[Editorial] General welfare

Before leaving the post of finance minister on Thursday, Yoon Jeung-hyun called on his ministry to serve as the last line of defense against onrushing demands for general welfare. His advice could not have been timelier, given that political parties and politicians, those with presidential ambitions in particular, are shifting their focus from selective welfare to general welfare with little regar

June 3, 2011

[Editorial] Time to raise guard

North Korea disclosed Wednesday that South Korea proposed three inter-Korean summits ― first at Panmunjeom in June, second in Pyongyang in August and third in Seoul in March ― at a secret meeting of officials from the two sides in Beijing on May 9. According to the North’s official media, Pyongyang rejected the offer because Seoul demanded an apology for the atrocities the North committed last yea

June 2, 2011

[Editorial] Productive Assembly session

The National Assembly opened a month-long extraordinary session Wednesday to discuss major state affairs, review the government’s policies and deliberate on the pending bills. But this session is likely to be dominated by one burning issue ― the savings bank scandal.The floor leaders of the ruling Grand National Party and the main opposition Democratic Party have agreed to start a parliamentary in

June 2, 2011

[Editorial] Indefensible act

Student activists forcibly occupied the Seoul National University president’s office in protest against the university’s forthcoming incorporation. The illegal intrusion into the office was anything but a defensible means of conflict resolution.The university is set to be incorporated into a national university corporation in December under a law enacted last December to provide it with greater au

June 1, 2011

[Editorial] Budget surplus

Tax revenues are projected to surpass this year’s target by 10 trillion won to 20 trillion won ― a blessing for a nation which had to borrow and spend its way out of the global financial crisis. With economic recovery gaining momentum, taxes collected during the first quarter increased by 4 trillion won from a year ago.Now where to spend the surplus is an issue of contention between the administra

June 1, 2011

[Editorial] Fate of a lawmaker

The fate of Rep. Kang Yong-suk is hanging in balance as the National Assembly Ethics Committee has almost unanimously agreed to expel him for a series of remarks insulting specific female professionals and other acts inappropriate for a lawmaker. The committee decision made by a vote of 12 in favor and one void will be referred to the plenary session where a two-thirds approval will finally remove

May 31, 2011

[Editorial] Tuition wars

Three hundred representatives of student unions staged demonstrations at Seoul’s Gwanghwamun intersection Sunday. “Cut tuition by half, provide jobs for us,” the students chanted, as they were taken to police stations. On Monday, the national association of universities and colleges held an executive council meeting to demand that the government drastically expand financial support for their schoo

May 31, 2011

[Editorial] China-N.K. ties

Only a few days after Kim Jong-il returned to Pyongyang from a week-long tour, it may be premature to assess the outcome of the North Korean leader’s latest China visit, his third in about a year. News dispatches by official Chinese and North Korean outlets provide few clues to substantial economic gains for the North but the visit again demonstrated the deepening ties between the two neighbors an

May 30, 2011

[Editorial] Fourth-year blues?

Prosecutors are investigating a bribery case involving a top Board of Audit and Inspection official ― a scandal that will have grave political implications. It is regarded as one of the numerous scandals of similar or greater magnitude that will certainly come during the final years of the Lee Myung-bak presidency.The criminal suspect, Eun Jin-su, is the first BAI commissioner to resign on suspici

May 29, 2011

[Editorial] No judicial reform?

The proposed judicial reform is in danger of being shipwrecked in the face of opposition from the legal profession. Political activists will do well to join hands in efforts to rescue it.Under pressure from judges, prosecutors and lawyers, the special committee on judicial reform is moving to terminate its operation at the end of June, as scheduled, though it is necessary to extend it because fina

May 29, 2011

[Editorial] Back to 6-party talks

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has called for an early resumption of the stalled six-party talks. According to Xinhua News Agency, Kim expressed his view that “the six-party talks should be resumed at an early date” during his summit with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing on Wednesday.Kim, who returned home Friday wrapping up his eight-day visit to China, was also quoted as saying that “the

May 27, 2011

[Editorial] Match-fixing scams

Prosecutors in the southern city of Changwon are expanding their investigation into the nation’s first match-fixing scandal involving K-League professional soccer players. They have already arrested two gambling brokers on charges of bribing two active players in their bid to rig match results and win Sportstoto lotteries. The brokers allegedly gave 120 million won to a goalkeeper of a K-League cl

May 27, 2011

[Editorial] Households in mess

The average monthly income for households grew 3.5 percent year on year to 3.86 million won during the first quarter of this year. But spending grew at the faster rate of 4.7 percent. As a result of the gap, household debt has snowballed.At the end of the first quarter, household debt surpassed the 800 trillion won mark. Loans from banks and non-banking financial institutions and purchases on cred

May 26, 2011

[Editorial] Identity crisis

Both advocates and detractors may scratch their heads while trying to understand where the ruling Grand National Party is headed. Given the new policies that have been adopted or proposed for adoption, they have good reason to wonder if it is the same party it was before ― a bona fide conservative force.The ruling party has been pro-business and anti-communism. As such, it has pushed for a tax cut

May 26, 2011

[Editorial] Lessons for automakers

In auto production, it only takes a shortage of one small part to bring the whole assembly line to a screeching halt. This was well demonstrated by the week-long strike at Yoosung Enterprise Co., a manufacturer of key engine parts.The company is the larger of the two piston ring producers in Korea. It meets 70 percent of the demand of Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors and 20 to 50 percent of the demand

May 25, 2011

[Editorial] A two-bladed sword

The National Pension Service is a big institutional investor in the domestic stock market. As of February this year, it had about 40.2 trillion won invested in local stocks, accounting for 3.8 percent of the market capitalization of the Korea Exchange’s main board or KOSPI. But the NPS has thus far limited its role as an institutional investor to proxy voting. It has never attempted to invoke such

May 25, 2011

[Editorial] Prompt action

United States Forces Korea is acting promptly to establish facts following claims by American veterans that Agent Orange was buried at a U.S. Army camp in southern Korea. The U.S. command has issued press statements almost on a daily basis since the disclosure through a U.S. cable network last week and the Korean and U.S. authorities conducted a preliminary on-site investigation at Camp Carroll in

May 24, 2011

[Editorial] Tuition-cut race

The Blue House staff are red-faced after the new floor leader of the ruling Grand National Party suddenly came up with a half-tuition offer for college students, one of President Lee Myung-bak’s major campaign pledges which an unfavorable economy had forced him to shelve for the past three years. Rep. Hwang Woo-yea picked it up aiming at the votes of two million college students and their struggli

May 24, 2011

[Editorial] Four-way relations

Northeast Asia, namely China, Japan and the two Koreas, has been engaged in brisk top-level meetings since last weekend to address the increasingly complex issues involving the region. While North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was touring China, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao discussed security, trade and disaster control in a sum

May 23, 2011

China should curb forcible demolitions

Forcible demolitions will not stop unless local government leaders are made to realize that they have to pay a price for exploiting land to earn revenue. The amended regulations on requisition and compensation for State-owned land took effect on Jan. 21, but only a few local land and resources officials have been punished. The central government, therefore, has to take some strict measures to ensu

May 23, 2011