[Editorial] Pork-barrel promises

As the presidential race heats up, the two leading candidates ― Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party and Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party ― are crisscrossing the nation to collect votes. And at every stop, they never fail to unveil development plans to woo residents.During the one week since the official campaigning period started on Nov. 27, they have promised a litany of projects. As there are two more weeks left before the Dec. 19 election, the list will be exte

Dec. 4, 2012

[Editorial] Magnets for investment

Last week, the heads of the nation’s five business organizations pledged to make efforts to create jobs, increase exports and expand investment in a bid to help the Korean economy cope with a prolonged global economic downturn.While the business leaders will be seeking to expand corporate investment, big Korean companies remain reluctant to do so as global economic uncertainty persists. They are following the conventional wisdom that cash is a safe investment in uncertain markets.According to ne

Dec. 4, 2012

[Editorial] Sluggish exports

In an interview with news outlets on Sunday, President Lee Myung-bak sounded an optimistic note about the Korean economy, claiming that the nation would be able to balance its budget next year as growth would begin to recover, albeit at a slow pace. Though Korea has experienced a slowdown for a while, he said, it is not entering an era of low growth, as Japan did a few decades ago.But the president’s outlook bordered on wishful thinking, rather than being based on a careful reality check. His pr

Dec. 3, 2012

[Editorial] Call for Ahn’s help

If the presidential election were to be held today, Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party would likely defeat her rival, Moon Jae-in of the main opposition United Democratic Party. Park leads Moon by a margin of 3.8 percentage points.Nonetheless, Park could hardly be assured of her win. Her lead was within the margin of error. Moreover, she would have to take into consideration so many variables, both known and unknown, that could affect the outcome of the Dec. 19 vote.Among the most notable

Dec. 3, 2012

[Editorial] N.K.’s missile gamble

Almost a year has passed since North Korea’s new leader Kim Jong-un took power following his father’s death on Dec. 17, 2011. The Swiss-educated young man was widely expected to take his impoverished nation in a new direction and show a leadership different from his father’s iron fisted rule. Since his enthronement, the 20-something leader has repeatedly pledged to focus on building the economy and raising the standard of living, saying that it is an objective laid out for him by his father.As r

Dec. 2, 2012

[Editorial] Gender wage gap

An OECD report has shown that Korea’s gender wage gap is the widest among the organization’s member countries.According to the report, the pay gap between men and women in Korea was 39 percent in 2010, more than double the OECD average of 15 percent and much higher than that of the runner-up ― Japan’s 29 percent. Coming next were Germany and Israel, which both marked 21 percent, and the U.S., Finland, Switzerland and Austria, which all posted 19 percent.What is more disturbing is the fact that t

Dec. 2, 2012

[Editorial] Prosecution in crisis

The prosecution, whose reputation has recently been smeared by bribery and sex scandals involving prosecutors, had intended to announce a sweeping reform Friday. But the plan was shelved indefinitely, as Prosecutor-General Han Sang-dae, whose leadership was challenged by his subordinates, cancelled it and resigned from his post.The source of the conflict was a key item of the prosecutor-general’s reform plan ― the proposal to abolish the Central Investigation Department in the Supreme Prosecutor

Nov. 30, 2012

[Editorial] No Park-Moon debate?

Few forums offer a better opportunity to compare one promising presidential candidate with another than a live policy debate on television. But the 2012 presidential election may go down in history as one that had no TV face-off between the two most competitive candidates.The responsibility lies with Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party, who has turned down invitations from two terrestrial television networks to participate in live debates with her main rival, Moon Jae-in of the main opposi

Nov. 30, 2012

[Editorial] Fixation on the past

The presidential election campaign is heating up as the two major candidates ― Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party and Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party ― scramble to take an early lead in the race.The two contenders launched their official campaigns on Nov. 27 after registering their candidacy with the National Election Commission. Besides the two, five more people have thrown their hats into the ring, but their bids are unlikely to matter much.The initial campaig

Nov. 29, 2012

[Editorial] Kudos to exporters

The government has announced that Korea’s trade volume will pass the $1 trillion milestone for a second consecutive year in 2012, overtaking Italy to become the world’s eighth largest trading nation.According to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, the nation’s trade volume totaled $888.5 billion during the first 10 months of the year, with exports accounting for $455.4 billion and imports $433.1 billion. The ministry forecast the trade tally would hit $1 trillion in the middle of next month. One

Nov. 29, 2012

[Editorial] Balanced appointments

One of the few tense moments during Monday’s TV debate attended by Park Geun-hye, the presidential contender for the ruling Saenuri Party, came when a panelist pressed her to clarify her aims for balanced personnel management.He said most figures in Park’s campaign team did not give a fresh image to the public, asking her whether she would fill key posts with them if she won the Dec. 19 election.Park suggested her campaign aides, many of whom she said have voluntarily come to help her, would not

Nov. 28, 2012

[Editorial] Specter of racism?

A recent series of assaults on Koreans in Australia, which come on top of other attacks on Asian students and travelers earlier this year, have raised concerns about the possibility of racial hatred rising there.It may be an overstatement to say that antagonism against ethnic minorities has permeated Australian society. The rise in crimes against Asian visitors and residents can be attributed at least partly to their increasing number. But it should not be an excuse for what is seen as Canberra’

Nov. 28, 2012

[Editorial] Growth in deficit

Lawmakers are demanding an increase in spending next year at a time when they should scale down or abolish projects that are not high priority. Should they have their way in the allocation of budgetary resources, the nation’s fiscal deficit will get out of control.The spending increases demanded by the 12 standing committees of the National Assembly that have completed their respective budgetary deliberations total slightly less than 11 trillion won. The amount will certainly increase in the day

Nov. 27, 2012

[Editorial] Help for the needy

An aged woman and her 6-year-old grandson recently died in South Jeolla Province when their countryside home caught fire from a burning candle. According to news reports, the woman’s husband went out to call for firefighters, leaving her and the child behind. When he returned, he found them dead in the fire.The tragedy for the destitute family resulted from the restriction on their use of electricity. On Oct. 30, Korea Electric Power Corp. notified the family of its decision to keep it from usin

Nov. 27, 2012

[Editorial] Cab drivers’ rally

The nation’s 250,000 taxi drivers have threatened to hold a massive rally in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido of Seoul on Dec. 7 if lawmakers fail to pass a bill to designate taxis as public transportation by early next month.Legislators of the ruling and opposition parties rushed the bill through relevant standing committees last week. But they stopped short of pushing it through a plenary session in the face of public outcry and a nationwide strike by bus drivers.On Nov. 22, bus drive

Nov. 26, 2012

[Editorial] Prosecutor’s sex scandal

The prosecution is facing the worst crisis since its foundation. Last week, the arrest of a senior prosecutor at the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office on corruption charges shook the powerful law enforcement agency to its foundations. As if it were not enough, a dumbfounding sex scandal involving a novice prosecutor has been exposed, dealing a knockout punch to the already staggering agency. The prosecutor, who has been undergoing on-the-job training at a Seoul district prosecutor’s office since ap

Nov. 26, 2012

[Editorial] Shifting into reverse

Japan’s largest opposition Liberal Democratic Party put forward the slogan “Recover Japan” in announcing last week a series of policy pledges, with which it would campaign for the parliamentary election set for Dec. 16. LDP officials explained the motto meant restoring a strong Japan that could show determination to foreign countries and make its people feel proud of being born there.The election pledges, announced by the party leader and former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have not drawn favorabl

Nov. 25, 2012

[Editorial] Drawing Ahn’s supporters

Independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo’s departure last Friday from the race for next month’s presidential election has set the stage for a duel between the contenders from the two main political parties. Rep. Park Geun-hye of the conservative ruling Saenuri Party and Rep. Moon Jae-in, her rival from the liberal opposition Democratic United Party, registered their candidacy with the election commission Sunday. Park tendered her resignation as a lawmaker on the same day.They will kick off a 22-day o

Nov. 25, 2012

[Editorial] Remembering Yeonpyeong

Two years have passed since North Korea shelled the South’s Yeonpyeongdo in the West Sea. The artillery bombardment on Nov. 23, 2010 killed two soldiers and two civilians, injured many others, and devastated villages on the peaceful island.It was the first attack by the North against civilians in the South since the Korean War ended in 1953. As reasons for its deadly bombing, Pyongyang cited firing drills by the marines on the island. Yet it was nothing more than a thinly veiled pretext for its

Nov. 23, 2012

[Editorial] Renaissance of Korean film

2012 will go down as a meaningul year in Korea’s film history. In September, Korean movie “Pieta,” directed by Kim Ki-duck, won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, becoming the first Korean movie to claim the top prize of one of the world’s three most prestigious film festivals. The domestic film industry has recently set a more significant milestone: It broke the 100 million mark in annual audience number for the first time. According to the Korean Film Council, this year’s combi

Nov. 23, 2012