[Editorial] Milestones in trade

The nation is set to make two achievements in external trade this year ― its volume exceeding $1 trillion for the first time and a deep cut in the deficit in trade with Japan. It deserves to congratulate itself on this.The volume of trade, which was at $898.8 billion at the end of last month, will hit the $1 trillion mark early next month if the trend continues. Korea will be the ninth country in the world to reach that level. Dec. 12 has been set as the date for a congratulatory ceremony for th

Nov. 20, 2011

[Editorial] A receding unionism

The portion of unionized workers in the labor force has now halved from the 1989 peak of 198 in 1,000 workers. According to a recent report from the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the nation’s rate of unionization stands at 9.8 percent.Unionism is weakening as blue-collar jobs are replaced by white-collar ones and the number of non-regular workers is on the rise. Even more damaging to unions is a perception widely shared among workers that they, or more accurately their leaders, do not serve

Nov. 20, 2011

[Editorial] R&D support for SMEs

We cannot overemphasize the importance of enhancing the productivity of small and medium-sized companies. Currently, Korea faces an explosion in welfare demands. With its limited budget, the government can hardly meet this challenge. The most effective solution to this problem is to create more jobs, since the best welfare program is a job. In Korea, SMEs account for 90 percent of employment. Hence, to create more jobs, the first step is to boost the job creation potential of SMEs. SMEs can crea

Nov. 18, 2011

[Editorial] Discount gas stations

Since January, the government has been waging an uphill battle to bring down the prices of retail petroleum products. Its efforts culminated earlier this month when the Ministry of Knowledge Economy announced a plan to convert 10 percent of Korea’s gas stations ― 1,300 outlets ― into discount gas stations by 2015. The scheme is aimed at infusing competition in the domestic market, which the ministry thinks is being dominated by a cartel of four refiners ― SK Energy, GS-Caltex, S-Oil and Hyundai

Nov. 18, 2011

[Editorial] Health insurance reform

The nation’s health insurance will not be sustainable if nothing is done to improve its finances. Losses are destined to snowball. As the losses are covered by government subsidies, they will put an enormous strain on the nation’s budget.That is why the government needs to take drastic action before it is too late. Last year alone, it had to make up for a deficit of 1.3 trillion won. Compulsory social insurance, which benefits the entire population, must be made to support the system on its own

Nov. 17, 2011

[Editorial] Vision and commitment

Park Won-soon set himself apart from his predecessors when he held his inaugural as new Seoul mayor on Wednesday. The inaugural, which was belatedly held in his office, was more of an occasion to connect with citizens than a ceremony.Park, who had started to administer city affairs shortly after being elected Seoul mayor in the Oct. 26 by-election, invited no guest to the inauguration and spent little money on the event. Instead, he himself performed what he nonetheless purported to be a ceremon

Nov. 17, 2011

[Editorial] No more delay on FTA

The main opposition Democratic Party has rejected President Lee Myung-bak’s proposal that he would seek renegotiation with Washington on a contentious clause in the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement if the DP cooperates in ratifying the trade pact.Lee made the offer at a meeting with leaders of the ruling Grand National Party and the DP on Tuesday. He made a rare visit to the National Assembly to break the impasse over the ratification of the KORUS FTA.He was quoted as saying that “if the Assembly

Nov. 16, 2011

[Editorial] Growth in self-employment

Korea’s self-employment rate is one of the highest in the OECD. In 2008, self-employment accounted for 31.3 percent of the nation’s total employment, almost double the OECD average of 15.8 percent.In most OECD countries, self-employment rates have been falling since 1990. The higher a country’s per capita GDP, the lower its self-employment rate tends to be.In Korea, self-employment had been on the decline since 1998. In particular, the pace of decline accelerated during the 2008-09 global financ

Nov. 16, 2011

[Editorial] Political regrouping

It is again the time for political regrouping. The half century of the Republic of Korea’s modern political history has recorded repeated realignment of political parties ahead of major elections, even during the military-backed authoritarian rule. But history also shows that hurriedly assembled new parties have not done well in elections. This time, there is an unusual factor. Parties are scrambling to regroup after reading the writing on the wall in the mayoral by-election in Seoul last month.

Nov. 15, 2011

[Editorial] Ahn’s donation

The Ahn Cheol-soo phenomenon took a new turn as the potential presidential candidate made a commitment for a 150 billion won ($135 million) donation to charity Tuesday. His surprise action encouraged his supporters in the vast ranks of Korean society and further alerted political parties. The donation makes clearer his intent to enter the 2012 presidential race.In a press conference at the Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, Seoul National University, where he is the dean, Ahn

Nov. 15, 2011

[Editorial] Overseas residents’ voting

Registration started Sunday for overseas Korean residents who want to vote in the parliamentary elections next April. On the first day, about 600 people visited designated Korean missions abroad for registration. We cannot predict how many of the 2.24 million eligible Koreans living abroad will have registered by the Feb. 11 deadline and how many of those registered will actually cast their votes two months later, each time taking the trouble of travelling to Korean offices. But we can make a gr

Nov. 14, 2011

[Editorial] Entertaining but disturbing

Weekly podcast “Nakkomsu” is entertaining, as most gag programs and politically tinted talk shows are. It ridicules President Lee Myung-bak, Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee and others that stand for power in today’s Korea. Its hosts and guests, often including political bigwigs, amuse their audience of millions with sarcasm and piercing criticism at conservative politicians and the mainstream media. The problem is it mixes speculations and unfounded rumors with credible comments, and the bigg

Nov. 14, 2011

[Editorial] The specter of blackouts

As winter approaches, the specter of blackouts looms again. On Sept. 15, Korea suffered rolling blackouts. The cause of the disaster was heavy use of air conditioning due to an unseasonable heat wave. A sudden spike in power demand overshot the nation’s supply capacity, forcing the grid operator to cut electricity supply to avert a total blackout. The chances of such a disaster taking place in winter are greater than in summer with the widespread use of electrical heating appliances. According t

Nov. 13, 2011

[Editorial] New honor for Jeju Island

Jeju Island has been voted as one of the new seven wonders of nature by people across the world. The scenic island was chosen along with the Amazon Rainforest and River (in Brazil and several other countries), Halong Bay (Vietnam), Iguazu Falls (Argentina and Brazil), the Komodo National Park (Indonesia), the Puerto Princesa Underground River (the Philippines) and Table Mountain (South Africa).The list of the seven natural wonders was announced Saturday by the New7Wonders Foundation, a nonprofit

Nov. 13, 2011

[Editorial] Arab Spring and N. Korea

Self-imposed isolation from the outside world has long been a hallmark of North Korea, a destitute, reclusive communist state, in which individuals are denied basic freedoms. Yet the walls of separation have been raised higher since the Jasmine Revolution started to shake despotic Arab countries.One of the latest such cases is the recent suspension of direct flights between North Korea and Kuwait. North Korea has recently canceled the weekly flight of its flag carrier, Air Koryo ― an unmistakabl

Nov. 11, 2011

[Editorial] Drive against reelection

One of the first things a politician elected to the National Assembly does when his election euphoria recedes is to tailor all his public behavior in such a way as to ensure his reelection four years later. To him, nothing else counts as much.This explains why moderate lawmakers affiliated with the main opposition Democratic Party stopped talking one day after they proposed a compromise over the stalled process of ratifying the Korean-U.S. free trade agreement. The lawmakers became the target of

Nov. 11, 2011

[Editorial] Enhancing SME productivity

Controversy is growing over a government-backed private commission’s campaign to restrict the entry of large corporations into certain markets in its bid to protect small and medium-sized enterprises.A week ago, the Commission on Shared Growth for Large and Small Companies, which was established in September last year to promote win-win cooperation between big firms and SMEs, categorized 25 products as “SME-suitable” items, urging large companies currently producing them to scale back their outp

Nov. 10, 2011

[Editorial] Employment jackpot?

Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan described the October job data as an “employment jackpot.” On the surface, the minister’s description is justified ― according to Statistics Korea, the economy gained 501,000 more jobs last month compared with a year ago, while the jobless rate fell to 2.9 percent.The job growth in October is notable as it more than offset the on-year population growth of 454,000. The gain was the largest since the economy added 586,000 in May 2010. Bahk valued the October gain more

Nov. 10, 2011

[Editorial] Party’s survival at stake

Predictability is a rare commodity in Korean politics. Change in voter sentiment is so abrupt, as seen during the recent Seoul mayoral election, that correct predictions are elusive.Few would have believed several months ago that a social activist trained in law would gain so much popularity so swiftly and grab the post of Seoul mayor as an independent. Nor would it have been thought that a university professor with no party affiliation would be mentioned as one of the most powerful potential ca

Nov. 9, 2011

[Editorial] Botched burials

When millions of animals exposed or presumed to be exposed to foot-and-mouth disease were culled and buried late last year and early this year, the potential leakage from the burial sites and its pollution of ground water were of great environmental and health concern.That fear has become a reality. Moreover, the Ministry of Environment, which conducts tests on 300 new sites each quarter, is accused of attempting to cover up its discovery of the leakage. Quoting a report from the ministry, the p

Nov. 9, 2011