[Editorial] Banning nukes

The Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize to a nuclear disarmament group could not come at a more appropriate time, as the world is now fretting over nuclear crises involving countries like North Korea and Iran. In particular, the crisis over North Korea’s nuclear and missile provocations and the consequent confrontation between the North and the US has stoked fears of a war and possible nuclear arms race in Northeast Asia. There is already talk of nuclear arma

Oct. 8, 2017

[Editorial] Age-quake

Age-quake is a term coined by Paul Willis, a British scholar of population. It refers to the earthquake-like phenomenon of the world shaking due to the impact from a change in population structure due to societal aging. Willis emphasized the seismic power of age-quake and predicted that the world economy would shake from its root by the age-quake in 2020 when the baby boom generation starts to retire. Ominously enough, he put forward Korea as a country that would suffer first. It is uncomfortabl

Oct. 2, 2017

[Editorial] Innovation-driven growth

Major economic growth indicators went south in August. According to Statistics Korea, retail sales, facility investment and completed construction in August decreased 1 percent, 0.3 percent and 2 percent, respectively, from a month earlier. The average manufacturing operation ratio dropped 1.1 percentage points from July. Industrial production showed a zero percent increase. While most developed economies are booming, South Korea is struggling with economic contraction.According to the Organizat

Oct. 1, 2017

[Editorial] More time for deliberation

A government committee to gather public opinions and make a recommendation on whether to resume the construction of nuclear reactors Shin-Kori 5 and 6 issued sourcebooks of pros and cons to citizen jurors on Thursday.Under its original plan, it should have distributed them on Sept. 16, but it fell more than 10 days behind due to conflicts between the two sides.Because public opinion was divided almost equally on the construction even before the commission was launched on July 24, strife was anti

Sept. 29, 2017

[Editorial] NK risks

The crisis caused by North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats is weighing heavily on many aspects of South Koreans’ lives. A bigger cause for concern is that they may have to brace themselves for a worse situation.The episode of a septuagenarian who withdrew 100 million won ($88,000) from his bank account, reportedly because he was worried that he would not be able to do so in the event of war, shows how the crisis is affecting the psyche of South Koreans. It was fortunate that the man who had

Sept. 28, 2017

[Editorial] Limits of labor bias

The recent abolition of two labor reform guidelines put forth by the previous government is expected to produce no little effect on both labor and employers. One guideline was to allow fair dismissal of underperforming employees and the other to make it easier for employers to revise the rules of employment to their advantage. 　With the scrapping of the guidelines, the prospect of labor market flexibility has been taken off the table. The Park Geun-hye administration drew up the guidelines after

Sept. 27, 2017

[Editorial] United front

The Korean Peninsula is on edge due to the crisis caused by North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats and the consequent standoff between the North and the US. As President Moon Jae-in said, it is the gravest crisis since the Korean War. However, politicians in South Korea remain as divided as ever. They are obsessed with partisan fights, even though the nation is facing a crisis that raises the possibility of a military conflict on the peninsula. There is already a long list of domestic issues

Sept. 26, 2017

[Editorial] Game of chicken

Recent developments reaffirm the argument that the North Korea crisis has been magnified by the personalities and rhetoric of two key men -- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un. The latest game of chicken was started by the US president, who vowed to “totally destroy” North Korea if the US was forced to defend itself or its allies against the North. He also used a derogatory nickname for the North Korean leader, calling him “a rocket man on a suicide mission.” By now, the world knows what kind of a man

Sept. 24, 2017

[Editorial] Every five years

Former President Lee Myung-bak is under siege on all sides. There are too many cases for which authorities and critics argue that he should assume ultimate responsibility that it may be inevitable that he comes under investigation. This leads us to several thoughts. In some way, Lee, who occupied Cheong Wa Dae from 2008-2013 deserves retroactive scrutiny and punishment because what has been disclosed so far is enough to indicate that his administration committed serious misdeeds and illicit acts

Sept. 22, 2017

[Editorial] Security team discord

Dissension within the new government’s national security team is deplorable.The presidential office said recently that it gave a stern warning to Defense Minister Song Young-moo over his criticism of Special Presidential Adviser on National Security Moon Chung-in.It amounted to a public rebuke of the minister.It cited that Song had made an “inappropriate” expression and that he had created policy confusion.The inappropriate remarks he made about Moon in the National Assembly on Tuesday were: “It

Sept. 21, 2017

[Editorial] Same questions

The government’s proposal to establish a new investigative agency that will deal exclusively with corruption and other crimes involving senior members of the three government branches has both positive and negative aspects. The proposal worked out by a panel commissioned by the justice minister calls for the agency to investigate cases involving many of the ruling elite and their family members: the president and other members of the Cabinet, national legislators, prosecutors, judges, justices,

Sept. 20, 2017

[Editorial] China's two faces

Latest developments in South Korea-China relations and how the Chinese government responds to the crisis involving North Korean nuclear and missile menace pinpoint China’s self-contradiction. President Xi Jinping himself is a good case in point. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos early this year, Xi declared that China would be a strong advocate of globalization and free trade. “Pursuing protectionism is locking oneself in a dark room, while wind and rain may be kept outside, so are l

Sept. 19, 2017

[Editorial] Moon’s UN debut

President Moon Jae-in departed for New York on Monday with a heavy burden on his shoulders to attend the UN General Assembly. The burden is attributable to the tense and grave security situation caused by North Korea’s nuclear and missile provocations.　He is to deliver a keynote address at the UN General Assembly on Sept. 21 and then hold a three-way summit with US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in New York.The three leaders are expected to discuss whether to impos

Sept. 18, 2017

[Editorial] THAAD woes

Lotte Mart will effectively withdraw from China about nine years after it entered the country in 2008. It recently selected Goldman Sachs to manage the sell-off of all its China stores.The decision is viewed as a bitter pill to swallow, as 87 of its 112 stores in China have been suspended and the remaining suffer lagging sales.Lotte has been the main target of China’s economic retaliation for the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system since it accepted a land s

Sept. 17, 2017

[Editorial] Leave nukes as option

President Moon Jae-in told CNN in an interview Thursday, “I do not agree that South Korea needs to develop our own nuclear weapons or relocate tactical nuclear weapons in the face of North Korea’s nuclear threat.”　Despite his dismissal of the possibility of deploying nuclear weapons in the South, people cannot help but question whether there are any other weapons but nukes that can defend against the North’s nuclear weapons.　Those who argue for the redeployment of US tactical nuclear weapons or

Sept. 15, 2017

[Editorial] Job warning light

President Moon Jae-in launched a job creation committee as his first presidential act in May shortly after his inauguration.He set up TV monitors showing employment data in the presidential office and designated job creation as the top priority of his administration.But recent employment indices have gone south rather than north.According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the jobless rate for young people aged 15 to 29 rose to 9.4 percent last month, up 0.1 percentage points from the same month

Sept. 14, 2017

[Editorial] Monitor implementation

The UN Security Council on Monday adopted Resolution 2375 to impose new sanctions on North Korea in response to its sixth nuclear test.But the level of sanctions backed away from a tough US draft resolution. The new resolution is short of stopping North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s reckless rush to develop nuclear-tipped intercontinental missiles.Nevertheless, it is not without accomplishments. For the first time, it has included restrictions on North Korean imports of petroleum products, regarde

Sept. 13, 2017

[Editorial] Deterrent comes first

Talk of redeploying US tactical nuclear weapons, which were taken out of South Korea in the early 1990s, is gaining momentum in both the US and South Korea. The idea has considerable merit. First of all, keeping nukes ready to strike back at the North, which now is believed to be on the verge of possessing nuclear-tipped missiles, could be one of the most effective deterrents to the rogue regime. A balance of terror is needed urgently. Reintroducing US tactical nukes will also strengthen Washing

Sept. 12, 2017

[Editorial] Watertight isolation

North Korea reportedly exported at least $270 million worth of commodities to China and other countries including India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka over the six months to early August, in violation of UN sanctions.UN experts monitoring sanctions said in a report released Saturday that the North continues to flout sanctions on commodities as well as an arms embargo and restrictions on shipping and financial activities.Following China’s suspension of coal imports from the North in February, it has bee

Sept. 11, 2017

[Editorial] Facing headwinds

Korea Inc. is under siege from all sides. A combination of internal and external risk factors are surrounding Korean businesses as Asia’s fourth-largest economy sails through rough waters like a low-growth trap. Among the external factors, the crisis over North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats may be top of the list. The crisis has yet to have a direct impact on the Korean economy, but the level of crisis -- as seen by the UN’s move to impose the harshest sanctions against the North -- is dif

Sept. 10, 2017