[Editorial] Assembly disappoints, again

They had promised that they would give up their privileges, yet the National Assembly’s veto of the Justice Ministry’s request for the arrest of ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker Song Kwang-ho Wednesday is a clear reminder that the lawmakers have no intention of giving up their privileges ― immunity from arrest while the National Assembly is in session being one of them. The four-term legislator is suspected of having taken some 65 million won in bribes from a supplier of railroad parts while servin

Sept. 4, 2014

[Editorial] Strange bedfellows

An odd handshake took place earlier this week between Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan over the establishment of a task force charged with drawing up a Hangang River development plan.This was odd, because Park’s position on the redevelopment of the Hangang River has been geared toward recovering the river’s natural state, while the government has stated its desire to develop the river as a tourist attraction. That goal is similar to the previous Seoul Mayor Oh Se-ho

Sept. 4, 2014

[Editorial] China’s changing posture

Seoul officials are likely to be on alert over China’s recent moves to ease its diplomatic conflict with Japan. It appears that momentum is building up for bilateral talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing in November.If realized, the Xi-Abe summit could lead to normalizing the strained relationship between their countries and changing the geopolitical landscape in Northeast Asia

Sept. 3, 2014

[Editorial] Youth unemployment

Recent data from the Education Ministry showed provincial universities exceeded universities in Seoul and nearby areas in the proportion of graduates landing jobs for the first time this year. The average figure for four-year provincial colleges stood at 55.1 percent, compared with 54.3 percent for those in the Seoul metropolitan area. Among the 20 universities with the highest proportions of employed graduates, 15 were located in provincial cities.It may be rash to say graduates from provincial

Sept. 3, 2014

[Editorial] School start time

Korea’s education system often draws praise from world leaders, U.S. President Barack Obama being one of them. On several occasions, Obama lauded the role of Korean teachers as “nation builders” and the “longer hours” that Korean students spend in school.But the U.S. leader ignores the long hours many Korean students spend in after-school private classes, which are mainly geared toward the college entrance exam. The long study hours are one of the key factors that make the Korean education syste

Sept. 2, 2014

[Editorial] Parliament’s duty

The National Assembly started its 100-day regular session Monday. Opposition members who had boycotted the parliament attended the opening ceremony, but it is still uncertain whether the legislature will begin normal operations soon. The annual parliamentary sitting, usually called “autumn session,” is important because it is used to deliberate the budget proposal for next year and conduct an audit on the executive and judiciary branches.Besides the yearly agenda, the Assembly is tasked with pas

Sept. 2, 2014

[Editorial] Barracks culture

Starting Monday, enlisted men were allowed visits by families and friends on weekdays after work hours, in addition to the weekend visits. Soldiers posted at general outposts, who were previously not allowed visits, are now able to receive visitors on weekends. At some units, shared cellphones are available. The measures are part of the reform plan announced last month that the Ministry of National Defense has decided to implement immediately. The measures are being instituted to prevent tragic

Sept. 1, 2014

[Editorial] Flurry of diplomatic activities

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su-yong’s visit to the U.S. in mid-September to give a speech at the United Nations General Assembly, which convenes on Sept. 16, will be the first visit by the communist state’s foreign minister in 15 years.There are already speculations about the rare visit. Ri will not be addressing a friendly audience at the U.N. It is widely expected that Ri will have to respond in some form to the March report by the U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea

Sept. 1, 2014

[Editorial] Welfare default

It was a matter of time for municipal governments across the country to reach the limit of their financial capacity to pay for their share of the costs needed to implement increased welfare programs.Heads of 226 small cities, counties and wards said in a press release last week that they would declare default on welfare spending unless the central government expanded support for them in carrying out its welfare policies.Their unprecedented move came as no surprise.Under the current system, the w

Aug. 31, 2014

[Editorial] Better employment system

It has been 10 years since the employment permit system was introduced to solve problems with the previous scheme for allowing low-skilled foreign laborers to work in Korea. As of June, about 470,000 foreigners were working here legally under the system adopted in August 2004.It has let public institutions in 15 countries that signed an agreement with the Korean government select and send workers here, replacing the industrial trainee system run by private agencies. Under the previous scheme, wh

Aug. 31, 2014

[Editorial] ‘One Asia’

North Korea said Thursday it would not send a cheering squad to the upcoming Incheon Asian Games, while reaffirming its plan to dispatch a 273-member delegation, including 150 athletes. The announcement by an official of the North’s National Olympic Committee appeared to reflect Pyongyang’s dissatisfaction with Seoul’s unwillingness to cover the cost of the cheering group’s stay here.South Korea promised in writing earlier this week to provide administrative and other necessary support for North

Aug. 29, 2014

[Editorial] Education on unification

A government survey released this week highlighted the need for more effective and systematic education about unification to give students a more positive perception of a reunified Korea.In the survey of 116,000 students at 200 elementary, middle and high schools across the country, 53.5 percent said unification was necessary, followed by 26.1 percent who showed a neutral attitude. Nearly 20 percent replied unification was unnecessary.It was particularly notable that the proportion of students i

Aug. 29, 2014

[Editorial] Ill-considered words

Kim Young-oh, the father of a Sewol victim, ended his 46-day hunger strike Thursday. In a radio interview, Kim said he was ending his fast at the insistence of his daughter and his mother. He realized that he needed to recover his strength to keep up a prolonged fight, he added. On Wednesday, the Sewol families held a second meeting with the Saenuri Party, following the first meeting Monday. The families stuck to their demand for a special commission to be given the powers to investigate and ind

Aug. 28, 2014

[Editorial] Natural or manmade disaster?

The torrential rain that dumped more than 240 millimeters on Busan and the eastern part of South Gyeongsang Province Monday wrought great havoc, including 14 dead and missing, and led to the shutdown of the Kori-2 nuclear power plant as the rainwater flooded in.Parts of Busan, the country’s second-largest city with a population of 3.5 million, received up to 130 mm of rain per hour, which caused extensive flash floods as the storm drain system was unable to handle so much rainwater. Busan’s metr

Aug. 28, 2014

[Editorial] Visegrad Group

It was 25 years ago that South Korea set up its first diplomatic relations with a communist country. The establishment of formal ties with Hungary in 1989, which came months before the collapse of the Berlin Wall, prompted other Central and Eastern European countries to forge diplomatic relations with Seoul despite protests from Pyongyang in the following years.The Nordpolitk pushed by South Korean President Roh Tae-woo’s government culminated in normalizing ties with the Soviet Union in Septemb

Aug. 27, 2014

[Editorial] No political consideration

A government report released this week has rekindled controversy over the feasibility of a project to build a new international airport in the southeastern part of the country.The report said passenger traffic at Gimhae International Airport near the southeastern port city of Busan would hit its maximum capacity within a decade. The number of passengers using the airport, which stood at 9.67 million last year, was projected to rise by an average 4.7 percent annually from 2015 to reach 16.68 mill

Aug. 27, 2014

[Editorial] Electronic tags no panacea

A man suspected of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman in Gwangju last week was wearing an electronic ankle bracelet at the time. A few hours later, the man was involved in a car accident and brought to a police station. He was allowed to leave before the police discovered that he had been wearing an electronic tag and that he was a suspect in a sexual assault that had been reported earlier. The tracking device attached to the suspect’s electronic ankle bracelet was found discarded in a s

Aug. 26, 2014

[Editorial] Park holds the key

The National Assembly has come to a halt as the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy lock horns over a special bill on Sewol. The parliamentary audit of state organizations scheduled to begin Tuesday did not take place as the NPAD boycotted the National Assembly, demanding a tripartite negotiation ― which would include the families of Sewol ferry disaster victims ― over the Sewol bill. The Saenuri Party continued to reject the NPAD’s demand, maintainin

Aug. 26, 2014

[Editorial] Vital alliance

During his meeting with South Korea’s national security adviser here last week, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work underscored Washington’s priority to restore balance to the Asia-Pacific region as well as the importance of its alliance with Seoul. In a separate news conference, he said the U.S. rebalance to Asia was real, and his country would further boost coordination with Asian partners including Japan, while stressing that the alliance between Seoul and Washington was “the linchpi

Aug. 25, 2014

[Editorial] Keeping competitive

Incheon International Airport won the 2014 Airport Service Quality Award from Airports Council International in May for the ninth consecutive year. Located 70 km west of Seoul, the airport earned the highest score in service quality in a global survey of about 350,000 airport users over the past year.No other airport has won the award for nine straight years, a feat described by the acting president of Incheon Airport’s operator as a “milestone for us” during the award ceremony on the sidelines

Aug. 25, 2014