[Editorial] Vulnerable pensions

The government has unveiled a set of measures to improve the long-term sustainability of the seven social insurance programs that constitute the main pillars of the nation’s social safety net.The seven social insurance plans consist of the four public pension programs -- the national pension, government employees’ pension, military personnel pension, and private school teachers’ pension -- and the three social insurance systems -- national health insurance, employment insurance and industrial ac

March 30, 2016

[Editorial] League of ex-convicts

 One of the many weird, yet unavoidable things in Korean politics is that many people with dubious pasts and low ethical standards are allowed to seek elected office. One need look no further than the candidates for the April 13 parliamentary election, in which 1,102 candidates are running -- 944 for 253 constituency seats and 158 for 47 seats allotted for proportional representation. Of the total, 38 percent have at least one count of criminal record. This ratio goes up to 41 percent for those

March 29, 2016

[Editorial] Unrequited love

The Minjoo Party of Korea, the country’s main opposition party, looks like a man who is still carrying a torch for his estranged lover. Moon Jae-in, the party’s former leader, was one of its most recent members to express his abiding love for the People’s Party. Moon said that alliance between the two parties was “absolutely necessary” if they were to reap good results in the April 13 general election. Kim Hong-gul, a son of the late president Kim Dae-jung, joined Moon and other Minjoo members i

March 29, 2016

[Editorial] Attraction and carelessness

Many Korean universities claim to be going global. However, it seems that most of them are still far from globalized in the way they treat foreign students, whose collective numbers have rapidly risen over the past several years.Given continuous side effects involving disharmony between Korean and inbound students, there is an urgent need for the nation to overhaul its policies on studying in Seoul and major cities nationwide with the goal of the students’ smooth acclimation and attracting more

March 28, 2016

[Editorial] China’s chip challenge

A Chinese manufacturer is poised to pour $30 billion of investment into the semiconductor business, backed by a government initiative. The movement is a de facto announcement that the Chinese electronics and smartphone-makers will scale back dependency on Samsung Electronics and SK hynix over component procurement.Though the project is to undergo a certain period of research and investment before commercialization, it is undeniable that the two Korean chipmakers will face tough challenges from a

March 28, 2016

[Editorial] Unsavory drama

When candidates for the April 13 general election started to register with the National Election Commission on Thursday, many thought that the internecine feud in the ruling Saenuri Party over candidate nomination was over. They were wrong.　The unsavory drama reached its climax that day, as the party’s chairman, Rep. Kim Moo-sung, dropped a bombshell. He announced that he would not put his seal on the nomination papers of five candidates who he said were selected based on seriously biased criter

March 27, 2016

[Editorial] Ineffectual gatekeepers

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering has admitted that it manipulated its financial statements for 2013 and 2014.　The ailing shipbuilder reported operating profits of 424 billion won in 2013 and 454 billion won in 2014. But the company announced Friday that it actually suffered operating losses of 776 billion won in 2013 and 743 billion won in 2014.　It also corrected its 2015 operating loss, which was overblown as a result of the window dressing in the preceding two years. Earlier this year,

March 27, 2016

[Editorial] Carbonless Gapado

Daejeong-eup on Jejudo Island might not be familiar to most in Korea, though the district, part of Seogwipo City, has already embarked on building its reputation as an emerging mecca for education by native English speakers. However, apart from a group of renowned international schools in Daejeong, the southwestern town of Jejudo Island is drawing wide interest among global environmentalists for its green energy-oriented islet Gapado Island.The islet is the pilot model for the “Carbon Free Islan

March 25, 2016

[Editorial] Oil and dollar

Recent volatility in the Korean won appears to be confusing a variety of parties such as currency dealers, exporters, importers and capital market investors. Korea’s central bank is also presumed to have been troubled by the unforeseeable situation.So far this year, the local currency has had a broader amplitude between strong and weak positons in a short period, being swayed by a tug-of-war between international crude oil prices and the U.S. dollar.Uncertainty seems to nearly be maximized about

March 25, 2016

[Editorial] Outside directors

Former government officials still account for a large share of the outside directors serving on the boards of major corporations. This is not desirable given the role they are expected to play.　A recent survey by CEO Score, a corporate performance evaluation service, showed about 41 percent of the outside directors appointed this year by the listed subsidiaries of the nation’s top 30 business groups were former government officials.　The survey said that compared with last year, the share of ex-g

March 24, 2016

[Editorial] Democratic deficit

The three main political parties in Korea -- the ruling Saenuri Party, The Minjoo Party of Korea and the new People’s Party -- have all wrapped up the process of nominating candidates for the April 13 general election. Hence, a review of how they selected their candidates is in order.　In Korea, there has never been a general election in which political parties picked their candidates without any fuss, and this was no exception. In fact, the nomination process at each party was more conflict-ridd

March 24, 2016

[Editorial] Migratory birds

In Korean politics, “migratory birds” is a term used to refer to politicians who change their party affiliations in pursuit of short-term political interests, like obtaining nominations or increasing their chances of winning an election. The migration becomes brisker ahead of major elections. The upcoming April 13 general election is no exception. In fact, the phenomenon has become more serious partly because of the launch of the People’s Party, which was set up by figures who had broken away fr

March 24, 2016

[Editorial] Basic dignity

What happened recently at Doosan Corporation Mottrol illustrates how inhumane employers can be toward workers. It is truly concerning that this case might not be isolated and there might be similar cases of workers being deprived of basic human dignity. The man, a 47-year-old white-collar worker, was among a group of 20 employees who the firm wanted to fire through “honorary retirement,” a euphemism for early retirement.  He refused to accept the retirement plan, and the management retaliated by

March 24, 2016

[Editorial] Shady price rises

There is an urgent need for economic policymakers to pay more attention to irregular growth in consumer product prices. Over the past year, prices of daily necessities have grown despite drops in raw material prices, according to a consumer advocate group.The Korea National Council of Consumer Organization has compared the consumer prices and rollout costs of 34 processed foods and daily necessities sold by 300 distributors in Seoul.The organization said raw material prices fell 3.2 percent on a

March 22, 2016

[Editorial] Park flip-flops

Recent remarks by President Park Geun-hye on her economic outlook are drawing accusations of inconsistency and fickleness. Her assessment on the national economic conditions changed from skepticism early this year to an upbeat mood in early March, and again returned to skepticism this week.In her speech to the public in January, Park said that Korea “could face the woes of mass unemployment and pay huge social and economic costs, as it did during the (1997-98 foreign exchange) crisis.” Park expr

March 22, 2016

[Editorial] Unscrupulous carriers

The nation’s three mobile carriers -- SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus -- have been found to have cheated customers in marketing what they called “unlimited” data, voice call and text messaging services.　The Fair Trade Commission has found that the services that the three operators claimed to be unlimited were in fact limited.　For instance, the carriers slowed down data speeds of their unlimited LTE data plans when subscribers exceeded the data caps they set.　They also levied additional charges or re

March 21, 2016

[Editorial] Missing children

Another tragic child abuse case was brought to light last weekend, only days after the body of a 7-year-old boy, who died in February due to maltreatment by his stepmother, was found buried in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.　Police said Saturday they arrested a man in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, in connection with the death five years ago of his 4-year-old stepdaughter.　The stepfather, surnamed Ahn, attributed the death of the child to abuse by her mother, who committed suicide Friday,

March 21, 2016

[Editorial] Work culture

Like in other parts of the world, work culture in Korea has evolved with the passage of time. But in general, it is still based on the tradition of Confucianism and has yet to remove remaining vestiges of authoritarianism that prevailed during the military dictatorship until the late 1980s. 　It could be noted that some traditional work culture -- like loyalty to organizations and superiors, readiness to take and execute orders without questioning and sacrificing private life -- were part of the

March 20, 2016

[Editorial] All the ills

As political parties are gearing up for the April 13 general election, all the negative aspects of Korean politics are being laid bare. Most salient among them are intraparty power struggle, promotion of populist promises and switching party affiliations. 　This time, internal power struggle is more fiercer in the ruling Saenuri Party than in other parties as the confrontation between the faction loyal to President Park Geun-hye and its rival faction has exploded during the candidate nomination p

March 20, 2016

[Editorial] Tightening stranglehold

With North Korea threatening to continue to conduct nuclear and missile tests, the United States has taken further steps to choke off the funding that allows the rogue state to continue its nuclear and missile provocations.U.S. President Barack Obama issued an executive order Wednesday designed to implement both the U.N. Security Council resolution against the recalcitrant regime and the recently enacted North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act.The latest executive order goes a step furt

March 18, 2016