[Editorial] Saenuri struggle

Saenuri Party chairman Kim Moo-sung, embroiled in a highly public and bitter exchange of words with the Blue House over secure mobile phone polling for party nominations in elections, appears to have offered an olive branch, at least for now. Boycotting all official functions on Thursday, including the Armed Forces Day ceremony attended by President Park Geun-hye and a meeting of the Saenuri Party Supreme Council, Kim met with reporters at the National Assembly and rebutted the Blue House critic

Oct. 2, 2015

[Editorial] R&D spending

Lawmakers need to take a critical look at the government’s plan for spending on research and development in the process of their forthcoming deliberation of the state budget for next year.　R&D expenditures in the public sector are set to edge up 0.2 percent from this year to 18.9 trillion won ($16 billion) in 2016. But spending on actual R&D projects will be cut by 1.6 percent to 12.6 trillion won. The remainder will be used to cover the personnel and operation costs of public research institute

Oct. 1, 2015

[Editorial] World Military Games

More than 8,700 soldiers from 120 countries will take part in the 6th World Military Games to begin a 10-day run Friday in Mungyeong and nearby cities in North Gyeongsang Province.It is the first time that the quadrennial international military sports event has been held in South Korea. Not surprisingly, North Korea boycotted this year’s event without giving any specific reason.　The event - which claims to be the third-largest global sports competition after the Olympic Games and the Universiade

Oct. 1, 2015

[Editorial] Good accord?

It looked good on the surface -- the leaders of the ruling and main opposition parties getting together during the Chuseok holidays to strike a deal on knotty political issues like setting new rules for the next parliamentary elections. 　The meeting between Kim Moo-sung and Moon Jae-in led to an agreement to adopt a form of open primaries to select candidates for the elections next April. 　Kim, leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, and Moon, head of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, also ag

Sept. 30, 2015

[Editorial] Volkswagen’s crisis

The “dieselgate” scandal involving German carmaker Volkswagen has some implications for Korea, especially government policy on environment protection and the auto industry. 　First of all, the dishonest practice perpetrated by the world’s leading automaker confirms that we never should trust those whose goal is to make money. In recent times, we have witnessed similar cases involving unethical enterprises like Enron and Lehman Brothers.　The Volkswagen case is all the more disappointing because it

Sept. 30, 2015

[Editorial] Growing international role

Korea showed its readiness to play a more vital role in the international community during the U.N. Sustainable Development Summit held Sept. 25-27 in New York City.　At the plenary session of the U.N. Sustainable Development Summit on Sept. 26, President Park Geun-hye pledged $200 million toward health care services and education of girls over a period of five years starting next year. Under the “Better Life for Girls Initiative,” Korea will provide health- and education-related official develop

Sept. 29, 2015

[Editorial] Park aims at N.K. at U.N.

While much of world is preoccupied by the unfolding refugee crisis in Europe, President Park Geun-hye used the podium of the U.N. General Assembly to bring renewed international attention to the issue of North Korean nuclear disarmament.　Noting that the North Korean nuclear issue posed a serious threat to peace in Northeast Asia and beyond, Park urged giving highest priority to resolving it. With the Iranian denuclearization deal reached in July, North Korea is now the biggest unresolved nuclear

Sept. 29, 2015

[Editorial] Incompetence is vice, too

During a recent parliamentary audit of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, a lawmaker asked its chief to name the most prominent corruption case involving military procurement. His answer was: “Well there are so many, so I don’t know.”　This comic episode illustrates how pervasive corruption is in the nation’s procurement programs. So much so that there is a joint investigation team — consisting of the state prosecution, military prosecution, police, tax and customs agencies and finan

Sept. 24, 2015

[Editorial] Fair justice

The extradition of an American suspect this week has rekindled public attention on a 1997 murder case, which was so dramatic that it was made into a movie in 2009 titled “The Case of Itaewon Homicide.”　Arthur Patterson, 36, was taken to the Seoul Detention Center after arriving from the U.S. on Wednesday. He will stand trial in a Seoul court over the charge that he stabbed to death a Korean university student 18 years ago. 　The tragic death of Cho Joong-pil, 22, took place in the restroom of a B

Sept. 24, 2015

[Editorial] Chinese characters

The decision on whether to use Chinese characters in conjunction with Hangeul in elementary school textbooks has been pushed off until next year amid much heated discussion.　The Education Ministry, which has been pushing to have Chinese characters included in elementary school textbooks used by third-year students and up, appears to have relented for now to its opponents, who vehemently opposed the plan. 　The use of Chinese characters with Hangeul in textbooks was abolished in 1970, but argument

Sept. 23, 2015

[Editorial] ‘Bestowing’ Chuseok treats

On Sunday, the Blue House announced that President Park Geun-hye is granting all lower-ranking military servicemen two days of leave and “bestowing” special snacks for military personnel on the occasion of Chuseok.　There is no doubt that the nearly 560,000 military servicemen who will get the unprecedented extra holidays will welcome the surprise gift. The holidays are being given in recognition of the efforts of the military servicemen during last month’s heightened inter-Korean military tensio

Sept. 23, 2015

[Editorial] Constituency system

An independent panel formed by the National Election Commission is scheduled to hold a meeting this week to decide on the number of electoral districts for the forthcoming parliamentary elections. It suggested Saturday the number would be set at between 244 and 249 -- little changed from the current system, under which 246 lawmakers are elected from constituencies.　The suggestion has prompted a negative response particularly from the ruling Saenuri Party, with its leader Rep. Kim Moo-sung descri

Sept. 22, 2015

[Editorial] Zombie companies

The growing number of “zombie companies” -- firms that do not earn enough profit to pay tax and make interest payments -- is becoming a major risk factor for the Korean economy.　According to recent data from Chaebul.com, an online corporate tracker, the number of listed corporations that logged pretax operating losses last year amounted to 541, or 31.1 percent of the total. The proportion, the highest in five years, marked a 2 percent increase from 29.1 percent in 2010.　The number of companies w

Sept. 22, 2015

[Editorial] Japan and war

People have various perceptions and images of a country. It is the same with Japan. One of the common impressions of Japan is a bad one, which stems from its wartime past. 　Japan invaded its Asian neighbors in the name of building a “Great East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere” and waged the Pacific war against the U.S. in line with its imperialistic militarism. Many, including Koreans, suffered immensely during the Japanese aggression and colonial rule.　So Korea and other members of the international

Sept. 21, 2015

[Editorial] Good deed

The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea, a major Protestant church here, has decided that its clergy will voluntarily pay income tax. It was the first time that a major Presbyterian church has made such a decision. 　The PROK, which has a total of 1,654 churches across the country, with its congregation and clergy standing at 280,000 and 2,950, said that it took the decision after making a theological and legal review of the issue. 　“We agreed that it was fair for the members of the cler

Sept. 21, 2015

[Editorial] CCTV at child care centers

The installation of closed-circuit television became mandatory for all new child care centers Saturday. New child care centers catering to children under the age of 6 are now required to operate CCTV while existing centers are being given a three-month grace period to have CCTV installed.　The revised enforcement regulations on the law concerning the care of infants and young children, which went into effect on Sept. 19, calls for the installation of high-resolution CCTV in areas where the childr

Sept. 20, 2015

[Editorial] Pivotal moment for N.K.

Saturday marked the 10th anniversary of the landmark deal in which North Korea agreed to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for economic aid and diplomatic concessions. Yet, the agreement has yet to be fulfilled as North Korea quit the related six party talks and halted the denuclearization process. 　In fact, earlier last week, Pyongyang declared that it had resumed operations at the Yongbyon nuclear complex and the North Korean government mouthpiece Rodong Sinmun said Saturday that whether

Sept. 20, 2015

[Editorial] Overhauling opposition

Overhauling opposition　NPAD far from becoming an election-winning forceRep. Moon Jae-in, chairman of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, said the passage of reform measures by its executive members this week reflected their demand that the party should be overhauled to win future elections. But the liberal opposition party, which has been embroiled in chronic internal feuding, still seems far from becoming a credible alternative to the conservative ruling Saenuri Party. It i

Sept. 18, 2015

[Editorial] Youth employment fund

Youth employment fundEfforts should focus on creating more jobsPresident Park Geun-hye has demonstrated her commitment to increasing the country’s youth employment by pledging to give 20 percent of her monthly salary each month -- on top of a 20 million won ($17,000) initial donation -- to an envisioned fund meant to help young people find jobs. Her monthly contribution will amount to about 3.4 million won, given that her annual salary is set at 205 million won this year.Disclosing the president

Sept. 18, 2015

[Editorial] Perils of postnatal centers

The recent spread of tuberculosis at a postnatal care facility in Seoul is a reminder of the inherent danger of such facilities where, in a confined setting, an infection can quickly spread. 　A nursing aide continued to work at a postnatal care facility in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, for about one month even though she was suspected of having tuberculosis. She came into contact with 120 infants before she began tuberculosis treatment on Aug. 19. Thirteen infants were confirmed to have latent tuberculos

Sept. 17, 2015