[Editorial] What Lee needs to do

New findings about the government office that conducted surveillance on private citizens critical of President Lee Myung-bak raise the possibility that Lee, his chief of staff, or both, received reports on the spying. Lee needs to make clear whether or not he was involved.A widening investigation into the case also bolsters the belief that Kwon Jae-jin should resign as justice minister because his retention of the post is thwarting a criminal investigation into the role he allegedly played in co

May 17, 2012

[Editorial] Organizing new Assembly

Parties are preparing for the imminent negotiations on organizing the 19th National Assembly. At the same time, they are putting out feelers to get an idea of each other’s negotiating stance.Because so much is at stake ahead of the December presidential election, concerns are voiced in the political community that the new National Assembly may follow the footsteps of the outgoing one, whose organization it took 89 days to complete.The new National Assembly, which starts its term on May 30 as sti

May 17, 2012

[Editorial] Constitutional revision

The constitutional revision issue is resurfacing as potential contenders gear up for the presidential election in November.Senior ruling party lawmaker Lee Jae-oh added to the latest discourse on the issue last week when he announced his presidential bid. He pledged to amend the Constitution within his first six months in power to change the presidential tenure from the current single five-year term to two four-year terms and constrain presidential power.Lee urged other potential candidates to a

May 16, 2012

[Editorial] Detention in China

China’s detention of four South Korean activists, which has continued for 50 days with no details being released, testifies again to its opaque legal system, which is far below international standards.The case has also shown again Seoul’s passiveness in handling sensitive issues with Beijing.It was a Seoul-based rights group that first revealed that the four had been detained since being arrested in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian on March 29. The revelation on Monday apparently reflecte

May 16, 2012

[Editorial] Health insurance reform

Korea faces an urgent need to reform the state-run health insurance system as its sustainability is threatened by a rapid increase in health care spending. During the past 10 years, per-capita heath spending has grown at nearly 8 percent a year, about double the nation’s economic growth rate. One factor driving up health care costs is the fee-for-service payment formula, under which the National Health Insurance Corp. reimburses hospitals for each and every service they provide to their patients

May 15, 2012

[Editorial] UPP on path to ruin

The non-mainstream factions of the strife-torn United Progressive Party have managed to launch an emergency leadership headed by Rep. Kang Ki-kab, seizing the initiative from the party’s widely criticized mainstreamers. Kang was appointed at a meeting of the party’s central committee, which was convened online from Sunday night to Monday morning without the presence of the representatives from the mainstream group. The committee’s meeting on Saturday was interrupted by violence. Some 100 members

May 15, 2012

[Editorial] Reform on savings banks

Four savings banks that have recently been declared insolvent are found to have sustained huge losses from high-risk investments. Worse still, astronomical amounts of money have allegedly been embezzled by the managers of two of them. If they are not recouped, taxpayers will have to hold the bag.Prosecutors are widening their investigation into an allegation that Lim Suk, chairman of Solomon Savings Bank, embezzled 500 billion won from customer deposits and put the money into a maritime service

May 14, 2012

[Editorial] Spike in power demand

Unseasonably high temperatures have raised concerns about nationwide blackouts again this year. Demand for electricity remains high at a time when many power plants are under maintenance, reducing the power reserves to a worrisome level.For the first time in recent years, the nation experienced rolling blackouts last September ― a series of intentional electrical blackouts affecting small areas in succession as a means of conserving electricity when supply was low.Korea Electric Power Corp. had

May 14, 2012

[Editorial] Calling needed again

With a carnation pinned to their lapels, teachers will hear students sing a song expressing gratitude for their teaching in schools across the country Tuesday, marking the 31st Teacher’s Day.It is regrettable, however, that the actual relationship between teachers and students appears not so amicable these days.In fact, it is getting so much worse that a growing number of teachers fall victim to violence from their own students.In the latest case, a 51-year-old female teacher was hit on the head

May 13, 2012

[Editorial] Physical education

There is no denying Korean teenagers live a most stressful life.Recent figures from Statistics Korea showed that seven out of 10 youths have been under a lot of stress, with 8.8 percent thinking of committing suicide over the past year. Suicide has already become the primary cause of death of young people in the country, which has seen about 13 in every 100,000 teenagers killing themselves every year.According to a recent study by a local research institute, Korean students ranked lowest in an i

May 13, 2012

[Editorial] Opening of Yeosu Expo

The Yeosu Expo is opening on Saturday, putting on display the five years of preparations for the promotion of knowledge, technology and activities for the sustainable development of marine resources.These preparations by Yeosu as the host of the international exposition are showcased by the “Big-O” core facility for exhibitions and entertainment, a huge fountain over the sea, an aquarium containing robotic fish as well as actual fish, and other facilities. More than 100 countries and internation

May 11, 2012

[Editorial] Boosting housing market

It is a typical pattern for administrations to boost the real-estate market when the economy is in a slump. President Lee Myung-bak’s administration is no different.The policy package that the Lee administration unveiled on Thursday was intended as a shot in the arm for the housing market in the doldrums. The measure was taken at a time when the administration finds it extremely difficult to attain its modest growth target for this year ― 3.5 percent.Most notable among the policies was to free S

May 11, 2012

[Editorial] Boosting private spending

A recent survey by a job website showed seven out of 10 employed Koreans regard themselves as working poor.Repayment of student loans and the cost of mortgages were cited as the major reasons for being short of money, according to the survey of about 500 employees in their 20s-40s.The poll reflects the financial pinch that has gripped Korean consumers. Structural problems in the economy have held down household income for years. From 1998 to 2011, the country’s gross national income increased by

May 10, 2012

[Editorial] A brazen reply

North Korea recently replied to a U.N. inquiry into the fate of the wife and two daughters left behind by a South Korean man who escaped the North in 1986 a year after defecting there with his family.In the letter sent to the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on April 27, it claimed Shin Suk-ja, the wife of Oh Kil-nam, died of hepatitis and the two daughters did not want to see Oh, whom they did not regard as their father because he abandoned his family and drove their mother to her deat

May 10, 2012

[Editorial] Software ecosystem

A bill to revise the Software Industry Promotion Act was passed on May 2 along with some 60 others during the last session of the 18th National Assembly. The revised law, which goes into effect from next January, bans chaebol-affiliated IT service companies from working on public-sector projects.The new regulation is one of the initiatives the government has recently taken to jump-start the stagnating domestic software industry, which it has pledged to foster as one of the nation’s future growth

May 9, 2012

[Editorial] Digging own grave

The mainstream faction of the United Progressive Party is digging itself deeper into a hole as it struggles to retain power in the face of mounting pressure to take responsibility for alleged fraud in the primaries for the April 11 general election.The faction, led by Lee Jung-hee, one of the UPP’s four co-leaders, rejected the recommendation adopted by the party’s National Steering Committee over the weekend that the three proportional representation lawmakers-elect chosen through the primary r

May 9, 2012

[Editorial] Crying wolf again

When the Financial Services Commission suspended four mutual savings banks on Sunday, it said there would be no more industry-wide restructuring. Instead, it promised to deal with each savings bank as soon as it shows signs of insolvency.No one was mistaken if this pledge sounded familiar. When it suspended the operations of seven savings banks for six months last September, the commission said public concerns about another round of restructuring were unjustified because there would be no such d

May 8, 2012

[Editorial] Fall of ‘king’s man’

Prosecutors arrested Park Young-joon, a former vice minister of knowledge economy, and took him into custody Monday. The charges against him were influence-peddling and taking 100 million won in bribes from the developer of a Seoul shopping mall.His arrest followed the issuance of a warrant by a judge at a Seoul district court, who was quoted as saying he was considered a flight risk and that he could try to destroy evidence. Before being taken into custody, Park told reporters that he had nothi

May 8, 2012

[Editorial] Putin initiatives

Vladimir Putin’s return to the Russian presidency comes at a delicate time when North Korea’s move toward a third nuclear test is alerting neighboring powers, with the U.S. and China engaged in an increasing military rivalry in the Pacific region.Putin, who began his third presidential term Monday, may well expect this situation to give him more leeway in expanding Russia’s strategic presence in Northeast Asia.He had kept his grip on power while serving as prime minister during the past four yea

May 7, 2012

[Editorial] Competitive SMEs

A recent survey by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry showed local small and medium-sized enterprises are far less competitive than SMEs in Germany, Japan and other industrialized countries.If the competitiveness of small companies in advanced nations with a strong manufacturing sector is put at 100, that of Korea’s SMEs scored 59.6, according to the survey of 151 economic experts here.Among the key problems cited by the experts for holding back domestic small firms were a lack of innova

May 7, 2012