[Editorial] Hangeul Day as a holiday

If Psy’s “Gangnam Style” tops the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week after ranking second for two consecutive weeks, the Korean singer will have set another record for his country’s language. It would become the first song written in Korean to climb to the top of the pop music chart.No doubt his horsey dance moves helped make the song’s music video a global sensation after its July release on YouTube. But the excited audiences around the world would certainly have felt more attracted to the song

Oct. 7, 2012

[Editorial] Currency swap extension

Seoul and Tokyo should not deviate from economic logic in handling the issue of extending their currency swap deal. Their monetary policymakers are urged to exercise wisdom to save a mutually beneficial accord from being ditched in a diplomatic rift that should be bridged to build a long-term partnership between the neighbors.The agreement made by the two sides a year ago to increase their currency swap arrangement to $70 billion from $13 billion is to expire at the end of this month. Its extens

Oct. 7, 2012

[Editorial] Swallowing pride

President Lee Myung-bak must have felt humiliated when he found he had no other choice than to select one of the two lawyers recommended by the opposition Democratic United Party as the independent counsel on Friday. His demand for new recommendations had been rejected out of hand.He made a fatal mistake when, citing an alleged procedural mistake as the reason, he refused on Wednesday to make a choice between the two as required by law. Instead, he demanded that the opposition party conduct prop

Oct. 5, 2012

[Editorial] High credit risk

Korean households are exposed to the highest credit risk since 2003, when the nation’s economy was pummeled by massive credit card defaults. This conclusion is drawn by the Bank of Korea, which has recently conducted a survey of lending managers at 16 banks.The central bank says the index of the household credit risk stands at 38 for the current quarter, the highest since the index soared to 44 in the third quarter of 2003, the year when the government-run Korea Asset Management Corp. was bailin

Oct. 5, 2012

[Editorial] Longer voting hours

A group of civic and labor activists held a rally in front of the National Assembly last week demanding measures to more effectively guarantee suffrage for all voters. They called for designating a national election day as a paid holiday and expanding voting hours, which have been set from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. since 1971. Polling times for parliamentary and local by-elections were stretched by two hours to 8 p.m. in 2004.The rally came at a delicate time when parties are confronting each other over

Oct. 4, 2012

[Editorial] In my backyard

Korean society is certainly not immune from the “not in my backyard” syndrome. Vehement resistance from residents have thwarted or shelved many projects to build nuclear waste storage facilities, garbage furnaces and even schools for physically or mentally disabled students.The contradiction between the syndrome gripping Koreans and their changing attitudes toward other aspects of life is highlighted most vividly by figures about cremation.Statistics released by the Health and Welfare Ministry l

Oct. 4, 2012

[Editorial] Contain Woongjin fallout

The Woongjin Group crisis is roiling financial markets. The second-tier chaebol, which ranked 31st among Korea’s big business groups, sent a shockwave through the business community last week by filing for court protection for two key bankrupt companies ― Woongjin Holdings and Kukdong Engineering & Construction.The group’s aggregate debt was estimated at some 10 trillion won (about $9 billion), including 4.3 trillion won in borrowings from financial companies. A substantial part of it would beco

Oct. 3, 2012

[Editorial] Too many ‘polifessors’

As election season enters full swing, a familiar scene is being reenacted ― “polifessors” swarming the campaign offices of presidential candidates. Polifessor is a compound of politics and professor. The term was coined here to refer to professors who are keen to sell their knowledge to their political patrons to get parliamentary seats or government posts. According to reports, the campaign offices of the three presidential runners ― Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party, Moon Jae-in of the

Oct. 3, 2012

[Editorial] Exports keep falling

Korea produced a trade surplus for the eighth consecutive month in September, with exports surpassing imports by as much as $3.15 billion. That was not a small feat.Economic policymakers were pleased with the news as they should, but not too much. Their joy was tinged with as much concern, as exports declined for the third consecutive month.Exports fell 1.8 percent year-on-year to $45.66 billion last month. Imports dropped more sharply, 6.1 percent, to $42.51 billion. With both exports and impor

Oct. 2, 2012

[Editorial] Misguided inspection

The National Assembly is set to check the performances of all government agencies and organizations under their control for a 20-day period starting Friday. Both the ruling and opposition parties are already moving to use this occasion as an opportunity to put their presidential candidates in favorable light and upstage their rivals.The legislature’s right to inspection is one of the two tools it can use to keep the executive branch of government in check during the 100-day regular legislative s

Oct. 2, 2012

[Editorial] Border incursions

Massive migrations have started for the Chuseok holiday season, as homeward-bound families hit the roads throughout the nation. Passenger cars are waiting in long lines to pass through the tollgates. It will take them two or three times as many hours as usual to reach their destinations.Bus terminals and railway stations in urban centers are also crowded with homeward-bound people, many of them in colorful traditional dress. They will have to endure the ordeal of sitting on a bus or train for ma

Sept. 28, 2012

[Editorial] Slow-paced process

On Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s decision on a one-year prison term for Kwak No-hyun, superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, who had been found guilty of bribing his campaign rival. But the final ruling was so late in coming that Kwak had already served more than half of his four-year term in office. The main issue of contention had been whether or not it constituted a criminal offense for him to provide 200 million won ($179,000) to his erstwhile riva

Sept. 28, 2012

[Editorial] Currency war redux

As major countries of the world competitively ease monetary policies to boost their sagging economies, policymakers in Seoul are required to prepare steps to address their adverse effects on the Korean economy.On Sept. 6, the European Central Bank announced a plan to purchase an unlimited amount of eurozone government bonds to lower eurozone countries’ borrowing costs and bring the region’s dragged-out debt crisis under control. The ECB’s debt purchase scheme is tantamount to financing strugglin

Sept. 27, 2012

[Editorial] Don’t covet Ieodo

China has recently reasserted a jurisdictional claim to Ieodo, challenging Korea’s control of the submerged rock in waters southwest of Jeju Island. The Seoul government needs to respond sternly to any Chinese attempt to invalidate Korea’s jurisdiction over the underwater outcropping.According to Chinese media reports, China’s State Oceanic Administration has disclosed a plan to strengthen surveillance of uninhibited islands and islets under Beijing’s jurisdiction using unmanned aerial vehicles.

Sept. 27, 2012

[Editorial] No budget balance

The nation’s expenditures are projected to exceed its revenues next year, albeit by a miniscule margin of 0.3 percent, as is shown by the administration’s budget request. The budget deficit will undoubtedly be seen as a major setback for President Lee Myung-bak, whose administration has repeatedly promised in the past to balance the budget by 2013.The administration says it has had to make a tradeoff between its promise on fiscal balance and the need for a stimulus package, adding that it has se

Sept. 26, 2012

[Editorial] Sobering reminder

The administration has decided to scrap the provision of free day care for all newborns to toddlers aged 2, beginning in March next year. It has also decided to cut subsidies for in-home child care as well. Of course, a cost overrun is behind the decision.As a result, families in the top 30 percent income bracket will have to pay part of the bill when their children are sent to day care facilities. In addition, subsidies will be halved for in-home child care by mothers.The ruling Saenuri Party d

Sept. 26, 2012

[Editorial] Multicultural students

Few Koreans could deny that building a harmonious multicultural society has become a crucial task for enabling their country to keep economic growth and social viability. In June, Korea became the world’s seventh nation with a population of more than 50 million, whose per capital income exceeds $20,000. The celebratory mood, however, was overshadowed by a somber demographic projection that the low fertility rate would reduce the number of working-age people by more than 7 million over the coming

Sept. 25, 2012

[Editorial] Belated but necessary

Watching Rep. Park Geun-hye, the presidential candidate of the ruling Saenuri Party, apologize for the excesses of her late father’s oppressive rule during a news conference Monday, most people including her supporters must have thought the act of contrition should have come earlier.Park certainly went farther than had been largely anticipated in admitting the negative aspects of President Park Chung-hee’s 18-year reign, which ended with his assassination in 1979. She said constitutional values

Sept. 25, 2012

[Editorial] Probe into Lee’s home plan

President Lee Myung-bak made the right decision when he accepted Friday the National Assembly’s demand that he appoint an independent counsel to look into his aborted retirement home construction plan.Earlier this month, the Assembly approved a bill to have an independent counsel investigate the allegations that Lee violated the law on real-name financial transactions by purchasing land for the residence in Naegok-dong, southern Seoul, in his son’s name.Lee’s son is also suspected of having comm

Sept. 24, 2012

[Editorial] Bargain hard on missiles

South Korea and the United States are reportedly close to a missile deal that would allow Seoul to extend its ballistic missile range from the current 300 km to 800 km, while leaving its payload limit intact at the current 500 kg.If the missile range is lengthened as reported, South Korea would be able to hit any position in North Korea from bases located north of Daejeon, a city at the center of the nation.This would be a big enhancement in Seoul’s striking capability. Yet it still falls short

Sept. 24, 2012