[Editorial] Predictability matters

The Financial Services Commission, South Korea’s top financial regulator, has suddenly delayed the planned implementation of the second phase for tighter debt service ratio limits. But the delay is feared to send misleading signals to the financial and real estate markets. The FSC announced Tuesday that tougher rules on household loans will be applied from the beginning of September, instead of July. The decision for the two-month delay came less than a week before the new rules were to be

June 28, 2024

[Editorial] Youth job blues

The number of young working-age people who are unemployed and yet refuse to look for jobs has begun to increase again after falling for nine months. A Statistics Korea survey released Sunday found that 398,000 people aged 15 to 29 “just rested” at home last month doing nothing to make money or search for jobs. The figure was up 13,000 from a year earlier. Most unemployed people look for jobs, but these people do not. They give up seeking jobs and just take a rest though they have no

June 27, 2024

[Editorial] Improve safety standards

A massive fire broke out at a lithium battery plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Monday, leaving 23 people dead and eight injured. As one of the worst chemical plant accidents in South Korea, it raises questions about the cause of the fire and the lack of safety measures. All the deceased victims were found on the second floor of the gutted warehouse at the plant of lithium battery maker Aricell, where the fire started at 10:31 a.m. Monday. Firefighters rushed to the three-story, reinforced c

June 26, 2024

[Editorial] Food prices too high

Food is 56 percent more expensive in Korea than in member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to a Bank of Korea report last week. Prices of clothing and shoes were 61 percent higher than the OECD average last year. Housing was 23 percent more expensive. On the other hand, electricity, natural gas and water bills were 36 percent cheaper than the OECD average. This is largely because the government suppresses the prices artificially for political reas

June 25, 2024

[Editorial] Turning point

The abrasive confrontation between the Yoon Suk Yeol administration and doctors over the increase in the medical school enrollment quota faces a turning point after medical professors at the hospitals affiliated with Seoul National University decided to end their collective action and a new body representing more doctors was launched. Medical professors who serve as senior doctors at Seoul National University Hospital announced Friday that they would end an indefinite walkout amid mounting conce

June 24, 2024

[Editorial] Dangerous cooperation

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a new “comprehensive strategic partnership” treaty in Pyongyang on Wednesday, a development that has triggered concerns about heightened geopolitical tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Under the comprehensive strategic partnership, North Korea and Russia agreed to offer military assistance “without delay” by mobilizing all means possible if either is attacked, according to the full text of the trea

June 21, 2024

[Editorial] Party for one person

Last week, the prosecution indicted Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, without detention on suspicion of being involved in Ssangbangwool’s illegal payment of money to North Korea. It came days after the first-trial court had sentenced Lee Hwa-young, former vice governor of Gyeonggi Province, to nine years and six months in connection with the case. The case concerns allegations that Kim Sung-tae paid North Korea a total of $8 million at Lee Hwa-young&rs

June 20, 2024

[Editorial] Striking a balance

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration is now seeking to revise laws on property and inheritance taxes as part of efforts to lessen the tax burden on the public and companies, a policy direction that will meet the demands of many taxpayers, but there are concerns as to whether these policies are really needed given measures already taken. Sung Tae-yoon, director of national policy at the presidential office, appeared on a TV program Sunday where he stressed there was a need to overhaul or abolish the

June 19, 2024

[Editorial] Seek more opinions

The Korean Commercial Act stipulates that directors shall perform their duties in good faith for the interest of the company. Financial authorities seek to revise the act by adding shareholders in league with the company. The revision is meant to impose on directors the duty of working for the interest of shareholders as well as for the company. This step is part of the government’s “Corporate Value-Up” program aimed at boosting the Korean stock market. Lee Bok-hyun, governor o

June 18, 2024

[Editorial] Seek to avert chaos

A sense of fear is spreading among patients as doctors at major hospitals are set to go ahead with the planned walkouts in protest of the government’s decision to boost the medical school enrollment quota. With no sign of a breakthrough, concerns abound about how the government will respond to the ultimatum that the country’s biggest doctors’ group issued Sunday. Medical professors -- who also serve as senior doctors -- at four hospitals affiliated with Seoul National Universit

June 17, 2024

[Editorial] Doing it right

South Korea’s financial authorities are now expected to ponder the timing of a rate cut in a more cautious way as the US Federal Reserve decided Wednesday (US time) to freeze the benchmark interest rates at between 5.25-5.5 percent for a seventh-straight time. The Fed’s decision came after fresh inflation data issued earlier in the day slightly moderated last month but still above its 2 percent inflation target. The US benchmark rates have been kept unchanged since July last year. Th

June 14, 2024

[Editorial] Prepare for earthquakes

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck near Buan, North Jeolla Province, early Wednesday, sending off alerts across the nation and causing minor property damage. Although no injuries were reported, the strong quake highlighted the need for tight, systematic preparations against tremor-related disasters. The temblor struck near the southwestern county at 8:26 a.m. at an estimated depth of 8 kilometers, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration. Firefighter and Interior Ministry officials sa

June 13, 2024

[Editorial] Negative growth in 2040s

South Korea’s current economic performance is not spectacularly impressive, but it is not so bad in a way that heralds serious trouble -- at least for now. The long-term outlook, however, suggests that something dramatic should be done to avoid a crisis stemming from a shrinking workforce and the dearth of innovative products. The Korea Development Institute said Tuesday in a monthly report that the Korean economy was showing some signs of improvement in the strength of export growth, thou

June 12, 2024

[Editorial] Seek ways to defuse tensions

As North Korea continued to send trash-carrying balloons across the border, South Korea resumed the loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts Sunday, signaling escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Although the smelly and noisy campaigns in recent weeks are not deadly clashes, the pace of the tit-for-tat exchanges is fast enough to raise serious security concerns. Despite Seoul’s repeated warnings, Pyongyang keeps sending waste-loaded balloons. South Korea’s military said Monday that

June 11, 2024

[Editorial] Doctors’ strike

The Korea Medical Association, South Korea’s largest organization of doctors, said in a press briefing Sunday that it would stage a walkout and a rally on June 18, signaling another clash between doctors and the government over its medical school quota hike. The KMA, which has more than 129,000 members, said that in the survey conducted last week more than 90 percent of the respondents voted to support the “strong protest” against the government’s increase in admission qu

June 10, 2024

[Editorial] Impasse from the start

The National Assembly on Wednesday held its plenary session and elected the speaker to lead the first half of its new term in a unilateral vote, with the lawmakers from the ruling party boycotting the session, the first time this has happened in South Korea’s history. The Assembly controlled by the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea went ahead with the plenary session to elect five-term lawmaker Woo Won-shik as the new speaker and four-term lawmaker Lee Hak-young as the vice speaker

June 7, 2024

[Editorial] Korea-Africa Summit

The Korea-Africa Summit wrapped up its two-day schedule Wednesday, marking a major step forward in strengthening economic and diplomatic cooperation between South Korea and 48 African nations. President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday hosted the main session of the first-ever summit with African delegations at Kintex in Gyeonggi Province, where the leaders adopted a joint declaration aimed at promoting trade and investment as well as collaborating on critical minerals and development projects. Notably,

June 6, 2024

[Editorial] Gas, oil exploration

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s surprise press briefing Monday over the possibility of gas and oil sent energy stocks higher and generated plenty of media buzz about a rosy scenario for a country heavily dependent on imported resources. But there are skeptical views about its feasibility. Yoon said the government has approved a massive project to kick off exploratory drilling in search of gas and oil reserves in the deep sea off the country’s southeastern coast. He said the reserves could

June 5, 2024

[Editorial] NK provocations

The South Korean government confronts the tricky task of taking stern measures against North Korea’s latest provocations in the form of trash-filled balloons floated over to the South and at the same time seeking ways to defuse inter-Korean tensions. The conflicting challenges for Seoul came after Pyongyang sent another batch of balloons carrying waste and propaganda to the South over the weekend, and continued to jam GPS signals near the border since Wednesday. The Joint Chiefs of Staff s

June 4, 2024

[Editorial] Soaring power demand

South Korea announced plans to build up to three new nuclear reactors by 2038, launch a 0.7-gigawatt small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) by 2035, and triple solar and wind power generation facilities by 2038. As it takes about 14 years to secure a site for and build a nuclear reactor, the planned reactors could be operational by 2038 if the government begins the process this year. Under the blueprint, carbon-free energy sources such as renewables and nuclear power will take up 70 percent of the

June 3, 2024