Most Popular
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Hybe-Ador feud should have limited effect on Hybe's overall performance: analysts
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First-ever meeting of president, opposition chief set to finally happen
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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Experts raise concerns about Japan putting pressure on Naver over Line
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South Korea to launch space security center under spy agency
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More med professors to take day off each week while govt. urges them to stay
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Hybe refutes Ador CEO Min's denial of breach of trust
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S. Korea, Japan could consider simplified entry agreement: Seoul official
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Legoland Korea Resort to open until 9 p.m.
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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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[Editorial] Thorough investigation
Regarding the Daejang-dong land development scandal, President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday ordered the prosecution and police to cooperate in finding out the truth swiftly through thorough probes. It is the first time that Moon disclosed his official position on the snowballing suspicions related to the project. The scandal has emerged as the country’s most pressing issue. It centers on allegations that Yoo Dong-gyu, regarded as a close aide to the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s pre
Oct. 14, 2021
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[Editorial] Shaky candidacy
Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung has managed to clinch the ruling party’s presidential nomination amid a ballooning corruption scandal surrounding a real estate development project he oversaw when he served as mayor of a satellite city of Seoul. On Sunday, the 56-year-old governor, known for his aggressive character and populist streak, became the candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea for the presidential election in March by narrowly securing a majority of the votes cast in the
Oct. 13, 2021
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[Editorial] Overambitious target
The presidential committee on carbon neutrality on Friday proposed to raise the country’s greenhouse gas reduction goal to eliminating 40 percent of the 2018 emissions by 2030, a drastic increase from its previous target of 26.3 percent. This is an intermediate target on the way to the long-term goal of achieving carbon neutrality or net-zero emissions by 2050. It exceeds even the 35 percent stipulated in the basic law on carbon neutrality that passed the National Assembly on Aug. 31.
Oct. 12, 2021
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[Editorial] Specter of inflation
A fear of energy inflation is sweeping the world. Prices have jumped not only for oil and natural gas, but also for coal, fanning inflation worries. To make matters worse, the global economy is showing signs of faltering. Negative factors caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as disruptions in transportation and logistics services, energy crises and growth slowdowns, are happening simultaneously. The US West Texas Intermediate for November delivery rose to $78.93 a barrel on the New York Mercan
Oct. 8, 2021
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[Editorial] Renewing commitment
Youn Mee-hyang, a civic activist-turned-lawmaker, stirred up public outrage here last year when she fell under suspicion of embezzling money donated to help South Korean women forced into wartime sexual enslavement for imperial Japanese troops. She was indicted in September 2020 on charges of embezzlement, fraud and other misconduct. Youn denied all of the accusations against her during her first trial held at a Seoul court in August. The Justice Ministry had not made public details of Youn&rs
Oct. 7, 2021
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[Editorial] Web of suspicions
The prosecution has arrested Yoo Dong-gyu, a key figure in the project to develop Daejang-dong in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, on charges of breach of trust and bribery. The court granted prosecutors a warrant on Sunday. He is the first suspect charged in connection with the land development scandal. Yoo is accused of causing damage to Seongnam by designing a profit share scheme that favored a certain company and its seven affiliates. Under the scheme, the city received 182.2 billion won ($153
Oct. 6, 2021
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[Editorial] Concerted policies
Growing downside risks at home and abroad are heightening the need for concerted policies to prevent their potential fallout from jolting South Korea’s economy. Asia’s fourth-largest economy is showing signs of losing recovery momentum amid a build-up of financial imbalances. Government data released last week showed that the country’s industrial output, retail sales and facility investment declined on-month in August in the latest sign of recovery momentum weakening, partly
Oct. 5, 2021
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[Editorial] Beyond discord
Former Japanese Foreign Minsiter Fumio Kishida, who won the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership election Wednesday, is set to be elected Japan’s new prime minister next week in parliament, where his party and its coalition partner commands a majority. Kishida will replace Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who is bowing out of the post after a one-year stint largely overshadowed by the influence of his predecessor Shinzo Abe. Under the new leader, Tokyo’s key diplomatic
Oct. 1, 2021
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[Editorial] KCTU’s despotism
Under the pro-labor Moon Jae-in regime, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions has acted like its master. It was a key organizer of candlelight vigils in 2016 and poses as one of the greatest contributors to the birth of the current regime. It takes the labor movement too far, making unreasonable demands and holding unauthorized rallies and illegal strikes. Truckers unionized under the confederation are refusing to transport bread and other supplies to Paris Baguette franchise bakeries. Som
Sept. 30, 2021
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[Editorial] Deceptive conciliation
President Moon Jae-in’s government appeared buoyed by the somewhat conciliatory tone of the statements issued last week by Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. She said in a statement Saturday that the North could agree to declare a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War as proposed by the South and even discuss holding an inter-Korean summit if Seoul treated Pyongyang with “impartiality” and respect. She also urged the South to drop its double
Sept. 29, 2021
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[Editorial] Unavoidable hike
Electricity rates will increase from October. Korea Electric Power Corp., South Korea’s state-run utility firm, plans to raise the rate in the fourth quarter. It is the first rise in about eight years. The move reflects hikes in global prices of fuels. Higher electricity rates will likely push up fees of other utilities, increasing inflationary pressure. It will increase burden particularly on the low-income working class and small-scale self-employed already reeling from the economic imp
Sept. 28, 2021
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[Editorial] Fragile stability
A report released by the Bank of Korea last week indicated that the country’s financial stability is at the risk of being rattled by high and rising borrowing by households and companies. South Korea’s household debt reached a record high of 1,805.9 trillion won ($1.53 trillion) in June, up 41.2 trillion won from three months earlier. Accordingly, the ratio of household debt to disposable income also soared to an all-time high of 172 percent. Particularly worrisome is a steep rise
Sept. 27, 2021
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[Editorial] Suspicious project
Suspicions are rising over a housing site development project in Daejang-dong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, which was carried out when Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung was Seongnam mayor. Lee is also the front-runner of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s race to elect its presidential candidate. Former Supreme Court Justice Kwon Soon-il resigned as adviser to asset management firm Hwacheon Daeyu last Friday, a day after news broke out that he had worked as one of its advisers. The compan
Sept. 24, 2021
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[Editorial] Undue sufferings
In his speech marking the country’s Youth Day last week, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum expressed deep sympathy for the growing predicament faced by many young South Korean adults. He said he could not raise his head when he saw and heard of “young people’s lives fraught with suffering, despair and pain.” His description of the hardships weighing on young adults in the nation is backed by gloomy data from the government. As of May, the number of people in their 20s who hav
Sept. 23, 2021
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[Editorial] Weakening fundamentals
A report released by the Bank of Korea this week estimated the country’s potential growth rate for 2021-22 at 2 percent, down 0.2 percentage point from its previous estimate made in August 2019. The rate for 2019-20 was estimated at 2.2 percent, also a fall from the previous projection of 2.5-2.6 percent. The fall in South Korea’s potential growth rate has been accelerated in recent years not just by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic but by structural problems weighing
Sept. 17, 2021
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[Editorial] Impartial probe needed
National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won, whose duties require him to act clandestinely, is now in the media spotlight over a political issue. The controversy concerns election-meddling allegations involving Yoon Seok-youl, a leading presidential contender affiliated with the main opposition People Power Party. On Sept. 2, online news outlet Newsverse revealed anonymous allegations that prosecutor Son Jun-sung, who at the time was an investigative intelligence policy officer under
Sept. 16, 2021
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[Editorial] Measured provocations
North Korea test-fired a new type of long-range cruise missile over the weekend in yet another move to bolster its leverage for a deal with the US. The tests, conducted Saturday and Sunday, saw the missiles travel for 7,580 seconds in the air above the North’s territorial land and waters and hit targets 1,500 kilometers away, according to the communist state’s official Korean Central News Agency. Coming right after a scaled-down military parade in Pyongyang, the test-firing is seen
Sept. 15, 2021
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[Editorial] Rule-of-thumb relief
The government and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea plan to expand the range of COVID-19 relief aid recipients from the bottom 88 percent income bracket to the bottom 90 percent as complaints are pouring from those excluded from the grant. The government and the party originally agreed on the bottom 80 percent in early July but eventually expanded the scope to 88 percent, reflecting demands by some in the party for relief money to the whole nation and affected by Gyeonggi Provincial Gov. Le
Sept. 14, 2021
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[Editorial] Illusory approach
President Moon Jae-in and his aides may have been more disappointed than Pyongyang with last week’s decision by the International Olympic Committee to suspend North Korea’s national Olympic committee until the end of next year. The decision, a punishment for the North’s refusal to participate in the recent Tokyo Summer Olympics over COVID-19 concerns, virtually bars the reclusive communist state from the Beijing Winter Games, which kick off in early February. The Moon adminis
Sept. 13, 2021
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[Editorial] Obligation neglected
Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki told the truth when he noted during a parliamentary session this week that South Korea’s state coffers “are being emptied rather than filled.” He made the remark when a ruling party lawmaker asked him why the government “has stacked up grains in the barn” while calling for aggressive fiscal spending. In fact, the incumbent Moon Jae-in administration has increased government spending at a faster pace than any of its predecessors. Accord
Sept. 10, 2021