[Editorial] Time tight

The Constitutional Court appears unlikely to rule on President Park Geun-hye’s impeachment this month as the last hearing has apparently been scheduled for Feb. 22.　Still, the eight justices of the court stand the chance of reaching their decision before acting Chief Justice Lee Jung-mi is set to retire on Mar. 13.　The court on Tuesday accepted eight of the 17 witnesses Park’s lawyers had asked for and decided to hold hearings until Feb. 22.It usually takes Constitutional Court justices about tw

Feb. 9, 2017

[Editorial] Healthy proposal

South Chungcheong Province Gov. An Hee-jung’s proposal to form a “grand coalition” for the next government may well be part of his efforts to broaden his support base, as the liberal candidate is fast emerging as a dark horse in the presidential race. Yet, the proposal itself should not be dismissed as a simple populist pledge. 　An’s argument is simple: Whoever win the presidency, the next government will not be able to assume the support of a majority of National Assembly. A wide coalition gove

Feb. 8, 2017

[Editorial] Face-to-face questioning

Special prosecutors reportedly plan to question President Park Geun-hye face-to-face later this week about the influence-peddling scandal involving her and her confidante Choi Soon-sil. Local news outlets said the Blue House is likely to let them question Park in private on its premises.But the public cannot put aside doubts that she may change her mind at the last minute or that she may keep making excuses if she does face questioning. She went back on her promise to let prosecutors question he

Feb. 7, 2017

[Editorial] Hold Woo accountable

While the team of independent counsel Park Young-soo is poised to question President Park Geun-hye later this week, investigators are closing in on another key target of their probe, Woo Byung-woo.　The team questioned Saturday the owner of a major gallery about Woo’s purchases of high-priced paintings. Investigators also summoned a police officer for the second time Sunday in connection with allegations that Woo exerted influence to secure a personnel-related favor for his son, who was serving h

Feb. 6, 2017

[Editorial] Anti-THAAD protests

South Korea and the US on Friday held their first defense ministers’ talks after the inauguration of the Donald Trump government. According to the South Korean Ministry of National Defense, their interest focused on the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery, a US antimissile defense system that they had agreed to deploy in South Korea. In the talks, the defense ministers reaffirmed that THAAD would be deployed this year, as planned.　Dozens of members of anti-US and anti-THAAD groups picket

Feb. 5, 2017

[Editorial] Rediscover conservatism

Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s sudden drop out of the presidential race shocked not only conservative politicians but those voters who think that they have a strong conservative inclination. Though Ban described himself as a liberal conservative, the conservative camp has regarded him as the strongest rival to the runaway frontrunner Moon Jae-in, the former leader of the liberal main opposition Democratic Party of Korea.The conservatives have a rough going amid a massive scandal which

Feb. 3, 2017

[Editorial] No bounds

By now, readers should know how powerful Choi Soon-sil, the notorious confidante of President Park Geun-hye, had become. What the independent counsel team’s investigation – and previously a separate probe by the state prosecution – has found so far shows that Choi was involved in a wide range of presidential and state affairs. Using her close ties with Park – and even virtually working in tandem with the president – Choi allegedly extorted money from conglomerates to finance two foundations unde

Feb. 2, 2017

[Editorial] Trump’s immigration ban

US President Donald Trump’s recent immigration ban to keep America safe from radical Islamic terrorists faces a backlash at home and abroad. He signed an executive order to indefinitely block Syrian refugees from entering the US and temporarily suspend immigration from seven mostly Muslim countries. He also established a religious test for refugees from Muslim nations: He ordered that Christians and others from minority religions be granted priority over Muslims.The measures worry and disturb th

Feb. 1, 2017

[Editorial] No more tricks

The team of special prosecutor Park Young-soo investigating the scandal surrounding President Park Geun-hye and her confidante Choi Soon-sil is zeroing in on its final target, Park. Investigators indicated that they plan to obtain a warrant to search several places in the Blue House, including Park’s living quarters, this week. They also plan to personally question her. It is imperative that Park faithfully comply with the investigation, because Park is at the center of all the key elements of t

Jan. 31, 2017

[Editorial] New diplomatic environment

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis’ visit to Korea on Thursday is expected to open the door to a new diplomatic environment for South Korea.　His visit is the first overseas trip by a member of the US cabinet since Donald Trump took office as president. Korea is his first country to visit. It reflects how serious and urgent the North Korean nuclear issue is to the Trump government.　North Korea has been heightening tension on the Korean Peninsula. Recently its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon showed

Jan. 30, 2017

[Editorial] It’s not peanuts

News reports have said that US Defense Secretary James Mattis plans to visit South Korea and Japan early next month. On the surface, the visit aims to reaffirm the solid US security alliance with the two countries, which Washington badly needs in light of its quickly deteriorating relations with China and the North Korean nuclear threat. 　 At the same time, there is a high possibility that Mattis will use his first overseas trip since the inauguration of the Trump administration to follow up on

Jan. 25, 2017

[Editorial] Renegotiation of FTA

The renegotiation of the Korea-US free trade deal is becoming a matter of “when” rather than “if.”US President Donald Trump pledged Sunday to begin to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada. Trump signed an executive order Monday to withdraw the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade pact. He blasted the five-year-old trade deal with Korea as a destroyer of American jobs during his campaign.The Trump government is expected to demand the openi

Jan. 24, 2017

[Editorial] Fake news alert

Fake news is different from ordinary misinformation and disinformation in that it takes a form of real news stories provided by what appear to be legitimate news outlets. It is more dangerous because people tend to easily believe information given to them in the name of news.With the proliferation of the internet and social media, fake news is becoming a global epidemic. One need look no further than the recent US election, in which some fabricated news stories went viral among social media user

Jan. 23, 2017

[Editorial] Detentions over blacklist

The court ruling on Saturday to detain former presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon and Culture Minister Cho Yoon-sun gave momentum to special prosecutors investigating suspicions they played major roles in blacklisting artists.　Two days earlier, the special counsel team had suffered a setback in their bid to take Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong into custody. The court refused to detain him, dismissing as unproven their argument that he received special favors from President Pa

Jan. 22, 2017

[Other View] Obama’s clemency for Manning sets back justice

Chelsea Manning may be getting out of prison in a few months, but the effects of President Barack Obama’s commutation of her sentence will last far longer. In this case, Obama made a serious error of judgment.　Proponents of clemency for Manning, the former US Army intelligence analyst convicted in 2013 of leaking classified material, make plenty of reasonable arguments: Her 35-year sentence was far longer than that of most other leakers; in spilling national security documents, she felt she was

Jan. 22, 2017

[Editorial] Employment pledges

US President Donald Trump has been pressuring companies to keep or add jobs in his country. He threatened several companies with big ‘border tax’ if they expand manufacturing facilities abroad to make products to be sold in the US.Ford Motor scrapped a planned Mexican car factory and added 700 jobs in Michigan following his criticism. GM announced a $1 billion investment in its US manufacturing operations, which will create 1,500 jobs. Fiat Chrysler unveiled a $1 billion plan to modernize two pl

Jan. 20, 2017

[Other View] The enduring dignity of Barack Obama

Posterity will pass fuller and fairer judgment on the presidency of Barack Obama than is possible today, but on one issue the verdict is already clear: personal integrity. In an especially hostile political environment, Obama was civil and decent, and he served with honor and dignity. Partisanship should not prevent Republicans from acknowledging these truths.　Like his predecessor, George W. Bush, Obama leaves the White House untarred by scandal. His administration was almost entirely free from

Jan. 20, 2017

[Editorial] Painful, but worthwhile

The case of Samsung Group’s Lee Jae-yong shows how easily Korean conglomerates – however global they may be – can fall into a deep crisis for reasons not directly related to their business. 　Although Lee was spared from being placed behind bars, his implication in an influence-peddling scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her confidante Choi Soon-sil is damaging the image of a company whose products, including smartphones, dominate world markets.　Despite the court’s rejection of an arre

Jan. 19, 2017

[Editorial] Vague position on THAAD

Moon Jae-in, the frontrunner in the presidential race, is zigzagging on the Korea-US agreement to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery, an advanced American antimissile system, on the Korean Peninsula.　The former leader of the main opposition Democratic Party said in a recent interview with a local newspaper, “I don’t think Korea can revoke what it agreed with the US so easily,” he said. “The next government should persuade China and Russia (regarding the agreement).”　He also p

Jan. 18, 2017

Signs of populism

The presidential race is showing signs of populism. Some pledges by presidential hopefuls from the opposition camp seem to be unrealistic and costly or simply designed to appease the populace by tackling elites or chaebol.Among populist promises are forfeiture of private assets from chaebol, closure of the nation’s most prestigious Seoul National University and distribution of 1 million won ($848) in annual “basic income” to 28 million people. Lee Jae-myung, the mayor of Seongnam, a city near Se

Jan. 16, 2017