[Editorial] Strong won

The Korean currency is strengthening fast, pushing the exchange rate to below the level of 1,100 won per U.S. dollar. In the past, such a rapid gain would have invited intervention immediately. A strong won was an anathema to top Korean economic policymakers, who wanted to generate high rates of growth by promoting exports.But the government does not even hint at intervening in the market, be it v

April 3, 2011

[Editorial] Income distribution

Korea’s per capita income recovered to the $20,000 level last year on the back of robust economic growth and the Korean currency’s gain against the U.S. dollar. According to the Bank of Korea, the nation’s per capita gross national income registered $20,759 in 2010, an increase of $3,566 over the previous year. Korea first crossed $20,000 in 2007 when its GNI per capita reached $21,695. But it dro

April 1, 2011

[Editorial] Unwarranted backlash

As expected, flames of anger have flared up in Busan and Daegu following the government’s decision on Wednesday to scrap President Lee Myung-bak’s election pledge to build an international airport in the southeastern part of the nation. In Busan, infuriated lawmakers of the ruling Grand National Party resolved to promote the relocation of Gimhae International Airport to Gadeok Island on their own.

April 1, 2011

[Editorial] Again Dokdo

Koreans are rightly angered each time Japan renews an unwarranted claim to Korea’s easternmost rocky islets of Dokdo. This time, however, many of them voiced as much disappointment as anger on hearing that the Japanese government approved of junior high school textbooks describing the islets as part of Japanese territory. They apparently felt disappointed that their goodwill was not reciprocated.S

March 31, 2011

[Editorial] Radiation scare

Traces of radioactive iodine, cesium and xenon believed to be from Japan’s quake-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant have been detected in Korea. But don’t panic. According to the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, the amounts of radiation were far below levels considered dangerous to people.The institute said on Tuesday that it detected iodine-131 at all of its 12 monitoring centers across the

March 30, 2011

[Editorial] Lining lawyers’ pockets

Lawmakers of the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee have drawn ire from listed companies by requiring them to hire at least one “compliance support officer” starting April next year.The new regulation was put into the amended Commercial Code despite opposition from the corporate community. The revision bill passed the panel on March 11 and won approval on the floor the next da

March 30, 2011

[Editorial] Manual for judges

Rumors have it that it was the product of a recent series of unsavory episodes in courts involving male and female judges, but a “service manual” prepared by a senior judge in Seoul and now circulating in district courts sheds light to a new culture emerging in the judicial community.“Leave the door ajar when you meet a female colleague in your office. Keep a distance of at least one meter when yo

March 29, 2011

[Editorial] Politics of leaflet

The Defense Ministry has put off flying leaflets into the North Korean territory in consideration of political and legal factors. Yet, the campaign to send leaflets and consumer supplies by flying balloons into the North that has been engineered by some conservative groups not only sharpens tensions with Pyongyang but causes serious internal troubles in the South.Last year, the military’s psycholo

March 29, 2011

[Editorial] Return to the North

Twenty-seven of the 31 North Koreans who had drifted into South Korean waters in the West Sea in a boat early last month have returned to the North. Four chose to live in the South, according to the authorities. Last week, six North Korean refugees who had stayed in China sailed to South Korea in a hired boat along with three Korean-Chinese people.We do not know what will happen to the 27 people w

March 28, 2011

[Editorial] R&D administration

Three years after President Lee Myung-bak abolished the Ministry of Science and Technology to slim down the government, an administrative commission was launched Monday to perform much the same task as the old ministry. Kim Doh-yeon who briefly served as the first minister of education, science and technology under President Lee was named chairman of the new commission.When the transition committe

March 28, 2011

[Editorial] Nuclear safety panel

The government and the ruling Grand National Party have agreed to upgrade the Nuclear Safety Commission, now under the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, to an independent, ministerial-level agency by July this year. The decision, announced on Friday, is a welcome move as it would help address concerns about the safety of nuclear plants in Korea caused by the radiation leak at Japan’s

March 27, 2011

[Editorial] Bank globalization

In early March, outgoing Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Kim Jong-chang issued a strong warning against excessive competition among domestic commercial banks. One example cited by the top regulator, who quit on Friday as his three-year term expired, was the recent scramble among banks to attract big corporate customers. It was triggered by Kookmin Bank, which sought to boost corporate lending b

March 27, 2011

[Editorial] Electoral divide

No party in Korea truly represents the entire nation, as evidenced by the outcome of the 2008 parliamentary elections. The electoral divide along the boundary between Yeongnam and Honam was as clear-cut as it could be.In the elections, the ruling Grand National Party carried none of the 31 electoral districts in the southwest region of Honam. On the other hand, the main opposition Democratic Party

March 25, 2011

[Editorial] Cheonan memorial

On March 26 one year ago, 46 South Korean naval crew members were killed when their warship sank in the sea off North Korea’s west coast. Fifty-eight survivors, when rescued, did not know what had ripped their Cheonan warship in two. It took a multinational investigation team two months to confirm that the corvette had fallen victim to a North Korean torpedo attack.There should be many questions t

March 25, 2011

[Editorial] Misreading Libyan crisis

North Korea has found a new justification for its nuclear weapons program ― the attack on Libya by the United States and its allies. Denouncing the Western countries’ bombings against Libya, a spokesman of the North’s Foreign Ministry asserted on Tuesday that what is unfolding in the North African nation has confirmed once again that “a nation can ensure peace as long as it has the power to do so.

March 24, 2011

[Editorial] Employment insurance

The government has decided to raise the rate of contribution to the mandatory employment insurance scheme from the current 0.9 percent of the total payroll to 1.1 percent starting April. What this change means is that a worker and his employer both have to pay 1,000 won more in monthly premium per 1 million won of his salary.The 0.2 percentage point increase in the contribution rate may not sound

March 24, 2011

[Editorial] Moving backwards

Questions are raised about the nation’s electoral watchdog’s move to lift a ban on corporate contributions to political parties. The National Election Commission has decided to submit a revision bill to the political funding law, which would allow corporations and other legal entities to donate to political parties.In a formality taken ahead of launching the legislation process, the commission inc

March 23, 2011

[Editorial] Screw tightened

LIG Engineering & Construction has filed for court protection from creditors. The request for court receivership was all the more shocking to the housing industry, given that the homebuilder is affiliated with a chaebol.Of course, one main cause of financial trouble for the 47th largest homebuilder in terms of construction capacity was an increase in unsold apartments. Should the court grant prote

March 23, 2011

[Editorial] Chung Un-chan episode

Chung Un-chan, 62, is an honorable and noble man in the Shakespearean sense, having served as president of Seoul National University for four years and as prime minister under President Lee Myung-bak for a year. An economist with doctorate from Princeton University, Chung now heads a commission dedicated to promoting shared growth between large and small businesses. After a rather short experience

March 22, 2011

[Editorial] Targeting Gadhafi

After three days of on-and-off airstrikes on Libyan targets, the United States and European nations uniting in military actions against Moammar Gadhafi’s repressive rule are apparently confused about their immediate goal. A cruise missile attack on Gadhafi’s residential compound late Sunday exposed a lack of strategic coordination. The missile that flattened an administrative building in Gadhafi’s

March 22, 2011