[Editorial] After by-elections

The conservative ruling Saenuri Party won a landslide victory in Wednesday’s parliamentary by-elections, consolidating its absolute majority in the 300-seat National Assembly.The Saenuri Party gained 11 of the 15 seats up for grabs, while the liberal main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy garnered the remaining four. What was particularly encouraging for the ruling party was that its candidates won in five of six closely contested races in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, and in a distr

July 31, 2014

[Editorial] Tax without exception

Taxing the incomes of people belonging to religious groups has long been an elusive issue in Korea. As a matter of fact, the first proposal to tax priests, ministers and monks was made in 1968 by the first director of the National Tax Service. Intermittently over the following decades, the issue has been the subject of social debate. It was reignited last August when the government said it would revise the income tax law to levy taxes on members of the clergy. But neither the government nor the

July 30, 2014

[Editorial] Collusive bidding

The Fair Trade Commission has slapped a record fine on major builders for their alleged collusion in bidding for a project to build a new high-speed railroad.The antitrust watchdog imposed a combined 435.5 billion won in fines on 28 major construction and engineering companies for allegedly rigging bids for the construction of the Honam bullet-train railway linking Seoul and the southwestern city of Mokpo.It is the largest fine ever imposed for collusion involving the nation’s builders and the s

July 30, 2014

[Editorial] Middle-power voice

Foreign ministers from five middle-power countries last Saturday issued a joint statement condemning the July 17 downing of a Malaysian passenger airplane in eastern Ukraine.In their statement, the top diplomats from Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, Turkey and Australia said the incident was a “serious violation of international law,” giving full support for a recent U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the incident and demanding access to the crash site.The issuance of the statement was a

July 29, 2014

[Editorial] Keeping competitive edge

A survey released last week showed foreigners regard Korea as a country with cutting-edge technology. In the Foreign Ministry-commissioned survey of about 6,000 citizens from 17 nations, most respondents said technology and Samsung, the leading mobile phone maker, were the words that first came to mind when thinking of Korea.A recent report by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Evaluation and Planning offered some data that backs up foreigners’ impression of the country as a high-tech

July 29, 2014

[Editorial] Humane China

There are palpable changes in China’s relations with South and North Korea. In short, China is closer than ever with South Korea and on worse terms than ever with the North. There is one thing, however, that has not changed in spite of the latest development in the dynamics of relations involving the three countries: China’s crackdown on North Koreans fleeing into its territory and sending back them to the North. The Beijing government’s rigidity on the issue was confirmed in a recent case, in w

July 28, 2014

[Editorial] Fine-tune carbon scheme

The government’s plans to launch a carbon emissions trading scheme next year have become a hot subject of national debate because of the strong call from industries to delay it until 2020. New Deputy Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan’s pro-business stance is adding to the intensity of the debate. The debate surrounds Korea’s plans to open a carbon trading market next January to impose what industries here say would be the world’s toughest caps on greenhouse gas emissions. The scheme is in line with

July 28, 2014

[Editorial] Pulling Park’s leg?

Last week, the U.N. Committee on Human Rights called on Japan to ensure that effective, independent and impartial investigations be launched into wartime sex slavery and to offer an apology to “comfort women,” who were forced to work in its military brothels. The Japanese government under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe turned down this recommendation, the latest of its kind from the international community. While expressing regrets about the recommendation, the Abe government denied again that Korean

July 27, 2014

[Editorial] Coding in schools

Well into an era of information and communications technology, Britain, the United States and other developed countries are moving to teach computer science to students in primary and secondary schools. They find it necessary for everyone to understand and learn computer programming at an early age, with computer code being the language of networked life. It will not be enough to learn how to use MS Word and other application programs.Korea is jumping on the bandwagon. The government has decided

July 27, 2014

[Editorial] Autonomous schools

Twenty-five self-governing private high schools that went into operation in 2010 are undergoing a review by metropolitan and provincial education offices. The outcome will determine whether or not the schools will be allowed to retain their status as self-governing schools or whether they will become general high schools next year. But the review runs the risk of being biased, with most of the education offices headed by progressive superintendents, all of them elected to their posts in June on

July 25, 2014

[Editorial] Taxing cash reserves

Few would dispute the ruling Saenuri Party is pro-business. The conservative party and its administrations have cut corporate taxes, controlled sharp wage inflation and revised laws when deemed cumbersome to business activities. The party and its administrations have provided the business community with all these favors in the name of the nation’s economic advancement. The relationship has been mutually beneficial, with the business community remaining a staunch supporter of the party, even outs

July 25, 2014

[Editorial] Gray Korea

As Korean society ages at one of the world’s fast paces, few demographic figures regarding the low birthrate and the ever-increasing elderly population still surprise us. Yet, the latest statistics from the OECD should be a cause for concern. According to the latest old-age support rates released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 5.26 Koreans of working age are supporting one older person this year. This is projected to go down to 1.96 in 2036.The old-age support rate

July 24, 2014

[Editorial] After Yoo’s death

The chief of the Incheon prosecution investigating the Sewol ferry disaster resigned Thursday, holding himself responsible for the bungled search for Yoo Byung-eon, the de facto leader of the ferry company. In view of law enforcement authorities’ actions over the past months, however, the resignation of a senior local prosecutor is unlikely to do much to soothe the public frustration.Choi Jae-kyung’s resignation came one day after the prosecution belatedly disclosed that Yoo was hiding in a secr

July 24, 2014

[Editorial] An invisible war

A Navy officer in charge of a frigate was dismissed recently for allegedly molesting two of his female subordinates early this month. Heavily intoxicated after having dinner with his inferiors, the captain harassed the female officers in a bar “by groping their hips and trying to forcibly kiss them,” according to military investigators.The harassment case, which took place around the same time that a series of North Korean missiles and rockets were launched into waters near the inter-Korean sea

July 23, 2014

[Editorial] Rate cut long due

After the government Thursday announces a package of measures to be implemented in the latter half of this year to stimulate the slowing economy, attention is now being focused on whether the central bank will cut the key base rate, which has been frozen at 2.5 percent for more than a year.Choi Kyung-hwan, the new finance minister and deputy prime minister for economic affairs, and Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol appeared to be striking a cooperative tone on the matter during their first meeting

July 23, 2014

[Editorial] Act quickly

The downing of the Malaysia Airlines jet in eastern Ukraine deserves the strongest condemnation because the calamity, as Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko put it, is not an incident but a “terrorist act” which targeted innocent civilians. The tragic incident, which killed all 298 people aboard, especially touches the hearts of Koreans because it reminds them of the Korean Air passenger plane that was destroyed by a missile fired by a then Soviet Union fighter jet over Sakhalin in 1983. All 269

July 22, 2014

[Editorial] Who vets lawmakers?

The campaign for the July 30 parliamentary by-elections is in full swing, with major parties mobilizing all of their resources to win what are called the “mini general elections,” partly because there are 15 seats up for grabs, the most in the history of parliamentary by-elections. With partisan fighting escalating as the poll day draws nearer, a hot issue has surfaced over an opposition candidate, Kwon Eun-hee, a former police officer who stirred up an intense political dispute last year with h

July 22, 2014

[Editorial] Worn-out strategy

North Korea boycotted the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, which consolidated the prevalence of the South’s affluent capitalist system over the North’s impoverished communist regime. Since then, Pyongyang has changed its mind and sent its delegations to three international sporting events held in South Korea ― the 2002 Busan Asian Games, the 2003 Daegu Universiade and the 2005 Asian Athletics Championships in Incheon.Most people here probably have little memory of how many medals North Korean athletes wo

July 21, 2014

[Editorial] Depressed Koreans

A recent study based on a survey of about 27,600 Korean 40-year-olds showed a high correlation between their living habits and depression. Heavy smoking and drinking more than doubles the risk of developing depression, while periodic exercise reduces the possibility considerably, according to the study.Regretfully, smoking and drinking rates remain high among Korean adults. Most students and workers in the country can find little time to exercise regularly. Known for their impulsive temper, Kore

July 21, 2014

[Editorial] Bribery scandal

The prosecution, which is investigating an alleged contract killing, is putting the final touches on its preparations for prosecution, as the court-sanctioned detention of the suspects comes to an end. Yet, the prosecution cannot afford to wind down its inquiry, as the case is now developing into a big bribery scandal.The case involves a Seoul councilman suspected of hiring a man in the March killing of a businessman in Seoul. It also involves a prosecutor, police officers and politicians, all o

July 20, 2014