[Editorial] Newcomers’ quit

The widening wage gap between conglomerates and small and medium enterprises is hampering the latter from securing competitive human resources, leading to polarization of workers.According to a recent survey, 1 in 4 new employees with a bachelor’s degree or higher quits within a year. And such early exits were three times more common at companies with less than 300 employees than at larger businesses.These were the results of a recent survey conducted on 306 businesses nationwide by the Korea Em

June 8, 2016

[Editorial] Lingering ‘BOXPI’

It seems that South Korea’s stock market has become more frequently swayed by external factors. The situation is quite different from past years, when many local and foreign analysts didn’t hesitate to praise the fundamentals of major companies traded on the Korea Exchange, despite some negative external factors.These days, the benchmark KOSPI has become extremely sensitive to remarks by foreign officials or analysts, even if the remarks suggest just a possible option among a variety of scenario

June 8, 2016

[Editorial] Row over posts

The 20th National Assembly convened its first session Tuesday, but lawmakers are sitting idle as rival parties have failed to reach an agreement on the election of the new Assembly leadership and committee chiefs.The law on the operation of parliament stipulates that the election of the speaker and vice speaker should be held on the first day of the first extraordinary session convened after the general election for Assembly members.The law also says the election of heads of the 18 standing comm

June 7, 2016

[Editorial] Dishonest prosecutor

The public’s trust in prosecutors -- already quite low -- has sunk further as a senior prosecutor has been found to have told lies in the process of clarifying how he earned huge stock trading gains last year. Jin Kyung-jun, the commissioner of the Korea Immigration Service under the Ministry of Justice, drew attention in March when the Government Public Ethics Committee disclosed the personal wealth of high-ranking government officials.Jin ranked sixth among the 1,813 senior government official

June 7, 2016

[Editorial] How’s life?

You probably don’t need statistics or scientific research to see how hard life in this society is. There are nonstop incidents and controversies that illustrate the difficulties and adversities faced by contemporary Koreans. Young people fed up with the shortage of decent jobs kill themselves, people frustrated with life wield knives at strangers and couples have no qualms about abusing -- and even murdering --their children. Korean workers have one of the world’s longest workweeks, the gap betw

June 6, 2016

[Editorial] Korea-Cuba relations

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se’s landmark visit to Cuba, with which South Korea lacks official ties, is timely for several reasons. First, Yun’s participation in the summit of Association of Caribbean States countries will certainly help South Korea foster closer relations with the region, which has remained low in its foreign policy agenda. The ACS, founded in 1995, now comprises 25 countries in the region, and Yun joined the gathering as an observer, a status South Korea has been given since 19

June 6, 2016

[Editorial] Language education

South Korea is set to diversify its foreign language education at schools under a law on special language education promotion.As the Education Ministry has stated, it is welcome to see that the nation is seeking to modify the current situation in which Koreans have excessively engaged in learning English over the past decades. The second most popularly learned foreign language at colleges and private institutes was Japanese formerly, and is Chinese presently.The ministry said it will provide uni

June 5, 2016

[Editorial] Gas price rebound

Retail oil prices recently reached their highest so far this year in Korea amid a rapid bounce-back in international crude prices.Gasoline prices have surpassed the former 2016 record of 1,406.72 won ($1.18) per liter, which was recorded on Jan. 1, after hitting the bottom of 1,339.51 won in early March. Diesel prices have also posted a V-type rebound to break the 1,200-won barrier.The domestic prices growth reflects an about 90 percent jump in crude prices within just three to four months. Desp

June 5, 2016

[Editorial] No lifeline

It is always tricky to deal with North Korea, indisputably the world’s most isolated, unpredictable and dangerous country. No less tricky – as far as matters concerned with Korean affairs – is dealing with China, the North’s sole remaining socialist ally and patron. 　A senior North Korean official’s surprise visit to China earlier this week – the first of its kind in three years – is yet another piece of evidence that the international community will not be able to end the North Korean nuclear i

June 3, 2016

[Editorial] Real question

Prosecutors with search and seizure warrants raided Thursday several places that include the head office of the duty-free unit of Lotte Group and the home of the daughter of the retail giant’s founder Shin Kyuk-ho.　They said Shin Young-ja is suspected of offering favors -- in return for kickbacks -- to Jung Woon-ho, a convicted businessman who approached her through a middle man to get his cosmetics brand into Lotte duty-free shops. 　We believe that there should be no stone left unturned in the

June 3, 2016

[Editorial] Workplace accidents

Two high-profile accidents recently occurred at workplaces, both of which took lives. The consensus of the public is that the mishaps are attributable to negligent security measures.Some claimed that these incidents could have been avoided as they were the type of accidents that often take place in underdeveloped countries and there were few safety measures in place for the workers. On Wednesday, four people died and 10 others were injured after a subway construction site in Namyangju, Gyeonggi

June 2, 2016

[Editorial] Retreating prowess

South Korea’s global competitiveness ranking stayed at 10th out of 14 Asia-Pacific countries in a report released this week by the Swiss researcher International Institute for Management Development.  Out of the surveyed 61 countries across the world, Korea ranked 29th. Asia’s fourth-largest economy was behind Malaysia (19th), China (25th) and Thailand (28th).Besides these rankings, the nation’s corporate sector ranking was also somewhat shocking.Korea was 48th in overall business efficiency. It

June 2, 2016

[Editorial] Rough waters ahead

The outlook for the Korean economy is getting increasingly murky as uncertainty is growing over U.S. monetary policy, the referendum in Britain on European Union membership, and the ongoing restructuring of ailing companies.A strong headwind is blowing for Korea, as the U.S. central bank is likely to raise its key interest rate in the coming months. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Friday that an interest rate hike in the coming months would “probably” be appropriate. She did not specific

June 1, 2016

[Editorial] Quarrel over dust

Although President Park Geun-hye called for “drastic” measures to improve the worsening air quality three weeks ago, the administration has not come up with any solutions yet.The delay is attributable to the inability of the related ministries to iron out their differences.The Environment Ministry is seeking to raise diesel prices to curb the demand for diesel vehicles. In its view, no significant improvement in air quality can be expected from measures such as installing emissions reduction equ

June 1, 2016

[Editorial] Cozy relations

The accounting industry has faced criticism over its allegedly negligent audits on some corporate clients. Its responsibility has come under the spotlight in line with the recent woes in the shipbuilding and shipping sectors.A notable example is Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering’s financial statements, which were audited by Deloitte Anjin, a local member of British firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd.Deloitte Anjin earlier issued an auditor opinion of “optimum” about DSME’s financial statem

May 31, 2016

[Editorial] Failing shipbuilders

STX Offshore & Shipbuilding has filed for court receivership after three years of futile turnaround efforts led by its creditors. Applying for court protection last Friday, the company asserted that its value as a going concern would be higher than that coming from sales of its assets.The bankruptcy court is expected to decide in a couple of months whether to allow the shipbuilder to start rehabilitation efforts or to liquidate it.The downfall of STX Shipbuilding highlights the flaws in creditor

May 31, 2016

[Editorial] Rhythmic gymnast

Son Yeon-jae from South Korea is verifying her global competitiveness in rhythmic gymnastics, clinching five medals at an International Federation of Gymnastics World Cup in Bulgaria over the weekend.Son took bronze in the individual all-around, a gold in clubs, two silvers in hoop and ribbon and a bronze in ball during the Sofia competition.She is drawing close attention as to whether she will become the first Korean rhythmic gymnast to take an Olympic medal in Rio de Janeiro in August. Her pop

May 30, 2016

[Editorial] Blunted growth

South Korea lagged behind some European countries whose per capita gross domestic product exceeded $50,000 in the 2015, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.The nation, which ranks 28th in per capita GDP among OECD members at about $25,000, posted 2.6 percent economic growth last year -- behind Luxembourg, Iceland and Ireland. The three nations were included in the world’s top 10 per capita GDP ranking.Korea has usually exceeded the high-income countries in annu

May 30, 2016

[Editorial] Ban’s presidential bid

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is to return to New York today, wrapping up his six-day visit to his native country and Japan. During his stay in Korea, he rocked political circles by strongly suggesting that he could run in the 2017 presidential election after completing his second term as U.N. chief.“Next January, I will be a Korean citizen again. I will contemplate what I should do as a citizen, bearing in mind that people have high expectations for me,” Ban said in a press conference. Lam

May 29, 2016

[Editorial] Presidential veto

Following the April general election, the ruling and opposition camps both pledged to depart from their usual politics to establish a new tradition of collaboration in the 20th National Assembly. The new Assembly kicks off today, but the two camps are back in confrontational mode.What has strained relations between the two sides is a bill intended to allow parliamentary standing committees to hold hearings more frequently, thus helping them keep close tabs on state affairs.Under the current modu

May 29, 2016