[Editorial] Tiresome brinksmanship

North Korea’s recent announcement that it has restarted the Yongbyon nuclear complex and an earlier statement about its readiness to launch long-range rockets have been met with a warning of increasingly “severe consequences” for the communist state by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.　Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Kerry said that it may take more than sanctions to get North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program, as the country is already isolated from the global economy. 　Kerry di

Sept. 17, 2015

[Editorial] Debt problem

A recent report from the Bank for International Settlements rang yet another alarm bell over Korea’s rising level of household debt. The ratio of the country’s household debt to gross domestic product hovered above 84 percent in 2014, the highest among 14 key emerging economies surveyed in the quarterly BIS report. The average ratio of the emerging countries was 30 percent. Korea’s household-to-debt ratio also surpassed the average figure for 12 major developed countries at 78 percent.　Korea saw

Sept. 16, 2015

[Editorial] Outdated pattern

North Korea is returning to its provocative habits in the lead-up to the 70th anniversary of the founding of its ruling Workers’ Party on Oct. 10. It announced Tuesday that it had restarted all facilities, including a uranium enrichment plant and a reactor capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium, at the Yongbyon nuclear complex. The announcement came a day after its space agency said that it was ready to launch satellites aboard long-range rockets “at the times and locations determined by t

Sept. 16, 2015

[Editorial] Follow-up actions

The tripartite committee’s agreement on labor reform is certainly welcome, but it does not mean that all hurdles have been cleared. Rather, it put all the concerned parties — government, political parties, unions and employers — on the starting line for real work.　The disruption of a meeting of the central executive council of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, called Monday to endorse the tripartite panel’s agreement, manifests the rough road lying ahead for the reform work. A union leader

Sept. 15, 2015

[Editorial] Effective deterrent

There has come yet another report showing that corruption in the Korean civil service is as pervasive as ever. 　The report, compiled by the Justice Ministry and the National Tax Service, showed that there were a total of 2,256 bribery cases involving government employees last year, a 26 percent increase from 1,782 cases in 2013. This year, there were already 1,729 cases by the end of July. 　Perhaps you don’t need any such statistics to see how rampant corruption is among the nation’s civil serva

Sept. 15, 2015

[Editorial] Child care subsidy row

The government’s plan to limit free child care center services to some 6 to 8 hours per day for nonworking mothers starting next year has led to a storm of protests by its opponents who cry discrimination.　Take away something one is used to having, especially something given free of charge, and anger and resentment are bound to follow. However, the current system of providing free 12-hour child care for all children up to 2 years old needs to change, as it is hardly sustainable. It was rash of t

Sept. 14, 2015

[Editorial] Return to the old days?

Should the government have a monopoly on writing history textbooks? The answer has been a resounding no from historians, history teachers and now even the very experts who have been charged with establishing an outline for a government-written history textbook have spoken out against the plan, issuing a statement against such textbooks during a public hearing convened to discuss the standard for government-authored history textbooks.　In fact, the debate over whether a government-led history text

Sept. 14, 2015

[Editorial] Insatiable greed

Hyundai Motor’s labor union has voted to strike, as negotiation with the management is making little progress. It set the stage for a walkout for the fourth consecutive year. 　The union said it would boycott overtime work starting Monday. It will also participate in a joint rally with the unions of the three major shipbuilders, which was already planning to stage partial strikes later this week. 　Being a union notorious for its hard-line stance, it is little surprising that the Hyundai Motor uni

Sept. 13, 2015

[Editorial] Tax hike not enough

About eight months have passed since the government raised the tobacco tax, which increased the average prices of cigarettes by 80 percent, from 2,500 won ($2.10) to 4,500 won a pack. 　　So it might be a good time to look into what impact the drastic price hike is having on smokers, the industry and government policies. 　　The first question, of course, should be about how effective the price control is in reducing cigarette sales and lowering the smoking rate. 　　Common sense says that the more ex

Sept. 13, 2015

[Editorial] Bad auditors

The National Assembly’s annual inspection of the government is a unique institution in that lawmakers audit almost all major ministries and public offices, including the prosecution and the court, in a short period of time. 　On the surface, it is a fairly good democratic institution as it intends to ensure checks and balances among the three branches of government, with the legislature acting as a watchdog against the executive and judiciary branches. In fact, the yearly parliamentary audit expo

Sept. 11, 2015

[Editorial] Future of opposition

Moon Jae-in’s announcement that he will step down as head of the main opposition party if the party does not endorse reform proposals drawn up by an independent panel was yet another blunder by the already troubled leader. 　It was evident that by staking his seat on the endorsement of the proposals by the Central Committee -- which is very likely because he has a firm control over it as the party leader and head of the mainstream faction -- he was seeking to put an end to his opponents’ consiste

Sept. 11, 2015

[Editorial] More culture for all

The government-led Culture Day program which offers free or reduced price admissions to various cultural and sporting events may be expanded into a weeklong program, providing greater opportunities for people to enjoy cultural activities. 　Culture Day, introduced as part of Park Geun-hye administration’s efforts to promote culture, has been enjoying growing recognition and participation. A survey of 2,000 people conducted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism last month showed that 45.2

Sept. 10, 2015

[Editorial] Agonizing wait

Five hundred people were selected by computer Wednesday from some 66,000 people who had applied for a chance to meet their families living in North Korea, the first step in what must be a gut-wrenching wait for the families separated by the Korean War to see if they will be among the 100 people chosen from South Korea to meet their families in the North at next month’s reunion.　The first reunion to be held since the last one was held in February 2014, the agreement on the inter-Korean family reu

Sept. 10, 2015

[Editorial] English names

What should be considered first in naming an institution ― especially a government organization ― may be how well the name helps ordinary people understand its function easily and clearly. It is better if the name is simple and easy to comprehend.These guidelines need to be taken into more careful consideration in choosing the English names of Korean institutions.To our regret, it has to be admitted that Koreans are largely insensitive to and inept at using accurate English terminology. In this

Sept. 10, 2015

[Editorial] Women outnumber men

Recent government data confirmed a demographic change Korea had long been expecting to see this year: women outnumbering men. The number of women in Korea stood at 25,715,304 in June, 492 more than the male population. This was the first time women have outnumbered men since the government began compiling related data in 1960.The trend is forecast to continue as the gap between men’s and women’s life expectancies is getting larger and the preference for sons has receded in Korean society. The ge

Sept. 10, 2015

[Editorial] Reform or ruin?

The reform panel of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy unveiled its 10th and last package of proposals Monday. The Innovation Committee will soon end its operations which started in June in the wake of the party’s successive defeats in major elections. 　The latest proposals call on the party to form an electoral college of nonparty members to nominate candidates for the next parliamentary elections in April. The panel also suggested offering extra points to “fresh figures,”

Sept. 8, 2015

[Editorial] Reason for reform

The labor dispute at Kumho Tire, which forced the management to impose a lockout at its three plants, reveals the problems with the unions of many big Korean companies — they are overly protected and excessively selfish. It is not the first time that the nation’s second-largest tire-maker has been embroiled in a severe labor dispute. Its union is notorious for its hardline stance and the company has a long history of serious disputes that have resulted in strikes and lockouts. The union’s milita

Sept. 8, 2015

[Editorial] Syrian exodus

The photographs of Aylan Kurdi, a 3-year-old Syrian boy who washed up on a Turkish shore after drowning in the sea, tore at the hearts and consciences of people around the world and got several European countries to take immediate action.　More than 4 million Syrians have left their homeland to flee the four-year civil war there while some 7 million Syrians are displaced internally. According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Gutteres, this is the biggest refugee population from

Sept. 7, 2015

[Editorial] Another tragedy at sea

What started out as a weekend fishing trip ended in a tragedy when a small boat carrying some 21 passengers capsized on Saturday evening near Jejudo island. Only three have survived, with 10 bodies recovered so far.　The lack of safety precautions and the Coast Guard’s inability to rescue passengers bear eerie similarity to the Sewol ferry disaster that claimed more than 300 lives. The latest accident showed that we have learnt very little from the disaster more than a year ago, which resulted in

Sept. 7, 2015

[Editorial] Indefinite support

It embarrasses us to guess what thoughts came across the mind of a soldier who lost both of his legs in land mine explosions last month when he knew he would have to pay for his treatment if he stayed in a private hospital for longer than a month.The Defense Ministry was right to assume all the costs of treating the Army sergeant, who was transferred from a military hospital to a private one better equipped to treat his severe wounds. He was one of the two soldiers maimed in the Aug. 4 land mine

Sept. 6, 2015