[Editorial] COVID-19 negligence

Dozens of elderly COVID-19 patients residing in nursing homes or hospitals died last month without receiving proper treatment. When coronavirus infections broke out there, the government put all the facilities under cohort isolation. But that was all. It could not transfer patients to hospitals that treat critical coronavirus cases due to a shortage of available sickbeds. Negative pressure isolation units and respirators are essential in treating critical coronavirus patients. Medical workers

Jan. 5, 2021

[Editorial] Due leniency

Ruling party head Lee Nak-yon made the headlines on New Year’s Day by raising the need to set free two former conservative presidents jailed for corruption charges. Speaking to reporters Friday after paying respects at the National Cemetery in Seoul, Lee said he would ask President Moon Jae-in “at an appropriate time” to grant pardons to ex-Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye. He added that the ruling Democratic Party of Korea should play an active role in the lead-up t

Jan. 4, 2021

[Editorial] Twilight of presidency

President Moon Jae-in is entering the twilight of his presidency in the new year. The coronavirus pandemic and prosecution reform dominated the headlines last year. South Korea once boasted of its response to COVID-19, but late last year the number of cumulative confirmed cases exceeded 60,000 and the death toll reached 900. Korea tightened its social distancing rules to slow the spread of the virus, but it is difficult to predict when everyday life will resume. The Moon regime put up a hel

Jan. 1, 2021

[Editorial] Senseless scheme

The basic plan for electricity supply for the period of 2020 to 2034, which was fixed by the government earlier this week, is flawed in many respects. It turns a blind eye to economic efficiency, contradicts the carbon neutrality goal and runs the risk of disrupting a stable supply of electricity. What has made the plan so flawed is the ill-conceived policy pursued obstinately by President Moon Jae-in’s administration to phase out nuclear power generation in South Korea. The latest bluepr

Dec. 31, 2020

[Editorial] Emotional legislation

Rep. Jung Chung-rae of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said Monday that he will propose a bill to ban applications for court injunctions if they would mean victory in related lawsuits. He called it the “Yoon Seok-youl prevention bill.” The court decided on Thursday to suspend the execution of the Justice Ministry’s two-month suspension of Prosecutor General Yoon. The court is set to start a trial on Yoon’s lawsuit for cancellation of the disciplinary action. When he

Dec. 30, 2020

[Editorial] No time to fight

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the more militant of the nation’s two major umbrella labor organizations, elected a hard-line figure as its new leader last week. In a speech after being chosen to lead the group for three years from January, Yang Kyeong-su pledged to “open a new era.” He said the government and the business community must now recognize that a “labor movement founded on fighting has come up.” Yang, who will be the first KCTU chairman to ha

Dec. 29, 2020

[Editorial] Hollow apology

President Moon Jae-in said through his spokesman Friday that he “respects the court’s decision” to reinstate Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl. Moon said he “offers an apology as a person with authority over personnel affairs for causing discomfort and confusion to people ultimately.” Moon spoke as if he were a third party not directly involved in the Justice Ministry’s unreasonable disciplinary action against Yoon. Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae recommended Yoo

Dec. 28, 2020

[Editorial] Stop passing the buck

Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday disclosed 13 occasions on which President Moon Jae-in made instructions to secure COVID-19 vaccines. It was a response to some news reports that Moon rebuked his aides over the government’s failure to secure vaccines. Cheong Wa Dae did not confirm the reports, citing a closed-door meeting, but did not deny them either. Moon reportedly told his aides to the effect that he had repeated instructions over and over to secure vaccines, but they had done little until fa

Dec. 24, 2020

[Editorial] Rosy plan

The economic policy plan for 2021, which was unveiled last week by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, set the annual growth goal at 3.2 percent, a sharp rebound from this year’s estimated contraction of 1.1 percent. The ministry said the plan was designed to facilitate a “fast and strong” recovery and transform the country into a “pacesetting” economic power in the post-pandemic era. But the rosy growth outlook seems beyond reach, as the economic policy plan tak

Dec. 23, 2020

[Editorial] Wrong words and deeds

The land minister nominee and vice justice minister face public censure over their past words and deeds that stray far from common sense. In 2016, a 19-year-old temporary worker was killed by a subway train while repairing a safety door on the platform at Guui Station in Seoul. His death brought shock and grief across the nation.　 In the same year, then Seoul Housing & Communities Corp. CEO Byeon Chang-heum, now the land minister nominee, presided over a meeting on construction safety. &

Dec. 22, 2020

[Editorial] Unnecessary price

The Korea Electric Power Corp., the state-run electricity provider, last week unveiled a plan to revamp its billing system by adopting flexible rates linked to global prices of fossil fuel resources next year. Under the new plan endorsed by the government, electricity fees will be adjusted every three months, reflecting changes in the prices of oil, liquefied natural gas and coal. Kepco said in a statement that the current fixed-rate billing system has failed to reflect fluctuations in product

Dec. 21, 2020

[Editorial] Unwarranted punishment

President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday authorized a two-month suspension for Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, recommended by Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae. 　 When Choo requested the disciplinary action, she said Yoon’s offenses were grave. Yet the punishment was much weaker than anticipated. The disciplinary committee effectively admitted it could not impose a heavy penalty because the allegations were unconvincing. It may have feared a strong public backlash, or the court overturning its d

Dec. 18, 2020

[Editorial] Deplorable measure

The recent parliamentary passage of a bill aimed at penalizing the sending of anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the inter-Korean border into the North flatly ignores concerns that the measure violates the freedom of expression and blocks information from people living under one of the world’s most oppressive regimes. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea, which holds an overwhelming majority in the 300-member National Assembly, rammed through the bill Monday despite strong objection by opposi

Dec. 17, 2020

[Editorial] Homes that people want

President Moon Jae-in’s remarks on public rental homes are infuriating people. Moon, accompanied by Land Minister Kim Hyun-mee and Land Minister nominee Byeon Chang-heum, inspected a public rental apartment complex in the Dongtan area of Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. Looking around the interior of a 44-square-meter two-room unit, Byeon said a family of four could live there together. Then Moon said: “This is the standard size for a newlywed couple and a child. And it looks p

Dec. 16, 2020

[Editorial] Mounting debt

Household loans extended by local banks have been increasing at an accelerating pace in recent months, raising concerns that bloated debt will boomerang with consequential risks to the economy when the coronavirus pandemic is brought under control down the road. The amount of outstanding bank loans to households in the country rose by 18.3 trillion won ($16.7 billion), or 7.9 percent, from a year earlier to 982.1 trillion won in November, according to data released last week by the Bank of Kore

Dec. 15, 2020

[Editorial] End of tunnel receding

President Moon Jae-in told the people on Dec. 9 to “have faith in the ability of the government to stamp out the pandemic.” He said that “the end of a long tunnel can be seen at last.” It was wishful thinking that vaccines and medicines could eradicate the coronavirus soon.　 The following day, Health and Welfare Minister Park Neung-hoo said the opposite -- that “the nation faces a precarious situation where the government’s ability to control the disease will

Dec. 14, 2020

[Editorial] Dear price

Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, came forward Wednesday to take issue with recent remarks by South Korea’s top diplomat regarding Pyongyang’s antivirus measures. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told an international forum last week that it is hard to believe the North’s claim that it has no novel coronavirus cases, adding that the reclusive regime has been unresponsive to the South’s call for cross-border antivirus cooperation. In a

Dec. 11, 2020

[Editorial] Suspicions without merit

On Nov. 24, Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae ordered the suspension of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl and requested that disciplinary action be taken against him. At that time, she cited six suspicions. But the ministry’s inspection committee found all of those suspicions groundless. The Seoul Administrative Court also cleared Yoon, allowing Yoon to return to his duties. Five of the six reasons are false or fabricated. They are without merit. The suspicion that Yoon ordered a prosecutor t

Dec. 10, 2020