[Editorial] Time to catch up -- fast

South Korea posted a trade surplus of $240 million with China, its biggest export destination, in February, the first surplus in 17 months since September 2022, according to government data. It is a welcome sign that the country’s trade balance with China swung to the black helped by a pickup exports of semiconductors. But this reversal in trade may be only temporary, as Korea faces an increasingly uphill battle with China in global trade as well as in technology competition. One depressin

March 6, 2024

[Editorial] After-school child care

The new school year has now begun, with the fewest ever first graders – about 369,400 – starting the 12-year journey. Typical school hours will begin at 9 a.m. and end around 1 p.m., but many more first graders will be staying in school longer starting this semester. South Korea’s public elementary schools have run after-school child care programs for a select number of first and second graders. Children with both parents working have been given priority, and if there are more

March 5, 2024

[Editorial] No end in sight

The confrontation between the government and doctors intensified over the weekend, with neither side willing to seek a compromise that is urgently needed by patients waiting for delayed surgeries and treatments to resume. Some 20,000 doctors took part in a rally in Seoul on Sunday in protest against the government’s plan to increase the annual medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 starting from next year. “If the government ignores doctors’ efforts, it will face strong resis

March 4, 2024

[Editorial] A country for children

South Korea’s fertility rate, or the average number of births a woman is expected to give in her lifetime, fell to the lowest ever of 0.72 last year. It has continued downhill from 1.24 in 2015. The number of babies born in the country dropped 7.7 percent from 2022 to the fewest ever of around 230,000, according to Statistics Korea. The dwindling fertility rate, which has been getting worldwide attention, has several reasons. The first is the number of marriages, which has plunged from its

March 1, 2024

[Editorial] Real ways to boost value

The South Korean government on Monday unveiled a plan to help companies enhance shareholder value by addressing the so-called “Korea discount” that has plagued the local markets for years. Markets, however, seem unimpressed. The Korea discount is a chronic issue in which Korean shares are undervalued compared with their peers in other markets, reflecting smaller-than-expected shareholder returns and poor corporate governance. Under the “corporate value-up program,” the go

Feb. 29, 2024

[Editorial] Young doctors at crossroads

Some 80.6 percent of the nation’s trainee doctors have tendered their resignation, and 72.7 percent, or about 9,000, have left the hospitals in protest of the government’s plan to increase the number of places at medical schools. The worsening shortage of interns and residents for over a week at emergency rooms and operating rooms has led to delays in surgeries and emergency treatments as well as severe fatigue of the remaining medical staff. The Ministry of Health and Welfare on Tue

Feb. 28, 2024

[Editorial] After 2 years of war

Two years ago, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, sending shock waves throughout the world. On Saturday, the war entered its third year, but there is no sign that the conflict will end any time soon. Worse, uncertainty is only deepening as the US President Joe Biden’s $61 billion aid package is now trapped in a political fight in Washington, as Republicans continue to stall the crucial aid to Ukraine, which is struggling with a shortage of ammunition. As the war drags on, th

Feb. 27, 2024

[Editorial] Global chips race

With the US and Japan pulling out all the stops to reclaim global leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, South Korea risks losing its competitive edge in chipmaking if it doesn’t speed up deregulation and innovation. US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said last week the US would need a second CHIPS Act if it wants to “lead the world” in the semiconductor supply chain and meet demand from artificial intelligence technologies. The CHIPS and Science Act, signed by US Presiden

Feb. 26, 2024

[Editorial] Deepfake risks in election

Threats of "deepfake" videos and photos are mounting ahead of South Korea’s parliamentary election slated for April 10, posing a serious challenge to both election watchdog officials and voters as forged content is easy to make and circulate thanks to the fast-evolving artificial intelligence capabilities. The National Election Commission said Monday it caught 129 deepfakes in violation of the election laws between Jan. 29 and Feb. 16, a significant number that deserves public at

Feb. 23, 2024

[Editorial] Get to the specifics

More than 9,000 trainee doctors at hospitals across South Korea have offered to resign or have stopped working in protest of the government’s plan to increase the annual medical school freshman quota by 2,000. As a result, between 30 and 50 percent of surgeries have been postponed at the nation's five largest hospitals. The Ministry of Health and Welfare has issued orders for over 6,000 interns and residents to return to work, and plans to take administrative action such as revoking t

Feb. 22, 2024

[Editorial] Poor investment decisions

The financial risks prompted by the slowdown of the commercial real estate market in the US and elsewhere are now spilling over to South Korean banks at a worrying pace, suggesting that they are likely to incur great losses, partly due to their poor investment decisions. According to data from the office of Rep. Yang Kyung-sook of the main opposition Democratic, the country’s top five financial groups -- KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, NH NongHyup -- invested a total of 20.38 trillion wo

Feb. 21, 2024

[Editorial] Hands off the mouth

The Presidential Security Service has done it again. It looks worse this time, and they should come up with a better response to hecklers -- because there will be more. It happened when President Yoon Suk Yeol was giving a speech at the graduation ceremony of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology in Daejeon on Friday. A man in a graduation cap and gown stood up from the audience and began yelling that Yoon should restore the state budget for research and development, which the gov

Feb. 20, 2024

[Editorial] Lethal collision course

The conflict between the Yoon Suk Yeol administration and doctors over the plan to increase the medical school enrollment quota is expected to intensify Monday as doctors are scheduled to take collection action the next day. An escalation in the clash came after the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that it would increase the medical school freshmen quota by 2,000 next year -- a drastic increase from the current 3,058 seats -- as part of efforts to resolve chronic shortages of doctors in

Feb. 19, 2024

[Editorial] Trump risk at large

South Korea faces a plethora of risks this year, and among the most chilling is Donald Trump’s probable election as US president. Given his history as US president from 2017-2021, the gist of his foreign policy is clear: America will cut its spending on collective defense with its allies, unless they significantly increase their share of the funding. This will likely include less military drills with South Korea and Japan. During a campaign rally last Saturday, Trump complained about what

Feb. 16, 2024

[Editorial] Fast-paced AI race

The South Korean government seems to be aware that artificial intelligence increasingly plays a crucial role in diverse technology sectors and it is imperative to invest more in related industries through research and development. In a sign of its awareness, the Ministry of Science and ICT focused on digital transformation and job creation through AI initiatives Tuesday when it unveiled its major yearly plans for this year. As with other state-run policies with budget limitations, however, the S

Feb. 15, 2024

[Editorial] A third party

A whirlwind merger among different political parties ahead of the general elections is nothing new in South Korea, but it reached a whole new level this time. Former leaders of the two main parties who are miles apart on the ideological spectrum teamed up amid growing voter disorientation with the rival parties. Four parties and factions led by lawmakers who recently quit the ruling People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea agreed to unite as a single party over the Lu

Feb. 14, 2024

[Editorial] Hasty push for platform act

Regulators around the world are keen to keep dominant market players from abusing their overwhelming power to eliminate smaller and nascent rivals. South Korea’s top antitrust regulator attempted to legislate an act to prevent such unfair practice, only to face fierce protests -- even from small startups the agency had intended to protect. Last week, the Fair Trade Commission publicly admitted it needs more in-depth and extensive discussions with industries and stakeholders in pushing the

Feb. 13, 2024

[Editorial] Greater cause

Medical schools across the country will admit 2,000 more students starting from the next school year, raising the total annual quota to 5,058, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Tuesday. The planned increase in the number of people trained as physicians comes as South Korea suffers from a deadly shortage of doctors outside the greater Seoul area and in life-saving specialties such as pediatrics, general surgery, cardiothoracic surgery and emergency medicine. The government plans to revise t

Feb. 10, 2024

[Editorial] Diverging trends

South Korea’s policymakers on Wednesday received two positive signals that share largely the same conclusion: A recovery in exports continues to ease the economic slowdown. The first piece of good news came from the Bank of Korea, whose preliminary data shows the country recorded a current account surplus for the eighth month in a row in December, helped by an increase in trade surplus and dividends from overseas. The second piece of upbeat news was reported by the state-run Korea Developm

Feb. 9, 2024

[Editorial] Project financing debacle

South Korea’s financial regulators remain jittery about growing risks linked to real estate project financing loans. No wonder, then, that financial officials have been actively issuing more warnings with more details. One notable change is that their warnings are now coming with more explicit expressions. For instance, Lee Bok-hyun, governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, called real estate PF risks a “detonator” hooked up to the Korean economy at a press conference hel

Feb. 7, 2024