[Editorial] School records

The Ministry of Education has launched an inspection of all high schools in Korea to see how they manage students’ records.　The inspection was prompted by a police announcement Wednesday of a recent investigation into a girls’ high school in Gwangju.　Police said they referred the principal and two teachers of the school to prosecutors for fabricating the records of 25 students in the National Education Information System, an online system that records the grades and extracurricular activities of

Sept. 12, 2016

[Editorial] Sanctions on North

Fresh sanctions on North Korea will likely be tabled at a United Nations Security Council meeting in the wake of its fifth nuclear test. South Korea and the US are poised to ask the UN to fill loopholes in previous sanction resolutions.The sanctions may include an extended list of goods or items prohibited from being shipped to and from the North, according to officials in Seoul.Seoul and Washington are carrying out their search for any traces, involving radionuclides, which could come from the

Sept. 11, 2016

[Editorial] Crucial auction

The government had injected 12.7 trillion won ($11.4 billion) in taxpayers’ money into Woori Bank and its affiliates as a large-scale bailout in the wake of the 1997 Asian currency crisis.While most of Woori Bank’s sister firms including a stock brokerage firm have already been sold to investors, policymakers’ ongoing move to privatize the first-tier bank is one of a few eye-catching issues in the local financial market.In terms of recouping huge public funds, the sale project is likely to draw

Sept. 11, 2016

[Editorial] Mortgage risks

More Korean households are taking additional loans from financial firms to secure cash to buy basic necessities or pay back maturing debt.Despite measures by financial authorities, it has not been easy to break out of the vicious circle in which debt is yielding more debt among a large proportion of households.The gravity of the situation lies in that snowballing consumer debt is a key factor hampering the nation’s growth potential. Its significance is evident when the growth of the nation’s gro

Sept. 9, 2016

[Editorial] Low-key summit

It is commendable that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe portrayed North Korea’s recent ballistic missile provocations as “indescribable violence.” He reiterated the significance of bilateral coordination against the communist regime’s saber-rattling.Abe seemingly turning up the heat on Pyongyang came during his summit with President Park Geun-hye in Laos earlier this week.It is desirable for the two sides to map out detailed ways for closer collaboration as the North’s latest missile tests thr

Sept. 9, 2016

[Editorial] Preparing for change

The nation is now ready to implement the so-called “Kim Young-ran Act” starting Sept. 28 as the government has approved the enforcement decree for the radical anti-graft law.　The law sets the upper limits of foods, gifts and congratulatory or condolence money that public officials, including government officials, journalists and private school teachers, can receive at 30,000 won ($26), 50,000 won and 100,000 won, respectively.　It also bans a public official from receiving or demanding from the s

Sept. 8, 2016

[Editorial] Judicial integrity

Supreme Court Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae has made a public apology over the latest corruption scandal involving a senior judge.　Kim Soo-cheon, who works at the Incheon District Court, was arrested last week for allegedly taking bribes worth 170 million won ($155,600) from Jung Woon-ho, the former head of Nature Republic, a local cosmetics company.　The judge’s arrest was shocking as it called into question the integrity of other judges and the fairness of court rulings in general. It further fue

Sept. 8, 2016

[Editorial] Premature idea

The issue of turning the current conscription service into a volunteer military system has resurfaced, with Gyeonggi Gov. Nam Kyung-pil taking the lead. Nam, a potential presidential candidate for the ruling Saenuri Party, suggested in a forum earlier this week that South Korea should transition to a payment-based voluntary military by 2022.  Nam and other advocates argue that the current conscription-based military should give way to a voluntary military in consideration of, among other things,

Sept. 7, 2016

[Editorial] Real reform

It seems there is no end to corruption scandals involving state prosecutors. The latest case involves a senior prosecutor who allegedly received dubious money from a businessman facing fraud charges. Kim Hyung-joon, who was suspended Wednesday pending internal investigation, is suspected of receiving 15 million won ($13,500) from the businessman on two occasions and trying to solicit favors from his fellow prosecutors investigating the case. The prosecutor and the suspect went to the same middle

Sept. 7, 2016

[Editorial] Hanjin fiasco

Fallouts from the collapse of a big company usually reach far beyond its own shareholders, employees, business partners and customers. The case of Hanjin Shipping Co. offers a good example. The shipper, the No. 1 in the nation and the No. 7 in the world, went into court receivership last week under heavy debt amounting to 6 trillion won ($5.37 billion). It touched off a storm not only in the shipping industry but also the entire economy. Now more than half of Hanjin’s 141-strong fleet are strand

Sept. 6, 2016

[Editorial] Cold War mentality

Type “Xi Jinping” — the name of the Chinese president — and “Cold War mentality” into Google and you will get a long list of results. Most prominently among them are results that mention how Xi said nations should abandon the Cold War mentality when he addressed the UN General Assembly about one year ago. He made the same remark last week when he addressed a business forum at the G20 summit he was hosting in Hangzhou. He apparently had in mind his country’s biggest rival, the US, which it believ

Sept. 6, 2016

[Editorial] No work, no pay

Shin Dong-joo, the former vice chairman of Lotte Group, is being investigated by the prosecution for having allegedly embezzled corporate funds.Shin, the eldest son of Lotte Group founder Shin Kyuk-ho, had been the group’s vice chairman in charge of its affiliates in Japan before he was dismissed from his executive positions by Shin Dong-bin, the Lotte chairman and his younger brother, in early 2015.The ousted “prince” of the Lotte founder’s family is suspected of having received 40 billion won

Sept. 5, 2016

[Editorial] Science foundation

Suh Kyung-bae, chairman of AmorePacific Group, has committed to donate 300 billion won ($268 million) of his personal wealth to a foundation he has established to promote basic research in life sciences.　The Suh Kyung-bae Science Foundation, which was established in July, plans to select three to five Korean scientists each year and provide each of them with a maximum of 2.5 billion won over a period of up to five years.　In a news conference held on Thursday, Suh said the foundation would encour

Sept. 5, 2016

[Editorial] MOUs with Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that South Korea is one of Russia’s outstanding partners in the Asia-Pacific region. He acknowledged the direction of comprehensive economic cooperation between the two countries right after his summit with President Park Geun-hye on Saturday.The statement on future economic partnership comes after Seoul and Moscow reiterated their concerted efforts against North Korea’s nuclear development program.Though the two leaders have not clarified whether the tw

Sept. 4, 2016

[Editorial] Signals were enough

Earlier this year, global investment banks predicted that the US Federal Reserve would raise its base rate two to three times out of the eight scheduled meetings of the Fed’s Federal Open Market Committee in 2016.Their projections were based on the hawkish monetary stance of the Fed with the possibility of hikes significantly affecting the global capital market -- particularly emerging economies involving South Korea.But the US central bank has yet to conduct a hike after it raised the rate in D

Sept. 4, 2016

[Editorial] Brutal executions

Ruthless North Korean leader Kim Jung-un is continuing his bloody reign of terror. The South Korean government confirmed Wednesday that the North recently executed a vice premier and sent two other senior officials to rural farms for re-education on the revolutionary spirit.The executed official was Kim Yong-jin, 63, an expert in educational administration. According to the South’s Unification Ministry, Kim was initially investigated by the North’s intelligence agency for his bad sitting posture

Sept. 2, 2016

[Editorial] Justice system in crisis

The public’s confidence in the nation’s justice system was further eroded Thursday when an incumbent senior judge was arrested over allegations he received bribes from a disgraced businessman.Kim Su-cheon, a judge of the Incheon District Court, is suspected of having received 170 million won ($152,000) from Jung Woon-ho, the former head of cosmetics company Nature Republic who is serving time for illegal gambling overseas.Kim is alleged to have acquired an imported vehicle from Jung at a giveawa

Sept. 2, 2016

[Editorial] Hesitant investment

According to Statistics Korea, three major engines for economic growth posted simultaneous slumps in July, raising uncertainty over the third-quarter gross domestic product.The three sectors -- industrial output, private consumption and corporate investment in facilities -- were in decline. Even though seasonal vacancies during the summer should be taken into consideration, the sharp drop in corporate facilities investment is especially worrying.Local businesses’ investment in facilities plunged

Sept. 1, 2016

[Editorial] Nuclear submarines

Calls are growing among ruling party lawmakers for the construction of nuclear-powered submarines as the threat of North Korea’s submarine-launched ballistic missiles looms large.North Korea successfully test-fired a SLBM last week. Launched near Sinpo on the North’s eastern coast, the missile flew some 500 kilometers and fell into waters 80 kilometers inside Japan’s air defense identification zone.Defense officials in Seoul said it would take the North one to three years to deploy SLBMs. North

Sept. 1, 2016

[Editorial] Budget focus

Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho has stressed that policymakers will put job creation on the front burner in managing the 2017 budget, which features a 10.7 percent growth in allocation for the job creation segment.The budget for boosting employment is 17.5 trillion won ($15.6 billion), aimed at creating 240,000 jobs for young people next year, compared with 210,000 this year. The rise is noteworthy when the budget growth is compared by sector -- 6.9 percent increase for tourism, 6.1 percent for educa

Aug. 31, 2016