[Editorial] Kim’s visit to Russia

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s rare expected trip to Russia sometime next week is sending loud alarms to government officials in South Korea and the United States, as Kim is seen pushing for an arms deal with President Vladimir Putin, a scenario that will complicate the already thorny geopolitical situation on and possibly beyond the Korean Peninsula. Kim is now expected to travel from Pyongyang by armored train to Vladivostok on the Pacific coast of Russia, where he would attend the Ea

Sept. 7, 2023

[Editorial] Dubious qualifications

Youn Mee-hyang's qualifications as a lawmaker are questionable. The independent lawmaker attended an event Friday in Tokyo organized by the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, a pro-North Korean group of Zainichi residents in Japan, abbreviated as Chongryon, to commemorate Korean victims of the Kanto Massacre in the wake of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. Chongryon Chairperson Ho Jong-man, who was granted the title of "hero" by North Korea, and other leaders of the

Sept. 6, 2023

[Editorial] Teachers’ rally

Tens of thousands of schoolteachers in South Korea held a massive rally in front of the National Assembly in Seoul on Monday to mourn the recent deaths of fellow teachers who had suffered from extreme stress due to abusive parents and unruly students. The rally in Seoul was held along with similar mourning events across the nation, and some school classes finished early since as many as a thousand teachers in a single local education district took the day off to join the collective action. The c

Sept. 5, 2023

[Editorial] Absurd hunger strike

Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung's hunger strike is irrational and unjustifiable. He suddenly declared he would go on an indefinite hunger strike on Thursday, just a day before the National Assembly opened its regular session. Whenever he opens his mouth, out come concerns about the livelihoods of the public. But in the Assembly, where the party he leads holds a legislative majority, he behaves like he does not care. The demands he made are absurd. He demands three things from

Sept. 4, 2023

[Editorial] Red alert

Setting a fresh record is usually a positive development. But it’s disheartening when it comes to South Korea’s dismal birth rate, which is breaking one record after another -- in a downward direction. According to population data released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday, only 249,000 babies were born in 2022, down 11,000 from a year earlier. It is the first time the figure fell below 250,000 since the agency began compiling data in 1970. The latest figure comes as a big challenge f

Sept. 1, 2023

[Editorial] Shift to fiscal soundness

The government budget proposal for 2024 which passed the Cabinet meeting Tuesday shows the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's will to recover its financial soundness through retrenchment. Next year's expenditure budget amounts to 656.9 trillion won ($497 billion), 2.8 percent or 18.2 trillion won more than this year's. The on-year increase rate is the lowest since 2005 -- a big difference from the annual budget growth average of 8.7 percent for five years of the previous Moon Jae-in a

Aug. 31, 2023

[Editorial] Telemedicine failure

South Korea’s major telemedicine service operators announced they would shutter their operations, an inevitable outcome resulting from a mix of strict government restrictions and strong pressure from the medical sector. Telemedicine was hailed as a promising field, offering innovative remote medical services for patients. When telemedicine was temporarily allowed in 2020 to fight COVID-19, few expected that it would become very popular. During the three-year period, a total of 36.61 millio

Aug. 30, 2023

[Editorial] Overflowing grant

The reality of a government grant program for elementary, middle and high school education, exposed as a result of a 10-month inspection by the top audit agency, is extremely deplorable. The Board of Audit and Inspection disclosed the results of its inspection into the program on Thursday. Grants to the nation's 17 offices of education and schools in their districts were so excessive that much of them were wasted, for example, on an array of cash welfare benefits and interest-free loans to

Aug. 29, 2023

[Editorial] Ballooning household debt

South Korea’s growth momentum is weakening. The real income of households is dropping, even as their debt is mounting. The economic debacle of China, which is the country’s biggest trading partner, is deepening. Although both the nation’s internal and external economic situations face more and more obstacles, there is one strangely upbeat sector here: the real estate market, where speculative investors sense property prices are close to hitting their bottom. In a country where

Aug. 28, 2023

[Editorial] Affront to nation

Gwangju Metropolitan City is constructing a park at the cost of 4.8 billion won ($3.61 million) to honor Jeong Yul-seong, who composed a song for the People’s Liberation Army of China and a marching song for the North Korean People’s Army. Jeong, a Gwangju native, received a hero’s welcome in both China and North Korea. He entered a Korean independence fighter training academy in Nanjing, China, and later joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1939. After Korea gained independen

Aug. 25, 2023

[Editorial] Fukushima water release

As Japan plans to start releasing treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea, the South Korean government reassured the public of its safety. However, people remain deeply concerned about the water’s impact amid intensifying political wrangling over the discharge. On Tuesday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Japan will begin to discharge around 1.34 million metric tons of Fukushima water Thursday. The move came after the Interna

Aug. 24, 2023

[Editorial] Time to decide

As the National Pension Fund draws nearer to depletion, reforming the National Pension Scheme has become an urgent matter. However, the government and lawmakers kept putting off reforms out of fear of the backlash it will provoke. It is about time they decided. A government advisory panel on national pension reforms is said to have reached a conclusion that contributions must be raised and the pension age postponed, but the income replacement rate maintained as it is. This means that workers sho

Aug. 23, 2023

[Editorial] Strengthen public security

Another brutal crime was committed in broad daylight in Seoul last week, resulting in the death of an innocent victim. With a mix of grief and outrage gripping the nation, people are increasingly concerned about the compromised public safety. According to police, the suspect, only identified by his family name Choi, attacked a woman with brass knuckles before raping her in a remote area at a park in Sillim, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, Thursday. She was taken to a hospital for treatment but died from her i

Aug. 22, 2023

[Editorial] New trilateral partnership

Leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan opened a new era in their partnership through their landmark summit last week. They will hold trilateral summits and meetings between foreign ministers, defense ministers, national security advisers at least annually and also launch annual meetings of commerce and industry ministers. They formed a quasi-alliance in which they agreed to consult one another and act as one in the fields of diplomacy, security, economy and technology. Diplomacy and

Aug. 21, 2023

[Editorial] Same old trick

The state-run Korea Land and Housing Corp., known as LH, is now in hot water -- again. This time, it is related to a gesture that purportedly aimed to demonstrate LH’s admission to wrongdoings and resolve to take reform measures over the “missing rebar incident.” Last week, LH announced “all executive directors” had handed in letters of resignation to take responsibility over the cover-up of faulty apartments of which it was in charge. It turned out that the company

Aug. 18, 2023

[Editorial] Uproot anti-state forces

What was noticeable in President Yoon Suk Yeol's Liberation Day speech was an alarm at "communist totalitarian forces." Yoon clarified his will to defeat the forces to defend liberal democracy. He likened Korea's independence movement to a journey in search of freedom. In his speech marking the 78th Liberation Day on Tuesday, he said: "Still rampant are anti-state forces that blindly follow communist totalitarianism, distort public opinion, and disrupt society through ma

Aug. 17, 2023

[Editorial] Jamboree aftermath

The 25th World Scout Jamboree in South Korea wrapped up its run on Friday with a massive K-pop concert, but disputes over what went wrong at the event and who should be blamed show no sign of abating. The Jamboree was entangled in a host of high-profile errors and problems, ranging from the scorching heat wave and typhoon-related disruptions to a lack of hygiene and shelter from the sun. Large contingents from the US and Britain pulled out early. The organizers were also severely criticized for

Aug. 16, 2023

[Editorial] Minimize China risk

US President Joe Biden signed an executive order last week that prohibits or restricts US investments in Chinese entities in three sectors: semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum computing and certain artificial intelligence systems. The measure is expected to take effect in 2024. The order will also require outbound US investors to notify the Treasury Department. This measure shows the US' intention to block Beijing's initiative in securing China's position as a global powe

Aug. 15, 2023

[Editorial] Embezzlement at banks

South Korea's financial authorities are considering strengthening regulations in such a way that will hold top officials accountable when bank employees repeatedly commit irregularities such as embezzlement and insider trading. The Financial Services Commission, a financial watchdog, is reportedly pushing for a revision to the Act on Corporate Governance of Financial Companies that will define the specific responsibilities of senior bank officials regarding internal oversight, local media o

Aug. 14, 2023

[Editorial] Indefensible

South Korean military authorities were found to have purchased bulletproof helmets without going through proper performance testing and issued them to soldiers. A military official even made bogus reports on the performance test results for the helmets. The military was also found to have issued poorly performing bulletproof vests to service members. According to the recently disclosed results of an investigation by the Board of Audit and Inspection into military projects to acquire body armor,

Aug. 11, 2023