[Editorial] R&D bang for buck

The world’s leading science journal Nature reported in its Aug. 21 supplement on South Korea that the country invests heavily in science, but that its "bang for the buck" -- judged by pitting research spending against output in the Nature Index -- is surprisingly low. The Nature Index tracks the affiliations of high-quality scientific articles. Updated monthly, it presents research outputs by institution and country. Korea's research and development spending at 5.2 percent o

Aug. 27, 2024

[Editorial] Prolonged disruptions

Last week, a pregnant woman gave birth inside an ambulance. The disheartening incident came as four hospitals had refused her, citing a lack of medical staff or beds in their emergency rooms, according to rescue officials in North Chungcheong Province. It is widely feared that such dire situations involving patients in emergency and critical conditions may occur across the nation more frequently unless the government tackles the escalating medical service disruptions started by its plan to incre

Aug. 26, 2024

[Editorial] Debt and property market

In June, the Financial Services Commission announced that the tougher rules on household loans would be applied from September, instead of July -- a sudden schedule change that was feared to send wrong signals to the markets. South Korea’s top financial regulator intended to guide the real estate project financing market to a soft landing by delaying the implementation of the second phase for the stress debt service ratio, or DSR -- a tool that serves as a ceiling on aggregate lending. As

Aug. 23, 2024

[Editorial] Shock of climate crisis

In March, South Korean consumers were taken aback at sky-high apple prices. Apples, popular among Koreans, topped the list of fruit the prices of which had surged from a year earlier. Apple prices had risen 88.2 percent, the steepest since 1980 when related data began to be compiled. This price spike was caused by decreased apple production affected by abnormal weather. North Gyeongsang Province is traditionally famous for apples, and the Jeolla Provinces for pears, another Korean favorite fruit

Aug. 22, 2024

[Editorial] Time to refocus

After months of partisan wrangling that has paralyzed the legislative procedures for passing bills, South Korea’s ruling and opposition parties are finally set to explore ways to work together. The momentum comes with both parties having elected new leaders, but there are concerns that the same old political play might be repeated. On Sunday, Rep. Lee Jae-myung was reelected to lead the Democratic Party of Korea, which currently dominates the National Assembly. Lee won 85.4 percent of the

Aug. 21, 2024

[Editorial] Keep up cooperation

The leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan on Sunday issued a joint statement praising the achievements of their cooperation since their historic Camp David summit a year ago and vowed to bolster it. In August last year, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held their summit at the US presidential retreat, where they adopted the Camp David Principles, a comprehensive framework for guiding trilateral cooperation. Their

Aug. 20, 2024

[Editorial] Conflicting conclusions

The latest view of the South Korean government on the country’s economic recovery appears largely optimistic, which is in contrast with the projections of research institutes both at home and abroad, reminding observers of the old parable of the blind men and the elephant. Government officials and economic researchers are not exactly blind to the specific twists and turns in the country’s economy, but the way they analyze the current state -- based on the facts they pick and choose -

Aug. 19, 2024

[Editorial] Another setback for Kakao

Kakao, the South Korean tech heavyweight known for its popular messenger, has suffered another setback as its mobile payments unit, Kakao Pay, allegedly shared the credit and personal data of some 40 million customers with Chinese fintech firm Alipay without their consent, touching off a firestorm of public criticism. On Tuesday, the Financial Supervisory Service revealed that Kakao Pay had provided extensive information on all its users, including usernames, phone numbers, email addresses, bala

Aug. 16, 2024

[Editorial] Establish principles

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday approved the reinstatement of former South Gyeongsang Gov. Kim Kyoung-soo. Yoon's move to reinstate the rights of Kim came as part of his decision to grant special pardons for 1,219 convicts on the occasion of Liberation Day which falls on Aug. 15. Kim’s reinstatement was a contentious issue even before Yoon’s approval. Han Dong-hoon, chair of the ruling People Power Party, opposed Kim’s reinstatement on the grounds that he refuses to adm

Aug. 15, 2024

[Editorial] Summer surge

The number of positive COVID-19 tests is shooting up in South Korea and elsewhere, a summertime surge that warrants attention from both the health authorities and the public, especially older people and those with chronic diseases. A spike in the number of COVID-19 patients during the summer period seems to be settling as a seasonal trend. Although most confirmed cases tend to be mild compared to those during the early pandemic period, it is still a serious matter for those high-risk groups who

Aug. 14, 2024

[Editorial] Resume discussions

Ruling and opposition parties are getting closer to resuming discussions of pension reform. Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the ruling People Power Party, proposed last week to restart discussing pension reform, which had not materialized in the last term of the National Assembly. His counterpart of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, Park Chan-dae, responded positively, offering to start discussing pension reform quickly so that it could be concluded within the current term of the Ass

Aug. 13, 2024

[Editorial] NK cyberattacks

South Korea’s cybersecurity and intelligence assets have recently suffered setbacks, raising questions about the country’s security preparedness against North Korea’s intensifying cyberattacks and intelligence operations. The worrisome problem is that South Korean authorities are trying to minimize the scale and depth of the latest security breaches rather than taking steps to fix the apparent loopholes at a time when North Korea is ratcheting up its cyber and surveillance offe

Aug. 12, 2024

[Editorial] EV batteries under fire

Electric vehicles have promised a transition to eco-friendly transport in the future. With governments around the world offering tax and policy incentives, the era of EVs seemed to be a sure thing. But carmakers are now either delaying or reconsidering the launch of new EV models, as the pace of sales of fully electric models has slowed and consumers opt for more convenient hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars. For car buyers in South Korea, there is another critical factor to consider: safety. In the

Aug. 9, 2024

[Editorial] Foreign caregivers

One hundred Filipina child care workers entered the country Tuesday to participate in the pilot foreign caregiver program pushed jointly by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Ministry of Employment and Labor. They are scheduled to provide child care and light household management services for six months from Sept. 3 after receiving four weeks of additional specialized training. They have completed more than 780 hours of vocational training in caregiving in the Philippines, are certified b

Aug. 8, 2024

[Editorial] Excessive market jitters

Investors in South Korea seem jittery since the stock markets have been on a dizzying roller-coaster ride in recent sessions, triggered by fears that the US economy has been slowing faster than expected. The benchmark Kospi rebounded sharply Tuesday, along with the markets in Japan and Taiwan, allowing investors and financial authorities to heave a sigh of relief. But it is too early to conclude that a phase of steep losses on recession worries is over, especially given the depth of shock that g

Aug. 7, 2024