[Editorial] Old tactic

President Park Geun-hye is apparently upping the ante in her hardball politics. The launch of a new anticorruption drive and the threat of legal action against local education offices over financing a free child care program are some of her latest gambits.　These moves follow Park’s bitter attacks on the National Assembly – including its speaker -- and political parties over the parliament’s failure to reach a compromise on key legislation. Park’s unilateral push for the revival of state-authored

Jan. 7, 2016

[Editorial] Welfare built on sand

The Park Geun-hye administration has been reluctant to raise taxes on the corporate sector. Its policy might have been an urgent choice when it came to vitalizing the sagging economy by relieving enterprises of tax payment burdens.　For households, the high-income bracket had somewhat lower taxes on property, compared to past administrations. 　President Park’s dovish taxation stance has caused shortage in state tax revenue, which has paradoxically clashed with her commitment three years ago to ex

Jan. 7, 2016

[Editorial] Dealing with a rogue

Once again the world has seen – through its fourth nuclear bomb test – how unpredictable North Korea is and how difficult it is to rein in the rogue state.This time the North claimed that they had successfully detonated a hydrogen bomb and therefore that the country has reached a higher stage of development of nuclear weapons and joined the advanced ranks of nuclear weapons states.South Korea and the world should brace for greater tension on the Korean Peninsula and beyond as the provocation – a

Jan. 6, 2016

[Editorial] Dormant oil risks

A new source of global uncertainty has emerged surrounding crude oil prices in the aftermath of increased friction between Iran and Saudi Arabia.　Most global analysts still downplay the possibility of a spike in oil prices, predicting that the bilateral tension will not reach boiling point. Some allege the eventual goal of Saudi Arabia lies not in religious conflict with Iran, but in preventing Iran from snatching some of its market share. Saudi Arabia has also been in persistent competition wit

Jan. 6, 2016

[Editorial] Staying healthy

With drinking, smoking and obesity taking an increasingly heavy toll on Korean society, the government needs to step up its campaign against these health risks to reduce their socioeconomic costs.　A recent study by the Health Insurance Research Institute has estimated the ill effects of these three key health risks at 23.3 trillion won ($19.8 billion) in 2013. The figure accounts for about 46 percent of the total medical bills covered by the national health insurance scheme that year.　The instit

Jan. 5, 2016

[Editorial] Legislative inaction

Legislative inaction is hurting people and companies in need of help. Due to lawmakers’ failure to act, jobless people cannot receive larger unemployment benefits; struggling households have to pay higher interest rates on loans from credit businesses; and distressed companies face difficulty in getting debt relief from their creditor banks.　Last year, the government proposed a graduated scheme for unemployment benefits starting this year. It planned to allow beneficiaries of employment insuranc

Jan. 5, 2016

[Editorial] Economic challenges

One year ago, government economists said that the Korean economy would be able to recover its vitality in 2015 because the nation -- with no election set in the year -- would push for structural reforms, and there were favorable conditions such as the low price of oil, low interest rates and depreciation of the Korean currency.President Park Geun-hye confidently said in her New Year’s news conference that the Korean economy would grow 3.8 percent in 2015. But those predictions were too rosy, as

Jan. 4, 2016

[Editorial] Hope for change

Major Korean newspapers and broadcasters usually conduct opinion polls on the occasion of New Year’s Day, using the findings for special feature articles and programs. This year, they drew more public attention due to the general election scheduled for April.  In the political arena, the most salient trend found in the media-sponsored public surveys was the surge in popularity of a party to be launched by independent lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo. The figures vary slightly according to pollsters, but m

Jan. 4, 2016

[Editorial] Unconvincing excuses

　Undeniably, some negative external factors created big hurdles for the export-driven economy last year. Among those were economic slowdowns in some of South Korea’s key export destinations.　Nevertheless, it would be an irresponsible stance if any enterprise focused only on finding reasons to justify a retreat in its trade performance.　Cheap crude oil has been one of the few frequent excuses raised by some business lobbies and conglomerates for their sluggish exports and overseas development pro

Jan. 3, 2016

[Editorial] Taiwanese sex slaves

Following the deal between the South Korean and Japanese governments on wartime sex slavery last month, Taiwan is striving to open similar negotiations with Japan over the same issue for an apology and compensation.　Some foreign news outlets reported that the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry has already reached a consensus with its Japanese counterpart on starting discussions as early as this month on compensating Taiwan’s victims.　Historic records show that about 200,000 Asian women were dragged into

Jan. 3, 2016

[Editorial] 2016 with big events

Someone can stop a rooster from crowing by twisting its neck, as late President Kim Young-sam once said, but you cannot stop the dawn from coming. Again, many unpleasant incidents over the past year are becoming bygones as we greet the New Year.　2016 is an election year. The world is paying attention to the U.S. presidential campaign, and through the Nov. 8 election, the person who will succeed President Barack Obama is to emerge.　Before South Korea maps out diplomatic strategies with the coming

Dec. 31, 2015

[Editorial] Specter of collusion

The Constitutional Court has recently ruled that the Political Funds Act banning political parties from forming supporters’ associations to collect political funds is unconstitutional. It set June 30, 2017 as the deadline to amend the relevant provisions of the act.The provisions in question allow only individual politicians, including lawmakers, presidential candidates and candidates for party leadership competitions, to form supporters’ associations and collect political funds.The court said t

Dec. 30, 2015

[Editorial] A year of frustration

When it comes to domestic politics, President Park Geun-hye had a frustrating year in 2015. There being no tradition of compromise and mutual respect among political parties, she has had difficulty throughout the year enlisting cooperation from the main opposition party on her reform agenda.　In her New Year news conference on Jan. 12, Park pledged to turn 2015 into “a year of hope,” as the year, with no nationwide elections scheduled, would offer her administration a golden opportunity to regain

Dec. 30, 2015

[Editorial] More than rhetoric

Independent lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo is keeping up a brisk pace on his plan to launch a new political party by early February.　Ahn, who broke away from the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy -- now renamed the Together Democratic Party -- earlier this month, held a news conference Sunday to set out his vision for the new party. It was the first time that he met the media to discuss his plans for the new party. 　But what Ahn said fell far short of clearly showing what his “new poli

Dec. 29, 2015

[Editorial] Japan’s sincerity

As with all such agreements, the landmark deal on Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers during World War II has both positive and negative aspects.　For the first time, Japan acknowledged the involvement of its military in the operation of the war brothels and clearly stated that its government was responsible.　The statement read by Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida after talks with his Korean counterpart Yun Byung-se on Monday made the points clear: “The comfort wom

Dec. 29, 2015

[Editorial] No. 1 arms buyer

A U.S. Congress report showed that South Korea emerged as the world’s biggest arms importer last year, overtaking major Asian competitors including India, Saudi Arabia and China.　Between 2004 and 2013, the country was ranked between third and eighth in arms purchases, according to an earlier report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.　Considering Korea’s military power, which is assessed at No. 7 in the world, along with its gross domestic product position of 11th, its arms i

Dec. 28, 2015

[Editorial] Undue refinery concerns

Some stock analysts say that the nation’s oil refining industry is estimated to have suffered heavy losses in inventory values due to a deep slide in international crude oil prices.　Dubai crude is staying under $40 a barrel while it hovered over $100 in the first half of 2014. The analysts argue that local oil refiners see the loss from the gap between the amount paid for oil in its inventory and the current low price of crude.　But ordinary citizens don’t seem to quite agree. The research report

Dec. 28, 2015

[Editorial] Public sector debt

Korea’s public sector debt is continuing to grow at a fast pace, as welfare expenditures have increased sharply without a corresponding increase in the government’s tax income. As debt-financed welfare expansion is unsustainable, the government needs to find a remedy before the problem gets worse.　A tally released by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance shows Korea’s public sector debt reached 957.3 trillion won in 2014, amounting to 64.5 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.Of the to

Dec. 27, 2015

[Editorial] Sex slave issue

The foreign ministers of Korea and Japan are to meet today to resolve the long-standing issue of the Korean women who were forced to serve as sex slaves for the Imperial Japanese Army.The meeting raises expectations for a breakthrough as Japan appears more willing to resolve the knotty problem than before. It was arranged after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe instructed Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on Dec. 24 to travel to Seoul to wrap up the drawn-out talks over the issue by the end of the

Dec. 27, 2015

[Editorial] Growing debt bomb

The Bank of Korea has once again warned of household and corporate debt growth. In its latest Financial Stability Report, the central bank said financial stability risks rose compared with six months ago due to a decline in the financial soundness of the household and corporate sectors. Policymakers should heed the bank’s repeated warnings.　The report showed household debt rose by 10.4 percent on-year to total 1.17 trillion won at end-September. It notes that the pace of debt increase has contin

Dec. 24, 2015