[Editorial] Time to probe Cho

Prosecutors charged Chung Kyung-sim, Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk’s wife, on Friday night.Chung, a professor at Dongyang University, has been charged with forging a presidential citation of the university that was awarded to her daughter. The indictment was filed with the court about an hour before the statute of limitations on the case expired. 　Choi Sung-hae, president of the university, revealed that Chung called him Wednesday to ask him to tell the press that he had delegated the r

Sept. 8, 2019

[Editorial] Deflation looming

Official data released this week showed that the country’s inflation rate fell into negative terrain last month after staying below the 1 percent threshold for seven consecutive months.The on-year decrease of 0.04 percent in August marked the first time that consumer prices plunged to negative growth since 1965, when the state statistics agency began compiling related data.The fall in prices amid a slowing economy has deepened concerns that South Korea might be heading for a period of defl

Sept. 5, 2019

[Editorial] Not cleared of suspicion

Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk addressed suspicions about him and his family on Monday, talking to the press for nearly 11 hours. To listen to him, he has done nothing wrong. He is clean not only legally, but morally too. But is he?　Regarding the fact that his daughter was listed as the lead author of a medical thesis when she was a high school student, Cho claimed he does not know how a researcher becomes a lead author in natural sciences. But in September 2012, he tweeted: “In case of

Sept. 4, 2019

[Editorial] Stalled reform

After 10 months of discussion, a committee on national pension reform last week suggested three options, all of which fall short of ensuring the long-term sustainability of the pension scheme, now under increasing strain.Differences in views between labor and business representatives barred the panel formed in October under the Economic, Social and Labor Council from working out a single proposal.The first option calls for freezing the income replacement rate, which is set to be lowered to 40 pe

Sept. 3, 2019

[Editorial] Do not disturb probe

The ruling camp appears willing to do anything to ensure the appointment of Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk. Senior Presidential Secretary for Political Affairs Kang Gi-jung argued the prosecution appeared to have leaked suspicions about Cho to the press, and demanded Prosecutor-General Yoon Seok-youl investigate the prosecution over his alleged information leak.The Cheong Wa Dae official’s remarks seem to be intended to tame the prosecution. They smack against the rule of law. In a democ

Sept. 2, 2019

[Editorial] Return home

President Moon Jae-in last week attended a ceremony to kick off the construction of an electric vehicle parts plant in a provincial city.In a speech during the event, he praised the company building the plant, Hyundai Mobis, for having put the brakes on overseas investments and making a U-turn to invest in South Korea.Moon said that promising firms’ U-turns would give hope to the Korean economy, noting the country should do its best to defend its economy at a time when “free and fair

Sept. 1, 2019

[Editorial] Keep close to allies

The US criticism of South Korea’s military drills to defend its Dokdo islets comes as a shock.“Given the recent disagreements between the ROK and Japan, the timing, messaging, and increased scale of military drills at Liancourt Rocks are not productive toward resolving ongoing issues,” a spokesperson of the US State Department said Tuesday, using the Franco-English name for the rocky outcroppings in the East Sea.The comment came a day after South Korea concluded its largest-eve

Aug. 29, 2019

[Editorial] Unchecked spending

President Moon Jae-in’s administration has vowed to continue an expansionary fiscal policy in an “aggressive” manner down the road, citing the need to address a series of downside risks facing the country’s economy.It plans to submit a budget bill worth 513 trillion won ($422.8 billion) for next year to the National Assembly in September, up 44 trillion won or more than 9 percent from this year. The passage of the bill would let the government’s annual spending surp

Aug. 28, 2019

[Editorial] Heed popular wrath

Popular sentiment has turned against Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk.Proliferating corruption allegations involving Cho have gone beyond what the public can tolerate, with outrage mounting.　Six in 10 people opposed the appointment of Cho as justice minister, according to a poll from the JoongAng Ilbo, a local newspaper. Opposition to the appointment was 60.2 percent, more than double the approval rating (27.2 percent).A Hankook Research survey commissioned by KBS found that 48 percent of respon

Aug. 27, 2019

[Editorial] Income disparities

Since assuming office in May 2017, President Moon Jae-in’s administration has pushed an income-led growth policy, which it hopes will help narrow the income gap between rich and poor households.However, official data released last week showed the misguided policy continuing only to widen income inequality in the country.The average monthly income of households in the bottom 20 percent income bracket remained at 1.32 million won ($1,083) in the second quarter of the year, unchanged from a y

Aug. 26, 2019

[Editorial] Crumbling alliance

The aftermath of South Korea’s termination of a military information-sharing deal with Japan is worrying.Serious damage to the US-led security cooperation with South Korea and Japan, not to mention Seoul-Tokyo relations, is inevitable.Ending the General Security of Military Information Agreement is as good as pouring cold water on the already-strained ties between South Korea and Japan. One cannot but ask if the Moon Jae-in administration is determined to treat Japan as an enemy forever.On

Aug. 25, 2019

[Editorial] Rising debt

Concerns have been raised that an accelerated increase in household debt will dampen domestic consumption, pushing the country’s already struggling economy further into a downturn.According to recent data from the Bank of Korea, outstanding household debt grew by 15.4 trillion won ($12.7 billion) from three months earlier to 146.7 trillion won in the April-June period of the year, compared with an increase of 2.9 trillion won in the previous quarter. In July, household debt rose by 5.8 tri

Aug. 22, 2019

[Editorial] Cho’s impudence

Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk is in hot water over multiple corruption allegations involving his family. The allegations evoke not only a shameless two-facedness, but also suspicions of rule-bending and stark illegality.　Cho’s daughter was revealed to have been named as the lead author on an academic paper on pathology when she was a second-year student of a foreign-language high school in Seoul.She participated in experiments by a medical professor of Dankook University in So

Aug. 21, 2019

[Editorial] Shameful record

South Korea’s coal consumption increased last year, when most advanced countries were curtailing the use of fossil fuels. It adds to the shame caused by the country’s already messed-up energy policy. A report from the London-based energy company BP showed that South Korea’s coal consumption reached 88.2 million tons of oil equivalent in 2018, up 2.4 percent from a year ago. The BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy 2019 ranked the country as the world’s fifth-larg

Aug. 20, 2019

[Editorial] Positive turn

Foreign ministers from South Korea, China and Japan will gather together in Beijing for three days from Tuesday for their first trilateral talks in three years.As Seoul’s Foreign Ministry stated last week, the upcoming meeting is expected to help strengthen the foundation for institutionalizing and fleshing out the system of cooperation among the northeast Asian powers.The top diplomats are likely to discuss preparations for a possible summit among leaders of the three countries. The last

Aug. 19, 2019

[Editorial] Pie in the sky

North Korea has intensified provocations and criticism of South Korea. The North test-fired two missiles and ridiculed the South a day after South Korean President Moon Jae-in vowed to establish a “peace economy” in his Liberation Day speech commemorating the events of Aug. 15, 1945.It is the sixth provocation in three weeks.The missiles were fired only 50 kilometers from the Military Demarcation Line separating South and North Korea. That is how emboldened Pyongyang was.　The North K

Aug. 18, 2019

[Editorial] Big loophole

The recent tragic death of a North Korean woman defector and her son raises two big questions -- one about the nation’s overall social safety net and the other about the way the government takes care of North Korean escapees. First of all, the death of the 42-year-old woman and her 6-year-old son once again revealed gaps in the nation’s welfare system for the poor. Indeed, it is shocking that their destitute state is believed to have resulted in the tragedy. Police and welfare offici

Aug. 15, 2019

[Editorial] True task

The country marks the 74th anniversary of its liberation from Japan’s colonial rule Thursday amid Tokyo’s increasingly hostile stance against Seoul over rekindled historical disputes between the two sides.It is unreasonable and damaging for both economies that Japan has placed tighter trade controls on South Korea in an apparent reprisal against last year’s ruling by the Supreme Court here that ordered Japanese firms to compensate Korean victims of wartime forced labor.Anti-Jap

Aug. 14, 2019

[Editorial] Increase supply

The Land Ministry will adopt a scheme to cap presale prices of apartments to be built on private land.　The upcoming step is regarded as the strongest measure ever taken by the government to clamp down on housing prices. Thirty-one “overheated speculative areas,” including all parts of Seoul, are expected to be subject to the measure.　In South Korea, when residents reconstruct their decrepit apartments, they usually build more units than they had before. They sell the added units to t

Aug. 13, 2019

[Editorial] Alliance in trouble

South Korea and the US are now holding a joint military exercise. The computer-based “Combined Command Post Training” does not involve massive numbers of troops and weapons, but the latest developments surrounding it raise some fundamental questions about the security alliance between Seoul and Washington. The low profile of the exercise reflects the atmosphere of a thaw on the Korean Peninsula following a series of summit meetings North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had with South Korea

Aug. 12, 2019