[Editorial] P.M. nominee

President Park Geun-hye on Thursday nominated Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn as prime minister. If the National Assembly approves the nomination, Hwang will fill the post left vacant following the resignation of Lee Wan-koo in late April as he faced allegations that he took 30 million won from a businessman who killed himself. Lee, who barely passed his National Assembly confirmation hearing, earned the ignominy of being one of Korea’s shortest-serving prime ministers.It must not have been an ea

May 21, 2015

[Editorial] Offsetting surplus

Korea’s current account surplus jumped by 41.9 percent from a year earlier to $10.3 billion in March, stretching the record for a consecutive monthly surplus to 37 months. The Bank of Korea predicts the country’s current account surplus for this year will reach a record annual high of $96 billion. In addition to a continued increase in trade surplus, the rising inflow of foreign capital into local equity markets is behind the record performance.A rise in the current account surplus is generally

May 20, 2015

[Editorial] Gender pay gap

Data released by the National Tax Service this week drew attention again to a wide gender wage gap in the country and the need to bring more Korean women into the workforce.The average wage of a female worker reached 21 million won ($19,000) in 2013, just 57.5 percent of the figure for a male worker. The amount represents a 21.4 percent rise from 17 million won in 2009, but still trails the 22.3 percent increase for men over the same period. Male workers received an average wage of 37 million wo

May 20, 2015

[Editorial] Tackling N.K.

As expected, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s short visit to South Korea ended in the usual way, with the top American diplomat and his hosts ― namely President Park Geun-hye and Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se ― reaffirming the solid alliance against North Korea, but failing to offer measures to deal with the antagonistic regime in Pyongyang. Despite the short one-night itinerary, Kerry’s Seoul trip drew attention because it came shortly after the North claimed that it successfully test-fired

May 19, 2015

[Editorial] Election funds

Prosecutors probing the Sung Woan-jong scandal are set to indict South Gyeongsang Gov. Hong Joon-pyo and former Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo soon on charges of receiving illicit money from the late construction tycoon. The indictment of Hong and Lee concludes the first phase of the investigation into allegations that Sung offered illegal money to influential politicians. Hong and Lee became the first targets after Sung, before ending his own life, left a memo and recorded interview detailing how a

May 19, 2015

[Editorial] Spy movie comes to life

It sounds like a plot straight out of a B movie ― a South Korean drug ring is recruited to make methamphetamine in North Korea and then given spy missions, including assassinations of key North Korean defectors.According to the authorities who busted the ring after testimony by a former North Korean agent who defected to the South, North Korean agents approached a South Korean drug dealer in China in 1997 with a deal in which the North would provide a place to make methamphetamine if South Korea

May 18, 2015

[Editorial] Inefficiency in Sejong

The outcry against waste and inefficiency caused by the relocation of government ministries to Sejong City can be addressed quite simply: Build a National Assembly annex in Sejong City and perhaps even Blue House offices there.Most of the waste ― both time and money ― is attributed to the frequent business trips that ministries’ officials are required to make to attend various National Assembly meetings. According to the government, some 7.5 billion won was spent in the first half of last year o

May 18, 2015

[Editorial] Business collaboration

More than 300 business leaders from Korea and Japan gathered in Seoul last week for an annual two-day meeting to discuss ways to promote economic cooperation between the two countries. Unlike in previous gatherings, most participants sat throughout the conference that ended Thursday.This serious attitude apparently reflected concerns shared by the participants over frozen ties between Seoul and Tokyo and their eagerness to play an active role in bolstering bilateral cooperation to bring benefits

May 17, 2015

[Editorial] Modi in Seoul

South Korea and India signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement in 2010, setting up a major framework for further boosting bilateral trade and investment ties.But it can still hardly be said that the third- and fourth-largest economies in Asia have made the most of this potential for mutual cooperation. South Korea and India have yet to put a full-fledged effort toward maximizing their partnership in a variety of fields.Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit here that st

May 17, 2015

[Editorial] Shooting rampage

The shooting spree at a reservists’ training camp that resulted in three deaths is all the more tragic because it appears the incident could have been prevented had there been strict safety procedures in place. The 23-year-old reservist, identified as Choi, fired seven bullets at fellow reservists at the shooting range before turning the K-2 rifle on himself. Choi died at the scene, while four reservists were taken to the hospital. Two of them died there, while two others remain hospitalized wit

May 15, 2015

[Editorial] Escalating tensions

North Korea has conducted a series of night-time firing exercises along the West Sea, raising tensions in the highly volatile area near the maritime border.On Wednesday, North Korea’s military informed Seoul that it would conduct firing drills in its maritime territory on the West Sea near the border, known as the Northern Limit Line, until Friday. This was followed by a series of live-fire exercises, including Thursday’s drill that took place from 7:10 p.m. to 9:40 p.m.According to the Joint Ch

May 15, 2015

[Editorial] Development cooperation

Over the past years, Korea has been pushing to expand its global role as a middle power. It is natural and desirable for the country to seek to make contributions to the international community commensurate with its status as the world’s 13th-largest economy.This effort will hopefully increase Korea’s influence and leadership in addressing a range of global issues.Traditionally, Scandinavian nations have been key players in middle-power diplomacy, but their activities have been on the wane with

May 14, 2015

[Editorial] A reign of terror

In his continued reign of terror, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un executed its defense chief Hyon Yong-chol last month on charges of treason.Hyon, the head of the People’s Armed Forces, was executed by a firing squad using an antiaircraft gun at a military school in Pyongyang around April 30, South Korea’s top intelligence agency said in its briefing to lawmakers Wednesday.Pyongyang has not yet announced the purge of Hyon, who was appointed to the No. 2 post in the North Korean military hierarc

May 14, 2015

[Editorial] Whither NPAD?

The factional feud inside the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy is deepening. It is nothing new for the party to be embroiled in severe internal fighting, but this time it is putting the fate of its leader Moon Jae-in in the balance. Senior party members like former party leader Kim Han-gil and Park Jie-won are openly calling on Moon to step down to take responsibility for the party’s humiliating defeat in the April 29 parliamentary by-elections. Senior members like Kim and Par

May 13, 2015

[Editorial] Not to be ignored

Former Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo will be questioned Friday over allegations that he received illicit money from Sung Woan-jong. Lee is the second politician ― after South Gyeongsang Province Gov. Hong Joon-pyo ― to face a grilling by prosecutors in the Sung scandal. Given that people who are suspected of having received illegal money from the late construction tycoon are big-name politicians like Lee and Hong, public attention tends to be focused on Sung’s collusive ties with politicians. But n

May 13, 2015

[Editorial] UNESCO listing

Korea and Japan have one more thing they disagree on. This time the dispute is over a group of Japanese industrial sites dating from the 19th century being listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites.The nongovernmental organization advising the UNESCO on World Heritage listings, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), last week recommended the “Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution” be listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites, paving the way for the final listing in late June w

May 12, 2015

[Editorial] Selling military secrets

Recent revelations of corruption at all levels and all services of the military now include Defense Security Command workers who leaked classified documents to an arms dealer.The incidents were discovered during the government’s investigation of corruption in the defense industry following the arrest of Ilgwang Group chairman Lee Kyu-tae in March for allegedly pocketing 50 billion won in an Air Force arms deal worth 130 billion won in 2009.A 56-year-old DSC employee was arrested on May 10, charg

May 12, 2015

[Editorial] Crooked executives

The key element of the Sung Woan-jong scandal, which has been battering Korean politics for more than one month, is that a tycoon, who once stepped into the world of politics, spent illicit money indiscriminately to buy influence from politicians and senior government officials. As with similar scandals in the past, the case instantly brought public attention to the problems of corruption in politics and civil service, since those who are suspected of having received money from the late tycoon a

May 12, 2015

[Editorial] A new threat

North Korea leveled up its military threat by claiming Saturday it had successfully conducted an underwater test-fire of a submarine-launched ballistic missile. Kim Jong-un, the North’s young leader, watched the missile “soar into the sky from underwater,” Pyongyang’s state media reported without specifying the exact date and location of the test-fire.Shortly after the report, the North fired three antiship cruise missiles into the sea off its coast.Pyongyang’s latest show of force followed repe

May 11, 2015

[Editorial] Older offenders

In a rapidly aging society like Korea, it may be natural that the demographic change is accompanied by an increase in elderly crimes. What differentiates Korea from other major advanced nations is that it has seen a sharp rise in felonies committed by the elderly.According to data released Sunday by the National Police Agency, the number of criminal offenses blamed on people aged 65 or above increased by 12 percent from 68,836 in 2011 to 77,260 in 2013. Their violent crimes such as murder, robbe

May 11, 2015