Most Popular
-
1
Top factor for women when looking for dates? Survey says 'age'
-
2
[From the scene] BTS' Jin returns, fans erupt with joy
-
3
Yoon, Mirziyoyev agree on S. Korea's 1st export of bullet trains to Uzbekistan
-
4
How will med professors' walkout on June 18 impact hospitals?
-
5
Couple’s tennis game at Incheon Airport draws public outcry
-
6
[Today’s K-pop] Blackpink’s Lisa hints at solo return
-
7
Record fine on Coupang raises questions about online retail practices
-
8
Yoon visits ancient Uzbek city, wraps up Central Asia trip
-
9
Man faces animal cruelty charges for killing his dog for meat
-
10
N. Korean military's construction activities spotted inside DMZ: source
-
[Editorial] Seoul mayor’s proposal
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon has officially proposed that the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Chung Myung-whun visit Pyongyang for performances and the top soccer teams of Seoul and Pyongyang hold regular games in the two cities. The liberal mayor, who was elected to the office in a by-election on Oct. 26, made the proposal to the Unification Ministry here and the North Korean authorities in his New Year address. His idea may sound a bit untimely considering the present state of affairs be
Jan. 2, 2012
-
[Editorial] Year of elections
The year of 2012 is a year of elections, with the nation set to select members of the National Assembly in April and the next president in December. Having both elections in the same year happens every 20 years. Their outcomes will have a long lasting impact on the nation’s political landscape. The elections will determine which political groups, conservative or liberal, will lead the nation at a time when the world economy is coming out of one crisis only to be drawn into another. They will als
Jan. 1, 2012
-
[Editorial] Bracing for uncertainties
A new year has dawned. After a tough year, we naturally hope this one will be much better than the last. Yet 2012 promises to be just as demanding, if not more so, for the nation.This year, as in the one that just ended, economic growth is expected to be lackluster as the government will put the emphasis of economic policy on stability rather than growth in the face of escalating uncertainties.The government and the Bank of Korea both forecast that the economy would grow 3.7 percent this year, 0
Dec. 30, 2011
-
[Editorial] Talks on tour program
The period of national mourning over the death of Kim Jong-il is over in North Korea now, presumably opening a window of opportunity for improving the tension-ridden inter-Korean relations. The resumption of long-stalled South Korean tours to the Mount Geumgang resort in the North may serve as a first step toward this end.Ties with the North soured in 2008 when a South Korean woman was shot to death in the off-limits security area adjacent to the resort. Tours to the resort were suspended when N
Dec. 29, 2011
-
[Editorial] Growing distress
The year of 2011, which got off to a lively start with high expectations that the quality of life would soon improve significantly, is ending in woeful disappointment. Few Koreans are feeling that they are better off now than before, as income has dropped, prices have risen and not many jobs are to be found.Few would dispute that external economic conditions are mainly to blame. The domestic economy cannot fare well when the global economy is being buffeted by a crisis of European origin. The im
Dec. 29, 2011
-
[Editorial] GNP on reform track
The emergency leadership council of the ruling Grand National Party has taken a scalpel to the embattled party. In its inaugural meeting held on Tuesday, the council decided to deprive GNP lawmakers of an important prerogative ― immunity from arrest while the parliament is in session.The council’s spokesman said the decision would become the party’s official policy if its 169 lawmakers endorse it at a general meeting. He said the council wanted to show the electorate that GNP lawmakers were read
Dec. 28, 2011
-
[Editorial] Reforming lending practices
More than 30 years ago, Kim Seok-dong, chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission, tasted the bitterness of business failure. In 1978, he started a leather jumper exporting business after working for a trading company for a year. Kim’s company ran into trouble when the second oil shock hit the nation in 1979. As business soured, he faced funding problems. To keep his company afloat, he went to his bank to get trade financing. But the bank demanded that all his family members, including eve
Dec. 28, 2011
-
[Editorial] ‘A Light in My Heart’
Dr. Kang Young-woo is bidding farewell to his friends and the numerous people around the world for whom he demonstrated that physical disabilities pose no impediment to a successful life. The former policy advisor to President George W. Bush on disability and current vice chair of the World Committee on Disability has been struck with cancer.“I thank God for allowing me the time to say good-bye to the people I love after living the happiest life possible,” Dr. Kang, who has worked for promotion
Dec. 27, 2011
-
[Editorial] Kim Jong-il’s funeral
North Korea holds the funeral for Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang on Wednesday, 11 days after his reported death on Dec. 17. On Monday evening, DPRK’s new leader Kim Jong-un briefly met two visitors from Seoul offering condolences, former first lady Lee Hee-ho and Hyun Jung-eun, chairwoman of the Hyundai Group, the main business partner with the North until the suspension of inter-Korean economic cooperation in 2008.Despite the suddenness of the leader’s death from a heart attack, North Korea seems to
Dec. 27, 2011
-
[Editorial] Medical rebates
When 13 medical, pharmaceutical and medical instruments industry organizations held a joint rally last week to pledge to put an end to the practice of rebates between the medical goods suppliers and doctors, the Korea Medical Association, a powerful organization of doctors, did not take part. The KMA’s excuse was that the declarative action would have little effect and participating in such a move was like admitting that all doctors are corrupt.The body of nearly 100,000 medical doctors was in f
Dec. 26, 2011
-
[Editorial] Crisis in school
Schools in Korea are in crisis from the elementary to university level. Problems range from costly and prevalent off-school classes and high tuition fees for college students to rows between liberal and conservative educators over “human rights” in school. Classroom violence has worsened and adult society, preoccupied with its own problems, does not know what to do. The suicide of a middle school boy in Daegu last week once again alarmed teachers and parents about the growing evil of bullying in
Dec. 26, 2011
-
[Editorial] Going nuclear with caution
The government has selected two candidate sites for nuclear power plants ― Yeongdeok County of North Gyeongsang Province and Samcheok City of Gangwon Province. The two locations, both on the eastern coast, would be finalized by late next year, if they pass on-site inspections and environmental surveys.The government said each site, if finalized, would have four APR1400 reactors, the latest 1.4 million kilowatt model Korea has exported to the United Arab Emirates. Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co
Dec. 25, 2011
-
[Editorial] Helping N.K. open up
Following the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, a debate has flared up on whether his successor would push for economic reform and opening to better feed the nation’s starving 24 million people.On one side are skeptics who suggest that Kim Jong-un, the third son and heir of the deceased leader, won’t be able to change the course of the economy because his power base is still shaky.Yet a larger number of experts predict that the twenty-something new leader would seek to open the economy w
Dec. 25, 2011
-
[Editorial] Preparing for reunion
As instructed at school at an early age, South Koreans used to regard eventual unification with North Korea as a matter of course. They were taught a song whose lyrics said in part: “What we desire even in our dreams is unification.”But the envisioned unification has lost much of its appeal, as evidenced by a survey conducted by a Seoul National University think tank in July. Moreover, the number of unification advocates is declining at a sizable rate.The poll by the research institute of 1,200
Dec. 23, 2011
-
[Editorial] Respect for the court
Chung Bong-ju, a former opposition lawmaker who has gained fame as one of the four hosts of a podcast talk show, is set to be sent to prison because the Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision on Thursday. He had been sentenced by the lower court to one year in prison for making a false statement that President Lee Myung-bak was involved in a stock price manipulation scam.The ruling also deprived Chung of his right to election to public office for the next 10 years, making it impossible for
Dec. 23, 2011
-
[Editorial] New North Korea policy
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s sudden death has further increased the uncertainty on the Korean Peninsula. Yet it has also provided an important opening for the two Koreas to end the hostility and pursue peace and mutual prosperity. To grab this rare opportunity, the Seoul government needs to recalibrate its North Korea strategy.Inter-Korean relations have remained deadlocked for years, especially following the North’s provocations against the South last year ― the destruction of the Navy’s C
Dec. 22, 2011
-
[Editorial] Korea-China hotline
The government’s response to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s death has exposed some glaring problems. One such problem concerns the failure of the nation’s main spy agency to detect Kim’s death before Pyongyang’s state media announced it on Monday.The National Intelligence Service had no clue to Kim’s death for two days, revealing its serious lack of capability to gather intelligence on North Korea. The agency’s intelligence lapse kept President Lee Myung-bak in the dark about the grave situat
Dec. 22, 2011
-
[Editorial] Condolences to N. Korea
South Korea has offered condolences to North Korea over Kim Jong-il’s death in the manner it apparently considered most appropriate. This should settle the dispute over whether or not the South should express condolences to the North.The South Korean government directed its condolences to the North Korean people, not to the North Korean government or Kim’s successor ― his youngest son. By doing so, President Lee Myung-bak’s administration appeared to be aiming at appeasing conservatives, who wer
Dec. 21, 2011
-
[Editorial] Investor confidence
The South Korean financial markets plunged on the news about North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s sudden death on Saturday. They did so with good reason. One of the investor concerns was undoubtedly the possibility of a power struggle breaking out in North Korea in the aftermath of Kim’s death and an ensuing calamity spilling over into the South.When his death was announced two days later, on Monday, South Korea’s benchmark stock index lost 3.43 percent, or 63 points, and closed at 1,776.93. The Ko
Dec. 21, 2011
-
[Editorial] Extreme fluidity
North Koreans may think that it was fortunate that their leader, Kim Jong-il, officially anointed his successor more than a year before his death. But Kim died too soon to ensure his third son a smooth takeover as the ruler of the isolated, impoverished country of 24 million people.Pompous funeral ceremonies for the dictator who ruled the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for 17 years after the death of his father, Kim Il-sung, will be held on Dec. 28 in freezing Pyongyang. And no one knows
Dec. 20, 2011