[Editorial] Unresolved suspicions

In a parliamentary audit Monday, Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung drew a line between himself and Yoo Dong-gyu, a detained key suspect in the Daejang-dong scandal, while admitting he had the final say over the real estate development project in question. The scandal centers around allegations that the city of Seognam gave a handful of certain private-sector individual investors preferential treatment so they could reap astronomical profits from the Daejang-dong development project. He offe

Oct. 20, 2021

[Editorial] Disappointing signals

New Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sent an offering to a controversial war shrine in Tokyo on Sunday, prompting South Korea to express “deep disappointment and regrets.” Kishida stopped short of visiting the Yasukuni Shrine in time for its two-day autumn festival that ran through Monday, while his predecessor Yoshihide Suga visited it. The shrine, seen as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism, honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead, including 14 figures convicted by an alli

Oct. 19, 2021

[Editorial] Shoddy probe

An array of problems have come out of the prosecution’s investigation into corruption suspicions in connection with a real estate development project in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. The rejection of an arrest warrant for Kim Man-bae, the largest shareholder in Hwacheon Daeyu who is a key person of interest in the scandal, is a humiliation for the prosecution. The court threw out its request for an arrest warrant of Kim on Thursday night. The scandal stems from allegations that Yoo Dong-

Oct. 18, 2021

[Editorial] Gloomy reality

South Korea recorded the largest job growth in 7 1/2 years last month, according to government data released this week. The data from Statistics Korea showed the number of employed people in the country reached 27.68 million in September, up 671,000 from a year earlier, the steepest increase since March 2014, when the figure rose by 726,000 on-year. Buoyed by the increase, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, who doubles as deputy prime minister for economic affairs, said the job recovery momentum had

Oct. 15, 2021

[Editorial] Thorough investigation

Regarding the Daejang-dong land development scandal, President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday ordered the prosecution and police to cooperate in finding out the truth swiftly through thorough probes. It is the first time that Moon disclosed his official position on the snowballing suspicions related to the project. The scandal has emerged as the country’s most pressing issue. It centers on allegations that Yoo Dong-gyu, regarded as a close aide to the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s pre

Oct. 14, 2021

[Editorial] Shaky candidacy

Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung has managed to clinch the ruling party’s presidential nomination amid a ballooning corruption scandal surrounding a real estate development project he oversaw when he served as mayor of a satellite city of Seoul. On Sunday, the 56-year-old governor, known for his aggressive character and populist streak, became the candidate of the Democratic Party of Korea for the presidential election in March by narrowly securing a majority of the votes cast in the

Oct. 13, 2021

[Editorial] Overambitious target

The presidential committee on carbon neutrality on Friday proposed to raise the country’s greenhouse gas reduction goal to eliminating 40 percent of the 2018 emissions by 2030, a drastic increase from its previous target of 26.3 percent. This is an intermediate target on the way to the long-term goal of achieving carbon neutrality or net-zero emissions by 2050. It exceeds even the 35 percent stipulated in the basic law on carbon neutrality that passed the National Assembly on Aug. 31.

Oct. 12, 2021

[Editorial] Specter of inflation

A fear of energy inflation is sweeping the world. Prices have jumped not only for oil and natural gas, but also for coal, fanning inflation worries. To make matters worse, the global economy is showing signs of faltering. Negative factors caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as disruptions in transportation and logistics services, energy crises and growth slowdowns, are happening simultaneously. The US West Texas Intermediate for November delivery rose to $78.93 a barrel on the New York Mercan

Oct. 8, 2021

[Editorial] Renewing commitment

Youn Mee-hyang, a civic activist-turned-lawmaker, stirred up public outrage here last year when she fell under suspicion of embezzling money donated to help South Korean women forced into wartime sexual enslavement for imperial Japanese troops. She was indicted in September 2020 on charges of embezzlement, fraud and other misconduct. Youn denied all of the accusations against her during her first trial held at a Seoul court in August. The Justice Ministry had not made public details of Youn&rs

Oct. 7, 2021

[Editorial] Web of suspicions

The prosecution has arrested Yoo Dong-gyu, a key figure in the project to develop Daejang-dong in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, on charges of breach of trust and bribery. The court granted prosecutors a warrant on Sunday. He is the first suspect charged in connection with the land development scandal. Yoo is accused of causing damage to Seongnam by designing a profit share scheme that favored a certain company and its seven affiliates. Under the scheme, the city received 182.2 billion won ($153

Oct. 6, 2021

[Editorial] Concerted policies

Growing downside risks at home and abroad are heightening the need for concerted policies to prevent their potential fallout from jolting South Korea’s economy. Asia’s fourth-largest economy is showing signs of losing recovery momentum amid a build-up of financial imbalances. Government data released last week showed that the country’s industrial output, retail sales and facility investment declined on-month in August in the latest sign of recovery momentum weakening, partly

Oct. 5, 2021

[Editorial] Beyond discord

Former Japanese Foreign Minsiter Fumio Kishida, who won the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership election Wednesday, is set to be elected Japan’s new prime minister next week in parliament, where his party and its coalition partner commands a majority. Kishida will replace Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who is bowing out of the post after a one-year stint largely overshadowed by the influence of his predecessor Shinzo Abe. Under the new leader, Tokyo’s key diplomatic

Oct. 1, 2021

[Editorial] KCTU’s despotism

Under the pro-labor Moon Jae-in regime, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions has acted like its master. It was a key organizer of candlelight vigils in 2016 and poses as one of the greatest contributors to the birth of the current regime. It takes the labor movement too far, making unreasonable demands and holding unauthorized rallies and illegal strikes. Truckers unionized under the confederation are refusing to transport bread and other supplies to Paris Baguette franchise bakeries. Som

Sept. 30, 2021

[Editorial] Deceptive conciliation

President Moon Jae-in’s government appeared buoyed by the somewhat conciliatory tone of the statements issued last week by Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. She said in a statement Saturday that the North could agree to declare a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War as proposed by the South and even discuss holding an inter-Korean summit if Seoul treated Pyongyang with “impartiality” and respect. She also urged the South to drop its double

Sept. 29, 2021

[Editorial] Unavoidable hike

Electricity rates will increase from October. Korea Electric Power Corp., South Korea’s state-run utility firm, plans to raise the rate in the fourth quarter. It is the first rise in about eight years. The move reflects hikes in global prices of fuels. Higher electricity rates will likely push up fees of other utilities, increasing inflationary pressure. It will increase burden particularly on the low-income working class and small-scale self-employed already reeling from the economic imp

Sept. 28, 2021

[Editorial] Fragile stability

A report released by the Bank of Korea last week indicated that the country’s financial stability is at the risk of being rattled by high and rising borrowing by households and companies. South Korea’s household debt reached a record high of 1,805.9 trillion won ($1.53 trillion) in June, up 41.2 trillion won from three months earlier. Accordingly, the ratio of household debt to disposable income also soared to an all-time high of 172 percent. Particularly worrisome is a steep rise

Sept. 27, 2021

[Editorial] Suspicious project

Suspicions are rising over a housing site development project in Daejang-dong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, which was carried out when Gyeonggi Gov. Lee Jae-myung was Seongnam mayor. Lee is also the front-runner of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea’s race to elect its presidential candidate. Former Supreme Court Justice Kwon Soon-il resigned as adviser to asset management firm Hwacheon Daeyu last Friday, a day after news broke out that he had worked as one of its advisers. The compan

Sept. 24, 2021

[Editorial] Undue sufferings

In his speech marking the country’s Youth Day last week, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum expressed deep sympathy for the growing predicament faced by many young South Korean adults. He said he could not raise his head when he saw and heard of “young people’s lives fraught with suffering, despair and pain.” His description of the hardships weighing on young adults in the nation is backed by gloomy data from the government. As of May, the number of people in their 20s who hav

Sept. 23, 2021

[Editorial] Weakening fundamentals

A report released by the Bank of Korea this week estimated the country’s potential growth rate for 2021-22 at 2 percent, down 0.2 percentage point from its previous estimate made in August 2019. The rate for 2019-20 was estimated at 2.2 percent, also a fall from the previous projection of 2.5-2.6 percent. The fall in South Korea’s potential growth rate has been accelerated in recent years not just by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic but by structural problems weighing

Sept. 17, 2021

[Editorial] Impartial probe needed

National Intelligence Service Director Park Jie-won, whose duties require him to act clandestinely, is now in the media spotlight over a political issue. The controversy concerns election-meddling allegations involving Yoon Seok-youl, a leading presidential contender affiliated with the main opposition People Power Party.　 On Sept. 2, online news outlet Newsverse revealed anonymous allegations that prosecutor Son Jun-sung, who at the time was an investigative intelligence policy officer under

Sept. 16, 2021