[Editorial] Surging unemployment

South Korea faces an unemployment surge due to the novel coronavirus crisis. Even before the outbreak, the employment situation was already in bad shape. Employment growth was barely buttressed by fiscally created part-time jobs for those aged 60 or older. Jobs for those in their 40s were on the decline. Manufacturing kept shedding jobs for 21 straight months through December. Now with the novel coronavirus a worldwide pandemic, Korea’s job situation is rapidly worsening. The movement of

March 27, 2020

[Editorial] Heightening breakwater

The conclusion of a currency swap deal between South Korea and the US a week ago immediately stabilized local stock and currency markets, which were rattled by mounting concerns over the economic fallout from the global spread of the novel coronavirus. The establishment of the $60 billion swap line, which will be in place for at least six months, was instrumental in snapping seven consecutive trading days of free fall in the local bourse Friday. It also helped stop the downward spiral in the va

March 25, 2020

[Editorial] Disclose identities

A sex crime scandal involving a group chat room on an internet messenger service has jolted the South Korean society. More than 2 million people have signed an online petition demanding the government unveil the identities of not only its operator but also its members. President Moon Jae-in said Monday that police should not limit the investigation to the “baksa room,” but investigate all members of “nth rooms.” “Baksa room” and “nth room” are

March 24, 2020

[Editorial] Stalled negotiations

It makes us uneasy to see the defense cost-sharing talks between South Korea and the US remaining stalled nearly three months after the expiry of the previous deal and amid mounting uncertainties over the global spread of the novel coronavirus. Negotiators from the two sides failed to bridge their differences on South Korea’s share this year of the costs of stationing the 28,500 US troops here during their latest and seventh round of talks, which was held last week in Los Angeles. After

March 23, 2020

[Editorial] Keep up guard

South Korea’s coronavirus disease situation is still uneasy although it is showing signs of calming down. The number of daily new confirmed patients has bounced past 100 in five days -- on Wednesday it rose to 152. fell to 87 on Thursday, shot up to 147 on Friday and dipped to 98 on Saturday.　 The rebound in the number of new confirmed cases is concerning, but more problematic is the persistent outbreak of cluster infections and steady influx of infected patients from abroad. Cluster i

March 22, 2020

[Editorial] Lax discipline

A recent series of civilian intrusions into military bases has deepened concerns over lax discipline in South Korea’s armed forces. In the latest such incident, a drunken man in his 50s dug under the fence surrounding an air defense outpost in Siheung, south of Seoul, on Monday and went inside to pick wild greens. The absurd incident occurred less than two weeks after the military failed to detect two civic activists intruding into a naval compound on the southern island of Jeju and wand

March 19, 2020

[Editorial] Unprecedented crisis

The coronavirus pandemic is causing panic in the global economy. Restriction on human movement and activities has frozen production and consumption, and unsettled financial markets. In a vicious circle, unease in the markets is depressing the real economy further.　 The problem is that traditional polices to goose the economy, such as interest rate cuts and fiscal spending increases, bring little effect. 　 On Monday, in local time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average crashed nearly 13 percent to

March 18, 2020

[Editorial] Basic income

A debate is heating up here over whether to provide basic income to people struggling to go through difficulties stemming from the spread of the novel coronavirus. Basic income refers to money evenly distributed to individuals to support their livelihoods, regardless of their wealth level or job status. The debate was ignited last month by Lee Jae-woong, an innovative entrepreneur, who proposed providing 500,000 won ($403) in universal income to people suffering hardships due to the coronaviru

March 17, 2020

[Editorial] Economic leadership

The lack of an efficient control tower is increasing concerns over the country’s capabilities to cope with the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. South Korea managed to overcome previous economic crises relatively well by establishing a control tower in charge of coordinating policy responses. During the 1998 foreign exchange crisis, then President Kim Dae-jung entrusted a team of competent bureaucrats to implement measures to surmount it. When the country was hit by a glob

March 15, 2020

[Editorial] The sooner, the safer

One hundred and two people have been found to be infected with the new coronavirus in a cluster traced to a call center in Seoul as of Thursday morning. The number could rise, as tests are being done on people who worked on other floors of the Korea Building in Seoul’s Guro District. The health authorities say the situation is not as grave in Seoul and adjacent Gyeonggi Province as it is in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province. But with the slightest slip, the situation in the Seoul area

March 12, 2020

[Editorial] Repeated embarrassment

Over the past week, North Korea has alternated between conciliatory gestures and provocative acts. On Monday, the North fired three projectiles off its east coast in what it said was an artillery strike drill involving multiple rocket launchers. It was the second time in a week that the North had tested weapons. Previously, on March 2, it fired two projectiles for the first time in about three months. Despite Pyongyang’s description of the projectiles as “long-range artillery pie

March 11, 2020

[Editorial] Rash self-praise

Due to the administration’s failure to prevent the novel coronavirus outbreak early, thousands of people got sick, dozens died and the entire nation is ridden with fear. Then, as soon as the spread of the virus slowed somewhat, the government sounded an upbeat note, praising its own efforts to contain COVID-19. On Sunday when the daily growth of the number of confirmed infections fell for a second straight day, Health and Welfare Minister Park Neung-hoo said at a regular briefing that Ko

March 10, 2020

[Editorial] Moment of truth

President Moon Jae-in faces a moment of truth that will test the sincerity of his repeated pledge to promote innovation-led growth through sweeping deregulation. He will probably find it hard to keep mum after last week’s parliamentary passage of a controversial bill that effectively bans Tada, a popular ride-hailing service. Calls are rising from the local venture and startup business communities for him to veto the legislation and send it back to the National Assembly. Launched in Oct

March 9, 2020

[Editorial] Avoid emotional battle

South Korea took countermeasures to entry restrictions that Japan placed on travelers from here after a surge in novel coronavirus cases. Japan, on Thursday. imposed a two-week quarantine on all visitors from Korea. It also revoked some visas and suspended the visa-waiver program.　 The next day, Seoul announced it will end visa-free entry for Japanese citizens and suspended the validity of visas already issued.　 Though the measures taken by Tokyo apply to travelers not only from Korea but al

March 8, 2020

[Editorial] Anti-virus spending

President Moon Jae-in’s administration has proposed an extra budget worth 11.7 trillion won ($9.86 billion) to help deal with the mass outbreak of the novel coronavirus here and minimize its impact on the economy. The supplementary budget bill, which was submitted to the parliament for approval Thursday, is the country’s largest-ever spending plan for handling the fallout from an infectious disease. In 2003, South Korea set aside 4.2 trillion won in additional fiscal expenditure in

March 5, 2020

[Editorial] Shortage of masks

President Moon Jae-in said in a Cabinet meeting Tuesday that he is “sorry” for a shortage of face masks caused by the spread of the COVID-19 corona virus disease.　 He had earlier said on Feb. 25 that Korea’s mask production capacity was sufficient to meet demand. But the short supply at designated sales spots has not eased, because of an explosive growth of demand despite the government releasing about 5 million masks a day. Many wait for hours to buy only a few masks, with mo

March 4, 2020

[Editorial] Renewed provocation

North Korea’s launch of what is presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles amid rising fears over the rapid spread of the new coronavirus has made many pundits outside the reclusive state wonder about the motives behind the seemingly reckless, but probably well-calculated move. On Monday, the North fired two projectiles from an area near its eastern coastal city of Wonsan into the East Sea. It is the first provocative act by the North since Nov. 28, when it launched two missiles. Last

March 3, 2020

[Editorial] Use resources efficiently

The government said Sunday that it will quarantine people with mild and moderate cases of the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, in public facilities, in a bid to focus on the treatment of serious cases in hospitals. That decision should have been taken long ago. Although South Korea has about 1,000 negative pressure rooms needed to treat COVID-19 patients, the number of confirmed cases topped 3,000 on Saturday and 4,000 on Monday. In terms of the number of confirmed cases per 1 million peopl

March 2, 2020

[Editorial] Responsible leadership

During his meeting with the leaders of four political parties last week, President Moon Jae-in secured a bipartisan commitment for cooperation in fighting the novel coronavirus that has been spreading rapidly in the country. They promised to quickly pass an extra budget the administration plans to submit to the parliament this week to fund efforts to contain the infectious disease, COVID-19, and ease its negative impact on the sluggish economy. Bipartisan cooperation is essential for fighting

March 1, 2020

[Editorial] Do not pass the buck

Health and Welfare Minister Park Neung-hoo told a parliamentary committee Wednesday that “South Koreans who have been to China have spread the virus in Korea from the start.” About 20,000 Chinese people entered South Korea from China each day last month. From a common-sense standpoint, how can he be sure that transmissions of the virus from Chinese visitors have seldom occurred?　 COVID-19 appears to have originated in Wuhan, China, and South Korea’s first confirmed case was C

Feb. 27, 2020