Most Popular
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Korea enters full election mode
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Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Lee Jong-sup resigns as envoy to Australia
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Yellow dust engulfs S. Korea, advisory alert issued
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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S. Korea to boost support for single-parent families
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Court upholds jail term for man who attempted to murder ex-girlfriend
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Kia EV9 wins world car of year
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Korea misses out on global bond index boost
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[Editorial] Ball in Constitutional Court
President Moon Jae-in promulgated revisions to the Prosecution Office Law and the Criminal Procedures Law, but the situation is not over. The Democratic Party of Korea and Moon used tricks and expedients to pass the two bills through the National Assembly and promulgate them in the Cabinet meeting. The revised laws are fraught with problems. Lawmakers and high-ranking officials will have a better chance of avoiding punishment because prosecutors will be unable to investigate allegations rela
May 6, 2022
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[Editorial] In need of reform
South Korea’s pension system has long been fraught with structural problems, raising concerns about its sustainability. Unless future pensioners agree to pay more and settle for reduced returns, the state’s key welfare policy is feared to collapse -- sooner rather than later. The first age group to face the dreadful reality will be people born after 1990 -- currently those in their 30s. Even if they faithfully pay the national pension premiums for years, they may not receive anythi
May 5, 2022
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[Editorial] Hard task carried over
Korea is an export-driven economy. The trade deficit is showing signs of becoming chronic in the last days of the Moon Jae-in administration. Exports increased 12.6 percent to $57.69 billion in April from the same month of last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Meanwhile, imports grew 18.6 percent on-year to $60.35 billion. As a result, the trade balance stayed in the red for the second successive month. Except for February, which saw a small surplus of $840 million
May 4, 2022
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[Editorial] Murky future of internet
South Korea is well known for its advanced internet infrastructure that allows for fast and reliable broadband-based services, a blessing for online users. In contrast, its internet regulations are neither sophisticated nor trustworthy, a curse stubbornly maintained by the government and policymakers. A striking case in point is the country’s absence from the list of around 60 signatories of the pledge called the Declaration for the Future of the Internet. On Thursday, the United State
May 3, 2022
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[Editorial] Rough transition
President Moon Jae-in criticized President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol again on Friday, 10 days before his retirement. In personally answering an online public petition that opposed Yoon’s plan to relocate the presidential office from Cheong Wa Dae, he questioned whether Yoon should incur considerable expense by moving the office to a place other than a government building in Gwanghwamun. Earlier in a recent interview with a cable television channel, he revealed his dislike of the relocation, ca
May 2, 2022
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[Editorial] Pyongyang’s nuclear threat
There is no doubt that North Korea is extremely intractable for its obsession with building up military forces and advancing lethal weapons. But its tactics are not so unpredictable. After all, it has consistently repeated its old playbook of saber-rattling in hopes of reaping rewards in various forms. Pyongyang has been test-firing a series of ballistic and strategic missiles that appear increasingly sophisticated in a way that deepens concerns about the security on the Korean Peninsula. Exper
April 29, 2022
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[Editorial] Attend hearings
Prime Minister nominee Han Duck-soo’s two-day confirmation hearings all fell apart due to the Democratic Party of Korea’s boycott. The ruling and opposition parties agreed to reconvene on May 2 and 3. But it is unclear if they will proceed normally, considering the party’s excessive demands. Just a day before the hearing started Monday, the party abruptly demanded its postponement, citing that the nominee had not provided information sincerely. The National Assembly has so
April 28, 2022
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[Editorial] More risks for economy
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which exacerbates already troubled global supply chains, is not the only headache for the Korean economy to tackle. There is a growing list of risk factors, some of which warrant a careful analysis and, if necessary, decisive action. As with other parts of the world including the United States and Europe, inflation is posing the most immediate and insidious threat. As if the war in Ukraine isn’t bad enough, Indonesia’s surprise palm oil export ba
April 27, 2022
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[Editorial] Suspicions on party leader
The Central Ethics Committee of the People Power Party on Thursday decided to begin disciplinary procedures for its leader, Lee Jun-seok, in connection with allegations that he had received sex services as a bribe. Lee is the first party leader in the history of the country’s main conservative party to be referred to the ethics committee for review while in office. All of its nine members decided unanimously to start the procedures. However, it did not say when the procedures will begin.
April 26, 2022
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[Editorial] Prosecution reform
It came as a surprise that the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and the main opposition People Power Party pulled off a compromise on the controversial bill that will strip the prosecution of its investigative powers. In most cases, compromise is better than confrontation. But this does not mean that striking a deal solves all the problems at hand at once. After all, compromise is likely to entail a host of unresolved issues and grievances from those who prefer confrontation. As for the comp
April 25, 2022
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[Editorial] Defection trick
The Democratic Party of Korea is going against common sense and procedural norms in order to push through bills that will strip the prosecution of all of its investigative powers. Min Hyung-bae, a member of the National Assembly’s legislation and judiciary committee, defected from the party on Wednesday to become an independent lawmaker. The party is pushing bills to revise the Criminal Procedure Act and the Prosecution Office Act, which will take the prosecution’s hands off all
April 22, 2022
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[Editorial] Problematic choices
Shortly after his election victory, President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol said he believes that he was elected by the people to restore “fairness and common sense” in society. But many of his picks for the inaugural Cabinet are now entangled in a slew of embarrassing allegations, raising questions about whether the nominees in question will carry out their duties with a sense of fairness and common sense. At the heart of the dispute is Chung Ho-young, the health and welfare minister nomi
April 21, 2022
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[Editorial] Tighten guard
North Korea on Sunday announced that it had successfully test-fired two “new-type tactical guided weapons.” It did not disclose the date of the launch, but South Korea’s military presumes the launch occurred at around 6 p.m. Saturday. The military disclosed the provocation after the North announced them in the morning of the following day. The disclosure came 13 hours after the tests. With the military criticized for its belated disclosure, Cheong Wa Dae said that it had held
April 20, 2022
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[Editorial] Tackle inflation first
The South Korean economy confronts a toxic mix of high inflation, frothy asset prices and a volatile exchange rate, among other negative variables, amid concerns that the forthcoming launch of the new administration might exacerbate uncertainties. For President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, such dire conditions mean it’s no time to be self-congratulatory about his election victory. On Friday, he asked the presidential transition team to come up with a comprehensive road map to strengthen the econ
April 19, 2022
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[Editorial] Stop legislation
The Democratic Party of Korea on Friday submitted bills to revise the criminal procedure law and the prosecution office law to strip away completely the prosecution’s investigative powers. On the back of its parliamentary majority, the party started the legislative process to block investigations of allegations involving the Moon Jae-in administration and former Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung, who was the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate. The party and the admini
April 18, 2022
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[Editorial] Consider all factors
The incoming administration led by President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is set to recast the country’s controversial carbon neutrality and nuclear phase-out plans of the Moon Jae-in administration. This is a welcome development, as it is never too late to fix a glaring problem. The presidential transition team claimed Wednesday overhauling the two interlinked policies, whose side effects are claimed to outweigh potential benefits, is inevitable. Won Hee-ryong, the transition team’s plann
April 15, 2022
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[Editorial] Chief justice’s silence
An organization of judge representatives is said to have asked the National Court Administration under the Supreme Court early this month to explain Chief Justice Kim Myeong-su’s allegedly biased personnel measures. It is the first time that judges have officially raised issue with the chief justice’s personnel decisions. Kim has assigned important posts and cases to judges belonging to two progressive study groups -- one for the study of Korean law and the other for the study of
April 14, 2022
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[Editorial] Post-omicron policy
The South Korean government is poised to scrap COVID-19 restrictions as the omicron-led infections are showing signs of abating in recent weeks. Furthermore, it is mapping out a post-omicron scheme as well. The protracted COVID-19 pandemic is indeed receding, though the exact pace is hard to predict. The country reported 210,755 new cases Tuesday, bouncing back to over-200,000 mark after hitting the lowest level in seven weeks a day earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Preventio
April 13, 2022
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[Editorial] Focus on livelihoods
Economy-related minister nominees who will work for the incoming government are regarded as market friendly. President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on Sunday nominated Choo Kyung-ho as deputy prime minister and minister of economy and finance and Lee Chang-yang as trade, industry and energy minister and Won Hee-ryong as land, infrastructure and transport minister. The new government is expected to change its policy paradigm from income-led growth to a market-led one. Considering that businesses are the e
April 12, 2022
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[Editorial] Role of prosecution
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea is accelerating its move to strip the prosecution of all of its investigation powers -- a highly controversial issue that is roiling political circles and sparking heated opposition from prosecutors. At the heart of the dispute is that the ruling party can -- and regrettably will -- abuse its supermajority position at the National Assembly to railroad the related bill to change the country’s prosecution system once and for all. If the bill is unilate
April 11, 2022