[Editorial] Fatal child abuse

In back-to-back incidents, two young children have been found dead in Incheon this month in connection with alleged abuse and negligence by their parents, igniting criticism over the repeated failures of child protection services to safeguard children. On Feb. 2, a 2-year-old boy was found dead. Incheon Police Station took a 24-year-old woman into custody on suspicion of leaving her son at home alone for three days. Police suspect that the boy died of starvation, though investigations are still

Feb. 15, 2023

[Editorial] Public role of banks

The top four commercial banks in South Korea posted record-breaking profits last year, greatly helped by the wide gap in deposit and lending rates following a steady rise in interest rates amid raging disputes over their “easy” profits and their public role. Shinhan Bank led the pack by posting 4.64 trillion won ($3.66 billion) in net profit last year, followed by KB Kookmin Bank with 4.41 trillion won, Woori Bank at 3.17 trillion won and Hana Bank's 3.62 trillion won. The stell

Feb. 13, 2023

[Editorial] Political abuse

The majority opposition Democratic Party of Korea and two minor parties pushed a motion to impeach Interior Minister Lee Sang-min through the National Assembly on Wednesday. It is the nation’s first-ever impeachment of a Cabinet member. He was suspended from his duties immediately. There were great concerns that the impeachment was inappropriate in many respects, but the Democratic Party shut its ears. The relationship between the ruling People Power Party and the Democratic Party will

Feb. 10, 2023

[Editorial] Dispute on start of old age

How old is old? In South Korea, there is one simple measure. If you turn 65, you are officially identified as a senior citizen and are eligible for free subway rides. But the age of 65 that delimits “old age” here might be raised to 70 in the near future, something that could force many poverty-stricken elderly people to stay home. More important, raising the eligibility age for free subway rides involves more than the perception of older adults in Korea. It is a complex matter linke

Feb. 9, 2023

[Editorial] Absurd bills for Lee

The Democratic Party of Korea is said to be preparing a horde of bills to pressure prosecutors and restrict their rights, as the prosecution is on the brink of indicting its leader, Lee Jae-myung, in connection with an array of alleged irregularities that transpired when he was the mayor of Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, and the governor of Gyeonggi Province. Lawmakers of the majority opposition party took to the streets last Saturday and condemned the "prosecutors' tyranny" -- an

Feb. 8, 2023

[Editorial] Price debacle

Soaring energy bills, led by gas and electricity, are hitting South Korean households, already saddled with rising interest rates and stubbornly high inflation that erode into disposable income amid few signs of an economic recovery. The latest energy price figures released Sunday by the Korean Statistical Information Service shows how big increases have been made for the prices of essential utilities such as gas and electricity in a year -- and is an indicator of how painful it is for Koreans t

Feb. 7, 2023

[Editorial] Time for self-reflection

The prison sentence given to former Justice Minister Cho Kuk is founded on a court judgment that those who undermine the fairness of our society should be punished severely. The court sentenced him to two years in jail. The ruling came three years and two months after he was indicted for forging his daughter's credentials to facilitate her admission into a medical school and abusing his power when he was senior presidential secretary for civil affairs. Cho strongly denied the charges, but t

Feb. 6, 2023

[Editorial] Chip slump hits exports

South Korea suffered a record-high trade deficit in January, hammered by the sluggish demand for semiconductors, a major export item, amid worries about a global economic slowdown that could further depress the country’s exports in the coming months. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Wednesday, the country's outbound shipments dropped 16.6 percent on-year to $46.27 billion in January. Imports shrank by 2.6 percent on-year to $58.96 billion, a relatively small

Feb. 3, 2023

[Editorial] Remittance connection

Kim Seong-tae, the former chairman of underwear maker Ssangbangwool Group, allegedly said he gave North Korea $3 million in 2019 to facilitate then-Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung's visit to the North. Lee is the leader of the majority opposition Democratic Party of Korea. Previously, Kim told prosecutors that he handed a total of more than $5 million to North Korea to obtain economic cooperation rights involving the North. However, grilled by prosecutors recently over the group's addition

Feb. 2, 2023

[Editorial] Soaring utility bills

Many South Koreans were deeply shocked to see their heating bills for December as a result of gas price hikes and more cold waves this winter. The so-called “heating bill bomb,” however, is not the last one. The heating bills for January will be equally, if not more, painful for most households. Worse still, other utility rates, led by electricity, are scheduled to be raised, putting more burdensome pressure on households and companies at a time when the country is still mired in an

Feb. 1, 2023

[Editorial] Unjustifiable silence

Opposition leader Lee Jae-myung appeared at the prosecutor's office to be questioned as a suspect Saturday in connection with allegations over a property development project. It was the second time for the chair of the majority opposition Democratic Party of Korea to appear before the prosecutor for questioning after being interrogated in a separate corruption probe 18 days earlier. The questioning started at 10:30 a.m. and ended at 9 p.m., then Lee reviewed the interrogation report on hi

Jan. 31, 2023

[Editorial] Fixing pension crisis

South Korea’s national pension is on track to be depleted by 2055, unless drastic and painful reforms are taken by the government. The question is whether policymakers can pull off a consensus on this sensitive issue in time. The National Pension Service (NPS) announced temporary projections about the fund at a press conference Friday at the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The fund is set to swing into deficit starting from 2041, and will be completely drained in 2055, the NPS said. The ne

Jan. 30, 2023

[Editorial] Price of populism

Soaring heating bills and high inflation are fanning worries over the cost of living. The retail price of city gas rose about 38 percent last year as a consequence of the international price of liquefied natural gas, mostly used for heating, surging 128 percent. The cold has been unusually severe this winter. The government has frozen gas rates for the first quarter but says that additional hikes are unavoidable after the second quarter. To make matters worse, Seoul is currently taking procedure

Jan. 27, 2023

[Editorial] Broadening market access

South Korean financial authorities have announced a set of changes aimed at attracting more foreign investors by removing outdated restrictions and making the local market more accessible. If successful, the country would be able to move closer to join the top grade of global market indices. Whether the new revisions will indeed draw more foreign investors, however, depends on a mix of other related reform measures on a broader scale. The Financial Services Commission said Tuesday it will revise

Jan. 26, 2023

[Editorial] Strengthen spy probe

Four former and current executive officials of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions are under investigation by the National Intelligence Service on suspicion of spying for North Korea. The agency and the police searched the headquarters office of the nation’s major labor group last week. The search and seizure warrant issued by the court is said to have contained concrete grounds for suspicions that the service has secured for a long stretch of time. They are suspected of contacting a

Jan. 25, 2023

[Editorial] 3 years under COVID-19

The first COVID-19 case was confirmed in South Korea on Jan. 20, 2020. Since then, every aspect of Korean life has been drastically reshaped to grapple with the pandemic, and the public health authorities are still waging a tough fight to keep the virus under control. The unprecedented pandemic has left a dreadful impact, having infected over 670 million people worldwide so far, around 6.7 million of whom died from the virus, according to latest official data available. The actual fatalities, es

Jan. 20, 2023

[Editorial] Labor tyranny

Labor unions' tyranny at construction sites was shown in a recent survey. In a two-week poll of construction companies, conducted by the Construction Association of Korea, the Korea Housing Association and the Korea Specialty Contractors Association at the request of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, 843 construction companies reported that they suffered setbacks in construction projects due to high-handed action from labor unions. Considering that some companies may hav

Jan. 19, 2023

[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