[Editorial] Tax revenue deficit

State budget planners are struggling with the thorny task of meeting an increase in welfare spending amid a growing shortfall of tax revenue. Their work has been made more difficult by the demands for more expenditure on public safety in the wake of the Sewol ferry disaster in April, which claimed more than 300 lives.According to recent data from the Finance Ministry, the government collected a total of 74.6 trillion won ($73.9 billion) in tax through April this year, which accounts for about 34

July 8, 2014

[Editorial] Deaths on road

Korea, which maintains the highest suicide rate among major developed nations, remains just a step away from regaining another disgraceful No. 1 position ― in traffic fatalities.According to the latest data compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the number of Koreans killed on the road reached 105 per 1 million people in 2011, the second-highest among the 31 member states surveyed. The figure marks an impressive improvement from 218 in 2000 when the country topped

July 8, 2014

[Editorial] Won’s rise

The alarm bell had already been ringing since early this year, but the won’s rise to a fresh six-year high last week should further alert all the players in the economy.The Korean currency closed at 1,009.20 won per dollar on Wednesday, hitting its strongest level since July 31, 2008. The won, which had gained about 12 percent against the greenback last year, has advanced some 5 percent so far this year. The Korean currency is also gaining strength against other major currencies like the yen and

July 7, 2014

[Editorial] Shameful No. 1

Korean society is already notorious for its high suicide rate. But the latest statistics released last week show that the nation has been doing little to cure what has become a serious social illness. OECD Health Data statistics showed that Korea’s suicide rate is the highest among the member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. It said that 29.1 people out of every 100,000 took their own lives in 2012, which is 17 times higher than Turkey’s 1.7 and 2.4 times high

July 7, 2014

[Editorial] N.K.-Japan rapprochement

Japan’s Cabinet gave formal approval last Friday to lifting some of Tokyo’s unilateral sanctions on North Korea in what could be seen as a move to counter Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Seoul, during which South Korea and China strengthened their joint stance against Japan’s revisionist moves.The measure came in return for Pyongyang’s active reinvestigation of the abduction of Japanese citizens to the North in the 1970s and 1980s, including the launch of a special committee to investiga

July 6, 2014

[Editorial] Government reorganization

Though belated, it is the right move for President Park Geun-hye to meet with the floor leaders and chief policymakers of the ruling and main opposition parties at Cheong Wa Dae this week.Their discussion may not cover the full range of pending issues, but should serve to facilitate bipartisan cooperation in passing key bills proposed after the Sewol ferry disaster in April, which left more than 300 people dead or missing.The floor leaders of the rival parties last week agreed to enact a special

July 6, 2014

[Editorial] After the summit

Before returning home after a two-day state visit on Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping attended a business forum in Seoul. President Park Geun-hye was alongside him. Later in the day, Park hosted a private luncheon for Xi and his wife at a Korean traditional house, a rare hospitability she offers to a visiting head of state. There are more episodes and events Park’s aides say illustrate a close personal friendship between the two leaders, who are meeting for the fifth time since Park took off

July 4, 2014

[Editorial] Reach out to farmers

Judging from comments from senior officials, it appears certain that the government has already decided to liberalize the local rice market by replacing the current nontariff, quantitative barrier with tariffication. An announcement on the decision had been planned at the end of last month, but officials delayed it, apparently to buy the time to win round politicians and farmers opposed to the government policy. As this page has said, Korea will benefit more from full liberalization of the rice

July 4, 2014

[Editorial] Administrative inefficiency

Since Sejong City was launched two years ago, 13 government ministries and agencies have moved from Seoul to a town designed as a new administrative hub. In March, the Prime Minister’s Office vowed to hold as many government meetings as possible in Sejong, about 130 km south of the overpopulated capital.The pledge, however, has hardly been kept, with Prime Minister Chung Hong-won staying in the administrative city for only five days in June. Chung was bound to his office in Seoul partly due to P

July 3, 2014

[Editorial] Xi in Seoul

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Seoul, which came before any meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, highlights the shift of Beijing’s strategic focus to partnership with South Korea.During their summit talks Thursday, the fifth since they took office early last year, President Park Geun-hye and Xi discussed regional security issues, including North Korea’s nuclear program and Japan’s move to strengthen its military role, and agreed on a set of measures to elevate the Seoul-B

July 3, 2014

[Editorial] Controversial nomination

Kim Myung-soo, President Park Geun-hye’s nominee for education minister, is facing mounting pressure to withdraw from the nomination process as allegations of research misconduct continue to surface.The latest allegations against Kim, a professor at Korea National University of Education, were raised by one of his former students. In an open letter to Kim published by a local weekly magazine, the former student, now teaching at an elementary school, claimed that Kim had his graduate students wri

July 2, 2014

[Editorial] Japan’s remilitarization

Amid deep concerns in its neighboring countries, Japan has adopted a new interpretation of its war-renouncing constitution to exercise the right to collective self-defense.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration approved Tuesday a document to reinterpret Article 9 of Japan’s so-called pacifist constitution, which bans the use of military force abroad.Thus far, the Japanese government has interpreted this article as effectively denying Japan the right to collective self-defense, which is enshr

July 2, 2014

[Editorial] 10 years on

Monday marked the 10th year since the start of operations at the Gaeseong industrial park in the North Korean border city of the same name. A South-North joint project the park was the brainchild of the late leaders Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il, who held a historic summit in 2000.Though there have been some hitches, the Gaeseong complex, combining the North’s cheap labor and land with the South’s capital and technology, has grown to become a model of economic cooperation between the two Koreas,

July 1, 2014

[Editorial] FSS sanctions

The Financial Supervisory Service will soon announce disciplinary decisions on nine financial firms and their executives and staff, whose number is said to be more than 200. Officials say those who face sanctions include about 10 former and incumbent CEOs and altogether about 50 people are likely to receive severe punishments such as dismissals and suspensions of duties. These impending mass disciplinary actions, whose scale is unprecedented, prove that the nation’s financial sector faces many p

July 1, 2014

[Editorial] Minimum wage hike

A trilateral committee of labor, management and government representatives decided last week to raise the country’s minimum wage by 7.1 percent to 5,580 won ($5.50) per hour for next year. The pay increase, close to this year’s 7.2 percent increase, will affect about 2.68 million workers struggling on low income.It was the first time in six years that a minimum wage has been set within a legal deadline. But corporate representatives walked out of a vote on the compromise deal worked out by gover

June 30, 2014

[Editorial] Out in the cold

One can easily guess how the North Korean leadership feels about Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to South Korea this week, accompanied by a massive entourage, including about 200 business leaders. Xi, who took office last March, will be the first Chinese leader to visit the South before making a trip to the North, which has become increasingly estranged with China, its only major ally, over its nuclear weapons program and refusal to take the path of reform and openness.Xi’s trip to Se

June 30, 2014

[Editorial] Dongbu’s turn?

The liquidity crisis at Dongbu Group is deepening as the nation’s 18th-largest business group has difficulty raising funds through asset sales. Dongbu Steel Co, one of the group’s key subsidiaries with 2.6 trillion won in debt, is pushing for a voluntary restructuring deal with its creditors, as POSCO recently rejected an offer to take over the company’s cold-rolled steel plant in Incheon together with Dongbu Power’s lucrative plant in Dangjin.If creditors accept Dongbu Steel’s proposal, the com

June 29, 2014

[Editorial] Fuel economy

A turf war between two ministries over how to measure vehicle fuel efficiency has resulted in toughened mileage rules, which could benefit consumers but will make life more difficult for automakers. On Thursday, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it would fine Hyundai Motor Co. and Ssangyong Motor Co. as it found that they had inflated the mileage figures of the Santa Fe DM 2WD and the Korando Sports 4WD AT6, respectively.In a separate announcement, however, the Mi

June 29, 2014

[Editorial] Domestic investment

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry this week suggested a set of policy tasks for promoting domestic consumption by reviving a virtuous cycle of increased corporate investment and more employment. The new economic team formed by President Park Geun-hye, which will get to work after parliamentary confirmation hearings, needs to give full consideration to the suggestion.The Park administration and preceding governments have prioritized creating more jobs to boost household income and consum

June 27, 2014