[Editorial] Death of an actor

Yet another artist succumbed to hunger and illness last week. Actor Kim Un-ha, 40, was found dead in a tiny one-room dorm, five days after his passing.Reports said that Kim’s death was brought on by ill health exacerbated by poverty. By all accounts, Kim died a lonely death.A graduate of a prestigious arts school, Kim went on to pursue a career in theater. Work in the theater is spotty at best, making day-to-day living a struggle for stage actors. Kim had a part in a play that was staged in Apri

June 26, 2015

[Editorial] Contempt for parliament

President Park Geun-hye vetoed the National Assembly Law revision bill as expected, raising a political maelstrom that threatens to paralyze the country. In her sharply worded speech made at the Cabinet meeting on Thursday morning, Park exercised her presidential veto power against the controversial National Assembly Law revision bill on grounds that its constitutionality is in doubt and that it can paralyze the government. The bill that allows the legislative body to request changes to administ

June 26, 2015

[Editorial] Drought assistance

Seoul officials seem to be hoping to use the deteriorating drought in North Korea as leverage for making a breakthrough in the stalled inter-Korean ties.Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo said this week that while the two Koreas were struggling with a severe drought, Seoul was willing to provide necessary support for the North, which might be facing a tougher situation. According to an estimate by the ministry, North Korea is likely to see its crop output fall by up to 20 percent this year if th

June 25, 2015

[Editorial] Let science decide

South Korea and Japan are moving to repair their strained relations on the back of the new momentum forged by their leaders, who this week called for efforts to build a future-oriented partnership beyond historical disputes. The two countries have yet to do much more to realize the hopes expressed by President Park Geun-hye and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at events held separately in Seoul and Tokyo to mark the 50th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral ties.Above all, they should settle t

June 25, 2015

[Editorial] Overdue probe

Prosecutors investigating the Sung Woan-jong bribery scandal have added three men to their probe list -- lawmakers Lee In-jae and Kim Han-gil and Roh Gun-pyeong, the elder brother of the late President Roh Moo-hyun. Sung, a construction tycoon who once held a National Assembly seat, named eight politicians who allegedly received his money before he took his life in early April. None of the three was on the list, which means prosecutors found something to investigate in the process of probing peo

June 24, 2015

[Editorial] Following up apology

The public apology by Lee Jay-yong, the de facto leader of Samsung Group, over a massive outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome at a hospital run by the conglomerate should become the starting point for the Korean medical sector’s efforts to upgrade its standards. The apology, offered by Lee at his first-ever news conference Tuesday, was followed by pledges to overhaul Samsung Medical Center as soon as the disease was under control. Lee also said Samsung would take full responsibility for

June 24, 2015

[Editorial] Sports and politics

North Korea’s decision to boycott the upcoming Gwangju Universiade is an unfortunate one tying sports with politics.On June 20 the Gwangju Universiade organizing committee received an email from Jon Kuk-man, the chief of North Korea’s university sports federation, saying that North Korea would not be participating in the Universiade because of Tuesday’s opening of the Seoul office for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. Pyongyang had earlier planned to send 75 athletes and 33 officials

June 23, 2015

[Editorial] Time for progress

Korea and Japan celebrated the 50th anniversary of normalization of ties between the two countries in separate events attended by each other’s leaders. In Korea, President Park Geun-hye attended an event hosted by the Japanese Embassy, while in Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended an event hosted by the Korean Embassy.This was a low-key celebration, but at least the two leaders can say that they gave a speech at each other’s official function. It also signifies a step forward in the icy rel

June 23, 2015

[Editorial] FTA with Central America

Korea and a group of six Central American countries last week declared the launch of negotiations on a free trade agreement. The declaration came at the end of a meeting between Korean Trade Minister Yoon Sang-jick and his counterparts from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama.During the meeting in Houston, Texas, the ministers agreed to pursue a high-level and comprehensive FTA including trade in goods and services, investment, economic cooperation and other areas

June 22, 2015

[Editorial] Closer watch

The United Nations is set to open its field office in Seoul on Tuesday to deal with the human rights situation in North Korea. The move risks aggravating inter-Korean relations that have remained frozen in the past years, but marks a significant step forward in international efforts to improve dismal rights conditions in the communist state.The field office, which will be run by five or six staff, will monitor and document the North’s human rights situation. Its role is based on a report release

June 22, 2015

[Editorial] Already overdue

If the plans go well, the government will likely approve one or two Internet-only banks within this year, which would open a new era in the nation’s financial industry. Under the plans drafted by the Financial Supervisory Commission, nonfinancial firms will be allowed to hold a stake of up to 50 percent in an Internet-only bank, with a minimum capital input of 50 billion won ($45 million).This greatly lowers the entry barrier to the banking industry, where current regulations prohibit nonfinanci

June 21, 2015

[Editorial] Leadership crisis

The outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome is severely eroding President Park Geun-hye’s job ratings as fears of the contagious disease have gripped the nation for over a month. A Gallup Korea poll released Friday showed that Park’s approval ratings plummeted to an all-time low of 29 percent, down 4 percentage points from a week earlier. One-third of those who disapproved of Park’s job performance pointed to the government’s mishandling of the MERS outbreak. This reminds us of the situatio

June 21, 2015

[Editorial] Delayed justice

The British politician William Gladstone (1809-1898) once said justice delayed is justice denied. Our Supreme Court now appears set to prove the validity of this saying ― in a reverse way ― by prolonging a ruling on a bribery case involving an opposition lawmaker.After sitting on the case for more than 20 months, a panel at the top court recently referred it to deliberation by all of the 13 justices. With this measure, it may take an almost indefinite time to make a final verdict on the charge r

June 19, 2015

[Editorial] Genuine partnership

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se will make a two-day trip to Japan starting Sunday. It will be the first visit by South Korea’s top diplomat to the neighboring country since the launch of President Park Geun-hye’s administration in February 2013. In the past few years, Seoul-Tokyo ties have remained at their lowest ebb since the two sides restored diplomatic relations five decades ago. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s historic revisionism, which glosses over Japan’s past wrongdoings, is mainly responsib

June 19, 2015

[Editorial] One month on

It is almost certain that we will have to live with the fear of the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak for longer than we ― or to be more exact, the government ― expected.It has been one month since a man who had traveled to the Middle East was diagnosed as the first patient, but we still see the numbers ― of deaths, patients and those in isolation ― rising day by day. The prime responsibility lies with health care authorities who failed to isolate the first patient and release pertinent

June 18, 2015

[Editorial] Shot in the arm

The Korea Institute of Finance has cut its growth forecast for the Korean economy this year to 2.8 percent, a sharp drop from the previous 3.7 percent. It is the first time that a major local think tank has put the estimated growth rate below 3 percent. This illustrates how bad the economic situation is: Exports declined for five straight months, with the continued depreciation of the Japanese yen and the slow recovery of global trade casting dark clouds for the coming months as well. Industrial

June 18, 2015

[Editorial] Presidential veto

The National Assembly on Monday sent the National Assembly Law revision bill to President Park Geun-hye after making a change mediated by National Assembly Speaker Chung Ui-hwa.When the parliament passed the bill, which allows the legislative body to “demand” changes to government ordinances, Park said in no uncertain terms that she would veto the bill if it ever came to her. Citing the potential to wreak havoc in government and its unconstitutionality ― Park insists that the revision would resu

June 17, 2015

[Editorial] Consistent approach

During his phone talks with President Park Geun-hye last week, U.S. President Barack said he fully understood her decision to delay a visit to the U.S. to focus on containing the spread of the Middle East respiratory syndrome virus in Korea. The two leaders agreed the visit, which was originally scheduled for this week, would be rearranged quickly so that they could discuss issues of mutual interest.Obama said the two countries would stand to benefit from their strengthened bilateral partnership

June 16, 2015

[Editorial] P.M. nominee debate

Rival parties have failed to keep the legal deadline for voting on the confirmation of Prime Minister-nominee Hwang Kyo-ahn. Under the law, Hwang’s nomination had to be put to a parliamentary vote by Monday.The floor leaders from the two main political parties remained apart on scheduling a voting session during their meeting with National Assembly Speaker Chung Ui-hwa on Monday.The ruling Saenuri Party pledged to pass the confirmation bill Wednesday at the latest before parliamentary interpella

June 16, 2015

[Editorial] Kudos to doctors, nurses

Just as in the Sewol ferry sinking, government officials botched their response, this time failing to contain the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak in its early stages. Most of all, authorities’ insistence on withholding crucial information ― like the names of hospitals affected by the virus ― fanned the spread of the contagious disease. The next major targets of public criticism were the hospitals that were ill-prepared to deal with MERS patients and potential virus carriers. On top of

June 15, 2015