[Editorial] Dubious jobless stats

One quote popularized by Mark Twain says: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” This quote should undoubtedly appeal to well educated young Korean people with no jobs, who question the validity of official statistics about youth unemployment.A young man fresh out of university may find that half his former classmates have yet to land jobs. But he is told by Statistics Korea that the unemployment rate among young people stood at a mere 6.3 percent in September. What h

Oct. 28, 2011

[Editorial] Parties in disarray

For too long, Korea’s political parties have failed to meet the people’s needs, engaging in endless conflict with each other and within themselves and neglecting their legislative missions. In elections, voters resignedly swung from one party to another, but in the latest Seoul mayoral by-election, they had an alternative; a “people’s candidate” emerged and the frustrated electorate chose him. The victory of lawyer-activist Park Won-soon meant the defeat of the two major parties to people power

Oct. 27, 2011

[Editorial] Korea-U.S. defense talks

The chief defense officials of Korea and the United States hold their annual security talks in Seoul today with Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta at the head of each side. Ministers and top generals of the two allies have got together each year without interruption for over four decades to review the security situation on and around the Korean Peninsula and discuss efforts to meet common challenges. The Korea-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting not only sign

Oct. 27, 2011

[Editorial] Time to act on U.S. FTA

With the important Seoul mayoral by-election over, rival parties are now required to tackle a still more important issue without further delay ― the ratification of the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement. To thrash out the differences among the parties, the National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee organized four rounds of intensive debate from Oct. 20-24. Lawmakers and experts from the government and academia discussed the merits and demerits of the trade deal for more t

Oct. 26, 2011

[Editorial] War against gangsters

Cho Hyun-oh, commissioner general of the National Police Agency, has declared war on organized crime. The police chief told a press conference on Tuesday that he has launched a sweeping crackdown on the 220 gangs that operate in the nation. The members of these factions are estimated at some 5,500.Cho said he has ordered police officers to use all devices and equipment available, including firearms, to round up these gangsters.The war against organized gangsters was prompted by the failure of po

Oct. 26, 2011

[Editorial] Moment of truth

When Seoul citizens go to the polls today, their minds will be more focused on which way the Republic of Korea should be directed rather than what the capital city administration should do.Both candidates Na Kyung-won from the conservative ruling Grand National Party and Park Won-soon supported by a coalition of opposition parties and liberal civic groups had jurist careers and no experience in municipal administration. They debated over some welfare and city development policies, but their two

Oct. 25, 2011

[Editorial] Libya and North Korea

By all accounts, 99 percent of the North Korean people are not aware of what happened in Libya last week, let alone the violent pro-democracy movements in other Middle East and North African nations since last spring. The other 1 percent are the top-level party and administration officials and businesspeople who travel to China and other parts of the world. Agencies monitoring the North’s print and broadcast media reported that they have been completely silent about the death of Moammar Gadhafi

Oct. 25, 2011

[Editorial] A last chance

The new Japanese government is showing a subtle change in approach to its responsibility for the “comfort women” during World War II ― one of the most troubling issues between Japan and South Korea. If Tokyo has any sincerity, they should first consider the short time left to resolve the problem. The issue must be settled before all the victims pass away. New debates started in Tokyo over remarks by Seiji Maehara, a former foreign minister and present chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of J

Oct. 24, 2011

[Editorial] Back in Geneva

As U.S. and North Korean envoys began talks in Geneva on Monday to resume the six-party talks in Beijing, many Koreans recalled the bilateral accord signed by the two countries 17 years ago in the same Swiss city to halt North Korea’s then-nascent nuclear program. The 1994 “Agreed Framework,” which had a title chosen to evade the Senate ratification procedure in the U.S. and was thus legally non-binding, was a product of extraordinary circumstances on the Korean Peninsula ― the death of DPRK fou

Oct. 24, 2011

[Editorial] Zero-interest student loans

The trade union of Korea Exchange Bank surprised many on Thursday by announcing that it would promote a 1 trillion won interest-free loan program for college students. The union’s plan calls for KEB to provide 5 million won interest free to a total of 200,000 students over five years starting next year. It also proposes to cover the interest costs of the program, which would total 150 billion won, with contributions from the bank’s 6,500 employees and the bank’s profits.If implemented as planned

Oct. 23, 2011

[Editorial] Global currency swaps

Korea is reportedly seeking to ramp up its currency swap line with China from the present $26 billion to the level of the recently expanded Korea-Japan foreign exchange swap deal. In their summit on Oct. 19, President Lee Myung-bak and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda agreed to boost their swa

Oct. 23, 2011

[Editorial] Consumer protection

The global financial crisis in 2008 highlighted the need to tighten oversight of greedy financiers. At the same time, it also brought into the spotlight the importance of protecting financial consumers, as it was millions of individual households that bore the brunt of the devastating financial tsun

Oct. 21, 2011

[Editorial] White elephant in Yongin

The prosecution is investigating allegations of corruption surrounding the light rail transit project in Yongin City, Gyeonggi Province. Prosecutors have already banned some 30 people involved in the project, including two former mayors of the city, from leaving the country. The project started in 2

Oct. 21, 2011

[Editorial] Compensating war dead

It was an utterly senseless act for the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs to deliver 5,000 won to the sister of a soldier killed in the Korean War as “compensation” for war dead. Officials came down to the amount, not enough to buy a bowl of noodles, by quoting the fixed 50,000-whan governme

Oct. 20, 2011

[Editorial] Stronger leadership

When new Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda visited Korea on his first overseas trip since taking office 50 days ago, he must have known perfectly well that issues between the two neighboring countries extend to both the past and the future. He touched on the past only a little by bringing with

Oct. 20, 2011

[Editorial] Escalating credit card row

Some 70,000 restaurant owners from across the nation rallied in Seoul on Tuesday, calling for a cut in the fees they pay to credit card companies. The demonstration came one day after credit card issuers announced a plan to lower the fees for restaurants and other small shops from the current low en

Oct. 19, 2011

[Editorial] Baby boomers need support

A growing number of Korean baby boomers who have retired from their main lifetime jobs are starting up microenterprises to earn a livelihood. But they are exposing themselves to the risk of poverty as their chances of success are low due to their lack of experience and unfavorable economic condition

Oct. 19, 2011

[Editorial] Success or half success?

Two years after work started to help the four major rivers serve industries and rural life, river beds have been deepened, banks streamlined and hundreds of kilometers of bike lanes built on both sides of the waterways. To the great relief of President Lee Myung-bak and his development-minded aides,

Oct. 18, 2011

[Editorial] Lee’s property

President Lee must regret that he followed the advice of his aides to buy property in his son’s name to build a house for his retirement. He must feel doubly sorry that his own party showed little sympathy for him and instead regarded him as a burden in the upcoming elections. The land in Naegok-don

Oct. 18, 2011

[Editorial] Kim Han-sol spotlight

The international media, including South Korean newspapers and networks, has found a new celebrity in the 16-year-old grandson of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il. The activities of Kim Han-sol at an international school in Bosnia are competitively covered by the European, Japanese and Korean media

Oct. 17, 2011