[Editorial] Merited punishment

The court handed out verdicts in two prominent cases Friday - one involving an American citizen charged with murder and the other a former prime minister charged with corruption — and both deserve credit for establishing justice, which is sometimes tricky.  　The first case involves Arthur Patterson, a 36-year-old American who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for murdering a Korean college student in Seoul 19 years ago. 　As seen by the long years since Cho Choong-pil, then 22, was brutally sta

Jan. 31, 2016

[Editorial] Looking backward

As political parties gear up for the April 13 general election, some negative aspects of Korean politics are rearing their ugly heads. 　The already notorious factional strife within parties — between President Park Geun-hye’s loyalists and the “non-Parks” in the ruling party and between those who were close to the late President Roh Moo-hyun and the “non-Rohs” in the main opposition party — are heating up day by day as they brace for a war over candidate nominations.    　There are frequent merge

Jan. 31, 2016

[Editorial] Missile provocation

North Korea is reportedly likely to carry out a long-range missile test in the near future. Japan’s Kyodo News agency, quoting a Japanese government source, reported Thursday that the launch could come as early as in a week. Seoul’s Defense Ministry, which neither confirmed nor denied the report, said the military had been keeping close tabs on the launch site in the North’s northwestern region. 　It has been customary for the North to launch a long-range rocket before or after a nuclear bomb tes

Jan. 29, 2016

[Editorial] Blinded by self-interest

The results of the second telemedicine trial project are in. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said more than 80 percent of the patients who received telemedical care expressed satisfaction. Encouraged by the outcome, the ministry plans to launch another trial project next month on a much larger scale. 　The second project was carried out between March and December last year, involving some 5,300 patients in various places, including islands, remote rural areas, military camps, ocean-going vesse

Jan. 29, 2016

[Editorial] Gateway to insecurity

The case of a Chinese couple who broke through security at Incheon International Airport should ring alarm bells, and very loud. 　The case, in which the two passed through at least four layers of airport security in 14 minutes, followed the ruckus generated by the breakdown of the airport’s luggage system earlier this month. Both certainly damaged the reputation of the airport, which has boasted numerous best airport awards. 　But more than mere reputation is at stake when it comes to security. I

Jan. 28, 2016

[Editorial] Lawmakers’ ethics

Recently, there has been a series of news reports about lawmakers accused of wrongdoing. There were both positive and negative elements in them. 　The positive news came from The Minjoo Party of Korea, the main opposition party whose ethics panel suspended the party membership of two lawmakers -- Reps. Noh Young-min and Shin Ki-nam. 　The disciplinary action, which bans Noh for six months and Shin for three months, is harsher than it might sound because it will automatically forfeit the lawmakers’

Jan. 28, 2016

[Editorial] Pregnancy delay

Quarantine authorities in some South and Central American countries are recommending that women of fertile age avoid getting pregnant in the coming months, citing a mosquito-borne virus, which is suspected of causing critical birth defects.　The instructions came after at least 1,000 women gave birth to babies with abnormally small heads — which is called microcephaly — in Brazil. It has been found that a certain proportion of the women were infected with the Zika virus during their pregnancy.　Th

Jan. 27, 2016

[Editorial] Policy dilemma

South Korea has been facing a dilemma, alongside their Chinese counterpart, in their economic policy, including currency exchange rates.　The slowdown in Korea, with its 2015 economic growth staying at a three-year low of 2.6 percent should ordinarily prompt the Finance Ministry’s further stimulus measures this year. But the global situation may not easily allow the nation’s conventional policy of providing liquidity in the market.　The recent crash in the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index i

Jan. 27, 2016

[Editorial] Speaker’s proposal

National Assembly speaker Chung Ui-hwa has come up with a proposal to amend the controversial law on parliamentary operation, which is widely regarded as the main culprit for the frequent parliamentary deadlocks. 　Under the current law, a bill can be put to vote in a plenary session of the National Assembly only after having been approved by three-fifths of the legislators on the relevant standing committee.　The law also strictly restricts the power of the Assembly speaker to refer a bill direct

Jan. 26, 2016

[Editorial] Dismissal guideline

The government’s controversial guidelines on general dismissals and rules of employment have gone into effect. As the two new guidelines make it easier for employers to lay off underperforming workers and amend employment regulations to put employees at a disadvantage, the government needs to step up oversight of labor practices at workplaces to prevent them from being abused.　The government enforced the guidelines Monday after finalizing them Friday. The quick move reflects its determination to

Jan. 26, 2016

[Editorial] Simply incapable

The child care crisis touched off by budget blockades at child care centers and kindergartens shows how public officials, elected and appointed alike, are incapable and irresponsible.  　Now the crisis that had been brewing over the past few months is beginning to have a direct impact on the nation’s free child care system that covers children aged 3-5, commonly called the “Nuri Program.” 　Under the most severe threat are children in Seoul and Gyeonggi, Gwangju and South Jeolla provinces, where a

Jan. 25, 2016

[Editorial] Hardly creative

President Park Geun-hye called her proposal for five countries to hold a separate meeting on denuclearizing North Korea a “creative approach.” To start with, it is flatly wrong to call it “creative” because the idea has been floated in the past. 　And this time, too, the proposal, which Park made last Friday in a meeting with her key security and foreign policy aides, is likely to remain merely a proposal, as the countries concerned do not seem enthusiastic about it. Perhaps bearing possible skep

Jan. 25, 2016

[Editorial] Fund promotion

Financial service firms including first-tier banks have actively recommended that customers invest in equity funds. Bank counselors often claim that some popular fund products guarantee high returns compared to installment savings.　Amid the record low deposit rates, the sales volume of equity-linked securities surged to a historic high last year. Investors in the ELS funds will gain or lose according to the stock markets’ performance in Korea and overseas.　Meanwhile, a lingering problem is that

Jan. 24, 2016

[Editorial] Dismissal plans

The government has unilaterally publicized its new labor standards on giving enterprises the authority to lay off underperforming workers, despite a recent breakdown of the tripartite dialogue also involving labor and management.　The guidelines provide employers with the authority to sack employees when their job performance is judged as poor. Among a batch of labor reform schemes, it is this core article that has received the toughest backlash from labor advocates over the past few months.　The

Jan. 24, 2016

[Editorial] Preemptive measures

Foreign investors’ stock selling spree — while not surprising — is sending a cold wind as freezing as the weather through financial markets and ringing alarm bells in the Korean economy. 　Overseas investors kept dumping shares this week, breaking the 33-day selling streak record set in June and July 2008. Traders and analysts blame fears over, among other things, uncertainty in the Chinese economy and low oil prices.  　Stock markets are supposed to see investors come and go, depending on many fa

Jan. 22, 2016

[Editorial] Street politics

The ongoing signature-collecting campaign for a petition to the National Assembly to legislate key pending bills demonstrates how pitiful Korean politics is at the presidential and parliamentary levels alike. 　The campaign, launched by business organizations such as chambers of commerce, got a big boost when President Park Geun-hye joined it Monday. She said that the campaign expressed the people’s frustration with the parliament and that she wanted to provide her personal support.　It would be s

Jan. 22, 2016

[Editorial] GDP coupling

Moody’s Investors Service has picked South Korea as one of the few countries whose economies are seriously susceptible to the economic slowdown in China.　A local research institute has analyzed that a drop of 1 percentage point in the growth of China’s gross domestic product would slash Korea’s GDP growth by 0.6 percentage point.　The Chinese economy is markedly decelerating with its 2015 growth posting a 25-year low of 6.9 percent. Compared to a 10.4 percent GDP growth in 2010, its expansion has

Jan. 21, 2016

[Editorial] Prosecutors’ irritation

An assessment of a group of prosecutors’ attitude when they interrogated criminal suspects at their offices has been made public for the first time.　The evaluation of Seoul district-serving prosecutors, conducted by the Korean Bar Association, was mainly focused on whether they took a coercive stance during the interrogation process or whether they were lax in performing their basic duties as civil servants.　The KBA, composed of a group of lawyers, has publicized the list of the 10 best prosecut

Jan. 21, 2016

[Editorial] Economic democracy

The debate on economic democratization is likely to be rekindled in the run-up to the upcoming parliamentary elections as the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea is staking its campaign on the controversial concept.　The Minjoo Party recently named Kim Jong-in, an iconic advocate for economic democratization, to lead its election campaign. The appointment was a surprise, given that Kim had worked as a key strategist for President Park Geun-hye in the 2012 presidential election.　Kim is known as

Jan. 20, 2016

[Editorial] Reform hits snag

The government’s labor reform drive has hit a major snag, as the labor representative of the tripartite dialogue with management and the government declared Tuesday the breakdown of a landmark agreement reached in September.　　The Federation of Korean Trade Unions, which represented the labor side at the tripartite social dialogue, also said it would not participate in future talks.　FKTU chairman Kim Dong-man said in a news conference that the Sept. 15 agreement, which was hailed as a historic ac

Jan. 20, 2016