[Editorial] More than a shutdown

The government has decided to shut down the nation’s oldest nuclear reactor, the Kori No. 1 in Busan in 2017 after 37 years of commercial operation. The 580-megawatt light water reactor began producing electricity in 1978, and its original 30-year lifetime was extended by 10 years until 2017. The operator of the nuclear power plant, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, wanted to extend its operation for another 10 years, but the National Energy Commission agreed that the time had come to shut down the r

June 15, 2015

[Editorial] Progress at last?

In an interview with the Washington Post, President Park Geun-hye said that “there has been considerable progress on the issue of comfort women,” referring to women who were forced into Japanese military sex slavery during World War II.Park noted that Korea and Japan are in the “final stage of our negotiations,” and said, “So I think we can expect to look forward to a very meaningful 50th anniversary of normalization of diplomatic ties.” While she declined to elaborate on the progress made, sayi

June 14, 2015

[Editorial] Info sharing crucial

The World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s joint mission Saturday characterized the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak that began here last month as “large and complex” and recommended continued vigilance.The joint mission said strengthening of contact tracing, monitoring and quarantine as well as expanded lab testing will prevent the further spread of the MERS coronavirus. There has been no mutation in the virus, the joint mission said, explaining that it show

June 14, 2015

[Editorial] Breeding ground

One of the important things in the currently raging Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak is that all of the patients, except the first one who caught the disease during a trip to the Middle East, were infected by the virus within hospitals. It is ironic that hospitals that are supposed to stop germs and viruses have become a breeding ground for contagious diseases, but the reality calls upon the government and the medical community to enhance infection control at hospitals. Some point to pr

June 12, 2015

[Editorial] 15 years on

Fifteen years ago on June 15, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il issued a joint declaration after their historic summit in Pyongyang. The June 15 South-North Joint Declaration was highlighted by the two leaders’ agreement to pursue “independent” reunification, reunions of separated families, expansion of social and cultural exchanges and government-level talks. The agreement brought an instant thaw in the two Koreas’ relations, which led to numerous programs:

June 12, 2015

[Editorial] Whitewashing history

Unable to reach an agreement during Tuesday’s second round of talks, the Korean and Japanese officials said they will discuss the issue of UNESCO listing of Japanese Meiji-era industrial sites as World Heritage sites in another round of talks in Tokyo. Japan had applied for 23 industrial sites built during the Meiji era to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites and the International Council on Monuments and Sites recommended the listings last month. The ICOMOS is a nongovernmental organization

June 11, 2015

[Editorial] President in charge

President Park Geun-hye postponed her U.S. visit originally scheduled for June 14-18 as controlling the further spread of the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak became the top national issue.The decision to postpone the visit was made because the president needs to take care of people’s safety amid the continued anxiety about MERS, according to the Blue House. Indeed, the public opinion is against Park embarking on an overseas trip in middle of a crisis, and the majority opposition New Po

June 11, 2015

[Editorial] Concerns overblown

It is certainly necessary to take all effective measures to contain the Middle East respiratory syndrome from spreading further in the country. But Koreans may now need to ask themselves whether they are overreacting to the outbreak of the disease, and letting it escalate into social disruption and an economic crisis.Unconfirmed stories about the potentially deadly virus, which have gone viral on the Internet, have sparked public scares and spawned distrust in the MERS-related information provid

June 10, 2015

[Editorial] G7 and climate change

Leaders from the Group of Seven industrial powers pledged to strengthen efforts to phase out fossil fuel emissions this century at their meeting in Bavaria, Germany, Monday. They said that, in line with scientific findings, “deep cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions are required with a decarbonization of the global economy over the course of this century.” The leaders of the U.S., Germany, France, the U.K., Italy, Canada and Japan called for global emissions cuts at the upper end of the 40-70

June 10, 2015

[Editorial] No panic, no complacency

It may be too early to say so, but the latest developments should convince the nation that it will be able to contain the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak that has been raging for three weeks. The disease, which has led to seven deaths, the quarantine of about 3,000 people and the virtual shutdown of about 30 hospitals, indeed raises questions about the nation’s competence in dealing with infectious diseases.The government’s botched initial response and the apparent complacency ― on par

June 9, 2015

[Editorial] A step to exoneration?

Prosecutors probing the Sung Woan-jong bribery scandal summoned and questioned Rep. Hong Moon-jong over allegations that he received illegal political funds from the late construction tycoon. Hong flatly denied the allegations before and after he underwent questioning for 16 hours until early Tuesday morning. He told reporters that Sung ― the former CEO of Keangnam Enterprises ― who once was a fellow parliamentarian, had asked for help regarding his convictions for election law violations and in

June 9, 2015

[Editorial] N.K. nuclear ambitions

A U.S. State Department report said that North Korea may have clandestine nuclear facilities in addition to the main Yongbyon nuclear complex, raising the specter of nuclear weapons proliferation in the communist state.The 2015 Report on Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments also suggested that Pyongyang may have no intention to comply with its denuclearization commitments. Pyongyang imploded the cooling tower at the Yongbyeon

June 8, 2015

[Editorial] Cooperation with WHO

As the Middle East respiratory syndrome seemed to spiral out of control, the government finally abandoned its policy of not disclosing hospitals involved in MERS treatment and announced 24 hospitals where MERS patients were treated or are being treated.Knowing whether the hospitals they visited had treated MERS patients allows the public to prevent the further spread of the virus in the community. However, the health authorities were lambasted following the announcement for incorrectly identifyi

June 8, 2015

[Editorial] Another thorny choice

South Korea now faces the possibility of being driven into making another thorny choice between the U.S. and China, with its effort to maintain strategic ambiguity between the two superpowers seeming to go nowhere. A senior U.S. official urged South Korea last week to speak out against China’s assertion of its territorial claims in the South China Sea. During a seminar in Washington, Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel denounced the land reclamation projects that China has been carrying o

June 7, 2015

[Editorial] Economic fallout

The spread of the Middle East respiratory syndrome across the country is feared to be making a deep indent on the Korean economy, which has already been struggling with declining exports and slumping domestic spending. Thorough measures should be taken to contain the deadly virus from spreading further. Still, it is necessary to prevent excessive panic from worsening the economic downturn.The current situation is comparable to the spread of concern in 2003 over the severe acute respiratory syndr

June 7, 2015

[Editorial] No changes since Sewol

Amid the government’s refusal to release the full list of MERS-related hospitals, Seoul City Mayor Park Won-soon held a press briefing late Thursday night where he revealed that a doctor who has since been diagnosed with MERS allegedly had direct and indirect contact with over 1,500 people before his infection was confirmed. Park attacked the Health Ministry for being uncooperative and declared that he would now take charge of efforts to deal with MERS in Seoul. The unscheduled middle-of-the-nig

June 5, 2015

[Editorial] Not the time for infighting

The factional struggle that threatens the very viability of the major opposition party, the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, has now struck the ruling Saenuri Party. Factionalism is a national ailment in Korea where the notion of “us against them” holds sway in numerous aspects of society. Thus, it is that we have the “pro-Roh” faction, named after the late President Roh Moo-hyun, and the “non-Roh” faction of the NPAD constantly at odds, jostling for power between each other. Over at the Sae

June 5, 2015

[Editorial] Containing MERS

Public concern is rising across the country over an outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome, which has so far infected 35 people, killed two and closed more than 500 schools. With new cases of infection being reported on a daily basis, the number of people placed under quarantine has exceeded 1,600. Fearful citizens are stocking up on face masks and hand sanitizers.Health authorities are certainly to blame for their clumsy initial response. President Park Geun-hye called for “utmost efforts

June 4, 2015

[Editorial] Collective self-defense

During their meeting last week, the South Korean and Japanese defense chiefs agreed that Tokyo would get Seoul’s consent before exercising its right to collective self-defense in an emergency on the Korean Peninsula.Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani reassured his South Korean counterpart Han Min-koo that Japan would never send troops to the peninsula without prior consent from South Korea. He was quoted by a South Korean defense official as saying that “our self-defense force will launch mi

June 4, 2015

[Editorial] Ugly standoff

The confrontation between President Park Geun-hye and the National Assembly ― or to be more exact, the opposition ― over a controversial bill that passed the legislature last week has become a thorny issue. Park made it clear that she would veto the bill ― which empowers the legislature to demand government offices amend administrative ordinances and decrees ― because it violates the constitutional separation of powers among the three branches of government. The bill would paralyze government op

June 3, 2015