[Editorial] Reverse depopulation

South Korea’s fertility rate hit yet another record low in the third quarter. According to data released by Statistics Korea, the average number of children to whom a woman is expected to give birth during her lifetime was 0.7 in the July-September period, down 0.1 from a year ago. The figure is just a third of the replacement level (2.1) needed to maintain the population of a nation. Considering the trend of the rate to decrease toward the end of the year in Korea, it could fall further t

EditorialDec. 5, 2023

[Editorial] Unilateral politics

As the general election is set to be held in April, rival political parties, as well as President Yoon Suk Yeol, are ditching normal political strategies in favor of misguided and intensely confrontational tactics -- a sorry sight that raises voters' eyebrows. On Friday, a whirlwind of significant political developments played out at a fast pace. The initial blow was delivered by Yoon, who accepted the resignation offer of Lee Dong-kwan, chief of the Korea Communications Commission. For tho

EditorialDec. 4, 2023

[Editorial] Ruling too late

The court issued a first-trial ruling on Wednesday in a high-profile case in which former President Moon Jae-in's Cheong Wa Dae intervened in the June 2018 election for mayor of Ulsan. It sentenced former Ulsan Mayor Song Cheol-ho to three years in prison for violating the election law and former Ulsan police chief, and current opposition lawmaker Hwang Un-ha to two years behind bars for violating the election law and six months in jail on charges of abuse of power. Also, two former preside

EditorialDec. 1, 2023

[Editorial] Policy on foreign workers

The South Korean government plans to allow a record 165,000 nonprofessional migrant workers in 2024, in a bid to tackle the growing labor shortage across various industrial sectors. But the expansion should be implemented together with proper measures to minimize side effects. The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced the plan based on the Employment Permit System on Monday in response to the deepening labor shortage problems in a wide range of fields. Under the plan, the government will ex

EditorialNov. 30, 2023

[Editorial] Revive summit soon

The foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan and China held a meeting in Busan on Sunday to discuss the matter of holding a trilateral summit, but ultimately failed to agree even on a rough schedule. This shows the reality of relations between the three countries. Their meeting was held about four years and three months after the last one in China in August 2019. Its symbolic significance is not small, considering heightened security concerns in Northeast Asia in the wake of North Korea's la

EditorialNov. 29, 2023

[Editorial] More than a glitch

The South Korean government said Saturday the disruptions that had paralyzed its major administrative network a week earlier were caused by a faulty router port among the network equipment. The government’s conclusion strongly suggests that a mechanical flaw -- rather than mishandling of gear by public officials involved -- is to blame for the breakdown of the state-run network services. It is, however, hard to take the government’s explanation at face value. After all, it had alread

EditorialNov. 28, 2023

[Editorial] Unshackle security

North Korea ripped up the Sept. 19, 2018, military confidence-building deal with South Korea on Thursday. It was a reaction to South Korea’s partial retreat from the accord in response to the North’s launch of a spy satellite. Seoul had said it would suspend some of the measures in the accord and step up surveillance along the military demarcation line after the North launched its first satellite whose apparent use was military reconnaissance. The North said that it would restore all

EditorialNov. 27, 2023

[Editorial] Quota dispute intensifies

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s plan to increase the annual enrollment quota for medical schools to deal with a chronic shortage of doctors is a hot-button issue, particularly for doctors who fiercely oppose such a change. In the battle over the quota that involves a host of stakeholders and vested interests, the government has secured an important ally: universities calling for an increase in the quota for their medical schools. Even with the help of universities in favor of a quota hi

EditorialNov. 24, 2023

[Editorial] Budget abuse

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea eliminated the entire government budget to build the nation's nuclear power ecosystem in a related standing committee on Monday. The Yoon Suk Yeol administration planned to run seven programs on a budget of 181.4 billion won ($140 million) next year. The party removed all of them. There is no reason for this other than the fact that the Yoon administration placed a high priority on the revival of nuclear power industry. The party's removal

EditorialNov. 23, 2023