[Editorial] Speed up reform

Pension reform is one of three major reforms being pursued by the Yoon Suk Yeol administration. The other two are labor and education reforms. But the pension reform proposal unveiled by the government on Friday is disappointing. The plan did not present specific figures on pension premium rates, the starting age of pension payout and payout amount. It was a proposal lacking substance. It would be difficult to persuade lawmakers and people even with figures and good grounds, but this proposal do

Oct. 30, 2023

[Editorial] Korean 'Jessica’s Law'

Statistics show that sex offenders have high rates of recidivism. One of the legislations to prevent this in regard to child sex offenders is Jessica’s Law, which was passed in Florida in 2005. It mandated at least 25 years in prison for first-time child sex offenders and stricter regulations such as wearing tracking devices. The Ministry of Justice on Tuesday introduced a draft on the South Korean equivalent to Jessica’s Law, which is designed to block convicted child sex offenders

Oct. 27, 2023

[Editorial] Back to basics

Kakao, an internet company that has grown from a mobile messenger to Korea's 15th largest business group in asset terms, is facing a crisis. Kim Beom-soo, its founder, largest shareholder and former chairman, was summoned and questioned Monday by the Financial Supervisory Service in connection with alleged stock price manipulation. He is suspected of conspiring to artificially boost the price of SM Entertainment shares to frustrate Hybe's tender offer for SM stocks. Earlier, the FSS in

Oct. 26, 2023

[Editorial] Carry out real reforms

In the conflict-laden arena of South Korean politics, reform is a much-abused word that often rings hollow and invokes skepticism. Politicians from both ruling and main opposition parties have long disappointed the public by only talking up the need for reforms without taking the real steps necessary to overhaul their parties. The ruling People Power Party appointed Ihn Yo-han, also known as John Linton, as the chair of its innovation committee on Monday. Ihn, a professor at Yonsei University Co

Oct. 25, 2023

[Editorial] Graphite this time

China on Friday unveiled plans to restrict exports of graphite, a material crucial to the manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles. The plans follow Beijing's export curbs that took effect from Aug. 1 on gallium and germanium products used to manufacture advanced semiconductors. According to the notice jointly issued by China’s Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs, the graphite export controls are for the sake of the national security and interests and effe

Oct. 24, 2023

[Editorial] Deepening uncertainties

The South Korean economy is expected to face an extended period of turbulence in its markets following a spike in the benchmark US Treasury yield. The likely mix of elevated interest rates and an economic slump is now feared to hit Korean companies, individuals and the government. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury briefly surpassed 5 percent for the first time in 16 years on Thursday, sparking concerns that its ripple effect could be considerable across various sectors, including not o

Oct. 23, 2023

[Editorial] Unconvincing strike

Two of the three unions of Seoul Metro, which operates the subway service in Seoul, announced a plan to strike during a press conference Wednesday. After labor dispute mediation by Seoul National Labor Relations Commission ended without results on Tuesday, two Seoul Metro unions -- one affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the other with the Federation of Korean Trade Unions -- jointly declared that they have decided to go on a strike on Nov. 9 for all eight Seoul subway l

Oct. 20, 2023

[Editorial] Prevent illegal short selling

Two global investment banks based in Hong Kong face the biggest-ever fines and possibly criminal charges in South Korea for their alleged illegal short selling activities, which sparked calls from retail investors for tougher rules and heavier penalties against such practices. The Financial Supervisory Service said it was seeking to impose its largest-ever fine on the two IBs for what is called “naked short selling,” FSS Gov. Lee Bok-hyun said in a parliamentary inspection that crimi

Oct. 19, 2023

[Editorial] Grave security threat

As the circumstances in which North Korea provided weapons to Russia have come to light, the possibility of Russia providing North Korea with cutting-edge defense materials or military technologies in return is looming. If Russia transfers technologies necessary to perfect North Korea's ballistic missiles, it will seriously violate United Nations sanctions against the North and greatly undermine stability on the Korean Peninsula. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on

Oct. 18, 2023

[Editorial] Quota for medical schools

The South Korean government is set to unveil a plan to increase the annual enrollment quota for medical schools in a bid to tackle the shortage of doctors in key fields and the increasing demand for medical services in connection with the rapid aging of Korean society. Senior officials from the ruling People Power Party, the government and the presidential office held a meeting Sunday to explore options over the increase of the number of medical students. President Yoon Suk Yeol is scheduled to

Oct. 17, 2023

[Editorial] Review quiet diplomacy

China is said to have forcibly repatriated hundreds of North Korean defectors locked up in its detention facilities. The Ministry of Unification said such claims by civil organizations working to improve North Korean human rights seem to be true and that South Korea expressed regret to China over the issue. Beijing, however, is silent. According to the organizations, Chinese public security authorities forcibly sent back about 600 North Korean defectors imprisoned near the border with North Kore

Oct. 16, 2023

[Editorial] Support chip sector

South Korean chipmakers have secured an indefinite waiver for US chip equipment exports to China. The eased US controls are clearly a positive turn of events. But the Korean government, keen to shore up its vital chip sector, is in no position to feel relieved. On Monday, the presidential office said Samsung Electronics and SK hynix will be allowed to keep providing US chip equipment to their Chinese factories indefinitely without a separate approval process. The US government designated Samsung

Oct. 13, 2023

[Editorial] NEC's lax attitude

The overall election management system of the National Election Commission has been found to be effectively defenseless to hacking attacks. A joint security check by the National Intelligence Service and Korea Internet & Security Agency detected a number of vulnerabilities in the voting and ballot counting systems and the internal operational system of the commission. The intelligence agency discovered there had been eight hacking attacks on the commission in the past two years, including se

Oct. 12, 2023

[Editorial] Israel-Hamas war

Saturday's surprise attack by Hamas on Israel has escalated into a deadly war in the conflict-laden Middle East, which not only puts the region’s geopolitical order in turmoil but also adds to the deep uncertainty of global politics and the economy at large. In response to Hamas’ incursion of unprecedented scale and preparation, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, said in a statement: “We are at war.” More than 900 people were killed in Israel, while H

Oct. 11, 2023

[Editorial] Speed up trials

Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung is to stand trial in several cases, but delays have been severe. He can try delay tactics as a defendant, but the judiciary must not play into his hands. His trials must be conducted all the quicker, considering his status as party leader. Before the legislative general election just six months away, voters need to know the courts’ judgments on grave allegations involving a party leader. Lee attended his first court hearing Friday, seven month

Oct. 10, 2023

[Editorial] Sticky inflation

South Korea’s consumer prices, a key gauge of inflation, rose 3.7 percent in September from a year earlier, marking the highest on-year increase in five months, amid worrisome signs of additional volatility in prices. Some experts raise the possibility that the Korean economy might fall into a trap of “sticky inflation,” referring to a situation where prices do not adjust quickly or smoothly in response to changes in supply and demand, leading to persistent inflation. It is too

Oct. 9, 2023

[Editorial] Uproot opinion-rigging

The anomalies which happened on the Korean web portal Daum during the Asian Games show that overseas manipulation of public opinions on domestic portal sites has become a reality. During the Asian Games men's football quarterfinal match between South Korea and China on Sunday, the ratio of clicks cheering for China on Daum reached 91 percent at one point, compared with a mere 9 percent for South Korea. On Naver, another Korean web portal, the number of clicks cheering for South Korea took

Oct. 6, 2023

[Editorial] No time to delay reform

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration is scheduled to unveil a blueprint for public pension reform this month, but there is only a slim chance that any meaningful progress will be made any time soon. One of the reasons for such a pessimistic view is that the lawmakers from both parties agreed to effectively put aside the pension reform issue until after next year's general election. The ruling People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Monday agreed to extend the ope

Oct. 5, 2023

[Editorial] Time for self-restraint

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea is escalating its offense against the Yoon Suk Yeol administration after the court rejected an arrest warrant request for its leader, Lee Jae-myung. The party demanded an apology from Yoon and the dismissal of Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon. Boosted by the denial of his arrest warrant, Lee proposed out of the blue that Yoon hold one-on-one talks with him to discuss the livelihoods of the public. Lee likely knew well that the president would almost ce

Oct. 4, 2023

[Editorial] Right choice eventually prevails

The Constitutional Court ruled a ban on sending propaganda leaflets to North Korea is unconstitutional. It comes as another belated -- but correct -- decision after the Supreme Court ruled in April that anti-North Korea leaflets played a positive role in providing information to North Koreans about their reality. At the time the ban was introduced, the Moon Jae-in administration and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea faced severe criticism for legislating the ban as North Korea demanded, but t

Sept. 28, 2023