[Editorial] Puzzling overture

North Korea’s abrupt offer to the United States for high-level talks has left many puzzled on its intentions. In a statement issued by the National Defense Commission on Sunday, the North proposed that the two sides meet to discuss issues of mutual interest, including easing military tension on the Korean Peninsula, replacing the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War with a permanent peace treaty, and the U.S. vision for a nuclear-free world.The agenda it suggests is nothing new. So what p

June 17, 2013

[Editorial] Battle over hospital

The central government is bracing for a long legal battle against the government of South Gyeongsang Province to salvage Jinju Medical Hospital, which the province’s stubborn governor, Hong Joon-pyo, is determined to abolish.Last week, the province’s council, dominated by Hong backers, revised a municipal ordinance to liquidate the 103-year-old medical institution, defying condemnation from the ruling and opposition parties as well as the medical community.The council’s act came about two weeks

June 17, 2013

[Editorial] Reward or discrimination?

Few would disagree with a proposal to reward those who have completed military service. Still, two government agencies are pitted against each other when it comes to a proposal that extra points be given when they take examinations for recruitment as government employees.The Ministry of National Defense demands the recruitment of government employees be weighted in favor of those who had to put their career or studies on hold for about two years when they were drafted for military service. It sa

June 16, 2013

[Editorial] Spy agency’s reform

It is not unusual for chiefs of the spy agency to be convicted of politically motivated crimes when they leave office. Many of them have been indicted, with or without physical detention, and sentenced to prison terms, although some of them are suspended.Won Sei-hoon, director of the National Intelligence Service from February 2009 to February this year, is following the footsteps of his disgraced predecessors. That is most unfortunate for the nation as well as Won.On Friday, the prosecution ind

June 16, 2013

[Editorial] Duty-free on arrival

Incheon International Airport, the main gateway to Seoul, was selected this week as the best airport in the world for the eighth consecutive year. At this year’s Airport Service Quality Awards in Istanbul, Turkey, it scored the highest among some 1,700 airports around the world.Beaming with the unprecedented honor, a top official from the airport operator said that it would continue efforts to set the service standards, putting top priority on convenience for customers.A debate has recently been

June 14, 2013

[Editorial] Disconcerted start

President Park Geun-hye recently took a right step inductive to social integration by voicing opposition to a local government’s plan to set up a park around her family’s former residence in Seoul in tribute to her father and late President Park Chung-hee. Otherwise, she would have unnecessarily fanned criticism over the project by a district office to build a memorial park around the house, where the elder Park, then an Army general, lived for three years before he seized power in a 1961 coup.C

June 14, 2013

[Editorial] Spineless prosecutors

Prosecutors missed another important opportunity to firmly establish their political independence when they refrained from detaining former spymaster Won Sei-hoon after charging him with intervening in the December presidential election. Wrapping up their two-month investigation, prosecutors concluded that Won had orchestrated the National Intelligence Service’s systematic and extensive involvement in domestic politics since January 2012.Under his instructions, they said, a dozen or so NIS agent

June 13, 2013

[Editorial] Unpaid fines

Tracing the ill-gotten hidden wealth of former President Chun Doo-hwan and forcing him to pay his massive court-ordered fines has emerged as a hot political issue since President Park Geun-hye pledged to tackle the problem.Chun, who took power in 1980 through a military coup, accumulated wealth illegally during his seven-year rule by taking bribes from big business groups. In 1997, he was ordered by the Supreme Court to pay 220 billion won ($193 million) in fines. But he has thus far paid only a

June 13, 2013

[Editorial] Aborted dialogue

North Korea’s last-minute cancellation of high-level inter-Korean talks scheduled to open in Seoul on Wednesday has cast doubts on its sincerity toward dialogue with South Korea, raising the need to be more strategic and persistent in having the regime change course.The North called off the meeting Tuesday, taking issue with the level of the South’s chief delegate. Seoul earlier lowered the level of its chief delegate to a vice minister from a Cabinet member after Pyongyang refused to send Kim Y

June 12, 2013

[Editorial] Global trade in services

It is a welcome move for Korea to have decided to join other major economies in the talks on concluding a global trade deal for services. A government official recently said that a formal announcement would be made this week after a related briefing to the National Assembly.Over the past year, Korea has been taking domestic procedures in preparation for the negotiations on the Trade in Service Agreement, which have so far brought together 21 economies including the U.S., European Union, Japan, A

June 12, 2013

[Editorial] Ahn’s think tank

Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, an independent, has launched a think tank, Policy Network Tomorrow, which will undoubtedly play a key role in organizing his supporters into a political party. Ahn has come one step closer to creating his own party at a time when the main opposition Democratic Party is dithering on low approval ratings.Ahn’s desire for a party is understandable, given that he learned how difficult it was for an unaffiliated candidate to make a bid for the presidency. Ahn ran in the presidenti

June 11, 2013

[Editorial] Safety must come first

A nuclear reactor, whose operation had been suspended in November for maintenance, was reactivated Sunday. When the 1 million kilowatt reactor in Yeonggwang, South Jeolla Province, goes into full operation Thursday, it will provide some relief to the nation, which has recently experienced perilously low power reserves.But the administration is suspected of putting undue pressure on the nuclear watchdog to speed up safety checks on the reactor. It goes without saying that it has to strive to fore

June 11, 2013

[Editorial] Denuclearizing North Korea

Last weekend’s summit between U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping marked the start of a process toward forming what will amount to a new world order. Over the course of two days in the informal setting of a sprawling California desert estate designed to encourage free-flowing discussion, the two leaders agreed to build a “new type of great power relationship” between their countries.What emerged as a conspicuous area for cooperation in the envisioned relationship was t

June 10, 2013

[Editorial] Adulterated food

One of President Park Geun-hye’s key campaign pledges was to make people’s everyday lives safer and more secure. Her determination to keep that promise was reflected in her postelection decision to change the name of the Ministry of Public Administration and Security to the Ministry of Security and Public Administration.Since taking office in February, Park has vowed to eradicate what she defined as four major problems ― sex crimes, domestic violence, school bullying and adulterated food.Her emp

June 10, 2013

[Editorial] Nuclear power safety

As President Park Geun-hye said recently, it is an unpardonable crime to compromise safety in nuclear power generation in pursuit of personal gain. What kind of catastrophe a nuclear accident can inflict on a nation has been shown by the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters.Prime Minister Chung Hong-won shared the president’s deep concern about nuclear safety when he promised on Friday to leave no stone unturned in the government’s investigation into the provision of substandard parts and materials

June 9, 2013

[Editorial] Park’s talks with Xi

Next month marks the 60th anniversary of an end to the three-year Korean War. The United States signed an armistice agreement with North Korea and China on July 27, 1953. South Korea refused to sign it though it promised not to obstruct its implementation.Permanent peace has yet to be established, though. North Korea, which launched a long-range missile in December and conducted its third nuclear test in February, has until recently provoked both South Korea and the United States with warlike rh

June 9, 2013

[Editorial] Push for telemedicine

The government is gearing up for a renewed push to introduce telemedicine as part of its campaign to boost the nation’s employment rate to 70 percent by 2017.Telemedicine refers to the use of information-communications technologies for the delivery of clinical care. It can help people access medical services without having to travel for a face-to-face consultation with a doctor. Yet the current Medical Service Act bans telemedicine except for the rare cases where a nurse stationed at a public he

June 7, 2013

[Editorial] Resetting relations

Inter-Korean relations are taking a conciliatory turn after months of heightened tension following North Korea’s launch of a long-range rocket in December and third nuclear test in February. In a surprise move, Pyongyang proposed on Thursday talks between government officials to discuss diverse pending issues, including the normalization of the suspended Gaeseong industrial complex and Mount Geumgang tours.Seoul accepted the offer and proposed that the two sides hold ministerial-level talks in S

June 7, 2013

[Editorial] Views on national security

Over the past decade, South Korean society has been gripped by a string of ideological disputes over Seoul’s relationships with Pyongyang and Washington. Different voices from conservative and liberal groups over national security issues have further complicated the multilayered structure of internal conflict in the country. It is mildly encouraging that there have recently been signs of change in the conventional dichotomy along ideological fault lines.An April survey of 1,004 adults showed tha

June 6, 2013

[Editorial] Helping foreign students

It is sheer nonsense to have a foreign student return home with a bitter memory of or even antagonism toward the country where he or she studied for years. Regretful to say, it seems to be what happens in Korea.A string of surveys of foreign students here have shown that many of them feel dissatisfied with their school life. In a poll of 1,200 Chinese students, conducted by a commission under the Prime Minister’s Office in 2010, about 40 percent said they came to have anti-Korean sentiment durin

June 6, 2013