[Editorial] Duplicity on speculation

President Moon Jae-in’s replacement of Kim Sang-jo, his top Cheong Wa Dae aide on policy, shows the double standards and the hypocrisy of those in power who apply the yardstick strictly to the public but loosely to themselves. Kim offered his resignation over seething popular criticism for raising the jeonse deposit on his apartment unit 120 million won ($105,000), or 14 percent, two days before revised house leasing laws capped deposit hikes at 5 percent. Moon accepted his resignation im

April 1, 2021

[Editorial] Worrying figures

Employment and Labor Minister Lee Jae-kap said last week that the nation’s employment situation had shown signs of recovery, as he called for the swift implementation of the recently approved supplementary budget to expedite improvements in the job market. He cited data released by Statistics Korea early this month, which showed that the on-year decline in the number of employed people in the country had dropped to 473,000 in February from 982,000 in January. Much of the improvement was a

March 31, 2021

[Editorial] Problem in the making

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea pushed through a special bill on Wednesday to establish an energy engineering college funded mainly by the Korea Electric Power Corp. With the enactment of the special law on the back of its 174-seat majority, the party backed President Moon Jae-in’s 2017 presidential campaign promise. The passage of the bill came amid sharp criticism that the party did not thoroughly check the legal framework for the college because of the president’s pledge. U

March 30, 2021

[Editorial] Downplayed threat

In downplaying the security threats posed by North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction program, President Moon Jae-in’s administration is going too far in what critics see as an illusory pursuit of inter-Korean reconciliation. The North on Thursday test-fired two short-range ballistic missiles after launching two cruise missiles four days earlier. South Korea’s military was slow and passive in responding to the North’s latest provocative acts. Initially it described the

March 29, 2021

[Editorial] A question of fairness

The election commission is facing questions about its neutrality ahead of the April 7 mayoral by-elections in Seoul. This is a serious issue in that a partisan attitude can undermine fair elections, incapacitate democracy and open the way to dictatorship. An alliance of 288 civic groups held a press conference in front of the Sejong Center in Seoul on Tuesday to denounce the election commission. The coalition -- formed in response to sexual violence by a former Seoul mayor -- had planned to

March 26, 2021

[Editorial] High-stakes election

The upcoming Seoul mayoral by-election has boiled down to a two-way race between ruling party contender Park Young-sun and unified opposition candidate Oh Se-hoon. Oh, who is running on the ticket of the main opposition People Power Party, beat entrepreneur-turned-politician Ahn Cheol-soo from the minor People’s Party in a public opinion poll conducted Monday to determine the standard-bearer of the broader opposition bloc. Details of the polling results were withheld in compliance with the

March 25, 2021

[Editorial] Politically biased command

Justice Minister Park Beom-kye ordered the prosecution to probe suspicions that former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook may have been wrongfully convicted of accepting bribes based on false testimony after prosecutors forced witnesses to lie in court. Park even invoked his authority to command an investigation, a power that has rarely been used out of respect for the independence of the prosecution. But after reviewing the allegations, the prosecution concluded that they were groundless. This me

March 24, 2021

[Editorial] Politicized levies

A group of ruling party lawmakers recently proposed a bill designed to create more jobs for young people by collecting additional taxes from companies. The bill would oblige private firms to pay what is termed as a youth tax, amounting to more or less 1 percent of their business income. This is the equivalent of increasing the country’s corporate tax rate by the same amount. In 2018, South Korea’s maximum corporate tax rate was raised to 25 percent from 22 percent. Young people ha

March 23, 2021

[Editorial] Perception gap with US

South Korea and the US held the “two-plus-two” meeting of their foreign and defense ministers on Thursday, where they exposed perception gaps on North Korea and China issues. Their joint statement does not even contain the phrase, “denuclearization of North Korea,” not to mention “keeping China in check,” which is one of the cornerstones of US foreign policy. For the South Korea-US alliance, North Korea’s nuclear weapons are the most urgent issue. Pyo

March 22, 2021

[Editorial] Risky approach

President Moon Jae-in’s blind pursuit of his peace agenda for the Korean Peninsula has only emboldened North Korea, while making it harder for South Korea to remain aligned with the US on efforts to bring about the complete denuclearization of the North. In particular, Moon’s apparent hope of yet another meeting with the totalitarian regime’s dictator, Kim Jong-un, before Moon leaves office in May next year seems to have led Seoul to play into Pyongyang’s hands. In a sta

March 19, 2021

[Editorial] Tax bomb

The Land Ministry raised this year’s tax base for apartments by a nationwide average of 19 percent. The real estate tax base set by the ministry as of Jan. 1 serves as the standard in determining property holding taxes, basic pension benefits and other government welfare benefits. The rate of increase stands at a 14-year high. Not since 2007, when it was 22.7 percent, has the tax base seen such a steep increase. For the area of Sejong, the de facto administrative capital of South Korea

March 18, 2021

[Editorial] Reversing retreat

Over the past decade, South Korean companies, public and private alike, have retreated from natural resources development projects abroad. State-run energy and mining firms invested a total of $713 million in overseas resources development projects last year, about one-tenth of the corresponding figure for 2011, which stood at $7.03 billion, according to data submitted to a lawmaker’s office recently by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The amount allocated from the state budget

March 17, 2021

[Editorial] Moon’s fury

President Moon Jae-in posted a message on social media about controversy over his private residence Friday. He wrote, “Now is an election season, so I understand, but that is enough. It is small-minded and cringeworthy (of the opposition party to raise issue with the residence). ... I can only live on the land but cannot dispose of it because it will have accessory facilities for presidential security. ... We are taking all the procedures lawfully.” This is a response to the main o

March 16, 2021

[Editorial] Time to decide

US President Joe Biden held talks online Friday with his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan, taking consultations in the four-country group known as the Quad to the highest level. The virtual summit of the leaders, who plan to meet in person later this year, was described by Jake Sullivan, US national security adviser, as “a big deal” for Biden and the US. The top-level meeting of the Quad countries demonstrated the will of the Biden administration to work together closely

March 15, 2021

[Editorial] Moral hazards

A person presumed to be an employee of the Korea Land & Housing Corp. on Tuesday posted a message titled “Nobody Cares Here” on Blind, a popular online community of salaried workers that guarantees anonymity. Only subscribers certified by the community through their company email accounts can post there. The post says of LH employees’ attitude, “After all, this issue will be forgotten in one or two months. It shall pass like water flows. I think so too. LH employees

March 12, 2021

[Editorial] Misplaced focus

The government last week announced a plan to spend 5.9 trillion won ($5.17 billion) on creating 1.04 million jobs for young people this year. The plan was hurriedly patched together following an earlier release of gloomy job data for January. Figures from Statistics Korea showed the unemployment rate for people aged 15-29 reached 9.5 percent that month, up 1.8 percentage points from a year earlier. The actual youth jobless rate, which counts in those who work fewer than 36 hours per week or ha

March 11, 2021

[Editorial] Normalize combined training

South Korea and the United States on Monday kicked off their springtime combined military exercise in a scaled-back manner, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.　 It is a computer-simulated training without field maneuvers. Furthermore, it involves a “minimum level of troops” compared with previous exercises. The two allies have not conducted their combined training normally since the summer of 2018. Without outdoor drills, troops carried out simulation training on computer monitors. So

March 10, 2021

[Editorial] Firm alliance

An upcoming visit to Seoul by top US diplomatic and defense officials may serve as an occasion to send a signal that South Korea can no longer sustain its ambiguous position between the US and China. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Llyod Austin are expected to make a two-day visit to Seoul starting March 17 following their three-day stay in Tokyo, according to diplomatic sources here and a report by a Japanese news agency last week. Their choice of Washington’s

March 9, 2021

[Editorial] Self-investigation

In response to allegations that employees of the state-run Korea Land & Housing Corp. speculated on property in government-designated development areas, President Moon Jae-in ordered the creation of an interagency investigation team. Civic groups had accused the LH employees of using development information to speculate on land designated as part of the government’s ambitious “new town” project, which is the third of its kind. Six agencies participated in the team under

March 8, 2021

[Editorial] Abrupt about-face

In a move to perplex his supporters and critics alike, President Moon Jae-in has recently made an abrupt about-face in his stance on South Korea’s strained ties with Japan. He said Monday that his government was ready to talk with Tokyo on enhancing cooperation between the two neighboring countries, separating efforts toward forging a future-oriented partnership from longstanding disputes over shared history. “I am confident that if we put our heads together in the spirit of trying

March 5, 2021