[Editorial] Park’s talks with Xi

President Park Geun-hye, now on a four-day visit to China, had talks with her counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday, which covered North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, regional security, bilateral economic ties and many other issues. Their agreements will undoubtedly serve as guidelines for South Korea’s relations with China during the next five years of her governance, if not longer. Her selection of Beijing over Tokyo as her second destination for summit diplomacy after Washington speaks volumes abou

June 28, 2013

[Editorial] Withdrawing privileges

It is not unusual for a university faculty member to curry favor with a political party or a political leader. He is willing to sell his academic expertise for his political ambition. He is rightly called a “polifessor,” a derogative term combining politician and professor.Some polifessors may play constructive roles in pursuit of their personal interests. For instance, they may provide political leaders and their parties with ingenious, yet sound advice in crafting policies.But many others do h

June 28, 2013

[Editorial] Probe into the NIS

The dispute over the transcript of the 2007 summit between President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has taken a new turn as allegations surfaced that the document was illegally leaked to some ruling party lawmakers before the December presidential election.The allegations were first put forward by Rep. Park Beom-kye, a lawmaker of the main opposition Democratic Party. Park claimed that the Saenuri Party’s presidential campaign team had planned to use the controversial summit mi

June 27, 2013

[Editorial] Outlook for 2nd half

The government has unveiled its economic management plan for the second half. As expected, it raised its economic growth forecast for this year to 2.7 percent from the 2.3 percent projected in March.The plan also forecasts the economy to add 300,000 new jobs this year, up from the previously projected 250,000 but much fewer than last year’s gain of 440,000. Consumer prices were forecast to rise 1.7 percent, slower than the previous projection of 2.3 percent, while current account surpluses were

June 27, 2013

[Editorial] Ties with Japan

Officials here have said no political and diplomatic consideration was behind the recent decision by South Korea and Japan not to extend their currency swap facility worth $3 billion, which is due to expire in early July. After the Bank of Korea announced it Monday, a Finance Ministry official said neither Seoul nor Tokyo had requested the extension as they had not seen the need to do so.But the termination of the swap line appeared the latest testimony to the strained relations between the two

June 26, 2013

[Editorial] Winning Chinese hearts

President Park Geun-hye’s four-day state visit to China, which starts Thursday, has given rise to so much expectation that some observers here say her “visit in itself will be a success.” Beijing has set the stage for welcoming her as an “old friend,” who taught herself Chinese and sought peace of mind from a book on the history of Chinese philosophy when she went through difficult times. The personal bond between the South Korean president and her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, who will hold t

June 26, 2013

[Editorial] Pandora’s box

The state intelligence agency opened Pandora’s box when it unexpectedly disclosed Monday the controversial transcript of the 2007 inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang between President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.The abrupt disclosure added a new twist to the already convoluted dispute over the remarks that Roh made during the summit regarding the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border between the two Koreas in the West Sea.The National Intelligence Service made publi

June 25, 2013

[Editorial] Dubious CEO pay

The Financial Supervisory Services is set to launch a probe into executive compensation in the domestic banking industry as the pay of top officials at financial holding companies and banks seems not to be directly linked to performance.According to reports, KB Financial Group Inc. paid a total of 4.36 billion won last year to its chairman, Euh Yoon-dae, and its president, Lim Young-rok, with Euh’s share believed to be around 3 billion won. Euh, who is scheduled to step down next month handing o

June 25, 2013

[Editorial] ‘Forgotten victory’

A sign at the Korean War exhibit that opened at the Pentagon last week described the 1950-53 conflict as the “Forgotten Victory.” The phrase was coined by U.S. officials trying to enhance public awareness of the historical significance of what has been called the “Forgotten War,” which broke out 63 years ago today.Few American soldiers were aware of where the Korean Peninsula was when they were sent to fight alongside the South against the invading troops from the North. Six decades after the wa

June 24, 2013

[Editorial] Respectful Korea

In an investor relations meeting in London last month, South Korea’s Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok declared his country has reached the level even with other advanced nations. Making a presentation titled “From emerging to advanced,” he highlighted South Korea’s economic achievement over the past decades.Few would dispute the miraculous accomplishments it has achieved from the ashes of the Korean War, which started 63 years ago today. South Korea has become the seventh country with a population

June 24, 2013

[Editorial] NLL and spy agency

It is extremely difficult to declassify sensitive remarks a president made in secrecy. It requires the approval of two-thirds or more of the incumbent members of the 300-seat National Assembly to make public a president’s remarks, classified and stored as presidential records separately in the government’s archives.But it looks inevitable to take the process of making public the dialogue former President Roh Moo-hyun had with his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-il during their 2007 Pyongyang s

June 23, 2013

[Editorial] On way to closure?

Last Thursday, 46 South Korean companies that used to produce machinery and electronics parts in the North Korean border town of Gaeseong warned that they would be forced to make a grave decision unless they were allowed to resume operations by July 3. The companies did not elaborate on what action they would take after the deadline. By a grave decision, however, they apparently meant closing their shops in the Gaeseong industrial complex permanently.Shortly after North Korea banned South Korean

June 23, 2013

[Editorial] Bernanke shock

The domestic financial market is likely to remain volatile for the time being as the U.S. Federal Reserve has sent global financial markets into turmoil by hinting it could end its massive stimulus program next year. Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Fed, has said if the U.S. economy recovers as expected, the bank could start winding down the $85 billion monthly bond purchase program this year, possibly ending it around mid-2014.To allay investor concerns, he said in the same breath that the ass

June 21, 2013

[Editorial] ‘Government 3.0’

The government has come up with an action plan to bring to fruition President Park Geun-hye’s vision for “Government 3.0”. During the election campaign, Park promised to introduce a smart, next-generation e-government capable of providing individual citizens with services tailored to their demands. Government 3.0 is an upgrade from version 2.0, which is characterized by bilateral interaction between citizens and government, and version 1.0, which is based on the one-way delivery of services to c

June 21, 2013

[Editorial] History education

The Seoul government is planning to make a formal request soon to Japan asking for the correction of its distorted history textbooks. In a recent report to the National Assembly, the Education Ministry also said it would send an email to civic groups and some 10,000 history teachers in Japan to “let them know the bare truth” about the history of the bilateral relationship between Korea and Japan.Ministry officials, however, might feel somewhat embarrassed with taking these moves at a time when a

June 20, 2013

[Editorial] Overseas compatriots

In a meeting with representatives of Korean communities abroad this week, President Park Geun-hye pledged to draw on the talents of overseas compatriots to enhance the nation’s international competitiveness. Park said she would provide ample opportunities for overseas Koreans with global minds and outstanding abilities to contribute to the advancement of their homeland. She went further to emphasize that her administration’s four major goals of economic revival, people’s happiness, cultural pros

June 20, 2013

[Editorial] Return of the ‘Mofia’

Cheong Wa Dae has recently told the Cabinet ministries to temporarily halt the process of screening candidates for the top posts of the public institutions affiliated with them.What prompted the Presidential Office to stop the process was a growing outcry against former Finance Ministry officials taking top jobs at private and public financial institutions.Former officials of the Ministry of Finance are called “Mofia” here for their mob-like cronyism. The latest examples include Lim Young-rok, a

June 19, 2013

[Editorial] Getting tough on sex crimes

A set of toughened sex crime laws went into effect Wednesday, ushering in big changes in meting out punishment to sex offenders, protecting traumatized victims and overseeing ex-convicts.The most significant and welcome change is the abolition of the personal accusation system that made the prosecution of sex offenders impossible without the victims first filing a complaint.Under the old system, prosecutors could not bring charges against sex offenders if the victims chose not to file accusation

June 19, 2013

[Editorial] Drug smuggling

It is worrisome that drugs smuggled into Korea or trafficked through it have been increasing rapidly in recent years. The number of drug-smuggling cases uncovered by the Korea Customs Service rose from 150 in 2009 to 232 last year.Recent figures from the KCS augmented the perception that the country could no longer be recognized as a place relatively free of narcotics. For the first five months of this year, the agency confiscated 21.7 kg of methamphetamines at local airports and harbors, which

June 18, 2013

[Editorial] Disgraced elite schools

It must have shocked teachers, students and their parents that the deputy principal of a Seoul international middle school mired in an admissions fraud scandal committed suicide. Found dead at the school Sunday, he left a note saying that anyone involved should take responsibility for the scandal, which has enraged the public, prompting calls for the abolishment of the elite school system.The prosecution is right to be firm in pushing for their investigation without being affected by his suicide

June 18, 2013