[Editorial] Outmoded nationalism

An anti-Japanese instigation to remove the “vestiges of Japanese colonialism” is spreading.　The Gyeonggi Province Assembly reportedly collected comments from residents from March 15 to 19 on a proposed ordinance on the marking of products made by “Japanese companies involved in World War II.”　The ordinance would make it mandatory to attach stickers with a phrase to the effect, “This was produced by a Japanese company involved in war crimes,” on appliances owned by elementary, middle and high sch

March 21, 2019

[Editorial] Fair probe

One of the deepest-rooted problems in South Korean society is that law enforcement is often compromised by those who hold political and economic power. So many supported President Moon Jae-in’s call for the reform of law-enforcement authorities -- namely, the state prosecution, the police and other powerful agencies like the National Intelligence Agency, National Tax Service and the Fair Trade Commission, the antitrust watchdog. These agencies had not only allowed themselves to be swayed by gove

March 20, 2019

[Editorial] Lifesaving aid

A UN report released earlier this month said around 11 million people, or 43 percent of the population of North Korea, are believed to be in need of humanitarian assistance.Malnutrition continues to be a serious concern, affecting more than one-quarter of all children in the impoverished state, according to the report, titled the “2019 Needs and Priorities Plan.”It called for $120 million this year to provide “lifesaving” aid for the most vulnerable North Koreans -- 3.8 million people -- through

March 19, 2019

[Editorial] Heed controversies

Suspicions and controversies cloud some of the minister nominees announced in the March 8 Cabinet reshuffle.Unification Minister-nominee Kim Yeon-chul once called sanctions against North Korea “self-harm.”He wrote in a newspaper column in 2010 that the incident in which a North Korean soldier shot dead a South Korean tourist near North Korea’s Kumgangsan in 2008 was a “rite of passage” the South had to undergo in the early days of inter-Korean contacts.　Kim said on multiple occasions that the So

March 18, 2019

[Editorial] Never wonderful

We are all familiar with this kind of brinkmanship, yet the latest North Korean threat to derail its denuclearization talks with the US is disappointing. Most of all, it only elevates further skepticism about the regime’s disarmament commitment. The threat, which came in a news conference in Pyongyang by Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui last Friday, is seen as a move to pressure the US to make concessions. Considering its past behavior, it fell short of an ultimatum or a prelude to an impendin

March 17, 2019

[Editorial] Political expediency

For observers here, what was conspicuously missing from Wednesday’s talks between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was the issue of Kuala Lumpur’s abrupt release of an Indonesian woman accused of killing the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.Siti Aisyah was freed from custody without acquittal and allowed to return home Monday, a day before Moon arrived in Kuala Lumpur for a three-day state visit.Siti and her alleged accomplice, Doan

March 14, 2019

[Editorial] Keep economy intact

Japan is reportedly considering taking an array of retaliatory measures if a dispute with South Korea over wartime labor worsens. They include raising tariffs, halting remittances and stopping visa issuances.The Supreme Court in Seoul ordered Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in November to compensate Koreans conscripted for labor at the company during World War II, but the Japanese firm refused to pay. The victims have since filed suit with a Seoul court to confiscate the firm’s assets. The ruling ca

March 13, 2019

[Editorial] Bowls of rice

You should never take what North Korean leaders say at face value. But it is worth noting that Kim Jong-un recently talked about economic development, even the need to feed the North’s populace with “a bowl of cooked rice,” and the restraint in idolizing his own leadership. It may not be news that a North Korean leader emphasizes economic development and a stable life for his people, but it should be noted that Kim made such comments after his efforts to earn relief from international sanctions

March 12, 2019

[Editorial] Gloomy outlooks

South Korea’s economic policymakers have dismissed as improbable the forecast made last week by Moody’s Investors Service that real gross domestic product growth in the country would be only slightly above 2 percent in both 2019 and 2020.The global credit rating agency revised down its outlook for the nation’s economic growth for 2019 and 2020 to 2.1 percent and 2.2 percent from its November predictions of 2.3 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively.Officials at the Ministry of Economy and Finance

March 11, 2019

[Editorial] Get into step

After the second US-North Korea summit collapsed in Hanoi, Vietnam, concerns are mounting that Seoul may be on a collision course with Washington over sanctions against the North.　The reason for these concerns is that the Moon Jae-in administration is seeking reconciliation with the North against the US’ position to increase pressure on the communist state. 　Asked during a news briefing Thursday if the US was considering sanctions exemptions for two suspended inter-Korean economic cooperation pr

March 10, 2019

[Editorial] Already crowded

The government’s decision to license three new budget carriers will have both positive and negative impacts on the nation’s air service industry. Government and industry officials ought to minimize the negative impacts. Basically, free entry into an industry should be guaranteed in a market economy. The air industry should be no exception, and the government has been doing a good job of expanding competition in the sector. The government broke Korean Air’s monopoly in the air industry in 1988 by

March 7, 2019

[Editorial] Take stronger steps

Fine dust pollution in the air was the worst in most parts of the nation Tuesday since official measurements started in 2015. Even Jeju Island, hitherto known as a clean zone, took emergency measures for the first time ever. Gray skies of fine dust have become just another part of everyday life.　Emergency measures may reduce fine dust emissions to a degree, but they fall far short of removing it remarkably. They are minimum measures to reduce air pollution. Among them are restrictions on operati

March 6, 2019

[Editorial] Work together

Details have begun emerging about what kept US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un apart in their denuclearization talks in Hanoi last week. As expected, Kim is to blame for the breakdown. US national security adviser John Bolton led off the revelations about the discussions Trump and Kim had in the Vietnamese capital, where they ended their talks without an agreement. In three recent successive TV interviews, Bolton said Trump gave Kim a “big-deal” document listing what t

March 5, 2019

[Editorial] Falling exports

A continuous decline in exports has deepened concerns that the country’s economy will be trapped in a long-term slowdown. In recent years, exports have shored up Asia’s fourth-largest economy, which is losing growth momentum amid weak domestic consumption, sluggish investments and worsening unemployment.South Korea’s exports fell 11.1 percent from a year prior to $39.5 billion in February, marking a third consecutive monthly drop, according to data released last week by the Ministry of Trade, In

March 4, 2019

[Editorial] Last thing to do now

In his address marking the March 1 Independence Movement Day, President Moon Jae-in expressed his intent to keep pursuing his vision of establishing a “New Korean Peninsula Regime” based on economic cooperation between South and North Korea.He vowed to “open an era of peace and economy in the peninsula” and to “discuss with the US a way to resume operations of the Kumkangsan tour program and Kaesong industrial park.”　The South Korean president repeated envisioning economic cooperation with the N

March 3, 2019

[Editorial] Summit cut short

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un cut short their two-day summit in Hanoi on Thursday without reaching a deal on the North’s denuclearization. They left the summit venue after canceling their working lunch and a deal-signing ceremony.During a post-summit press conference, Trump said he had to “walk away” from the talks with no deal, as Kim had demanded the lifting of all sanctions on Pyongyang while suggesting denuclearization steps that fell short of what the US want

March 1, 2019

[Editorial] First things first

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are set to hold their second summit in earnest today.The key question is whether Kim will offer meaningful steps to denuclearize his country.Above all, Trump must not give up too much in return for insubstantial denuclearization measures from Kim.What Trump must avoid at all costs is a deal that effectively recognizes the North as a nuclear state in return for the promise to freeze its nuclear program. That would be a worst-case scena

Feb. 27, 2019

[Editorial] Falling productivity

In a meeting with a group of local business leaders last week, Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol said the country’s economic survival hinged on efforts to boost the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector.His remarks reflected growing concerns that domestic manufacturing companies have been losing their competitive edge to foreign rivals in recent years.An international comparison of labor productivity and costs, recently released by a local think tank, deepened such worries. Clearly it is now

Feb. 26, 2019

[Editorial] Unreasonable advice

Last week’s proposal by a government-private committee to dismantle three of five weirs built along the Geum and Yeongsan rivers and open the others at all times is far from based on a balanced and objective analysis of all relevant factors.Moreover, it runs against the results of a survey conducted by the committee itself, which showed that not only residents in areas near the rivers, but the general public was in favor of keeping the weirs intact. Weirs are low barriers built across rivers to

Feb. 24, 2019

[Editorial] Blacklist or checklist?

When the prosecution raided the Ministry of Environment last month, it is said to have found documents that amounted to a “blacklist”: evidence that the ministry was compiling information about executives of public organizations under its supervision. Apparently, the ministry was prepared to press them to resign before their terms of office ended and fill their posts with pro-government figures.On a computer at the ministry, the prosecution is said to have found a folder of “files reported to th

Feb. 21, 2019