[Editorial] Chief justice’s silence

An organization of judge representatives is said to have asked the National Court Administration under the Supreme Court early this month to explain Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su’s allegedly biased personnel measures. It is the first time that judges have officially raised issue with the chief justice’s personnel decisions. Kim has assigned important posts and cases to judges belonging to two progressive study groups -- one for the study of Korean law and the other for the study of

April 14, 2022

[Editorial] Post-omicron policy

The South Korean government is poised to scrap COVID-19 restrictions as the omicron-led infections are showing signs of abating in recent weeks. Furthermore, it is mapping out a post-omicron scheme as well. The protracted COVID-19 pandemic is indeed receding, though the exact pace is hard to predict. The country reported 210,755 new cases Tuesday, bouncing back to over-200,000 mark after hitting the lowest level in seven weeks a day earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Preventio

April 13, 2022

[Editorial] Focus on livelihoods

Economy-related minister nominees who will work for the incoming government are regarded as market friendly. President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on Sunday nominated Choo Kyung-ho as deputy prime minister and minister of economy and finance and Lee Chang-yang as trade, industry and energy minister and Won Hee-ryong as land, infrastructure and transport minister. The new government is expected to change its policy paradigm from income-led growth to a market-led one. Considering that businesses are the e

April 12, 2022

[Editorial] Role of prosecution

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea is accelerating its move to strip the prosecution of all of its investigation powers -- a highly controversial issue that is roiling political circles and sparking heated opposition from prosecutors. At the heart of the dispute is that the ruling party can -- and regrettably will -- abuse its supermajority position at the National Assembly to railroad the related bill to change the country’s prosecution system once and for all. If the bill is unilate

April 11, 2022

[Editorial] Change the course

Consumer price increase has exceeded 4 percent. According to Statistics Korea, consumer prices rose 4.1 percent in March from the same month last year. It was the sharpest hike in 10 years and three months. Prices soared, largely affected by the war in Ukraine which further disrupted the supply of crude oil and raw materials following the COVID-19 shockwaves to global supply chains. Setbacks in the supply of oil and materials are hard to avoid for Korea, which imports most of its supply of bo

April 8, 2022

[Editorial] Compromise matters

The Minimum Wage Commission held its first plenary session Tuesday to start negotiations to set the minimum wage for 2023, a highly sensitive issue for both labor and business that is also expected to set the overall labor policy tone of the incoming administration. The minimum wage for this year is 9,160 won ($7.52) per hour, up 5.05 percent from 2021, after much wrangling between labor and business. Neither side was satisfied with the final result, as the gap was too wide to narrow. Similar

April 7, 2022

[Editorial] Delegate authority

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is stepping up preparations to form the first Cabinet of his administration. He nominated former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo as prime minister, and rumors have flown about who will be named as deputy prime ministers and ministers. Kim Eun-hye, Yoon’s spokesperson, said on Monday that Yoon would try to announce the full lineup of the Cabinet next week at the latest. Yoon met with Han on Sunday ahead of announcing his nomination of prime minister. Han repor

April 6, 2022

[Editorial] Emotional battle

The incoming and outgoing administrations are still engaged in confrontation, failing to forge cooperative relations to tackle crucial issues during the transition period. A case in point is the high-profile clash over the recent appointment of Park Doo-sun as CEO of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. The relocation of the presidential office is also a matter fraught with friction and mistrust. Similarly, both sides wrangle over the disclosure of protocol costs for the first lady Kim

April 5, 2022

[Editorial] Opaque transactions

Whenever new suspicions have been raised about first lady Kim Jung-sook’s outfits, Cheong Wa Dae offered an explanation, but it said different things each time. Tak Hyun-min, protocol secretary for President Moon Jae-in, said on a radio program on Wednesday that the first lady bought clothes and accessories at her own expense for the past five years with her own credit cards. But that was not quite the case.　 A master of Korea’s traditional costume hanbok and an artisan of handmad

April 4, 2022

[Editorial] A temporary fix

As the Russia-Ukraine war persists, global energy prices are on the rise and propelling electricity bills around the world even higher. Bucking the trend is South Korea. For a while, the country’s electricity rate freeze will offer a reprieve to consumers and companies, but it is a short-sighted policy that could backfire with a vengeance. State-run power firm Korea Electric Power Corp. had proposed a 3 won (0.2 cent) increase in the adjusted unit fuel cost, a benchmark for the country&r

April 1, 2022

[Editorial] Absurd reason

A citizen posted a petition on the website of the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on March 18 asking for disclosure of protocol expenses for First Lady Kim Jung-sook, such as costs of clothes, accessories and shoes she bought to attend official events. The petitioner said that if the office acted squarely and above board, it has no reason to refuse to disclose them. On March 15, a similar petition was made on the website, requesting an immediate disclosure of Kim’s ceremonial expenses

March 29, 2022

[Editorial] Fixing failed strategy

North Korea’s old survival playbook has gotten more sophisticated over the past few decades. The formula is rather straightforward. It develops and test-fires new missiles that could pose a threat to South Korea and its allies, particularly the United States. Once it gets rewards such as sanctions relief, it suspends its weapons program for a while. However, when a new geopolitical change is in sight the regime resumes test-firing missiles, often armed with more advanced technologies. Se

March 28, 2022

[Editorial] Awkward reason

President Moon Jae-in emphasized a “security vacuum” as he sought to put a brake on President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s plan to relocate the presidential office. Yoon was going to move the presidential office to the building of the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan, Seoul, before May 10, his inauguration day, so that he could be working at the new office from the first day of his presidency. Moon is said to have taken an opposite position after a National Security Council

March 25, 2022

[Editorial] Wrong target

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea is forging a strange logic for the defeat in the March 9 presidential election. Its misguided target is none other than the media. In the Democratic Party’s view, the party and its former candidate were innocent victims of so-called “fake news.” Rep. Yun Ho-jung, who now stands as the party’s interim leader, said in a press briefing Sunday that the party plans to focus on reforming the media, and revealed its unwavering determination

March 24, 2022

[Editorial] The right direction

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol said in his luncheon meeting with the chiefs of six major business lobby groups Monday that the government’s job is to remove institutional obstacles so that businesses can decide more freely, invest freely and grow. He also said that the government is focused on establishing infrastructure so that companies will spearhead the creation of jobs and make investments, which will eventually help the nation grow. The administration under President Moon Jae-in ha

March 23, 2022

[Editorial] Twisted fact

President Moon Jae-in has often touted the success of “K-quarantine,” a set of state-led quarantine, outreach and contact tracing policies aimed at containing the COVID-19 pandemic as one of his representative achievements. K-quarantine, a term first introduced by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, was even used as a key idea of exporting the country’s coronavirus management strategies to other countries. In recent weeks, things have changed fairly dramatically. It seems a s

March 22, 2022

[Editorial] For a flying start

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol launched his transition team and presided over its first meeting Friday. It was launched pretty quickly. Just eight days passed after he won the presidential election. Until May 9, it will sort out major issues for the Yoon administration to deal with and review Yoon’s election pledges intensively and modify them if needed. Among its core tasks are reorganizing the government and forming the Cabinet. The team is comprised of 24 members in seven subcommitte

March 21, 2022

[Editorial] A tug of war

The first meeting between President Moon Jae-in and President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, scheduled for Wednesday, was abruptly canceled, revealing their conflicting views on key issues and the purpose of the get-together. It marks the first case in which a meeting between the incumbent and president-elect was called off after the plans were made public. As it was unprecedented, speculation mounted over why the two leaders failed to get together. According to a Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson, the meetin

March 18, 2022

[Editorial] End imperial presidency

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol made it clear his plan to abolish the office of senior presidential secretary for civil affairs. He also plans to appoint a special inspector, a Cheong Wa Dae post left vacated so far by President Moon Jae-in, when he takes office. The office watches public officials for irregularities, weighs up nominees for important government posts, and is a bridge between the president and the Ministry of Justice. Also as a command center over the prosecution and police, it su

March 17, 2022

[Editorial] Gravity of transition

As the bitter presidential election marred by scandals and mudslinging is now over, what follows is a crucial transition period that will shape key policies and initiatives for the new administration led by President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol. Yoon appointed Ahn Cheol-soo, chairman of the People’s Party, as chief of the presidential transition committee, an organization that will handle the transition of power from the Moon Jae-in administration. Ahn’s appointment came as no surprise,

March 16, 2022