[Other View] Trump’s dangerous ideas about vaccines

Donald Trump’s views on vaccines have long been out of sync with science. Childhood vaccines cause autism, he asserted at a debate in 2015, echoing statements he had made in 2014 and 2012. But now the president-elect is poised to do more than just pass along misinformation: He has asked a die-hard “anti-vaxxer” to lead a commission on “vaccination and scientific integrity.”　The appointee is Robert Kennedy Jr., who has been skeptical about vaccines for years, believing on zero evidence that the p

Jan. 16, 2017

[Editorial] Mutual accountability

The independent counsel team investigating the Choi Soon-sil scandal is aggressively taking on every major suspicion tied to President Park Geun-hye and Choi. The team headed by Park Young-soo has already taken into custody three former senior officials, including an ex-culture minister, on charges of discriminating against “blacklisted” artists and cultural figures. A former Blue House chief of staff and the current culture minister also face questioning. A prominent writer and professor has be

Jan. 13, 2017

[Editorial] Park’s slack explanation

President Park Geun-hye’s lawyers submitted a statement to the Constitutional Court on Tuesday explaining her actions during the Sewol ferry disaster, but the court asked them to present a detailed report, saying the explanation fell short of what it had demanded.　She was impeached by lawmakers on Dec. 9 over a corruption scandal and allegations that she neglected her duties during the ferry sinking that left more than 300 people dead or missing. Her explanation about her whereabouts on the day

Jan. 12, 2017

[Other View] How to deal with Trump’s cabinet

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees “need a thorough vetting.” He’s right, but exactly what he and his colleagues mean by that won’t be clear until the Senate’s confirmation process begins this week. So here‘s a suggestion: Its hearings will best serve the public interest by striving to clarify, not politicize.The constitutional requirement for the Senate is to provide the president its “advice and consent.” Individual senators will define th

Jan. 12, 2017

[Editorial] At the starting line

Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrives in Seoul on Thursday. Returning home as a major presidential contender, he will likely be given a hero’s welcome by his supporters and be met with disdain from his critics. Ban’s homecoming after 10 years as chief of the world body signals the official start of his pursuit of presidential power, which could put the presidential campaign -- already showing signs of premature overheating -- into high gear.The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea

Jan. 11, 2017

[Editorial] ‘Comfort women’ issue

Japan on Monday recalled Ambassador Yasumasa Nagamine and Consul General in Busan Yasuhiro Morimoto from South Korea, sparking a diplomatic row over the statue of a girl representing “comfort women,” who were forced to work as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II.　On Friday, a week after a civic group set up the statue in Busan, Tokyo announced a halt in negotiations on a currency swap deal with Korea and called off a high-level economic dialogue.　Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo A

Jan. 10, 2017

[Editorial] Long overdue

The National Assembly has launched an ad hoc panel entrusted to amend the Constitution, a job the legislature should have done much earlier. The Special Committee for Revising the Constitution, which elected Lee Ju-young of the ruling Saenuri Party as its chairman Thursday, plans to hold the first of a series of public hearings next week. In the months to come, the committee -- and advocates of rewriting the basic law as a whole -- will face a lot of hurdles in their efforts to come up with an a

Jan. 9, 2017

[Editorial] Growth in joblessness

The ability of the Korean economy to create jobs has about halved over the past five years. Despite economic growth, job gains are going into a tailspin, according to data released by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and Statistics Korea on Tuesday. In 2012, the economy grew 2.3 percent, creating 437,000 jobs or 190,000 jobs per 1 percent growth. This year, it is expected to grow 2.6 percent and add 260,000 jobs or 100,000 jobs per 1 percent growth. This trend points toward growth without jo

Jan. 8, 2017

[Editorial] Extradition of Chung

The Ministry of Justice on Thursday sent a formal request to Denmark for the extradition of Chung Yoo-ra.　Chung is a high-profile suspect in the scandal involving her mother, Choi Soon-sil, and President Park Geun-hye. The only daughter of Choi went on the run in Europe after her mother presented herself to prosecutors in South Korea. Choi was jailed and is currently on trial.　　Chung was arrested Sunday night in the Danish town of Aalborg for overstaying her visa. A Danish district court Monday

Jan. 6, 2017

[Other view] What’s the rush to kill Obamacare?

For seven years, Republicans have yearned to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. Now that they have the chance, they seem wholly unprepared to do it right. Much work is still needed to figure out how to avoid destabilizing the health-insurance system. Yet, in their hurry, leaders in Congress seem to want to skip that part. What’s the rush?　　Republicans are allowing themselves just three weeks to develop a budget bill that would scuttle “Obamacare” -- ending the tax penalties on people who don’t h

Jan. 6, 2017

[Editorial] Crucial moment

US President-elect Donald Trump is giving some clues to what his North Korea policy will be like. One positive thing coming through is that unlike his predecessor, he is expected to be make resolving the North Korean nuclear issue a priority. The problem is that the clues are not yet clear enough to predict how.    　In his first comment on North Korea since his election, Trump said Monday that North Korea wouldn’t be able to develop a nuclear arsenal capable of reaching the continental US. He al

Jan. 5, 2017

[Other view] The new Syria reality

The fall of Aleppo and the adjusted alignment of international parties involved in the Syrian conflict have important implications for the future of that country as well as for the United States’ overall role in the Middle East.　What should be -- but is not necessarily -- the primary concern of all parties with respect to the Syrian conflict is to bring it and the human suffering it has produced to an end, as soon as possible. The loss of Aleppo by the various rebel groups holding out there to t

Jan. 5, 2017

[Editorial] Retaliation over THAAD

Seven lawmakers from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea flew to China on Wednesday for talks with Chinese government officials and scholars over the planned deployment of an advanced American missile defense system on the Korean Peninsula.　 Their visit comes amid apparent Chinese retaliation against South Korea for its agreement in July last year to host the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system. China recently refused three South Korean air carriers’ applications for nonschedule

Jan. 4, 2017

[Other view] Sanctioning Russia is just a start

President Barack Obama’s imposition of sweeping new sanctions against Russian spies is long overdue, risky and tarnished by political calculation. It is also the right thing to do.　The White House said Thursday it planned to toss 35 suspected spies and their families out of the country; sanction two intelligence agencies, four intelligence officers, three companies and two alleged hackers; shut two compounds used by Russian diplomats; and take “a variety of other actions,” some of which will be

Jan. 4, 2017

[Editorial] Public sentiment

Major Korean media outlets conduct New Year’s public opinion surveys to find out what people think about major national and social issues. For an election year like this, the surveys focus on the upcoming vote. The possibility of the presidential election taking place at an earlier-than-planned date gives additional significance to the latest public surveys. What the surveys found were almost identical, indicating that they faithfully reflected the views of the public toward the presidential ele

Jan. 3, 2017

[Editorial] 1,000 days

It took 992 days for President Park Geun-hye to offer an alibi to the public as to what she was doing on April 16, 2014, when the Sewol ferry disaster occurred, leaving over 300 dead or missing.Unfortunately, the explanation she offered in her meeting with reporters on Sunday is not convincing.And lamentably, Park appeared to confuse the timing of the accident and following speculation involving her male confidant Jeong Yun-hoe. She mentioned both “last year” and “the year before last” in an uns

Jan. 2, 2017

[Editorial] Year of uncertainty

The year 2017 -- which we dare to call a year of uncertainty -- will pose daunting challenges to the nation at home and abroad. The challenges will be so tough that how we respond to them will determine our fate for many years to come. The darkest, thickest cloud of uncertainty hangs, of course, over the fate of President Park Geun-hye, who plunged the nation into a crisis.Part of the cloud will be cleared when the Constitutional Court makes a ruling on the parliamentary impeachment of Park. We

Jan. 1, 2017

[Editorial] Next leader

The allegation that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon received money from a businessman should be seen as the start of a vetting war among candidates for the next presidential election. It also reminds us that Ban, a frontrunner for president who lacks experience in domestic politics, will be subject to harsh scrutiny and rigorous political attacks when he returns home around the middle of next month. The allegation, reported by the Sisa Journal weekly magazine, said that Ban received $230,000 fr

Dec. 30, 2016

[Editorial] Oil-dollar’s 2017

South Korea has seen gasoline prices rise for 33 consecutive days to approach 1,480 won ($1.22) a liter, marking the highest price in 13 months. The hike poses a big threat to the economy in 2017. Despite skepticism over the agreement by petroleum producers on an output cut, the nation should be vigilant over whether OPEC and some non-OPEC producers will really implement their promise to slash collective output by 1.8 million barrels a day, starting Jan. 1.Prices of international crude, such as

Dec. 29, 2016

[Editorial] We heard little

In many regards, the parliamentary special investigation into the Choi Soon-sil scandal is destined to be a failure. The most disappointing part of the probe, which is to end Jan. 15, was the six rounds of hearings, during which lawmakers fell far short of pressing key figures to make substantial testimonies. There are a combination of reasons why the parliamentary hearings failed to shed light on the scandal which has been shaking the nation for months. Firstly, many of the key figures in the s

Dec. 28, 2016