[Editorial] Kill the taxi bill

The ruling Saenuri Party was grossly misguided in its claims Tuesday that President Lee Myung-bak ignored the authority of the National Assembly when he rejected the bill it had passed in support of taxi operators. The main opposition Democratic United Party was equally ill-advised when it denounced the president for vetoing the controversial bill.The president was exercising his constitutional right to return the bill with his objections to the legislature for reconsideration. Moreover, his obj

Jan. 23, 2013

[Editorial] Curbing food waste

Food waste collection facilities in many of Seoul’s 25 wards stink to high heaven as private food waste disposal companies have stopped processing the food waste collected there amid disputes over fee hikes. Residents near these facilities will have to endure the odor of rotting food waste as ward offices and waste disposal companies are unlikely to reach a deal any time soon. The disputes were triggered by the government’s ban on dumping the liquid that leaches out of food waste into the sea, w

Jan. 22, 2013

[Editorial] A new governing style

If the shape of the new Blue House organization unveiled by the presidential transition team on Monday suggests anything, it is that President-elect Park Geun-hye will likely show a governing style far different from those of her predecessors. Critical of the tradition of “imperial presidencies,” Park said she would scale back the power of the president and presidential staff while increasing the authority and responsibility of the prime minister and Cabinet ministers. Park’s intention to break

Jan. 22, 2013

[Editorial] Boosting growth potential

Economic planners and analysts have put forward a series of forecasts painting a gloomy picture of the country’s economy, which has already lost steam in recent years.In its report last month, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance predicted the economy would grow by 3 percent this year, following an estimated 2.1 percent in 2012 and 3.6 percent in 2011. During a policy briefing to transition committee members this month, ministry officials expressed concerns that this year’s growth rate might fal

Jan. 21, 2013

[Editorial] Moonlighting lawmakers

One in three lawmakers still retains at least one other lucrative job, recent data shows, drawing the public’s attention again to whether political parties are ready to carry out their pledges to curtail privileges enjoyed by parliamentarians. Of the 300 members in the current National Assembly elected in April, 96 engage in profitable activities on top of their legislative duties. One lawmaker holds nine different posts, according to data from the parliamentary secretariat, which was obtained a

Jan. 21, 2013

[Editorial] Weakening middle class

One of the key campaign promises President-elect Park Geun-hye made is to expand the middle class to cover 70 percent or more of all households. It is necessary to expand the middle class and empower it if she is to promote political stability by reducing friction between rich and poor and boost economic growth based on the newly gained stability.But the pursuit of her goal will undoubtedly prove to be easier said than done, given the yawning gap between her 70 percent target and the current lev

Jan. 20, 2013

[Editorial] At loggerheads

The state auditor and the ministries concerned are engaged in a dispute over the auditor’s conclusion that President Lee Myung-bak’s vaunted four-river project was flawed from the beginning. Also drawn into the conflict are political parties.Now, the president’s 22 trillion won project is turning into such a serious scandal that President-elect Park Geun-hye’s incoming administration will have to look into the case and verify the claim that the construction work was poorly designed and implement

Jan. 20, 2013

[Editorial] Lifelong learning

President-elect Park Geun-hye has pledged to usher in an era of happiness for all people. Park’s aides have been working on measures to expand welfare benefits and create more jobs to back up this promise, which propelled her campaign along with her other commitment to bringing together the nation, which is divided along ideological, regional and generational fault lines.The president-elect’s single five-year mandate, which begins on Feb. 25, is barely long enough to turn her pledge into reality

Jan. 18, 2013

[Editorial] Trade functions

Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan returned home Friday, curtailing a visit to India from his five-nation tour that was scheduled to continue through early next week. In no time, he convened a meeting with senior ministry officials to discuss the planned transfer of its trade affairs function to an economic ministry, which was included in a government reorganization scheme announced by the presidential transition team Tuesday.The announcement has since put the ministry in confusion. It has dealt wit

Jan. 18, 2013

[Editorial] Policy coordination

One of the key features of government reorganization pursued by President-elect Park Geun-hye is the creation of the post of deputy prime minister for economic affairs. Park has proposed that the minister of finance and strategy double as deputy prime minister.Policy coordination would be the minimum that would be required of a deputy prime minister for economic affairs. There should be much to coordinate if the Park administration is to maintain consistency in divergent economic policy.On one h

Jan. 17, 2013

[Editorial] Ill-advised selection

During his five years of governance, President Lee Myung-bak has frequently selected many people with serious ethical flaws as candidates for top public posts. Why did he do so? Was it because he put loyalty before anything else? It is an enigma.But one thing is clear. When he did so, he believed the ruling Saenuri Party would provide staunch support for his nominees despite their moral deficiencies.Among them were those who had avoided being drafted into military service for dubious reasons. Ot

Jan. 17, 2013

[Editorial] More women on boards

A group of lawmakers are moving to set a statutory quota of women directors at public institutions to break the glass ceiling. Rep. Chung Mong-joon of the ruling Saenuri Party and 61 other legislators have proposed a bill requiring state-run corporations and other public organizations to raise the ratio of women on their boards to 15 percent in three years and 30 percent in five years.The move is justified, given the dearth of women in the boardrooms of public as well as private corporations in

Jan. 16, 2013

[Editorial] ‘Happiness fund’

During her presidential campaign, President-elect Park Geun-hye promised to write down the debts of some 3.2 million people by setting up an 18-trillion-won fund, dubbed the National Happiness Fund.At the center of her scheme lay the Korea Asset Management Corp., a state-run agency specializing in resolution of non-performing loans acquired from financial institutions. KAMCO was supposed to secure 1.8 trillion won in seed money and issue bonds, as allowed by law, 10 times the amount of that seed

Jan. 16, 2013

[Editorial] Best line-up

Speculation has been rampant over what led to the recent resignation of a key member of the presidential transition committee. Aides to President-elect Park Geun-hye have failed to give any specific reason why Choi Dae-seok, one of the top three members of the committee’s subpanel on foreign affairs, defense and unification, abruptly stepped down last Saturday.While repeatedly citing an unspecified personal reason for his departure, they have rebuffed allegations that Choi might have been in con

Jan. 15, 2013

[Editorial] Venturing abroad

In yet another indication of the increasing hardship facing younger Koreans, recent data showed the proportion of people in their 20s engaged in economic activity plummeted to its lowest in nearly three decades last month. According to figures from the national statistics office, 60.1 percent of 20-somethings were economically active in December. The ratio, down from 62.3 percent a year earlier, marked the lowest level since February 1986, when the corresponding figure stood at 59.6 percent.The

Jan. 15, 2013

[Editorial] Park’s choice of P.M.

President-elect Park Geun-hye will soon have to designate a candidate for the post of prime minister if she is to faithfully follow the constitutional procedure of establishing her Cabinet. Earlier in the month, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, which said it would take a whole month to complete the process, recommended that the president-elect start it by selecting her prime minister-designate by this coming Sunday.The ministry believes it will take 15 days for the National As

Jan. 14, 2013

[Editorial] Era of slow growth?

Both domestic and global financial institutions say Korea’s per capita GDP, which has remained in the doldrums since it broke through the $20,000 level in 2007, is now ready to reach another milestone in its growth trajectory ― $30,000 in three or four years. But none should be deluded by this phenomenal growth projection for per capita GDP, denominated in the U.S. dollar, because it hardly means proportional growth in the Korean won-denominated family income. It is rather juxtaposed against an

Jan. 14, 2013

[Editorial] Shorter work hours

The transition team of President-elect Park Geun-hye is moving to shorten Korea’s notoriously long working hours in a bid to improve the quality of workers’ lives, promote job sharing and stimulate efforts to enhance productivity.On the campaign trail, Park pledged a set of measures to reform the labor market. One key promise was to reduce Korea’s work hours to the OECD average by 2020.In 2010, Korean workers put in 2,193 hours on average, more than 400 hours longer than the OECD average of 1,74

Jan. 13, 2013

[Editorial] Shadow economy

This year promises to be a tough year for the National Tax Service as it faces the challenge of reining in the underground economy to maximize tax revenue and help President-elect Park Geun-hye finance her welfare pledges.Park’s welfare projects call for a total of 134 trillion won ($126 billion) during her five-year term. She promised to secure the necessary funds without raising tax rates or creating new taxes. She said she would secure 81 trillion won by reforming the budget and the remaining

Jan. 13, 2013

[Editorial] Project gone awry?

As president-elect in January 2008, Lee Myung-bak said at a news conference that he was working on a grand infrastructure project: a plan to turn the nation’s four largest rivers into canals for more efficient inland transportation. In the face of mounting resistance from the opposition parties and diehard environmentalist groups, however, he backed off and promised not to pursue the project.But in December the same year, he came up with a four-river project again, this time aimed at improving t

Jan. 11, 2013