[Editorial] Exports and China FTA

Both bad news and good news came Monday regarding Korean exports: The nation’s outbound shipments suffered their biggest fall in almost six years in May, but Korea and China officially signed their bilateral free trade agreement. The news about the dwindling exports, while largely anticipated, is very bad: Exports in May came to $42.39 billion, down 10.9 percent from the same month last year. It was the largest on-year decline since a 20.9 percent plunge in August 2009 when the global economy su

June 3, 2015

[Editorial] MERS claims lives

Contrary to the health authorities’ earlier claims that the Middle East respiratory syndrome was not highly contagious and thus poses little threat to the general public, the respiratory disease, since it was diagnosed on May 20 in a 68-year-old man who had returned from the Middle East, has claimed two lives and infected 24 others, including two who died. More than 680 people who were directly or indirectly exposed to the virus remain in quarantine and that number is likely to rise as more case

June 2, 2015

[Editorial] Allies must earn trust

Live anthrax bacteria were “inadvertently” shipped to Osan Air Base along with U.S. military labs and commercial labs in 11 states as well as Australia and Canada. Upon being informed on May 27 that the anthrax sample used in training could possibly be live, Osan Air Base immediately destroyed the sample and decontaminated the facility. Twenty-two people who may have been exposed to live anthrax were provided appropriate medical measures. None of the personnel have shown signs of exposure and th

June 2, 2015

[Editorial] Park’s U.S. trip

During their first meeting in four years Saturday, South Korean and Japanese defense ministers agreed to strengthen joint efforts to deter North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.The meeting, which was held on the sidelines of the Asia Security Summit in Singapore, was scheduled to last 30 minutes but went on for about an hour. This indicated the two sides had a lot to discuss after a four-year hiatus.South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo and his Japanese counterpart, Gen Nakatani, agreed

June 1, 2015

[Editorial] Soaring household debt

It is unwelcome news for many indebted households in the country that mortgage interest rates have been rising recently. The increase in the interest rates for home-backed loans extended by major banks has ranged from 0.23 percent to 0.68 percent over the past month.This trend is expected to continue for the coming months, with the U.S. Federal Reserve set to raise rates in the second half of this year.Household debt soared to an all-time high of 1,099 trillion won ($992.1 billion) as of end Mar

June 1, 2015

[Editorial] Media cleansing

One of the dark sides of Korean society is that there are many unprofessional, unethical ― to be more exact, corrupt ― and substandard news media outlets. They take the forms of newspapers, magazines and Internet news sites, but lack the high-level quality and integrity required of sound, healthy journalism. There are many expressions describing them ― pseudo-journalism, yellow journalism, pulp media and journalism and extortionist journalism. Whatever term is used, they engage in exaggeration,

May 31, 2015

[Editorial] A lick and a promise

Prosecutors investigating the Sung Woan-jong payoff scandal raided last Friday the home of a former Saenuri Party official suspected of receiving money from the late tycoon before the 2012 presidential election. The man, who was a deputy spokesman for President Park Geun-hye’s presidential campaign team, was also called in for questioning by investigators for the second straight day Saturday. The actions taken against him are part of the prosecution’s investigation into allegations that Sung, wh

May 31, 2015

[Editorial] Pension reform

The National Assembly passed the civil service pension reform bill in the early hours of Friday morning after extending the extra parliamentary session, which was originally set to end Thursday. The bill passed 233-0 with 13 abstentions, seven months after it was first proposed.The reform bill calls for increasing the government employees’ current contribution of 7 percent of their income to the pension scheme to 9 percent over the next five years while reducing the amount they receive from the

May 29, 2015

[Editorial] More confused than ever

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s announcement that only 10 of the 207 products that list Cynanchum Wilfordii Radix among their ingredients were confirmed to actually contain the medicinal root came as a shock to consumers who bought food products and health foods supposedly containing the herb, known as “baeksuo” in Korean.The ministry tested the products after the Korea Consumer Agency last month released a study showing that 66 percent of baeksuo products contained Cynanchum auriculatum

May 29, 2015

[Editorial] Real reform

The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy has put its self-reform efforts into full gear by officially appointing a liberal former education superintendent to head an “innovation committee.” The panel, headed by Kim Sang-gon, former education chief of Gyeonggi Province, is tasked with reinvigorating the party, which suffered successive election defeats, by addressing its notorious factional rivalry and drawing up other self-reform programs. Party leader Moon Jae-in, who has been un

May 28, 2015

[Editorial] Disease control

As we have seen in the recent Ebola epidemic, a deadly, contagious disease ― unless completely contained in time ― can endanger national security as much as other threats. It seems the Korean health authorities have not learned any lessons from the outbreaks of the Ebola virus and other major epidemics.It is a matter of great dismay and concern to hear that health authorities keep mishandling cases of the Middle East respiratory syndrome. A man who was suspected of being infected with the corona

May 28, 2015

[Editorial] Boosting exports

Korea depends heavily on exports for its economic growth. Its portion of exports to gross domestic product hovers above 40 percent, much higher than the 10 percent level of most major advanced economies.This implies sluggish outbound shipments will have a larger impact on the Korean economy than for most of its peers. So it is natural that concerns are deepening over a continuous decline in the country’s overseas shipments.Korea’s exports fell by 4.3 percent from a year earlier to $178.9 billion

May 27, 2015

[Editorial] Fresh momentum

Senior diplomats from South Korea, the U.S., China and Japan are holding a string of talks this week to coordinate their efforts to draw North Korea into negotiations on dismantling its nuclear arsenal.South Korea’s chief nuclear envoy Hwang Joon-kook and Sung Kim, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, will travel to Beijing on Thursday for discussion with their Chinese counterpart Wu Dawei. Hwang and Kim held three-way talks with Japan’s top negotiator Junichi Ihara in Seoul o

May 27, 2015

[Editorial] Inappropriate time

The main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy has recently rekindled the debate over whether to raise the country’s corporate tax rate. NPAD floor leader Lee Jong-kul said last week taxation reforms, including corporate tax increases, would be the shortest cut to reviving people’s livelihoods.His remark was seen as signaling the liberal opposition party would renew efforts to push for a corporate tax hike. The NPAD has suggested raising the maximum rate levied on corporate profits to 2

May 26, 2015

[Editorial] Back on track

It is positive that South Korea and Japan are moving toward putting their strained ties back on track by holding a series of ministerial-level talks.Finance and trade ministers of the two countries met on separate occasions Saturday to discuss matters of mutual concern for the first time in more than two years. At this weekend, South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo is to hold talks with his Japanese counterpart, Gen Nakatani, on the sidelines of a regional security forum in Singapore. The la

May 26, 2015

[Editorial] Middle-power group

Last week, foreign ministers from five countries ― Mexico, Indonesia, Korea, Turkey and Australia ― gathered in Seoul for a meeting of their group, called MIKTA, named after the initials of the nations. The meeting drew little attention from the Korean public and media, but that should not undermine its significance.MIKTA, launched in New York in 2013, is a cooperative mechanism among the five middle-power countries that share the core values of democracy and liberal market economy, hold a certa

May 25, 2015

[Editorial] Carrots and sticks

Sunday marked the fifth anniversary of the so-called May 24 sanctions against North Korea, which the Seoul government imposed in response to the torpedoing of the Cheonan corvette in March 2010. The sanctions banned trade and civilian exchanges between the two Koreas, new South Korean investment and non-humanitarian assistance to the North. Put simply, most cooperation and exchange programs between the two sides have been put on hold.Given the North’s savage act and faceless refusal to admit and

May 25, 2015

[Editorial] Deeper in trouble

The internal feud in the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, augmented by its humiliating defeat in the April 29 by-elections, is not showing any sign of abating more than three weeks after the polls. Rather, it is escalating. Party leader Moon Jae-in, who has refused to give into demands that he step down to take responsibility for the election loss, is at the center of the growing troubles. Under pressure, he suggested forming a reform panel, but unfortunately, this has only added fuel to the

May 22, 2015

[Editorial] Faulted probe

The prosecution has decided to indict two key suspects in the Sung scandal, but without seeking to take them into custody. The failure to detain former Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo and South Gyeongsang Gov. Hong Joon-pyo is disappointing all the more because it could be a prelude to the probe into six other people implicated in the payoff scandal.Prosecutors said both Lee and Hong would be charged with receiving illegal political funds from the late Sung. Hong allegedly received 100 million won fr

May 22, 2015

[Editorial] Pyongyang’s poor choice

Although South Koreans are accustomed to North Korean antics, the latest involving U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was as surprising as it was plain foolish.In Korea to attend the UNESCO-organized World Education Forum 2015, Ban made a surprise announcement on May 19 that he would be visiting the Gaeseong Industrial Complex ― a symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation located in the North Korean border town of Gaeseong ― on May 21. However, on the eve of the trip, he announced that his vis

May 21, 2015