One of the bills that lawmakers should pass promptly when the National Assembly convenes later this month is the government proposal aimed at helping Korean companies that operate abroad to repatriate their operations.The Ministry of Knowledge Economy submitted the bill to the Assembly last November, but it has since been put on the back burner. Yet the bill deserves prompt action as it would promote job creation and stimulate economic growth.The ministry has recently commissioned Samjong KPMG,

Editorial Jan. 10, 2013

President Lee Myung-bak is moving to issue a special pardon before his term expires on Feb. 24. A presidential spokesman has confirmed the rumors that Lee is considering exercising his right to a pardon before leaving office.The spokesman tried to justify Lee’s move by saying that there have been a lot of calls for executive clemency from religious, business and political circles. Yet he said nothing has been decided regarding the timing and beneficiaries of the proposed pardon. These details wi

Editorial Jan. 10, 2013

The International Monetary Fund, at long last, has begun to open up. Gone are the days when it acted as a handmaiden of Western, mainly U.S., economic orthodoxy. It is even throwing a gauntlet down to the mighty U.S. Federal Reserve, questioning the effects its constant monetary boosting has had on the rest of the world.Given that the IMF is the key arbiter on many key issues of global finance and economics, and hence also over global fairness and equity, the change should be greatly welcomed. O

Viewpoints Jan. 10, 2013

With the change of government, positive signs have emerged for the nation’s prospects for this year.Since just before the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was launched, the super-strong yen has weakened and stock prices have jumped, apparently reflecting high hopes for the Abe administration’s economic measures. On Friday, the first trading day of 2013, most stocks on the Tokyo Stock Exchange climbed, recovering levels seen before the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011.Can

Viewpoints Jan. 10, 2013

Predicting events can be a dangerous game. That’s because some people simply project wishful thinking, allowing their personal biases to obscure reality. We see it repeatedly during election season. The key to making accurate predictions is absolute objectivity: observing patterns in a detached manner, drawing inferences and applying them to new developments in order to predict their likely trajectory.The big problem these days is that this requires the absorption of large amounts of information

Viewpoints Jan. 9, 2013

Over the next decade, it is estimated by the World Economic Forum that the global economy will need to create some 600 million new jobs to preserve social cohesion, and ensure sustainable growth. In the midst of ongoing economic fragility across much of the world, this poses a monumental challenge, and will thus be one of the topics discussed at WEF’s annual meeting in Davos later this month.Education is key to delivering this agenda. Human advancement and development has always been driven by k

Viewpoints Jan. 9, 2013

HANOI ― As the new year dawns, the world is rapidly growing old, and I’m not talking about the earth beneath our feet. No, birth rates for nearly all of humankind are plummeting.In fact, fewer than 20 percent of the world’s nations are now experiencing growing population rates, the CIA reports. All the rest have either stable or declining populations. The reasons for this are varied ― as are the likely consequences. But first the facts.The nations with the world’s lowest birth rates are here in

Viewpoints Jan. 8, 2013

The presidential transition team has set sail to lay the foundations for the new government. On Sunday, the 26 members of the team held their inaugural meeting and resolved to do their best for a trouble-free launch of the new administration.The transition committee will be operating for some 50 days until President-elect Park Geun-hye is sworn in on Feb. 25. Compared with previous teams, its launch was about 10 days late. It may have to rush to ensure that the new government hits the ground run

Editorial Jan. 7, 2013

The ruling Saenuri Party is seeking to address a drawn-out labor dispute at Ssangyong Motor Co. The party’s floor leader Lee Han-koo, accompanied by other lawmakers, visited the company’s factory in Pyeongtaek last Thursday and met with company officials and union leaders.Lee’s visit was exceptional, given that ruling party leaders have seldom shown up at the scene of labor disputes. He said he went there to see if there was anything that political circles could do to resolve the company’s prolo

Editorial Jan. 7, 2013

A federal judge issued an important but puzzling decision last week regarding the Barack Obama administration’s deadly drone campaign against Islamic terrorists. First, Judge Colleen McMahon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York declared that the White House need not respond to Freedom of Information Act requests that it turn over its legal doctrine for the drone program. Then, after handing Obama that victory, she raised the possibility that he is a murderer. The judg

Viewpoints Jan. 7, 2013