[Editorial] Cutthroat competition

The ruling People Power Party has proposed a package of two bills to strengthen the country’s semiconductor industry with key countries intensifying competition to stay ahead in this important tech sector. One of the proposed bills is aimed at raising the tax deduction rate to a range between 20-30 percent, depending on the size of companies, up from the current 6-16 percent range. It also intends to extend the period of tax credit in high-tech sectors to 2030. The other bill is design

Aug. 5, 2022

[Editorial] Export alarm

South Korea posted a trade deficit for the fourth consecutive month this week. It failed again to escape from a trade deficit in figures for July, as imports increased more than exports did, due to high energy prices. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, exports rose 9.4 percent year-over-year to $60.7 billion last month, but they were outpaced by imports that expanded 21.8 percent to $65.37 billion. It is the first time in 14 years after the 2008 global financial crisis t

Aug. 4, 2022

[Editorial] Dispute over education plan

Overhauling South Korea’s education system is an extremely difficult task as it involves many stakeholders and potentially explosive issues in a nation where hyper-competition among parents and students is the norm. It is no wonder then that the government’s plan, abruptly announced Friday, to lower the school starting age from the current 6 to 5, starting as early as 2025, is touching off a firestorm of criticism from teachers, parents and education experts. The Education Minist

Aug. 3, 2022

[Editorial] Shrinking population

Last year South Korea’s total population decreased for the first time since it began taking census data in 1949. The total population is the total number of people who live on the South Korean land, including foreigners. According to the 2021 Census by Statistics Korea last Thursday, the country’s total population as of Nov. 1, 2021 was 51.73 million, down 91,000 from a year earlier. The number of deaths began to outpace that of childbirths in November 2020, and to make matters wo

Aug. 2, 2022

[Editorial] Leadership in peril

President Yoon Suk-yeol is now confronting a serious leadership crisis, a sorry development that he has created himself with a series of misguided or unilateral choices. The question is whether he will continue to ignore the warning signs from the opinion polls -- something he famously disregarded as “meaningless.” A Gallup Korea poll of 1,000 voters nationwide showed Friday that Yoon’s approval rating fell to 28 percent, hitting a fresh low below 30 percent for the first tim

Aug. 1, 2022

[Editorial] Stop rocking the boat

President Yoon Suk-yeol sent a text message to the mobile phone of Kweon Seong-dong, acting chair and floor leader of the ruling People Power Party, mentioning suspended party chief Lee Jun-seok as the party chair who habitually “shot at insiders.” This means Lee caused an internecine strife. The message on Kweon’s phone was caught on camera by a reporter on Tuesday in the National Assembly. When allegations involving Lee were scrutinized by the party’s ethics committee

July 29, 2022

[Editorial] Dispute over TV license fee

A new round of disputes over South Korea’s mandatory TV license fee is set to flare up following a landmark move in France. The French National Assembly voted Saturday to abolish the TV license fee that finances public broadcasting. Under the bill, aimed at addressing the rising cost of living and the license fee, France now appears to be on track to end the audiovisual license fee policy and allow 23 million households to stop paying 138 euros ($140) per year, starting from this October

July 28, 2022

[Editorial] Police disobedience

Some police officers are digging their heels in over the creation of a police bureau in the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. Last Saturday, 189 of 710 police station chiefs and officers of the same rank held a meeting to express opposition to the setup of the bureau. Yoon Hee-keun, acting chief of the Korean National Police Agency nominated by President Yoon Suk-yeol to head the agency, ordered them to stop the meeting and disperse but they did not comply. Yoon placed Ryu Sam-young, chief

July 27, 2022

[Editorial] Shameful lawmakers

South Korea has a very special group of public officials. They often pass the time by squabbling about things related solely to their own interests, while ignoring what they are supposed to do. They are quick to raise their own pay and, whenever possible, go on overseas trips. And they get paid handsomely -- all through taxpayer money -- without even working for weeks. This very special and unreasonably privileged group is made up of the 300 lawmakers in the National Assembly. Instead of worki

July 26, 2022

[Editorial] Shameless compensation

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea is pushing again a bill that will give college admission and employment benefits to children of former democracy activists. Last week, 164 of 169 Democratic Party members of the National Assembly signed a document that expressed support for the bill. In addition, 11 National Assembly members of parties allied with the Democratic Party, including six members of the Justice Party, signed it as well. The party secured a large majority to pass the bill

July 25, 2022

[Editorial] Science-based measures

South Korea appears to be in the early stage of a sixth resurgence of coronavirus infections, with related data indicating a bigger impact on the horizon. But the government has yet to come up with stronger measures to fight highly transmissible subvariants, casting a cloud over the already worsening outlook. The country reported 71,170 new COVID-19 infections Thursday, marking the third straight day of figures above 70,000, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The wee

July 22, 2022

[Editorial] Responsibilty for damage

Referring to a strike by unionized workers of subcontractors of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, President Yoon Suk-yeol on Monday said that the illegal situation on the industrial site must come to an end. The government said in a statement that it will deal with illegal acts strictly according to law and principles and warned that it may sue strikers for criminal punishment and damages. The state-owned Korea Development Bank holds a majority stake in the DSME. However, such war

July 21, 2022

[Editorial] Misguided choices

President Yoon Suk-yeol’s daily in-office briefing set a fresh record for Monday, lasting for less than a minute. The main reason was that Yoon, when asked about a new personnel dispute, ignored the question and left without commenting. It is regrettable that Yoon refused to directly tackle the question during his signature morning briefing. Avoiding tough questions from reporters may not be what the public wants from Yoon’s these morning briefings, which are supposedly an open com

July 20, 2022

[Editorial] Judicial risk

　Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the former presidential candidate of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, declared his bid for the party chairmanship on Sunday. The Democratic Party plans to hold a national convention on Aug. 28 to elect a new leader. He said that he would change the party’s politics and that the beginning of that is to make it a winning party. Lee also said that if he fails to lead the party to victory in the next general elections, his calling of the times would end, t

July 19, 2022

[Editorial] Tackling financial fallout

The South Korean government plans to implement a set of support measures to help small businesses and financially vulnerable people hit hard by soaring debt burdens sparked by a series of interest rate hikes in recent months. But there are worries that the government will find it hard to work out thorny issues such as maintaining fairness and preventing moral hazard. The government unveiled a 125 trillion-won ($94.7 billion) support package to stabilize the private financial sector Thursday, i

July 18, 2022

[Editorial] Thorough probe required Photos belie announcement that NK fishers did not want to defect

The photos of the repatriation of two North Korean fishers, released by the Unification Ministry, are shocking. The pictures taken by a ministry official at the truce village of Panmunjom on Nov. 7, 2019, show the North Koreans clearly refusing to return to their country. One of them strongly resisted being dragged across to the North side of the military demarcation line, with his feet against the concrete block marking the line and his waist bent backward. Apparently, in the course of resis

July 15, 2022

[Editorial] Presidential briefing

When President Yook Suk-yeol took questions from reporters on his way to work Tuesday, his morning press briefing appeared to have resumed after being suspended for just a single day due to COVID-19 concerns. It was understandable that the press thought so. The presidential office early Monday announced Yoon’s daily in-office briefing sessions would be suspended indefinitely due to the spread of COVID-19 in the presidential press corps. On Wednesday, however, the presidential office cla

July 14, 2022

[Editorial] Prepare for resurgence

A growing number of warning signs are popping up for a possible resurgence in COVID-19, which should be taken seriously by both health authorities and the populace here, amid concerns that infection rates may shoot up faster during the summer holiday season. The number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases declined to 12,693 Monday, after the figure had stayed above 20,000 for two straight days, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Although the weekly average of 18,388 as of

July 12, 2022

[Editorial] Internal strife

The ruling People Power Party got engulfed in internal strife about two months after the launch of its new administration under President Yoon Suk-yeol. The party’s central ethics committee decided Friday to suspend Chairman Lee Jun-seok’s membership for six months in connection with allegations that he instigated the destruction of evidence that implicates him in a scandal where a venture business owner bought sex for him, apparently as a bribe. Lee has become the first-ever incum

July 11, 2022

[Editorial] Effective policies needed

South Korea’s economy faces a growing list of challenges, such as soaring inflation, higher interest rates and a weakening currency. It is an encouraging sign that President Yoon Suk-yeol is now taking the situation seriously. However, there are some doubts as to whether he will produce effective policies to tame inflation. Yoon said Tuesday that he will go out and listen to the challenges people are facing and preside over an emergency economic and public livelihood meeting each week. Y

July 8, 2022