[Editorial] Prudence warranted

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on Sunday reaffirmed his election pledge to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. He said that the ministry has completed its historical missions and that his government would form a new organization to deal with inequality, human rights abuses and the like more effectively than the ministry.　 The pledge faces not only strong opposition from women’s communities and the ruling majority Democratic Party of Korea, but also calls for prudence from

March 15, 2022

[Editorial] Sign of change

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is expected to push for the relocation of the presidential office from Cheong Wa Dae to the Seoul Government Complex in Gwanghwamun Square. Yoon plans to use the current prime minister’s office at the complex as his main working space and set aside four to five floors for his secretariats, security and other presidential officials. Yoon is also expected to move the presidential residence outside of Cheong Wa Dae to a nearby venue so that the current facili

March 14, 2022

[Editorial] New era dawning

Opposition candidate Yoon Suk-yeol was elected the next president in a close race. The People Power Party candidate beat Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea by about 247,000 votes, the slimmest margin since the Constitution was amended to hold direct presidential elections in 1987. The election results show how bitterly divided politics are here. This was foreseen to some extent. Campaigns were extremely negative. Calling this a contest between the two “all-time most unlikabl

March 11, 2022

[Editorial] Choice for the future

South Koreans went to the polls Wednesday, defying the threat of COVID-19 infection to elect a new president who will lead a nation filled with overwhelming challenges for the next five years. Although the winner was yet to be confirmed due to a mind-bogglingly tight race as The Korea Herald went to press, what’s certain is that the 20th presidential election reflects the high political engagement of Koreans. There is much at stake as the country needs a leader who can map out the right

March 10, 2022

[Editorial] Choice of fate

Koreans are going to the polls today to elect a new president with the hope the candidate they choose will lead them into a better future. An election is a platform for people to evaluate candidates and select one who will lead them. Voters weigh many elements including a candidate’s morality, vision, policies and competence. The presidential election today can be simplified into a matter of choice between a change of regime and a continuation of it. In his inaugural address on May 10

March 9, 2022

[Editorial] No simple mistake

A record number of South Korean voters cast their ballots during the two-day early voting period, demonstrating their strong will to have their say on who the next leader of the country will be. But a slew of disputes, including allegations of electoral fraud, broke out due largely to the election watchdog’s apparent failure to prepare for COVID-19 patients and poor management at the polling stations. During the March 4-5 early voting period, more than 16.3 million, or 36.93 percent, of 4

March 8, 2022

[Editorial] Premature relaxation

The government extended business operating hours for 12 types of multi-use facilities including restaurants and cafes by one hour to 11 p.m. from Saturday. The new rules will be in force until March 20.　 The government said it made the decision in consideration of the economic hardship faced by small businesses and the self-employed caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.　 But it is questionable if it took the step because it was aware of their votes ahead of the March 9 presidential election.　 The

March 7, 2022

[Editorial] Key factors

With just four days left before the March 9 presidential election, several hot-button issues are expected to impact voters, with no clear sign yet of an undisputed front-runner. A two-day period of early voting starts Friday, a crucial period that could reshape the outcome of the election for the country’s next leader. As the number of daily coronavirus cases have stayed at around 200,000 due to the highly transmissible omicron variant, more voters are forecast to cast their ballots in a

March 4, 2022

[Editorial] Shaky alliance

The United States recently announced export controls on Russia as part of economic sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine. The restrictions require even foreign-made items using US technology and software to get an approval from the US government before being shipped to Russia. However, the US Commerce Department has exempted 32 countries from the new rules because they have implemented or are planning on implementing similar restrictive export control measures on Russia. They are 27 European c

March 3, 2022

[Editorial] Terrible logic

In general, criticizing others should be backed up by facts. In particular, blaming a top leader of another country for a war is extremely dangerous, if not crazy, unless such a claim is based on a mountain of verified facts. Top leaders of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, including its presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, did not follow this simple principle, and made unbelievably incendiary remarks targeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. They falsely claimed the war with Rus

March 2, 2022

[Editorial] Turnabout at end of term

President Moon Jae-in said in a meeting on global energy supply issues on Friday that South Korea should utilize nuclear energy sufficiently for the next 60 years as its main source of power supply. Referring to four nuclear power plants whose construction has been delayed -- Shin Hanul 1 and 2 and Shin Kori 5 and 6 -- he said that the government must work hard to start their normal operation as quickly as possible. His remarks are baffling. It is questionable if Moon is trying to deflect crit

March 1, 2022

[Editorial] Economic impact of war

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sparked a wave of dire warnings about the global economy, with financial markets jittery about increased volatility in energy prices and more unpredictable shocks coming from the conflict. As with other countries tightly linked through the integrated supply chains and financial markets, South Korea is vulnerable to turbulence generated by the war in Ukraine. The stakes are immensely high for Asia’s fourth-largest economy, which is struggling to re

Feb. 28, 2022

[Editorial] Let Ukraine be a lesson

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops to “maintain peace” in two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, after recognizing them as independent states. Then US President Joe Biden said Russia had begun “an invasion” of Ukraine and announced a new sanctions package against Russia.　 For starters, Russia’s aggression is an illegal act of war on a sovereign state. Putin said “to maintain peace” but it is nothing but a pretext to whitewash violent inf

Feb. 25, 2022

[Editorial] Distorted view

The South Korean media industry has been struggling to cope with a slew of challenges in recent years, such as declining ad revenue, shrinking subscriber numbers and weakening influence in an era of social media. For the embattled media, there is one more critical thing to overcome: the sheer hostility of the two main presidential candidates toward the media. Resentment against journalists and media outlets is nothing new. On social media, a number of people do not hesitate to call reporters

Feb. 24, 2022

[Editorial] Anachronistic spirit

The pledge by Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of the opposition People Power Party, to make efforts to attract a shopping complex to Gwangju has emerged as an election issue. “Gwangju citizens are longing to have a shopping complex that all other big cities have, but the Democratic Party of Korea has opposed the entrance of one into the city,” Yoon said, “Does the ruling party have the right to keep a large shopping mall off Gwangju despite citizens wanting one?&rdq

Feb. 23, 2022

[Editorial] Unrealistic promises

Major presidential candidates are making a series of costly campaign pledges. But they remain vague about how the required budget could be secured amid ballooning fiscal deficits and national debts. Worse, both ruling and opposition parties agreed to pass an extra budget designed to help small businesses hit by COVID-19 on Monday, which will add to the fiscal shortfall. Big-budget campaign pledges look enticing for both candidates and voters, but if such plans go ahead without securing speci

Feb. 22, 2022

[Editorial] Next-door mystery

The Gyeonggi Housing and Urban Development Corp. (GH) is reportedly renting an apartment right next door to Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.　 A public enterprise affiliated with the Gyeonggi Provincial Government is said to have leased Lee’s next-door apartment in August 2020 when Lee was governor of the province. The lease period is two years. It was on a “jeonse” lease in which tenants pay landlords a lump-sum deposit and get

Feb. 21, 2022

[Editorial] Impending crisis

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is feared to have a negative impact on the South Korean economy, which has already been battered by a slew of negative factors sparked by COVID-19. There was a glimmer of hope that a peaceful resolution might be possible, as Russia claimed it had withdrawn some of its troops near the border with Ukraine. On Thursday, however, the United States warned that Russia had also added about 7,000 troops, suggesting that it was premature to conclude that a Russian invasion o

Feb. 18, 2022

[Editorial] Lawless union

Members of the CJ Logistics chapter of the union of delivery workers have been on strike since Dec. 28. About 200 members of the union affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions have occupied part of the company’s headquarters since Jan. 10. They broke the entrance door and took over parts of the building to stage a sit-in. Scores of employees were reportedly injured. They demand an increase of their share in excess profits from raised delivery fees, while the company di

Feb. 17, 2022

[Editorial] No sign of abating

With the spread of COVID-19 hitting a series of record highs, the Korean government is mulling virus-related policy changes that some fear would aggravate the worsening situation as confusion over self-test kits and social distancing rules deepens. The government said Tuesday it would unveil a new set of changes regarding the social distancing rules following the spike in new COVID-19 cases led by the omicron variant. On Monday, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said, “(The government) will

Feb. 16, 2022