[Editorial] Misuse of state subsidies

“Finders, keepers” is an English adage that usually refers to a situation where whoever finds something by chance is entitled to keep it. As far as South Korea is concerned, the “whoever” in question are some civic organizations and the “something” is state subsidies. More importantly, those civic groups have not only kept the subsidies but also allegedly misused them by exploiting lax oversight and engaging in dirty embezzlement practices. According to a repo

June 7, 2023

[Editorial] Trilateral cooperation

South Korea, the United States and Japan are accelerating military cooperation in response to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats. South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada met on Sunday on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's top defense meeting, in Singapore, and agreed to activate a missile data sharing mechanism before the end of the year. Presently, South Korea and Japan each share

June 6, 2023

[Editorial] Election watchdog audit

Public criticism is mounting against the country’s election watchdog mired in nepotism allegations, especially after it refused the state auditor’s inspection, citing a Constitutional practice. The National Election Commission held a commissioners meeting Friday and decided to refuse the proposed audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection. The nine commission members, including its chief Roh Tae-ak, unanimously rejected the audit despite growing calls for a full investigation into th

June 5, 2023

[Editorial] Alert confusion

The mobile text alert that Seoul Metropolitan Government sent out to citizens on Wednesday morning when North Korea launched a rocket caused confusion as it was corrected a little later. At around 6:41 am, after the North’s launch, Seoul sent an alert message that read “Alert issued for Seoul at 6:32 am today. Citizens, please prepare to evacuate and allow children and the elderly to evacuate first.” Seoul citizens' mobile phones blared the alert alarm, but there was no in

June 2, 2023

[Editorial] Telemedicine dispute

COVID-19 has changed many things in South Korea. One inspiring change involves telemedicine, which has helped doctors treat patients via remote solutions -- a revolutionary adoption of innovative technology for the conservative medical sector thanks to the urgent need for fast and contactless treatment. Telemedicine services were provided to 14.2 million patients over the three-year period from 2020 through April this year in connection with treatment of the novel coronavirus, according to the H

June 1, 2023

[Editorial] A blind spot

Alleged employment favoritism which was recently exposed in the National Election Commission shows that an institution, if left unchecked, is likely to decay. NEC Secretary General Park Chan-jin and his deputy, Song Bong-sup, offered to resign Thursday following allegations of preferential treatment in the hiring of their children by the election watchdog. Their resignations came 14 months after the previous Secretary General Kim Se-hwan resigned amid criticisms for poor management of early voti

May 31, 2023

[Editorial] Step up airline safety

It is always too late to lament safety problems after a fatal accident has already taken place. In particular, midair accidents stemming from lax safety rules could have devastating results. On Friday, a frightening accident involving a local carrier took place, alarming authorities and shocking the public. A passenger suddenly opened a door of an Asiana Airlines plane right before landing at Daegu International Airport -- when the aircraft was about 213 meters above ground. The plane landed wit

May 30, 2023

[Editorial] Perils of fake news

Fast-evolving artificial intelligence offers plenty of powerful tools. As with any device and technology, however, AI can be easily abused in a way that often generates unfathomable results. A striking case in point is a fake photo of an explosion near the US Pentagon that went viral on Monday. The concocted image, likely generated by AI, triggered a brief dip in the US stock market, as some media and individual accounts on Twitter picked up the post and shared it with their followers. The messy

May 26, 2023

[Editorial] Revive law enforcement

President Yoon Suk Yeol slammed the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions on Tuesday for its overnight street rally last week. Yoon said its actions infringed on people‘s freedoms and disturbed the public order. He said that his government would not neglect or tolerate any form of illegal action. The ruling People Power Party and the government on Wednesday held a meeting on the issue of establishing the public order. They decided to consider banning rallies from midnight to 6 a.m., strengt

May 25, 2023

[Editorial] Widening trade deficit

Lawmakers from South Korea's rival parties are in a blame game over the continued decline in exports and snowballing trade deficit amid lingering uncertainty in the global economy that spells trouble for economic policymakers. South Korea’s exports dropped 16.1 percent on-year in the first 20 days of May, extending their negative streak to seven straight months, according to data released by the Korea Customs Service on Monday. The trade deficit for the year so far reached $29.5 billi

May 24, 2023

[Editorial] Step for future

South Korean and Japanese leaders’ joint tribute to Korean victims of the 1945 Hiroshima atomic bombing is significant considering the two countries must heal the scars of their past to make it far into the future together. President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida jointly visited a cenotaph honoring the Korean victims at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on Sunday. It is the first visit by a South Korean president and the first joint visit by leaders of the two count

May 23, 2023

[Editorial] Fukushima inspection

A team of South Korean experts embarked on a six-day visit to Japan on Sunday for an on-site inspection amid growing concerns over whether the team will be able to properly check the safety status surrounding Japan’s planned release of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean. The inspection comes after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held a summit in Seoul earlier this month to thaw frosty bilateral relations. E

May 22, 2023

[Editorial] Uproot subsidy fraud

Subsidy irregularities by some nongovernmental organizations detected through inspection by the government are shocking. The Board of Audit and Inspection said on Tuesday it found that 10 NGOs are suspected of embezzling a total of 1.74 billion won ($1.3 million) from subsidies they received from the government. It also said that it had asked the police to investigate 73 people on charges of embezzlement, fraud and violation of the subsidy law. The board selected NGOs whose accounting was dubiou

May 19, 2023

[Editorial] Looming medical crisis

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday rejected the passing of the Nursing Act, marking his second presidential veto that is now feared to intensify divisive conflicts not only in the medical industry, but also in partisan politics. The legislation of the Nursing Act traces back to March 2021, when a group of lawmakers proposed different versions of the bill. Over the past two years -- a period in which medical professionals played a crucial role in fighting COVID-19 -- lawmakers from rival parties

May 18, 2023

[Editorial] Untrustworthy service

Daum, a web portal under Kakao, started showing trending keywords right below the search bar on May 10. Naver is scheduled to launch a similar service in the second half of this year. A few years ago, the portals discontinued their "real-time search trends" services amid controversy that they could be abused by specific groups to manipulate public opinion. They seem to have resurrected the services under new names. The keyword recommendation service arouses concerns that the portals co

May 17, 2023

[Editorial] Snowballing crypto scandal

Rep. Kim Nam-kuk of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea said Sunday he would “temporarily” leave the party because he “does not want to be a burden to the party and its members at this crucial moment.” Kim’s announcement came nine days after embarrassing revelations that he had been engaged in suspicious cryptocurrency transactions and owned around 800,000 wemix coins valued at 6 billion won ($4.4 million), even though he promoted a frugal image. Suspicion

May 16, 2023

[Editorial] No quick fix

Korea Electric Power Corp. recorded an operating loss of 6.2 trillion won ($4.6 billion) in the first quarter of this year. Its quarterly sales increased 31 percent year-on-year thanks to four rate hikes last year, and its operating loss decreased 20 percent. And yet the amount of the loss remains gigantic. Kepco remains in the red since it turned into a deficit in the second quarter of 2021. It posted operating losses of 5.8 trillion won and 32.6 trillion won in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The

May 15, 2023

[Editorial] Med school obsession

The overwhelming and almost obsessive popularity of medical schools among elite Korean students has been a concern among education policymakers over its side effects, such as a growing number of repeat test takers. Another troubling sign is emerging: 1 in 5 applicants who made it to much-coveted medical schools hailed from wealthy districts in southern Seoul -- and their share is steadily on the rise. Among those who were admitted to medical schools, 20.8 percent of applicants came from the thre

May 12, 2023

[Editorial] Step up reforms

The accomplishments of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration in its first year are far from small. His presidency marked the first anniversary on Wednesday. It set some state affairs that had caused problems right. The Yoon administration scrapped the nuclear phase-out policy that damaged Korea’s advanced nuclear industry. It eased anti-market real estate regulations that caused property prices to skyrocket. Its attempt to redress the high-handedness of large labor unions is something the previ

May 11, 2023

[Editorial] Shift in COVID-19 policy

The World Health Organization announced Friday that COVID-19 is no longer a global public health emergency, a landmark declaration that calls for a change in policy and strategy to handle the coronavirus. The WHO said in a statement that deaths and hospitalizations related to COVID-19 are declining, while the levels of immunity to the coronavirus is going up as a result of vaccination or prior infection. The global health agency suggests it is time to shift to more long-term prevention and contr

May 10, 2023