[Editorial] Risky pardon

The Justice Ministry recently instructed prosecutors’ offices to report on all of those convicted in connection with demonstrations over five specific issues.The ministry said that it would receive the reports to include them in the list of candidates to be pardoned. The government is said to be considering granting a special amnesty on Christmas or the Lunar New Year’s Day.The five issues, which caused fierce protests and political strife, are: the construction of a naval base on Jeju Island; t

Nov. 26, 2017

[Editorial] THAAD pressure

Foreign ministers of South Korea and China agreed Wednesday in Beijing to work toward President Moon Jae-in’s state visit to China next month. His visit will boost the two nation’s efforts to mend ties.State visits are considered the highest expression of friendly bilateral relations between two states. Most nations host fewer than 10 state visits per year. A state visit is received customarily once per country while its head holds office. The deal to use the diplomatic event that South Korea an

Nov. 24, 2017

[Editorial] Only solution

The US is ratcheting up its sanctions on North Korea in line with its commitment to “maximum pressure” aimed to stop the rogue regime’s nuclear and missile menace. More countries should join the efforts as excluding a military action, economic pressure would be the only solution for now. New sanctions meted out by the US government Tuesday targeted one Chinese individual, 13 entities in China and North Korea, and 20 vessels owned by North Korean shipping companies. That the new list included a C

Nov. 23, 2017

[Editorial] Fairness questioned

In a situation where two former directors of the National Intelligence Service have been arrested on bribery charges for giving part of their “special activity” budgets to Cheong Wa Dae, the prosecution itself has come under suspicion of having effectively offered the Ministry of Justice part of its funds for special activities.The fairness of prosecutorial investigation has come into question.As might be expected, the opposition Liberty Korea Party is calling for an investigation of former and

Nov. 22, 2017

[Editorial] 20 years on

Twenty years ago this week, Korea went to the International Monetary Fund for a $58 billion bailout to save it from an insolvency crisis caused by a foreign exchange meltdown. Many Koreans vividly remember the savage restructuring prescribed by the IMF and the consequent bankruptcies, closures and layoffs that pounded the whole society. The impact was so huge that even after two decades, 57.4 percent of respondents to a recent survey picked the “IMF crisis” as the most difficult economic time fo

Nov. 21, 2017

[Editorial] Meritless reinvestigation

A bill to reinvestigate the Sewol ferry sinking will be put to a vote this week. It was authored by Rep. Park Ju-min of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, who was a lawyer for the families of those who died in the accident. The bill was fast tracked on Dec. 26 last year so it will automatically be submitted to the plenary session of the National Assembly on Friday. If the bill is passed, a special committee will be created to investigate the tragedy again for a maximum of three years.The goal

Nov. 20, 2017

[Editorial] Wrong heyday

One big piece of news after another keeps coming from the state prosecution as it conducts a number of high-profile, politically sensitive investigations. It is not rare for the prosecution to be full of activity in the first year of a new government as it usually takes charge of anticorruption campaigns or other politically delicate investigations -- mostly in conjunction with the new occupants of Cheong Wa Dae. But what the prosecution has been doing since President Moon Jae-in took office in

Nov. 19, 2017

[Editorial] Get ready

The 5.4 magnitude earthquake that hit Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, on Wednesday calls on the nation -- both government and the people -- to prepare for worse to come. Priorities should be set fast and actions should be taken accordingly. One of the factors making earthquakes so frightening is that unlike other natural disasters like typhoons and hurricanes, they cannot be forecast. That we cannot predict them precisely, however, does not mean we cannot do anything to minimize their damage.

Nov. 17, 2017

[Editorial] NIS reform

A National Intelligence Service committee to reform the agency said it would push for a revision to the National Intelligence Service Act this year.The main points of the revision include the transfer of anticommunist investigations to the police, the clarification of the NIS’ role, the enhancement of transparency of its budget execution and the encouragement of the rejection of illegal orders. The task force vowed to work to restart the NIS with a clean slate as an agency devoted to national se

Nov. 16, 2017

[Editorial] New Look South Policy

President Moon Jae-in returned home Wednesday after an overseas trip that wrapped up his busiest weeks as the chief diplomat since he took office in May.Moon’s tour of three Southeast Asian countries -- Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines -- was preceded by receiving at home Donald Trump, who was on his maiden trip to Asia as the US president. Moon focused his talks with Trump in Seoul on North Korea. In Vietnam, Moon met China President Xi Jinping to discuss North Korea and the restoration o

Nov. 15, 2017

[Editorial] Spiral of fighting ‘evils’　

The prosecutorial investigation into “evils” is apparently set to target former President Lee Myung-bak.His former Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin was arrested Saturday on charges of involvement in the Cyber Command’s illegal political activities, in which personnel left comments critical of the opposition.His former director of the National Intelligence Service, Won Sei-hoon, is serving a four-year prison term for running an unlawful cyber team of civilians and NIS retirees to meddle in elections

Nov. 14, 2017

[Editorial] Status quo

Over the past week in East Asia, North Korea’s nuclear and missile menace was one of the focal points of a flurry of top-level discussions involving leaders who have stakes in the issue. There were many meetings, statements and agreements made by the leaders who held a series of bilateral and multilateral talks at annual regional summits including the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. Despite the hectic diplomatic activities, the leaders failed to find a breakthrough in the crisis caused

Nov. 13, 2017

[Editorial] Fresh start

The summit between President Moon Jae-in and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Danang, Vietnam, on Saturday is significant in that it has formalized the restoration of relations between South Korea and China.One of its biggest outcomes is that Moon agreed to visit China next month for another summit with Xi. The meeting next month is expected to initiate summit exchanges to improve bilateral ties. Moon also invited Xi to visit South Korea next year for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. In response,

Nov. 12, 2017

[Editorial] Personnel evil

The Moon Jae-in administration is showing signs of repeating the bad practice of following a spoils system by appointing political supporters as heads of public entities. The replacement of chiefs is expected at many public and private organizations that are exposed to government influence. Incumbent chief executives who were appointed during the previous government may feel out of place and be pressured to leave their posts.The Moon administration must put an end to the deplorable practice, whi

Nov. 10, 2017

[Editorial] Fair probe

The corruption scandal involving former aides of Jun Byung-hun, a top adviser to President Moon Jae-in, shows how complicated Korean politics can be. On the surface, it is a typical bribery case in which politicians and business executives traded influence and kickbacks. But the fact that it is the first time that the state prosecution has targeted a top presidential aide since Moon took office in May is stoking political speculations. Given what prosecutors have found so far, the main suspects

Nov. 9, 2017

[Editorial] Solid alliance

US President Donald Trump’s state visit to South Korea was significant in that it came amid a grave security situation on the Korean Peninsula with North Korea, which is on the brink of completing its nuclear and missile programs.　President Moon Jae-in’s surprise visit to Camp Humphreys, a US army base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, to greet President Trump upon his arrival shows how important he considered Trump’s visit to Korea. The two leaders sent a clear message of South Korea and the US

Nov. 8, 2017

[Editorial] Multiparty system

The return of nine conservative lawmakers to the main opposition Liberty Korea Party will heavily impact Korean politics, over which President Moon Jae-in and his ruling party have been dominant since Moon took office in May. First, the nine lawmakers’ decision to bolt from the minor opposition Bareun Party and go back to the Liberty Korea Party they had deserted before the presidential election means that the nation’s conservatives have taken their first step toward recouping their strength. A

Nov. 7, 2017

[Editorial] Moon’s balanced diplomacy

President Moon Jae-in’s “balanced diplomacy” will be put to the test at the South Korea-US summit on Tuesday.In an interview Friday with Channel NewsAsia, a Singaporean cable television news agency, Moon said, “The relationship with China has become more important not only in terms of economic cooperation, but also for strategic cooperation for the peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue. That is why I am pursuing a balanced diplomacy with the US as well as China.”The key point of

Nov. 6, 2017

[Editorial] Wrong cause

As President Moon Jae-in and his foreign policy and security advisers anxiously await a state visit by US President Donald Trump, anti-American groups in South Korea are having a heyday. The groups held a series of demonstrations over the weekend to protest the US president’s visit. On Saturday, protesters gathered in downtown Seoul to protest Trump’s two-day visit, coming during his first trip to Asia as president. The rallies, which also took place in other major cities like Busan, Daegu, Gwan

Nov. 5, 2017

[Editorial] Gravy train

The latest corruption scandal involving former key aides to ousted President Park Geun-hye should shed fresh light on the problems of the government’s audit-free “special activity accounts.”It is not the first time that the accounts, intended to finance confidential government work, such as intelligence gathering and covert investigations, have been abused by corrupt officials, but the latest case is truly outrageous. This time, the key players are the National Intelligence Service and former cl

Nov. 3, 2017