Most Popular
-
1
[Exclusive] Korean military set to ban iPhones over 'security' concerns
-
2
Korean, Romanian leaders discuss defense tech, nuclear energy
-
3
[Graphic News] 77% of young Koreans still financially dependent
-
4
S. Korea calls on Japan to confront history amid Yasukuni Shrine visit
-
5
Yoon’s jailed mother-in-law excluded from latest parole list
-
6
Hybe and Min Hee-jin, CEO of Hybe sublabel Ador, lock horns
-
7
[Pressure points] Leggings in public: Fashion statement or social faux pas?
-
8
Yoo Jae-suk, Yoo Yeon-seok team up in 'Whenever Possible'
-
9
Aging population to drive down Korea's housing prices from 2040: experts
-
10
North Korea holds drills simulating nuclear counterattack against enemy
-
[Editorial] Education reform
Education is one of the three key areas that the Yoon Suk Yeol administration aims to reform along with labor regulations and pensions. As with other sectors, however, the government must overcome a slew of obstacles, especially opposition and skepticism from existing stakeholders. A case in point is the raging dispute over the government’s plan to establish new special graduate schools of education for those who want to become elementary and secondary school teachers. The envisioned gradu
Jan. 18, 2023
-
[Editorial] Suspected deals on trial
Prosecutors are said to have secured a statement by Nam Wook, a suspect standing trial in the Daejang-dong land development scandal, to the effect that Kim Man-bae, another key suspect related to the scandal, has once said he made the Supreme Court overturn appeals court rulings on two cases. The statement was made in October 2021. One case was an appeals court ruling that Lee Jae-myung, leader of the majority opposition Democratic Party of Korea, violated the election law when he was a candidat
Jan. 17, 2023
-
[Editorial] Rate hike conundrum
The Bank of Korea raised the benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 3.5 percent Friday, extending its tightening mode with a seventh straight rate increase dating to April last year, amid expectations the central bank might soften its hawkish stance sooner rather than later. The rate hike seems inevitable in consideration of stubbornly high inflation and other related market conditions. Since August 2021, the BOK has raised the benchmark rate by a combined 3 percentage points through 10 hikes to b
Jan. 16, 2023
-
[Editorial] Thorough probe needed
Kim Seong-tae, the fugitive former chairman of Ssangbangwool Group, was arrested in Thailand on Tuesday, about eight months after fleeing abroad to avoid investigations into allegations of corruption. He was reportedly involved in organized crime in North Jeolla Province. His past convictions include opening and running illegal gambling dens, selling illegal casino programs and unregistered money lending. He apparently turned himself into a legitimate businessman in 2010, when he took over the c
Jan. 13, 2023
-
[Editorial] Misguided ‘visible hand’
For South Korea’s commercial banks, things couldn’t have been better last year. As the Bank of Korea kept raising benchmark rates, higher interest rates led to bigger profits linked to loans to individual and corporate borrowers. More customers also rushed to set up savings accounts offering higher interest rates. Favorable market conditions based on the wider gap in deposit and lending rates resulted in outsized profits, a reason that commercial banks are celebrating themselves with
Jan. 12, 2023
-
[Editorial] Spy ring uncovered
The counterespionage authorities are said to be investigating an officer of a progressive party and two others on Jeju Island in relation to suspicions they have been spying for North Korea. It is the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's first known investigation of a spy ring acting for Pyongyang. The authorities are also said to have captured indications of similar underground organizations in three other cities -- Changwon and Jinju in South Gyeongsang Province and Jeonju in North Jeolla Provi
Jan. 11, 2023
-
[Editorial] Earnings shock
South Korea’s two flagship tech companies announced their operating earnings would drop at an alarming pace, shedding light on the worsening market conditions and greater economic risks this year. Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest memory chip and smartphone maker, said Friday its fourth-quarter profit plummeted 69 percent from a year earlier, hurt by a fall in memory chip prices and sluggish demand for devices. Samsung’s October-December operating profit stood at 4.3 tri
Jan. 10, 2023
-
[Editorial] Reform the military
One of five North Korean unmanned aerial vehicles that infiltrated South Korean airspace on Dec. 26 was belatedly found to have briefly entered the no-fly zone around the office of President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Jan. 5 that an object presumed to be a small enemy drone appears to have flown through a part of the "northern tip" of the 3.7-kilometer radius zone around the presidential office. The National Intelligence Service said that the drone in que
Jan. 9, 2023
-
[Editorial] Winter surge of COVID-19
South Korea is strengthening protective measures against the spread of COVID-19 for travelers from China, but stronger measures including a fresh drive to encourage vaccinations for the elderly are needed in order to stem the winter surge of infections linked to a new subvariant. The country added 64,106 new coronavirus cases Thursday, falling for the second consecutive day, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). But the overall level of spread is still high and the
Jan. 6, 2023
-
[Editorial] Raise nuclear deterrence
US President Joe Biden said “no” when asked by a reporter at the White House on Tuesday if he was currently discussing joint nuclear exercises with South Korea. His reply briefly caused confusion as it could be interpreted as contradicting remarks by his South Korean counterpart. President Yoon Suk-yeol said in an interview with the Chosun Ilbo, published Monday, “The nuclear weapons belong to the United States, but planning, information sharing, exercises and training should b
Jan. 5, 2023
-
[Editorial] Push for 3 major reforms
In his New Year’s address, President Yoon Suk-yeol reaffirmed his commitment to pushing for labor, education and pension reforms -- three key sectors that have long defied structural reforms despite their critical roles for the future of South Korea. “The Republic of Korea’s future and our future generations’ fate depend upon three major reforms: labor, education and pension,” Yoon said. "These cannot be delayed any longer." Yoon’s priority among the
Jan. 4, 2023
-
[Editorial] Shadow over economy
The New Year began with gloomy economic news. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on Sunday that the country posted a trade deficit of $47.2 billion last year. It was an all-time high in annual terms. The country was in trade deficit for nine straight months. Export decreased for recent three months in a row. The government forecast export to decline 4.5 percent this year. This news on New Year's day reminds South Koreans of highly uncertain and severe economic conditions f
Jan. 3, 2023
-
[Editorial] Proactive steps needed
Concerns over the safety of soundproof tunnels are mounting after a fire in a highway tunnel in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Thursday left five dead and 41 injured. The blaze that engulfed and gutted the bulk of the 830-meter-long tunnel-shaped structure is reported to have started with a cargo truck, where a fire broke out for unknown reasons. Dozens of cars were trapped under the structure along the road as the fire spread to the soundproof walls and lasted two hours before firefighters put
Jan. 2, 2023
-
[Editorial] Free money
The Yoon Suk-yeol administration will look into nongovernmental organizations' alleged misuse of government subsidies and opaque accounting practices. Subsidies snowballed each year, but money was being wasted at some of them. The presidential office on Wednesday unveiled the results of a government survey of subsidies distributed to NGOs for the past seven years. Subsidies totaled 31.4 trillion won ($24.7 billion). The annual subsidy amount increased from 3.5 trillion won in 2016 to 5.4 tr
Dec. 30, 2022
-
[Editorial] NK drone infiltration
The latest infiltration of five North Korean drones into South Korean airspace on Monday sparked heated criticism on the South’s military preparedness and raised many bewildering questions about whether there is an effective way to track and shoot down small uncrewed aerial vehicles at all. On Tuesday, the South Korean military apologized for its apparent failure to properly respond to the North Korean drones that flew over densely populated Seoul and residential areas along the western in
Dec. 29, 2022
-
[Editorial] Harassment signal
The majority opposition Democratic Party of Korea recently disclosed the identities of prosecutors investigating allegations involving its leader Lee Jae-myung. It is said to have distributed the list of prosecutors to its members and supporters via the internet. The list shows the names, job titles, and photos of 16 prosecutors of Seoul Central District and Suwon District, the allegations they are investigating -- the Daejang-dong land speculation scandal, Ssangbangwool‘s suspicious payme
Dec. 28, 2022
-
[Editorial] Budget, debt and populism
The National Assembly finally passed the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s budget for 2023, set at 638.7 trillion won ($499.7 billion), on Saturday -- 22 days after its legal deadline of Dec. 2 amid lingering concerns about state debt and populist moves by lawmakers. After fierce wrangling over budget details, lawmakers from the ruling and main opposition parties worked out a compromise that slashed around 310 billion won of the original government budget proposal of 639 trillion won. Not onl
Dec. 27, 2022
-
[Editorial] A deplorable ride
The act of using the deadly Oct. 29 Itaewon crowd surge for political gain deserves condemnation. Investigation is underway and the National Assembly launched a probe to uncover the truth and figure out ways to prevent similar disasters. In this respect, the belatedly revealed act of Shin Hyun-young, a National Assembly member of the majority opposition Democratic Party of Korea, is not only deplorable, but also needs to be investigated. Shin resigned Tuesday as a member of the special Assembl
Dec. 26, 2022
-
[Editorial] New Year’s press conference
President Yoon Suk-yeol may not hold his first New Year’s press conference as the presidential office is said to be skipping the crucial and customary event. However, Yoon is encouraged to go for the press conference, not only for clarifying his stance on various national issues, but also for making good on his pledge to better communicate with the public through the media. According to media reports, the presidential office decided to skip the presidential conference next year for mainly
Dec. 23, 2022
-
[Editorial] Opaque accounting
Budget execution by two labor groups -- the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions -- and government subsidies to the two groups are on the chopping block as the government began to take issue with opaque accounting practices of labor unions. The Office for Government Policy Coordination, under the Prime Minister's Secretariat, is said to have instructed the Ministry of Employment and Labor and other related ministries on Monday to grasp the scale o
Dec. 22, 2022