The Board of Audit and Inspection has recently told the National Pension Service to fire an executive and sanction two others for tampering with performance evaluations of brokerage companies that carry out stock transactions on behalf of the NPS. The board’s action is disturbing as it suggests some of the fund managers at the NPS have problems with their integrity. Given the huge amount of assets

Editorial July 8, 2011

The newly elected five leaders of the ruling Grand National Party will hold a workshop tomorrow with key members of the party’s policymaking team to discuss how they would promote policies aimed at improving the livelihoods of ordinary people. The meeting is timely as confusion over the party’s welfare policies has escalated following the inauguration of the new leadership on July 4. But whether t

Editorial July 8, 2011

New labor unions are mushrooming at companies following the enforcement on July 1 of the law allowing multiple unions in a single workplace. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, a total of 130 new labor unions were created during the first five days. The pace is faster than expected. Many labor experts expected the formation of new unions would be slow in the initial period due to th

Editorial July 6, 2011

The Financial Supervisory Commission has finally decided to take a scalpel to the ailing savings bank industry. The regulator disclosed Monday a scheme to distinguish between viable and nonviable banks. For viable players, it plans to provide public funds if they want to shore up their capital base. Nonviable banks will be forced to make self-rescue efforts or face acquisitions by other financial

Editorial July 6, 2011

In a country of hard men, Meir Dagan, the recently retired head of the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service, is one of the hardest. He is the Siberian-born son of Holocaust survivors, an ex-commando who has arranged the assassinations of many of Israel’s enemies. He is devoted to the defense of his country, and, like most of Israel’s samurai class, sees Iran, and its Jew-hating, missile-o

Viewpoints July 6, 2011

In recent days, Greece’s parliament adopted new austerity measures and Europe’s finance ministers approved another round of Greek loans. So the European debt crisis is under control, right? Probably not. One obvious reason is Standard & Poor’s July 4 threat to declare a default if banks roll over Greek government bonds coming due over the next year. That could force everyone back to the drawing bo

Viewpoints July 6, 2011

Almost 30 years ago, I flew around New York State with its new governor, Mario Cuomo. He told me that at a gay and lesbian advocacy dinner that week he and Bella Abzug, a firebrand left-wing former congresswoman, were the only straight people in attendance. I offhandedly remarked that the issue made me a little uncomfortable. Cuomo pounced. Every time you think about that, he said, assume that you

Viewpoints July 6, 2011

In 2008, as financial crisis threatened the U.S. banking system, President George W. Bush asked Congress to approve an emergency bailout. Leaders of both parties blessed the idea; both presidential candidates ― Barack Obama and John McCain ― endorsed it. But conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats rebelled, the House defeated the bill ― and the stock market plummeted in real time during the

Viewpoints July 5, 2011