[Editorial] Cyber invasion

The world already knows that North Korea’s cyberattacks -- like its nuclear bombs and long-range missiles -- pose a serious threat to global security. Yet, the recent hacking of digital currency exchanges show how ill-prepared we are to fight the North’s state-trained hackers. The National Intelligence Service said last week that it secured evidence that North Korean hackers broke into four cryptocurrency exchanges this year. It said emails sent by the hackers were traced to North Korean hacking

Dec. 19, 2017

[Editorial] Reform for conservatives

The largest conservative opposition Liberty Korea Party is stepping up its organizational reform in preparation for gubernatorial and mayoral elections on June 13.The party decided Sunday to strip four incumbent lawmakers of the leadership of their electoral districts. They include two key members of the faction close to ousted former President Park Geun-hye. The decision is seen as a move to cleanse the party of those close to Park. 　The party is in a situation where it cannot but revamp its or

Dec. 18, 2017

[Editorial] Reality check

President Moon Jae-in’s visit to China last week has provided South Koreans with a reality check on the country regarding where it stands in the North Korea crisis and what kind of a neighbor it is. The outcome of which is more troubling than disappointing. Most of all, Moon’s summit talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping confirmed that Beijing has no intention to meet the demand of the international community to put pressure on North Korea to stop the rogue regime’s nuclear and missile bellige

Dec. 17, 2017

[Editorial] Backfiring policies

Recent statistics show that the job crunch is as severe as ever. A bigger problem is that the situation is unlikely to improve any time soon, because many of the government’s pro-labor policies discourage businesses from hiring. In November, the country’s jobless rate stood at 3.2 percent, up 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier. It was the highest figure for the month since 1999. Young people continued to bear the brunt of the harsh job market, with the unemployment rate for those aged 15-2

Dec. 15, 2017

[Editorial] Perils of talks

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson offered Tuesday to begin direct talks with North Korea without preconditions. Whether his offer will open up a new possibility for the resolution of the North’s nuclear and missile issues has come into the spotlight. “Let’s just meet,” Tillerson said in a speech to Washington’s Atlantic Council think tank. “We can talk about the weather if you want. We can talk about whether it’s going to be a square table or a round table.”Implicitly then, he thinks it would

Dec. 14, 2017

[Editorial] Reduced expectations

President Moon Jae-in holds summit talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday. The talks, the third of their kind between the two, are most likely to end up being held the sake of talks. Korean officials said there would be no joint statement after the Moon-Xi meeting. Nor will they face the media together, a common way for leaders to explain their agreements and disagreements. It is not rare for leaders to do without such events to wrap up their discussions, but given the fact

Dec. 13, 2017

[Editorial] Bitcoin craze

The Chicago Board Options Exchange began trading in bitcoin futures on Sunday. The cryptocurrency has come into the mainstream of US finance eight years after it was invented. But the South Korean government, concerned with wild price swings of digital currencies in local exchanges, is considering regulating them.Financial Services Commission Chairman Choi Jong-ku told reporters Monday, “The government is examining how much to regulate virtual currency trading. A total ban is among the options o

Dec. 12, 2017

[Editorial] Get the job done

The ad-hoc parliamentary panel to revise the Constitution plans to work out its proposal by February. In all likelihood, it is going to be a tall order. The biggest hurdle is the partisan standoff over some of the key clauses of a new Constitution, including those on the power structure and form of government. The ruling Democratic Party upholds President Moon Jae-in’s proposal to adopt a presidential system in which the chief executive is allowed to serve up to two consecutive four-year terms.

Dec. 11, 2017

[Editorial] View NK realistically

The White House said Thursday that “no official decision has been made” about whether the US is to participate in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics set to take place in South Korea in February. A day earlier, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said in an interview with Fox News that “there’s an open question” about whether the US team will compete at the Olympics.The US administration said afterward that it “looks forward to participating” in the Winter Games. But it noted that the protection of

Dec. 10, 2017

[Editorial] Bridge the gap

President Moon Jae-in will pay a four-day state visit to China next Wednesday at President Xi Jinping’s invitation. It will be his first trip to the country since taking office in May. The top item on their summit agenda is North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, which have reached a critical stage after it test-fired an apparent intercontinental ballistic missile last week and conducted its most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3.Moon must demand Xi put stronger pressure on the North, as now

Dec. 8, 2017

[Editorial] Do not lower guard

It is always risky to interpret a single development in North Korea to predict the real course of action to be taken by the leadership in Pyongyang. It is the same with the ongoing visit by a senior UN official to the country’s capital. But all but the most cautious and pessimistic can detect the possibility that the four-day visit by Jeffrey Feltman, the UN undersecretary general for political affairs, may well raise hopes for the possibility of the North exploring a diplomatic solution to the

Dec. 7, 2017

[Editorial] Dialogue a realistic solution

Bakery franchiser Paris Baguette missed the government-set deadline Tuesday to hire all 5,309 bakers who work in its franchised stores across the country. The company with 5,200 regular employees says there are too many to hire.　The Ministry of Employment and Labor said it will fine the nation’s leading bakery chain 10 million won ($9,100) per baker it did not hire. However, it is considering exempting from the penalty those bakers who have agreed to move from their current employers to a joint

Dec. 6, 2017

[Editorial] Out of touch

There are many laws that do not fit the reality. Education is no exception, with the controversial act on the normalization of public education and regulation of prior learning being a good example. The act, which took effect in 2014 mainly to curb private tutoring that imposes heavy study burdens on students and financial burdens on parents, came into the spotlight recently due to its ban on some after-school English classes.English education in elementary school now begins in third-grade and p

Dec. 5, 2017

[Editorial] Brazen pay raise

It was recently revealed that a budget subcommittee of the National Assembly had decided early last month to raise the annual pay of members of the assembly.The current monthly salary of an Assembly member is 11.49 million won ($10,600), including 6.46 million won in “general allowances.” The committee decided to increase the allowance by 6.2 percent to 6.63 million won. If the salary hike passes the plenary session, annual pay of an Assembly member will rise from 137.96 million won to 140 milli

Dec. 4, 2017

[Editorial] Meticulous plans

The latest developments surrounding the North Korean crisis call for the international community and South Korea to prepare for anything that could happen.The North’s claim that it is capable of striking the US mainland with a nuclear-tipped missile is prompting talks of a naval blockade around the North, undoubtedly a military option that could spark clashes and even a war with the belligerent regime. However, the problem is that President Moon Jae-in and his key security aides appear not to ha

Dec. 3, 2017

[Editorial] Challenges to come

The increase of the key interest rate had largely been anticipated, but that does not mean that all economic players are well prepared for the long-awaited end to monetary easing that lasted more than six years. The Bank of Korea’s decision to increase the base rate to 1.5 percent from a record low of 1.25 percent, which ended a 16-month freeze, reflects the central bank’s positive assessment of the economy. Gross domestic product is forecast to expand by more than 3 percent this year, buoyed by

Dec. 1, 2017

[Editorial] Full blockade

North Korea’s nuclear missile threat to the US is looming as a reality.If the missile the North launched Wednesday had flown on a standard trajectory rather than its lofted one, it would have a range of more than 13,000 kilometers, according to experts. The range would be far enough to reach Washington DC and in fact any part of the US.It is not difficult to guess the intention behind launching a long-range ballistic missile after a 75-day lull. The launch is an expression of the North’s will to

Nov. 30, 2017

[Editorial] Caving in

The latest work stoppage by unionized workers at Hyundai Motor and the way it was settled shows why the automaker is plagued by chronic labor disputes that severely cut into its competitiveness. The latest conflict surrounds the company’s plan to expand production of a new popular small sport utility vehicle, the Kona, which was launched in June. The management and the union, which had already spent three months on negotiations before the Kona’s launch, started last month talks on the plan to ad

Nov. 29, 2017

[Editorial] Hasty deliberation

The ruling and opposition parties began last-minute high-level negotiations Monday, with just five days left to the deadline Saturday for the passage of the 2018 government budget. The parties failed to compromise on 172 budget items amounting to 25 trillion won ($23 billion). It is pathetic to hurry things through belatedly, though the government submitted its 429 trillion won budget bill for deliberation in September. What have the lawmakers been doing?The people cannot but hold them responsib

Nov. 28, 2017

[Editorial] Learn a lesson

The recent series of court decisions to reject detentions for suspects in high-profile cases should give the prosecution a lesson. The Korean prosecution, which is the sole agency with the right to indict, is notorious for seeking to detain the people it accuses. They are even keener on physical detention if the cases are politically sensitive or draw a lot of public attention. That clearly goes against the spirit of the Constitution, which upholds the principle that people are presumed innocent

Nov. 27, 2017