[Editorial] Military sex crimes

Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and other ministry officials gathered together last Friday in an education session on a theme they must have felt somewhat embarrassed with ― preventing sex crime. What prompted the gathering was the suicide earlier this month of a female Army officer, who had allegedly been harassed for months by her male superior demanding a sexual relationship.At the end of the session, the defense minister said policy efforts needed to be strengthened to prevent sex crimes in th

Oct. 28, 2013

[Editorial] Top prosecutor picked

President Park Geun-hye on Sunday tapped Kim Jin-tae, a former deputy prosecutor general, as the nominee for the post of chief prosecutor. The nominee has to undergo a parliamentary hearing but is virtually assured of the post, given that no decision by the hearing committee is binding.As part of the selection process, the justice minister recommended Kim, one of the four the selection committee picked as candidates for the post last week, to the president for his appointment as the nominee. But

Oct. 27, 2013

[Editorial] Recovery firming

The nation’s economy is regaining vitality, as is evidenced by growth in gross domestic product in the third quarter of this year. The Bank of Korea says GDP grew 1.1 percent from the previous quarter and 3.3 percent from a year ago.Growth was anemic a year ago. The third quarter of 2012 marked zero gain. Then growth began to pick up ― 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, 0.8 percent in the first quarter of 2013 and 1.1 percent in the second quarter.Moreover, it was the first time in seven

Oct. 27, 2013

[Editorial] Election legitimacy

The row over the alleged meddling into the December presidential election by the National Intelligence Service is boiling over into a dispute over the legitimacy of the election.Tossing fuel onto the raging controversy is Moon Jae-in, the presidential candidate of the main opposition Democratic Party. In a statement issued Wednesday, he declared that the December election was “unfair.” He based his conclusion on the fresh allegations raised against the NIS, the military and the Ministry of Patri

Oct. 25, 2013

[Editorial] Reform bills in limbo

The economy remains tepid as reform bills intended to give it a shot in the arm are left on the back burner. Lawmakers of the ruling and opposition parties are so wrapped up in partisan strife that they don’t care about their legislative duty. Currently, more than 100 bills aimed at revitalizing the economy are pending at the National Assembly. As long as they remain in limbo, the government cannot put in place various packages it has prepared to put the economy back on track.So Finance Minister

Oct. 25, 2013

[Editorial] Fiscal responsibility

As far as fiscal management is concerned, the incumbent administration of President Park Geun-hye appears to be following in the footsteps of the previous government under President Lee Myung-bak, from which it has been trying to differentiate itself. It is regrettable ― and maybe inevitable ― to see the Park administration on course to maintain state largesse to push its agenda and pass the task of achieving a balanced budget over to the next government.The pattern of delaying the timetable for

Oct. 24, 2013

[Editorial] Korean Freikauf model

Many Koreans last week came to know, or were reminded of, a German word that may have been obliterated from the memory of most Germans.In a parliamentary audit session, Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said that Seoul was looking into the feasibility of adopting the Freikauf model as a tool to bring back South Koreans held in North Korea. The policy, which means “buying freedom,” was implemented by West Germany during the Cold War era to secure the release of East German political prisoners to

Oct. 24, 2013

[Editorial] Messy investigation

The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office has launched an inquiry into the unseemly clash between high-ranking prosecutors involved in the probe into the National Intelligence Service’s alleged meddling in the December presidential election. The inspection should be carried out swiftly to help prosecutors get their act together. Inspectors should first determine whether Cho Young-kon, head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, stonewalled the probe into the spy agency. The allegation against

Oct. 23, 2013

[Editorial] Rolling out telemedicine

A clash is looming between the government and physicians over the introduction of telemedicine, the delivery of medical care using telecommunications technologies. Telemedicine enables patients in remote regions to receive care from doctors without having to travel to visit them. Yet it is banned in Korea, a country known for its advanced ICT infrastructure. Economic ministries have long sought to lift the ban to increase medical welfare for people and curb medical costs. They also believe telem

Oct. 23, 2013

[Editorial] Successful resettlement

Guiding North Korean defectors to a secure and stable life here may be a key touchstone of Seoul’s capability to smoothly integrate the two disparate societies in the event of national reunification. Defectors who have successfully settled in the South would be able to play a bridging role to facilitate the integration process.But figures recently released by a lawmaker on the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee showed there were many gaps in the system to manage and ca

Oct. 22, 2013

[Editorial] Profitable events

The Suncheon Bay Garden Expo ended with great success Sunday, having attracted more than 4 million visitors during its six-month run. President Park Geun-hye’s visit on the closing day was seen as a tribute to what the event hosted by the southern coastal city with a population of about 200,000 had achieved.The successful hosting of the garden exposition near Suncheon Bay has laid the foundation for establishing the area as one of the major global destinations of ecological tourism. In 2006, the

Oct. 22, 2013

[Editorial] Upgrading tourism

The Korean tourism industry is beginning to feel the impact of China’s new tourism law that went into effect Oct. 1. The law is designed to protect outbound Chinese tourists from unscrupulous tour operators. Specifically, it bans travel agencies from selling tour products that look like a bargain as prices are unreasonably low, but are actually a rip-off as they force tourists to go shopping for long hours simply to help local tour operators get kickbacks from shops. The law had an immediate imp

Oct. 21, 2013

[Editorial] Defiant union

The Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union faces delegalization as its members have voted against the government’s order to amend its constitution that allows dismissed teachers to be members. About 60,000 of its 75,000 members participated in the vote held for three days last week, with some 70 percent choosing to defy the government, even if it would mean their union being deprived of its hard-won legal status. A month ago, the Ministry of Employment and Labor issued an ultimatum demandi

Oct. 21, 2013

[Editorial] Probe in disarray

The investigation into the spy agency’s alleged political intervention took a new twist when the prosecution discharged the case’s chief investigator on Friday. His dismissal followed the arrest of three officials from the National Intelligence Service on charges of smearing the opposition presidential candidate on Twitter last year. The prosecution said it dismissed the prosecutor heading a special investigation team from his post because he did not follow the standard operating procedure when

Oct. 20, 2013

[Editorial] BOK under attack

It is unusual for the governor of the Bank of Korea to be a target of attack from lawmakers during an annual inspection of government agencies by the National Assembly. But Kim Choong-soo, governor of the central bank, was severely criticized for his mismanagement when his bank was inspected by the Committee of Strategy and Finance on Friday. Mainly at issue were the central bank’s poor economic forecasts. As an economist-turned-lawmaker affiliated with the ruling Saenuri Party noted, the centra

Oct. 20, 2013

[Editorial] Election meddling

An allegation has been made that at least one noncommissioned officer and three civilians attached to the military’s cyber warfare unit engaged in an online smear campaign against the opposition presidential candidate last year.The smear campaign, if proven true, would have breached political neutrality required of the military. Though denial was the initial response from the military, emerging circumstantial evidence is connecting the military personnel to negative comments made about Moon Jae-

Oct. 18, 2013

[Editorial] South deceived again?

South Korea has decided to indefinitely postpone an event, scheduled for Oct. 31, to attract foreign investors to the industrial complex in Gaeseong across the Demilitarized Zone. The delay results from the lack of progress in the talks with North Korea on cross-border passage, communication and customs clearance.In deciding in August to reopen the industrial complex, whose operations had been suspended in April, Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to facilitate the border passage of personnel by control

Oct. 18, 2013

[Editorial] Unequal opportunities

Lawmakers have found that a significant proportion of the nation’s public organizations have a clause on job inheritance either in their collective bargaining agreements or in their bylaws.According to data disclosed by legislators on the Assembly’s Environment and Labor Committee, 65 of the nation’s entire 432 public institutions, including those affiliated with local governments, have a provision in their collective bargaining agreements that requires them to hire a family member of an employe

Oct. 17, 2013

[Editorial] Revolving door

One pressing task for President Park Geun-hye is to fill the top posts of the many state-run enterprises and other public organizations that have been left vacant for months. In June, she abruptly ordered the Cabinet ministries to halt the selection of candidates to lead the public entities under their wings. She was responding to a public outcry against parachute appointments.The public was riled up over the ministries helping their former officials land top positions at public entities. In res

Oct. 17, 2013

[Editorial] Inevitable option

In their joint news conference after security talks here early this month, South Korean and U.S. defense chiefs avoided directly mentioning a possible connection between South Korea’s participation in the U.S.-led global missile defense scheme and a delay in the transfer of wartime operational control to Seoul.At the time, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel emphasized the need to bolster interoperability of the allies’ missile defense systems to counter threats from North Korea, while agreeing t

Oct. 16, 2013