[Editorial] Self-caused dilemma

President Moon Jae-in’s administration is facing a dilemma over the implementation of South Korea-US joint military exercises, particularly one scheduled for this spring. This self-caused dilemma stems from its incompatible wishes to avoid irking North Korea and to retake wartime operational control of South Korean troops from the US. Moon and his aides, preoccupied with their peace agenda for the peninsula, worry that going ahead with the planned drill could give the North a pretext to

Feb. 3, 2021

[Editorial] Effective warning

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea is pushing for the impeachment of Lim Seong-geun, a senior judge on the Busan High Court.　 No judge has been impeached in Korea. Two motions of impeachment against Supreme Court justices were proposed in 1985 and 2009, but they were voted down or scrapped at the National Assembly.　 The impeachment motion against Lim is likely to pass the parliament, considering that its leadership allowed its lawmakers to move to impeach the judge and that it has 174 seats

Feb. 2, 2021

[Editorial] Contradictory moves

President Moon Jae-in’s administration has come under suspicion of having pushed for a plan to build a nuclear power plant for North Korea in 2018, when Moon held a string of summits with the North’s leader Kim Jong-un. The suspicion came to the surface following the recent disclosure of the prosecution’s indictment in December of three officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. They were charged with destroying computer documents a day before the Board of Aud

Feb. 1, 2021

[Editorial] Protect whistleblower

On March 23, 2019, Incheon Airport Immigration Office received a document requesting an urgent ban on foreign travel against former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-eui.　 Based on the request, Kim was stopped from boarding a plane about to depart for Bangkok 12 minutes later.　 Five days earlier, on March 18, President Moon Jae-in had instructed a “thorough reinvestigation” into a case in which a builder had treated a vice justice minister of the previous administration to sexual enter

Jan. 29, 2021

[Editorial] Unrealistic goal

Seoul’s Defense Ministry came out Monday and denied a report that South Korea was seeking to set a date to retake wartime operational control over its troops from the US. A ministry spokesperson said the allies are working closely on the conditions-based wartime OPCON transfer. Earlier Monday, a local daily reported that South Korea had abandoned its goal of regaining wartime operational control within President Moon Jae-in’s five-year tenure, which ends in May 2022, and instead aim

Jan. 28, 2021

[Editorial] In the victim’s shoes

Kim Jong-cheol, the chief of the Justice Party, resigned Monday due to his sexual misconduct.　 It is shocking that the leader of a progressive party, which claims to champion gender equality, sexually molested a female lawmaker of the same party. 　 The party disclosed Kim’s sexual harassment and even identified the victim, at her request. The perpetrator admitted to his wrongdoings, apologized and called on the party to sternly punish him. 　 It may be fortunate the party did not hush up

Jan. 27, 2021

[Editorial] Populist competition

Three presidential hopefuls of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea are pushing different coronavirus relief policies. 　 Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Thursday instructed the Ministry of Economy and Finance to draft a bill to compensate small self-employed businesses for their losses caused by antivirus shutdowns.　 The government needs to help those damaged by its measures, but prudence is warranted in legislating assistance. It has offered them relief money and other financial assistance t

Jan. 25, 2021

[Editorial] Aligned with reality

Concerns are being raised about the possibility of Seoul falling out of step with new US President Joe Biden’s administration in dealing with the nuclear-armed North Korean regime. South Korean President Moon Jae-in recently made clear his intention to continue to push his peace agenda for the peninsula, which is criticized for having ignored or belittled growing nuclear threats from Pyongyang. In his New Year’s address, Moon vowed to make a “last-ditch” effort to reviv

Jan. 22, 2021

[Editorial] Risky response

President Moon Jae-in said in his New Year’s press conference that South Korea could discuss the joint military exercises between Seoul and Washington with North Korea if necessary.　 That is his response to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s statement at the recent congress of the Workers’ Party that the South and the US should suspend their combined military drills.　 It is unbelievable that the president of South Korea would come out with such a risky response, one that shake

Jan. 21, 2021

[Editorial] Bolder approach

During his New Year’s press conference Monday, President Moon Jae-in said his government would seek dialogue with Tokyo to find a solution to the long-standing dispute over Japan’s wartime sexual slavery based on a 2015 agreement reached by the two sides to resolve the issue. He also called for a diplomatic settlement of another issue stemming from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula -- reparations to those forced to work for Japanese firms. His remarks came

Jan. 20, 2021

[Editorial] Legitimate inspection

The Board of Audit and Inspection began an inspection recently to determine whether the government followed proper procedures when it established its nuclear phaseout policy.　 Three days later, on Jan. 14, Im Jong-seok, President Moon Jae-in’s former chief of staff, posted on Facebook that Board of Audit and Inspection Chairman Choe Jae-hyeong was crossing the line.　 “We told Choe to keep an eye on the house but he is trying to occupy the main room of the house,” Im said on F

Jan. 19, 2021

[Editorial] Heightened threat

North Korea showed off a new submarine-launched ballistic missile and other state-of-the-art weapons during a military parade in Pyongyang last week. The parade followed the conclusion of the latest congress of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, at which the communist state’s leader, Kim Jong-un, pledged to bolster its nuclear arsenal. Photos and recorded footage released by the North’s state-run media showed the SLBMs displayed during Thursday’s parade tipped with

Jan. 18, 2021

[Editorial] Anti-market proposal

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea launched a task force Wednesday to push for “profit-sharing” proposed by its chairman Lee Nak-yon. Lee proposed Monday that the Korean society should discuss ways for businesses that gained from the COVID-19 crisis to contribute part of their profits to helping those that suffered economically from the pandemic.　 The task force decided to induce profit-sharing through “voluntary participation.” It is reportedly considering tax exemp

Jan. 15, 2021

[Editorial] Hereditary authority

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has taken the title of general secretary of the ruling Workers’ Party during its latest congress. His assumption of the post, which came at the sixth-day session of the party’s eighth congress in Pyongyang on Sunday, suggests his ever-tightening grip on power. The general secretary title was previously held by Kim’s late father Kim Jong-il. Since Kim took over following his father’s death in 2011, the North has called Kim Jong-il the &ldqu

Jan. 14, 2021

[Editorial] Beef up defense

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at the eighth congress of the Workers’ Party, instructed the military to strengthen its nuclear weapons. He said that his country had upgraded its nuclear arsenal since November 2017, when it test-fired the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile.　 Kim’s remarks show that three years of denuclearization negotiations between the US and North Korea were just for show, and he has no intention of giving up nuclear weapons.　 He instructed the milit

Jan. 13, 2021

[Editorial] Historical barriers

Efforts to build forward-looking relations between Seoul and Tokyo have been held back by issues related to Japan’s 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. In a move set to further strain bilateral ties, a court here last week delivered a landmark ruling ordering Tokyo to make reparations to South Korean women forced into wartime sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers. The ruling comes amid rising tensions between the two countries over an ongoing legal process here to seize and liqui

Jan. 12, 2021

[Editorial] Motivate businesspeople

The National Assembly passed a bill on punishment for serious industrial accidents Friday despite strong protests from business circles. Under the new law, business owners and chief executives can face at least one year in jail or a fine of up to 100 million won ($91,500) for workplace deaths. Companies are in danger of being subject to harsh punishment. The law obliges them to take necessary measures to prevent accidents. But it defines their obligations broadly, so there is room for arbitrary

Jan. 11, 2021

[Editorial] Unviable approach

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un admitted to a catastrophic failure in meeting the impoverished state’s economic goals in his opening address at the latest congress of the ruling Workers’ Party on Tuesday. He said the results of a five-year economic development drive, which ended last year, “fell extremely short of our goals,” according to the North’s state-run news agency. Describing the past five years as the “worst of the worst” times for the country,

Jan. 8, 2021

[Editorial] Relief for election

Even before the government hands out its third tranche of COVID-19 relief funds, the ruling party raised the issue of additional relief for the entire nation. It mentioned relief for all people ahead of Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections three months away. From Jan. 11, the third round of coronavirus relief funds totaling 9.3 trillion won ($8.5 billion) will be doled out to 5.8 million small businesses suffering damage from shutdowns and suspension measures for virus mitigation.　 Lee Nak-yo

Jan. 7, 2021

[Editorial] Beyond commitment

In the early morning of New Year’s Day, President Moon Jae-in flew on an airborne early warning and control aircraft to inspect the South Korean military’s combat readiness in what his aides described as a show of his commitment to national security. The E-737 Peace Eye plane with Moon aboard flew over the country and its territorial waters for about two hours Friday. Later, Moon praised soldiers for training day and night to maintain a high level of military readiness and thanked t

Jan. 6, 2021