[Editorial] Divisive idea

Government officials are said to have recently decided to shelve the decision on whether to allow duty-free shops to be set up in the arrivals area of Incheon International Airport. During closed-door consultations last week, participants agreed to take more time to reach a conclusion on the controversial issue, according to some government sources. A formal announcement is to be made this week after a meeting of vice ministers, which will be presided over by the chief of the Office for Governme

July 22, 2013

[Editorial] Abe’s choice

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe strengthened his hand to carry on his economic recovery program and nationalist agenda with a thumping win in Sunday’s election. His Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner secured a comfortable majority in the upper legislative chamber, giving the premier control over both houses of parliament.With the next national election scheduled to be held in three years the conservative ruling bloc’s victory has opened the way for Abe to become Japan’s

July 22, 2013

[Editorial] Inappropriate remark

It is not just the opposition Democratic Party but the ruling Saenuri Party that is chastising Kim Kyou-hyun, first vice foreign minister, for making improper remarks while paying a courtesy call on the Japanese foreign minister on Thursday. He deserved such a rebuke from the ruling party, if not outright dismissal, as was demanded by the opposition party.Kim was quoted as saying he expected Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party would win big in the House of Councilors elections o

July 21, 2013

[Editorial] In search of transcript

A search for the transcript of former President Roh Moo-hyun’s 2007 summit dialogue with Kim Jong-il, which has been conducted at the National Archives of Korea for several days, has produced no tangible result yet. A criminal investigation will have to start if the transcript, stored electronically, is not found in the near future.Mystery shrouds the missing file, one of the two produced by the National Intelligence Service. Raised are so many questions, whose answers, when made, will have seri

July 21, 2013

[Editorial] Reality check for reform

President Park Geun-hye’s plan to reform the current Basic Old-age Pension is likely to be scaled back due to the worsening economic situation. On the campaign trail, Park promised to transform the old-age pension into a “basic pension” by doubling its monthly benefit from the current 97,100 won to 200,000 won and making it a universal plan covering all senior citizens aged 65 or above. Currently, the state program only pays the benefit to elderly people in the bottom 70 percent of the income sc

July 19, 2013

[Editorial] Big push for tourism

The government has come up with a well-designed policy package aimed at fostering the tourism industry as a growth engine and a job-creating machine.The package has heightened expectations as it consists of practical measures that are likely to make Korea a more attractive tourist destination.One such measure calls for refunding foreign tourists the 10 percent value-added tax on their hotel bills. Domestic hotels have long called for the VAT reimbursement, which would have the effect of giving t

July 19, 2013

[Editorial] Raid on Chun family

On Tuesday, about 90 investigators from the prosecution swooped down on the homes of former President Chun Doo-hwan and his family and the companies established by his two sons in search of his hidden assets. The search continued the next day.The massive raid, which even put a metal detector to use, followed the establishment of a special task force by the prosecutor-general, the revision of a law by the legislature and the incumbent president’s determination to put an end to the case that has r

July 18, 2013

[Editorial] Rewriting Constitution

In his address on Constitution Day on Wednesday, Kang Chang-hee, speaker of the National Assembly, proposed to create a special committee empowered to draft an amendment to the Constitution. He was right to say that the basic law needs revising as the Korean society has outgrown some of its devices, with the power structure being most notable among them.When the Constitution was being revised in 1987, the overriding concern of the public was how to prevent the military-backed Chun Doo-hwan dicta

July 18, 2013

[Editorial] Downturn in FDI

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy has announced that foreign direct investment pledged to the nation in the first half of the year reached $8 billion, up 12.5 percent on-year and a record high for the January-June period.The ministry played up the data, saying that FDI pledges to Korea increased despite unfavorable factors. Yet the actual amount of FDI that arrived here in the first half was tallied at $4.4 billion, down 9.3 percent from a year ago. This suggests that the sharp increase

July 17, 2013

[Editorial] Uncivil politics

A series of insulting remarks made by opposition lawmakers against President Park Geun-hye and her father, the late President Park Chung-hee, has roiled the political climate.Last week, Rep. Hong Ik-pyo of the main opposition Democratic Party dumbfounded many by calling the former president “a baby born to a ghost.” What he meant by the creepy description was that the late president ― and by extension his daughter ― should not have been born. He also lashed out at the junior Park for attempting

July 17, 2013

[Editorial] Walls among agencies

Apparently in the belief that policy coordination would be key to her successful governance during the next five years, President Park Geun-hye revived the post of vice prime minister for economic affairs upon her inauguration. She appointed Hyun Oh-seok, a long-term bureaucrat, to the post and had him double as finance minister.But it is not easy to push for policy coordination among government agencies, because a policy initiative tends to produce winners and losers. No agency in their right m

July 16, 2013

[Editorial] Park-Abe talks in fall?

Kim Kyou-hyun, first vice foreign minister, is set to visit Tokyo on Wednesday. He is returning the Seoul visit by his counterpart, Akitaka Saiki, last week.Normally, the exchange of visits by South Korean and Japanese vice foreign ministers would not draw much public attention. But this time it does, because it may turn out to be the first step toward fence-mending.South Korean-Japanese relations have deteriorated since Shinzo Abe, a right-wing historical revisionist, was inaugurated as Japan’s

July 16, 2013

[Editorial] Tax shortfall

The tax authorities are switching to emergency mode as this year’s tax revenue is increasingly likely to miss the target by an unexpectedly large margin.According to data presented by the National Tax Service, tax revenue during the first five months of the year totaled 82.13 trillion won, a shocking fall of as much as 9 trillion won from the same period a year ago.If the trend continues, the shortfall is expected to expand to 10 trillion won by the end of the first half and 20 trillion won by t

July 15, 2013

[Editorial] Flip-flopping auditor

The Board of Audit and Inspection has made itself a target of audit and inspection by flip-flopping on the controversial four-rivers restoration project.The state auditor has thus far inspected the signature public works project of former President Lee Myung-bak three times. But each time it offered a different assessment, confusing the public and undermining its own credibility.The board announced the outcome of its first inspection in January 2011, more than two years before Lee’s five-year te

July 15, 2013

[Editorial] Third round of talks

On Monday, South and North Korea are set to hold their third round of talks on restarting manufacturing by South Korean companies in Gaeseong, a North Korean border town just north of the Demilitarized Zone. But the talks are not likely to produce any substantive result unless the North assures the South that it will not arbitrarily suspend operations in the Gaeseong industrial complex again, as it did more than three months ago.At the previous round of talks held last Wednesday, South Korea dem

July 14, 2013

[Editorial] No more delay

Work on a high-voltage power line for a nuclear power plant under construction is far behind schedule because of resident protests. Any more delay will cast a cloud over an early improvement to the nation’s chronic power shortage.In November 2007, Korea Electric Power Corp. obtained approval for its plan to build a 765-volt transmission line linking a nuclear power plant in Ulsan to a substation in Changnyeong, South Gyeongsang Province. KEPCO has since built 109 of the planned 161 towers across

July 14, 2013

[Editorial] Summer holidays

Cheong Wa Dae announced this week President Park Geun-hye would take her summer vacation from July 29 to Aug. 2 at an undisclosed place away from the presidential mansion.Her vacation is typical of summer holidays spent by other Korean workers. A recent survey by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism showed that 51 percent of government and company employees planned to go on leave during the last week of July. Koreans have long been stereotyped as tying themselves to their workplace and pa

July 12, 2013

[Editorial] Naval cooperation

It is an idea worth positive consideration for the South Korean and Chinese navies to cooperate in preventing Chinese vessels from illegally fishing in South Korean waters near the disputed western sea border with North Korea.During his four-day trip to China that ended Friday, Adm. Choi Yun-hee, South Korea’s chief of naval operations, proposed the idea to his Chinese counterpart as part of efforts to curb clashes between Chinese fishermen and South Korean coast guards. China was known to be re

July 12, 2013

[Editorial] Pension overhaul

A committee deliberating on reform of the National Pension Scheme has proposed a substantial increase in contributions to make the state-run program more sustainable.The committee stopped short of suggesting a specific figure due to differences among its members. But a majority of them reportedly favored a plan to gradually raise the contribution rate from the current 9 percent to 13-14 percent.The government has refrained from commenting on the committee’s proposal, given the public outcry it h

July 11, 2013

[Editorial] Unwarranted benefits

Public hospitals are mostly in chronic deficit. Each year, they look to the government for subsidies to cover part of their losses. Despite their poor financial state, these hospitals, however, have provided very generous benefits to their employees.According to news reports, the 11 general hospitals affiliated with national universities and the 34 local hospitals operated by provincial governments have been offering big discounts on the medical bills of their employees and their family members.

July 11, 2013