday, however, the United States warned that Russia had also added about 7,000 troops, suggesting that it was premature to conclude that a Russian invasion o
Feb. 18, 2022
-
[Editorial] Lawless union
Members of the CJ Logistics chapter of the union of delivery workers have been on strike since Dec. 28. About 200 members of the union affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions have occupied part of the company’s headquarters since Jan. 10. They broke the entrance door and took over parts of the building to stage a sit-in. Scores of employees were reportedly injured. They demand an increase of their share in excess profits from raised delivery fees, while the company di
Feb. 17, 2022
-
[Editorial] No sign of abating
With the spread of COVID-19 hitting a series of record highs, the Korean government is mulling virus-related policy changes that some fear would aggravate the worsening situation as confusion over self-test kits and social distancing rules deepens. The government said Tuesday it would unveil a new set of changes regarding the social distancing rules following the spike in new COVID-19 cases led by the omicron variant. On Monday, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said, “(The government) will
Feb. 16, 2022
-
[Editorial] Fund investment suspicions
Jang Ha-sung, South Korea’s ambassador to China, and Kim Sang-jo, President Moon Jae-in’s former chief of staff for policy, were belatedly found to have invested in funds created by Jang’s younger brother. Jang was Moon’s first chief of staff for policy before being appointed as ambassador to China. Kim was Moon’s first chairman of the Fair Trade Commission before being appointed as his third chief of staff for policy. Jang and Kim are said to have invested about
Feb. 15, 2022
-
[Editorial] Beyond mudslinging
In the second TV debate held Friday, two leading presidential candidates relied on mudslinging, rather than engaging in serious discussion of policy. The verbal attacks between Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party heated up during the debate arranged by the Journalists Association of Korea. For many of Korean voters who watched the debate, fierce attacks on corruption allegations made it hard to understand which pol
Feb. 14, 2022
-
[Editorial] Probes foretold
Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of the main opposition People Power Party, remarked in a recent interview with a local news organization that if he takes power, his administration should investigate corruption allegations involving his predecessor‘s regime. Asked whether his administration would seek to eliminate the evils of the previous administration as President Moon Jae-in’s government did, he said “it should.” Regarding the possibility of criticisms that
Feb. 11, 2022
-
[Editorial] Toxic mix
South Koreans have been going through a truly tough period, not only because of the protracted pandemic, but also because of a toxic mix of surging prices, taxes, and social insurance costs. According to the Korea Economic Research Institute, the average monthly wage of Korean workers rose from 3.105 million won ($2,600) in 2016 to 3.653 million won in 2021, marking a 17.6 percent increase. During the same period, the average amount of earned income tax and social insurance costs skyrocketed b
Feb. 10, 2022
-
[Editorial] Dubious hospitalization
The elder son of Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, is suspected of having received a special favor by being hospitalized without an order when he served in the military. Assigned to the Air Force Training Wing after enlisting in August 2013, he was hospitalized in Armed Forces Capital Hospital for 52 days from July 29, 2014 without a related military order. The hospital is reputed to have the military’s best health care facilities. The Tr
Feb. 9, 2022
-
[Editorial] ‘Green’ nuclear energy
The European Commission has decided to include certain gas and nuclear activities in its taxonomy -- a classification system that offers guidelines on private investment promoting climate neutrality. The latest move made on Wednesday by the European Commission suggests that South Korea is increasingly seen as a country going against the global trend of utilizing nuclear power plants as a source of green energy. Late last year, the Moon Jae-in administration made a hasty and controversial dec
Feb. 8, 2022
-
[Editorial] Swift probe needed
Lee Jae-myung, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s presidential candidate, apologized again Friday for corruption suspicions involving his wife, Kim Hye-kyung. Kim is under fire over revelations by a former low-level employee of the Gyeonggi Provincial Government that allege he had spent most of his working hours running her private errands when her husband was governor of the province. Using public officials privately constitutes a crime of abuse of authority. Under instruction from
Feb. 7, 2022
-
[Editorial] Japan’s shameless move
It is regrettable that the Japanese government took a step Tuesday to list a gold mine linked to wartime forced labor as a UNESCO World Heritage site, as the apparently politically motivated attempt is feared to worsen the already trouble-laden relations with South Korea. The Japanese government submitted a letter of recommendation for the gold and silver mines on Sado Island, as the Cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gave a green light to the 2023 UNESCO heritage bid -- despite strong op
Feb. 4, 2022
-
[Editorial] Sluggish reaction
When a nation faces a security crisis, it is critical to swiftly convey information about it to the public. But the South Korean government’s communication with media and the public following North Korea’s latest missile provocation is disappointing. North Korea fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile into the East Sea from Mupyong-ri in the northeastern province of Chagang on Jan. 30. It was the North’s longest-range ballistic missile launch since November 2017 when it
Feb. 3, 2022
-
[Editorial] Dawdling at probe
Years ago, an opposition party raised a suspicion that Lee Jae-myung, then Seongnam mayor and current presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, made several companies sponsor a city-run professional football club in exchange for resolving their issues mostly related to land use and construction authorization. Lee was the president of the club at the time. Six companies offered a total of 16.05 billion won ($13.3 million) to the team under the pretext of sponsorship and adv
Jan. 28, 2022