[Editorial] Akihito’s visit?

Japanese Emperor Akihito’s reported willingness to visit South Korea and apologize for Japan’s colonial rule if needed, though far from being realized in the strained bilateral relationship, could be meaningful in helping more sensible voices in both countries prevail over inconsiderate moves to score domestic political points.It might be the case that the 78-year-old has a deeper understanding of the fray between the neighbors and a far-sighted view of their inevitable partnership.While briefed

Sept. 23, 2012

[Editorial] Renewed provocation

The repeated incursions of North Korean fishing boats into South Korean waters in violation of their disputed West Sea border appear to be deliberate provocations with multiple purposes. It is noteworthy that they are timed for the presidential race in the South entering the main stretch with debates among the three major candidates focusing on economic justice and political reforms.In the latest of nearly 30 intrusions over six days since Sept. 12, a North Korean vessel crossed into the South K

Sept. 23, 2012

[Editorial] Enemy within

The biggest enemy of Park Geun-hye, the presidential candidate of the ruling Saenuri Party, is neither Ahn Cheol-soo, an entrepreneur-turned-professor who declared his independent candidacy for president on Wednesday, nor Moon Jae-in, the standard-bearer of the main opposition Democratic United Party.Her worst enemies are within her own party. They are none other than her aides and people close to her. They are supposed to support her bid to become the nation’s first female president but are act

Sept. 21, 2012

[Editorial] Dangerous standoff

Angry anti-Japan protests have eased off in China after peaking on Sept. 18, China’s Day of National Humiliation that marks Japan’s invasion and occupation of Manchuria in 1931.Rowdy demonstrations continued in cities across China for a week following the Japanese government’s decision on Sept. 11 to purchase the Senkaku Islands from its private Japanese owner. Tokyo’s move infuriated Beijing as it regarded the islands, which are called Diaoyu in China, as an integral part of its territory. On W

Sept. 21, 2012

[Editorial] Ahn’s experiment

Ahn Cheol-soo, who announced his bid for the presidency Wednesday, is a political newcomer who professes to pursue political reform as an alternative to tainted representative politics ― more specifically, party politics tainted by corruption and the pursuit of partisan interests.With his approval ratings rivaling those of the presidential nominees from the ruling and opposition parties, Ahn regards his lack of experience in politics as usual not as a liability but an asset. He believes he is be

Sept. 20, 2012

[Editorial] Stuck in slow growth

The Korea Development Institute slashed a large chunk off of the nation’s 2012 growth outlook earlier in the week ― 1.1 percentage point from 3.6 percent. Such a drastic revision by the nation’s leading state-funded economic research institute should have come as a surprise. But it didn’t. People had undoubtedly expected as much, given that many other think tanks and financial institutions had already lowered the growth outlook sharply.Instead, quite a few may have wondered if the KDI has lost m

Sept. 20, 2012

[Editorial] Proactive verification

The state election watchdog should have allowed financial officials to announce their estimates of the costs for carrying through the welfare programs so far pledged by the major political parties. The National Election Commission recently turned down a request from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance to let it disclose the estimated costs needed to implement the welfare pledges put forward by the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party.The commission appeared to be

Sept. 19, 2012

[Editorial] Father’s legacy

Rep. Park Geun-hye, the presidential candidate of the conservative ruling Saenuri Party, has seen her two liberal rivals stealing the spotlight from her in recent days. The media focus put on her after she won the Saenuri’s ticket last month has been overshadowed this week by the nomination of Rep. Moon Jae-in as the candidate of the main opposition party and a news conference by entrepreneur-turned-professor Ahn Cheol-soo on his bid for the presidency.She is said to be planning to recapture vot

Sept. 19, 2012

[Editorial] Demographic tipping point

While political parties are engrossed in a debate on economic democratization, Korea has reached a profound demographic tipping point.A recent Bank of Korea report says Korea’s working-age population ― those between 15 and 64 years of age ― will peak in 2016 before starting to decline rapidly for the next half a century. Yet the report draws attention to an important demographic shift that is already taking place: The share of the working-age population in the total population reaches a peak thi

Sept. 18, 2012

[Editorial] Rot in financial sector

The Financial Supervisory Service recently said it would consider resuming the practice of disclosing data on corruption in the financial sector, as criminal activity by executives and employees of financial companies shows no signs of abating.Until 2004, the watchdog made public its corruption statistics for each segment of the industry. But it discontinued the practice in the face of opposition from financial companies.Financial firms have since made voluntary efforts to prevent their official

Sept. 18, 2012

[Editorial] Anti-corruption law

A fight against corruption has never failed to make it to the top of each presidential candidate’s list of election promises.Rep. Park Geun-hye, the presidential nominee of the ruling Saenuri Party, has recently unveiled an anti-corruption proposal, focused on all the president’s men and women. The main opposition Democratic United Party, which nominated Rep. Moon Jae-in as its presidential candidate Sunday, is reportedly working on a similar anti-corruption plan. Moon said earlier that corrupti

Sept. 17, 2012

[Editorial] Don’t veto the bill

President Lee Myung-bak has until Friday to make a decision on whether to sign into law or veto a bill on the appointment of an independent counsel empowered to look into a land-purchase scandal involving him, his son and one of his top security service officers. The bill, passed by the National Assembly earlier in the month, will be made into law automatically if no action is taken by Friday.In the past, lawmakers close to the president and the minister of justice have hinted at a presidential

Sept. 17, 2012

[Editorial] Foreign school scam

The massive admission fraud case involving some foreign schools here shows how morally degraded and legally insensitive the affluent in Korean society have become. Such moral laxity and disregard of the law permeating the upper class are to blame for exacerbating social disintegration at least as much as economic polarization is.The prosecution is investigating parents of about 60 students who have been admitted to three foreign schools in Seoul and its vicinity through illicit means. Among them

Sept. 16, 2012

[Editorial] Opposition candidacy

In the coming weeks, the focus of presidential election politics is set to be put on who will emerge as the unified candidate of the liberal opposition camp. Discourse is heating up on how to establish the single candidacy between Rep. Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party and software mogul-turned-professor Ahn Cheol-soo.Moon, a human rights lawyer and former chief of staff for late President Roh Moo-hyun, was nominated as DUP presidential candidate Sunday as he secured mor

Sept. 16, 2012

[Editorial] Older to be old

Senior citizens are defined by the government as those aged 65 or older. Now the government is moving to raise the threshold to 70 or 75. In other words, it is saying you have to be older to be old.This proposal may sound innocuous to many old people that do not feel as old as they really are because they are healthy. Moreover, they have many more years to live than those at their age would have had decades ago. The life expectancy in Korea soared from 65.9 years in 1980 to 80.7 years in 2010 be

Sept. 14, 2012

[Editorial] Mini-capital Sejong

Sejong is starting its role as a new center of public administration, as the prime minister’s office is moving from Seoul to the new special self-governing city over the weekend. Also scheduled to move into the city this year are five ministries and six sub-ministry-level offices.As the nation’s capital, Seoul will continue to be the home for the presidential office, the National Assembly, the Supreme Court, some key non-economic ministries and other state institutions. But Sejong, 120 kilometer

Sept. 14, 2012

[Editorial] Politicizing aid

North Korea’s flip-flopping on the flood aid proposal from South Korea appears to have revealed its intention to use it to further embarrass President Lee Myung-bak’s administration and aggravate internal discord in the South.On Wednesday, it rejected Seoul’s relief aid package of 10,000 tons of flour, 3 million packs of instant noodles and medicine, describing it as a “meager amount of materials.” It further accused the South of “ridiculing the humanitarian spirit of the Red Cross.”A day earlie

Sept. 13, 2012

[Editorial] True partnership

High-ranking officials, politicians and scholars from several Southeast Asian nations recently gathered in Hanoi to attend a workshop on economic partnership between Korea and the region. Some of them proposed that cooperation with Korea go beyond industrial and financial sectors to cover climate change, population aging and the environment.The workshop, hosted by the Korea Development Institute, a state-funded think tank in Seoul, was part of a series of consultations with a group of developing

Sept. 13, 2012

[Editorial] Chaebol reform bills

Economic democratization is one of the three campaign keywords for Park Geun-hye, the presidential candidate of the ruling Saenuri Party. But the party still remains sharply divided over how to implement the elusive concept.Thus far, the party’s task force on economic democratization has put forward four bills to curb chaebol’s abuse of their economic power.The first proposal zeroes in on the court practice of granting suspended sentences to chaebol chairmen who have committed crimes, while the

Sept. 12, 2012

[Editorial] Reality check on patents

Korea is widely recognized as a powerhouse in many high-tech manufacturing fields, including IT, automobiles and shipbuilding. Each year, Korea posts a large surplus in manufacturing trade. Yet a recent OECD report has given Korea a painful reality check about its technological competitiveness. In 2010, Korea earned $3.35 billion through technology exports. But its technology import bill was three times larger than that ― $10.2 billion. As a result, Korea posted a deficit of $6.9 billion in tech

Sept. 12, 2012