[Editorial] ‘Bullet-proof’ Assembly

The main opposition Democratic United Party is seeking to protect its embattled floor leader, Rep. Park Jie-won, no matter what. Park is facing an investigation over allegations that he received more than 100 million won in bribes from two distressed savings banks.To protect Park, a top-notch election strategist, the party is even moving to use the widely criticized practice of creating a “bullet-proof” Assembly ― prolonging Assembly sessions simply to prevent prosecutors from arresting lawmaker

July 26, 2012

[Editorial] Scorching heat wave

A deadly heat wave is gripping the nation, prompting the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to activate a network of emergency medical facilities to take care of victims of heat stroke.According to the centers, the sweltering heat has already left six people dead nationwide. Heat waves are often called a silent killer as people who die from heat exhaustion show few symptoms of illness.Experts compare the ongoing heat wave to July 1994 when the temperature in Seoul stayed above 32 d

July 26, 2012

[Editorial] President’s apology

It cannot be a mere coincidence that President Lee Myung-bak joined his predecessors when he offered a public apology on the corruption of some of his kin and his closest political allies on Tuesday.Quite a few claim that it is not just personal weaknesses but built-in flaws in the nation’s presidential system of governance that are responsible for corruption among those close to the president. Most notable among them is the concentration of power in what is dubbed the imperial presidency.That s

July 25, 2012

[Editorial] Distrust in banks

A bank run occurs when a lot of customers, fearing the bank may turn insolvent, decide to withdraw their deposits at the same time. But what if angry depositors, feeling cheated by a bank, decide to demand cash or transfer their money to a different financial institution?There might not be much chance of such an anger-driven bank run happening, but it is not theoretically impossible, given what one harebrained bank did to its customers.Shinhan Bank demanded higher rates of interest on their loan

July 25, 2012

[Editorial] Soaring grain prices

A steep rise in grain prices on the global market is heightening the need for officials here to be more acute in preempting its possible inflationary pressure. More fundamentally, the soaring prices should provide an occasion to check whether Korea is prepared for another food crisis.Though local food companies say they have enough stocks of grains such as corn and soybeans to absorb price rises for months, it is feared that global supplies will plunge due to poor harvests this year.Crop yields

July 24, 2012

[Editorial] Recurring sex crimes

Two separate murder cases, in which a teenage girl and a woman fell victim to sex crimes, are shocking the nation, testifying to the need for more stern and effective measures to be taken to prevent such tragedies from happening again.A 45-year-old man under police detention confessed to kidnapping and killing a 10-year-old girl, whose body was found Sunday one week after she went missing on her way to school in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province.Police arrested another 46-year-old man on Jeju

July 24, 2012

[Editorial] Let reforms take hold

The main opposition Democratic United Party is seeking to revise a set of labor laws in its bid to enhance the fundamental rights of workers. Yet the party’s move could undermine the current relative stability in industrial relations. The party is focusing on workers’ rights as part of its campaign to “democratize the economy.” Economic democratization ― a new buzz word among domestic political parties ― involves two key aspects. One is to level the playing field between large and small companie

July 23, 2012

[Editorial] Chaebol’s unfair deals

The Fair Trade Commission has slapped a subsidiary of Lotte Group with a 650 million won ($562,000) fine for providing unfair financial support to a zombie sister company. The fine was imposed on Lotte PS Net, an affiliate that takes care of automatic teller machines installed at the group’s department stores and discount stores. According to the commission, Lotte PS Net purchased a total of 3,534 ATMs between September 2009 and last month. The acquisition was made not directly from the manufact

July 23, 2012

[Editorial] ‘Headwinds’ for Korea

Warnings about the impact of the euro crisis on Korea’s economy are now coming one after another. But Korean is already being drawn into an economic emergency. The question now is: Are top Korean economic policymakers prepared to tackle this problem head-on as they did during the 2008 financial crisis? In a July 16 market update of its Global Financial Stability Report, the International Monetary Fund said Asia appears better shielded from the eurozone crisis than other regions ― but not Korea,

July 22, 2012

[Editorial] At his own pace

Professor Ahn Cheol-soo is regarded by many as having virtually declared his bid for the presidency when he published a book on his political and economic views last Thursday. Yet, he neither confirms nor denies that his intention to run in the December election. Nor does he mention when he will make what he calls the “lonely decision” on his candidacy. His vagueness, which has continued since he abandoned his desire for the Seoul mayoralty in support of the like-minded Park Won-soon last year,

July 22, 2012

[Editorial] Unfunded welfare plans

Presidential aspirants keep pouring out costly welfare pledges without taking into account the nation’s slowing economic growth and a growing sense of crisis among domestic corporations.Park Geun-hye, the leading candidate of the ruling Saenuri Party, and her rivals in the main opposition Democratic United Party have promised to offer free education to high school students. Park’s plan called for phasing in free education for 1.42 million high school students over four years starting in 2014. Sh

July 20, 2012

[Editorial] Campaign funding probe

Pressure is building on the prosecution to investigate growing suspicions of illegal fundraising by aides to President Lee Myung-bak during the 2007 presidential race.Opening a probe into presidential campaign finance must be something the prosecution wants to avoid as much as possible as it could involve the incumbent president.But it is its duty to launch an investigation as circumstantial evidence strongly suggests Lee’s campaign raised funds illegally. If the prosecution shies away from taki

July 20, 2012

[Editorial] Rate fixing here, too?

When it lowered its key interest rate by 25 basis points last week, the Bank of Korea aimed at giving the rapidly weakening economy a shot in the arm. The central bank, which cut its 2012 growth forecast from 3.5 percent to 3 percent, said the rate cut would increase growth by 0.02 percentage point this year and another 0.9 percentage point next year.The central bank also wanted to reduce households’ debt burdesn. The Financial Supervisory Service said the rate cut would reduce annualized househ

July 19, 2012

[Editorial] Quit voluntarily

It should be an honor for a former prosecutor to sit as a Supreme Court justice and for the National Human Rights Commission chief to be given another term in office for their integrity and the outstanding achievements they have made during their careers. The posts are among the most coveted in the nation.But the pursuit of the posts by unqualified people would be seen as an ill-advised, ugly ambition, as witnessed in the persons of the prosecutor-turned-justice nominee, Kim Byung-hwa, and the c

July 19, 2012

[Editorial] More libraries

Almost as soon as he grew big enough to walk, a boy went by himself to a local library three blocks from his house.Every summer he would devour the titles on the summer reading list. He saw it as a kind of competition, according to his father’s recollection, and always ended up at the top of the list, tied for the lead with three older girls.The boy’s name? Bill Gates, the founder of the software giant Microsoft, who ranked second with $61 billion in the Forbes 2012 list of the world’s wealthies

July 18, 2012

[Editorial] Elderly union

The ongoing move by some elderly Koreans to form a labor union should make us reflect on whether our society is making proper preparations for challenges posed by a rapidly increasing number of aged people.About 200 senior citizens gathered this week to launch a preparatory group for the envisioned union.Organizers said they hoped to establish the union by October, which would encompass jobless seniors as well as aged employees. They said the union would seek to negotiate with the government on

July 18, 2012

[Editorial] Addressing China risks

The alarm is sounding for the Korean economy as the continuing eurozone debt crisis has begun to spill over to China, the engine of global economic growth and the largest market for Korean exports.Last week, China announced that its economy grew 7.6 percent in the second quarter of this year, a sharp decline from 9.5 percent a year earlier. The growth figure was the lowest since the world’s second-largest economy grew 6.6 percent in the first quarter of 2009 at the height of the global financial

July 17, 2012

[Editorial] Power struggle in N.K.?

A serious power struggle appears to be under way in Pyongyang as Ri Young-ho, the North’s top military official, has been removed from all his posts in a most unusual way.Ri was viewed as one of the guardians that the deceased North Korean leader Kim Jong-il picked to ensure a smooth power transfer to his heir and youngest son, Kim Jong-un.But he was stripped of all his posts in the Workers’ Party, according to a brief dispatch of the North’s Korean Central News Agency on Monday. He was a member

July 17, 2012

[Editorial] All over again?

President Lee Myung-bak must have been dejected last week when he saw his older brother, Lee Sang-deuk, being sent to jail on television. He must have wondered what had gone wrong. The same question must have been asked by so many Koreans, who have in the past witnessed some of those close to presidents or presidential candidates being sent to prison for taking bribes and breaching the election-funding law. Lee’s brother, accused of taking money from businesses, may have followed in their footst

July 16, 2012

[Editorial] Adapt to changes

It is not surprising to see liberal and progressive opposition parties turn their backs on conglomerates. Traditionally, they have supported small businesses and labor unions while criticizing the business practices of large corporations.To their chagrin, however, the ruling Saenuri Party is withdrawing what has long been seen to be their unwavering support for big businesses. The party has joined the opposition forces in demanding greater economic democratization ahead of the December president

July 16, 2012