[Editorial] Korea no longer safe

The news that police are questioning an Indonesian national in Korea about his ties with a terrorist group linked to al-Qaida brought home the message that the country may not be completely safe from terrorist attacks.　According to the National Police Agency, the 32-year-old man arrested at his house in South Chungcheong Province on charges of violating immigration laws and forging documents, is suspected of supporting the Nusra Front, a Syrian branch of al-Qaida. The police found a model M16 ri

Nov. 19, 2015

[Editorial] Duty-free shops

In Korea, a duty-free shop is regarded as a goose that lays golden eggs. Once you are awarded a license to operate a duty-free shop, you are expected to make money relatively easily, given the small number of duty-free shops in Korea and the steady growth in foreign tourist arrivals.　This perception underlay the revision in 2013 of the law on the operation of duty-free shops to shorten the license terms from 10 years to five years. Allowing a company to enjoy the privilege of running a duty-free

Nov. 18, 2015

[Editorial] NE Asia bank

President Park Geun-hye is pushing hard for her plan to set up a multilateral development bank to finance infrastructure construction in North Korea and other parts of Northeast Asia.　Park first proposed the idea for the Northeast Asia Development Bank during her visit to Germany in March last year, pledging to help North Korea develop its economy if it gave up its nuclear ambitions.　On Monday, she pitched the plan to the leaders attending the G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey, calling for global co

Nov. 18, 2015

[Editorial] Dark side of elite school

The multiple cases of irregularities city education officials have found in their recent audit of the Hana Academy Seoul make one wonder whether the school — specifically its board members and staff — is qualified to educate some of the nation’s brightest students. 　The audit, initiated following tips from a whistle-blower — a teacher from the school — exposed an assortment of wrongdoings and irregularities. School officials gave high-valued contracts — without going through the legally required

Nov. 17, 2015

[Editorial] Antiterrorism laws　 　

The shocking terrorist attacks in Paris have quite naturally put Korean authorities on edge. Government officials have been holding a series of meetings to assess the situation in France and elsewhere in the world and take necessary steps. 　Likewise, politicians are busy calling meetings to discuss the latest terrorist attacks that are believed to have been orchestrated by the Islamic State militant group. The National Assembly held a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee Tuesday and the ruli

Nov. 17, 2015

[Editorial] Off-the-cuff remarks?

Last week, a senior Saenuri Party lawmaker raised the possibility of a revision of the Constitution during a media interview, reigniting speculation about changing the current five-year single-term presidency. 　Hong Moon-jong, a leading member of the Saenuri Party faction that is closely allied to President Park Geun-hye, said that a semi-presidential system in which a president is responsible for external affairs and a prime minister is responsible for domestic affairs may better ensure continu

Nov. 16, 2015

[Editorial] Ban’s Pyongyang visit

If U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon realizes his plan to visit Pyongyang this week — reported Monday based on an unnamed U.N. source — it should serve to further the cause of reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula and contribute to North Korea’s denuclearization.　Since assuming the top post at the U.N., Ban, a former Korean foreign minister, has repeatedly said that he would do everything possible to promote inter-Korean reconciliation and a resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue. 　If th

Nov. 16, 2015

[Editorial] Worst violence in Paris

Friday was a horrible day for the French people as a wave of terrorist attacks killed at least 129 people in Paris. 　Gunmen and bombers went on a shooting rampage at several locations across Paris in the worst day of violence in France since World War II. 　At the Bataclan rock concert hall in the heart of the French capital, four gunmen slaughtered at least 87 young people.  　Calling the attacks “an act of war,” French President Francois Hollande said Saturday that they were organized from abroa

Nov. 15, 2015

[Editorial] What is Japan up to?

Japan’s ruling party is reportedly planning to reexamine the history of Imperial Japan from the Sino-Japanese War in the late 19th century to World War II.　Japanese media reports that the Liberal Democratic Party plans to set up this month a history review panel to mark the 60th anniversary of the party’s founding. 　We suspect that the move is related to Japanese nationalists’ persistent efforts to justify Japan’s aggressions against Asian countries in the first half of the 20th century. 　The su

Nov. 15, 2015

[Editorial] Korean troops abroad

Extending Korea’s participation in the multinational naval operations in the Gulf of Aden and extending the stationing of a military unit in the UAE when the matter comes up for vote in the National Assembly later this month would demonstrate Korea’s commitment to playing an active role in the international community.　A 4,000-ton Navy destroyer and some 320 military personnel which make up the Cheonghae unit have been stationed in the Gulf of Aden since March 2009 as part of the Combined Task Fo

Nov. 13, 2015

[Editorial] Time is running out

Forty-seven remaining survivors, most of them around 90 years old. This is the stark reality that Korea and Japanese officials should bear in mind as the two sides discuss the issue of Japanese military sex slaves during World War II. 　Wednesday’s 10th working-level meeting between Korean and Japanese Foreign Ministry officials on the issue ended without making much headway and without fixing a date for the next meeting. That no progress was made hardly comes as a surprise — nine meetings had le

Nov. 13, 2015

[Editorial] A weirdo

Former intelligence chief Kim Man-bok, in many respects, is a strange figure. He has generated so many controversies that many say even now, seven years after he stepped down from his post, that he should never have held such an important position.  Such a view may not be too harsh, if one looks at what Kim has done during and since his stint as the head of the National Intelligence Service from 2006-2008 during the Roh Moo-hyun administration. 　For starters, Kim made public -- in violation of t

Nov. 12, 2015

[Editorial] More finger-pointing

President Park Geun-hye, in nature, is self-righteous and unilateral. One need not look no further than the way she pushes the replacement of privately published Korean history textbooks for middle and high school students with state-authored ones. 　Park’s such “nobody but me is right and you should just follow me” approach is indiscriminate, with anyone -- even ruling party members and the National Assembly as a whole -- capable of becoming the target of her finger-pointing. 　Park, herself a fo

Nov. 12, 2015

[Editorial] Profitability evaluation

The government has belatedly come up with a plan to prevent Korean construction companies and shipbuilders from getting in trouble by winning risky and unprofitable overseas contracts.　The Ministry of Strategy and Finance announced Tuesday that state-run financial institutions would be required to carry out a rigorous profitability test when they are requested by construction firms and shipbuilders to provide financing for large-scale overseas projects. 　For this, the government plans to set up

Nov. 11, 2015

[Editorial] Elections in Myanmar

Myanmar’s opposition party, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, a symbol of democracy and human rights, is reportedly on track for a landslide victory in the general election held over the weekend.　Vote counting is still underway, but early results suggest Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, is certain to win a sweeping victory, ending five decades of military dictatorship.　To have a winning majority in Myanmar’s 664-seat parliament, the opposition party needs more than two-thirds

Nov. 11, 2015

[Editorial] Girls driven to diet

A recent Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development report showed a great disparity in the obesity rates of boys and girls in Korea.　While 26.4 percent of boys aged 5 to 17 were either overweight or obese in 2013, 14.1 percent of girls of same age were either overweight or obese, according to the Health at a Glance 2015 report published by the OECD. The OECD average was 24 percent for boys and 22 percent for girls. Poland was the only other country with a greater gender disparity. 　Th

Nov. 10, 2015

[Editorial] Safety abroad

The growing tide of violent crimes against Koreans in the Philippines has prompted the Korean authorities to increase support for the Philippine police.　Kang Sin-myeong, commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency, said that the KNPA was looking for ways to help the Philippine police investigate crimes involving Korean nationals in the Philippines. Attesting to the gravity of the situation, Kang met with his Filipino counterpart Ricard C. Marquez and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alber

Nov. 10, 2015

[Editorial] Cable car boom

A cable car construction boom is underway across the nation. According to reports, more than 30 cable car projects are being promoted or planned by local governments.　　For instance, Geoje City in South Gyeongsang Province is building a 1.93-kilometer-long cable car line on Geojedo Island off the southern coast. City officials expect the 42 billion won project, when completed in 2017, will attract more tourists and create economic ripple effects worth more than 200 billion won a year.　　This and m

Nov. 9, 2015

[Editorial] Assembly back in business

The operations of the National Assembly have been normalized as the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy ended its boycott of parliamentary sessions over the government’s push for state-designated history textbooks.　The opposition party’s decision to return to the National Assembly is well-advised, given the long list of urgent national tasks lawmakers have to deal with without further delay.　　Legislators have about a month left until the end of the 100-day regular parliamentary s

Nov. 9, 2015

[Editorial] Ugly fight

It is not unusual for the central government and local governments to clash over policy priorities. It is the same between provincial and metropolitan governments and smaller local governments like counties, which are called “gu” or “gun” here. 　But the seemingly perennial confrontations and mutual accusations we see between the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Gangnam-gu, the posh commercial and residential district in the heart of the capital, sicken many. Both Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and G

Nov. 8, 2015