Most Popular
-
1
Hyundai Motor eyes 80,000 jobs, W68tr investment at home by 2026
-
2
Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
-
3
Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
-
4
Dialogue hopes fade as doctors pick hard-liner as new head
-
5
Coupang pledges W3tr to expand Rocket Delivery nationwide by 2027
-
6
[Election Battlefield] Political novice to face off star politician in ‘swing district’
-
7
Korea enters full election mode
-
8
[Kim Seong-kon] The April 2024 election will decide our future
-
9
Seoul’s bus union prepares for strike
-
10
[Hello India] Corporate Korea sees new growth drivers in India
-
[Editorial] Vaccine pass dispute
A dispute is intensifying between parents and health authorities, largely due to deepening mistrust in the government’s COVID-19 policies for students and schools. Starting in February, young people ages 12 to 18 will be allowed to go to cram schools, public study rooms and libraries only if they are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 or have a recent negative test. Given the impracticality of frequent coronavirus testing, the government’s plan is widely seen as a virtual vaccination r
Dec. 8, 2021
-
[Editorial] Burden on future taxpayers
One of the most important roles for the legislature is to scrutinize the administration’s use of taxpayer money. But the National Assembly did the opposite with next year’s budget bill, adding to the waste. The budget bill that the majority ruling Democratic Party of Korea effectively passed single-handedly is the largest-ever, at 607.7 trillion won ($516.3 billion), 3.3 trillion won more than the government proposed, and also up 8.9 percent from this year’s budget. The gover
Dec. 7, 2021
-
[Editorial] Bleak outlook
The long-awaited year-end festive mood is unlikely to be seen in 2021, as South Korea is beset by a host of negative economic signs and the people are increasingly forced to bear the brunt of the painful developments amid another resurgence of COVID-19. Asia’s fourth-largest economy faces a double whammy of surging consumer prices and shrinking incomes that threatens its recovery from the coronavirus-induced downturn. Other key indicators both at home and abroad are far from positive. S
Dec. 6, 2021
-
[Editorial] Lee’s true colors
Lee Jae-myung, presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, said in an interview with local media Monday that he would not seek to create a land ownership tax if the people oppose it. Lee has vowed to tax owners up to 1 percent of the value of their land, and spend the tax revenue on funding basic income that he pledged to distribute to everyone. But on Nov. 15, he posted on Facebook that those who oppose the tax for fear of suffering a loss even though they are not in the n
Dec. 3, 2021
-
[Editorial] Crypto-politics
South Korea has moved to push back the planned taxation of virtual assets despite strong opposition from the financial authorities, raising questions about whether the country is properly handling the nascent category of digital investment. The National Assembly’s Strategy and Finance Committee on Tuesday passed a revision bill that would delay taxation of capital gains from the trading of cryptocurrencies by one year to 2023. The delay is set to be confirmed at a plenary session of the
Dec. 2, 2021
-
[Editorial] Resolute steps needed
As the country’s capacity of available sickbeds for patients infected with the coronavirus is nearing the breaking point, disease prevention authorities will make it a rule to treat them at home. Patients will be hospitalized only when domiciliary treatment is impossible for such reasons as patients’ health conditions or an infection-prone residential environment. Patients will be linked to medical institutions monitoring their health. They will be provided with treatment kits con
Dec. 1, 2021
-
[Editorial] Perils of smart technology
South Korea’s new apartment complexes increasingly adopt the Internet of Things, or IoT, in which everyday objects and smart devices are connected via the internet. The fast-evolving technology allows residents to remotely turn on and off lights, control home appliances and check for visitors, in what is held up as the future of digital homes. At the heart of apartment IoT is a wallpad, a rectangular smart pad attached to a wall that activates a range of remote functions linked to Wi-Fi
Nov. 30, 2021
-
[Editorial] Irrational compensation
The government has decided to compensate losses due to its nuclear phaseout policy effectively with electric bills. Criticism of the decision is inevitable in that the government will pass along to the people the cost of enforcing a misguided policy, despite concern and opposition from many quarters of society. It selected five closed or suspended nuclear power plants whose losses it will make up for. They are Wolsong No. 1 in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province; Daejin Nos. 1 and 2 in Samcheo
Nov. 29, 2021
-
[Editorial] Bumpy road ahead
South Korea’s central bank raised the key rate Thursday, as widely expected, in a bid to rein in rising inflation and snowballing household debt that could derail the economic recovery from the pandemic, but the road ahead appears bumpy. The monetary policy board of the Bank of Korea voted to increase the benchmark seven-day repo rate by 0.25 percentage point to 1 percent, ending a 20-month period in which rates were held below 1 percent to support the pandemic-battered economy. The move
Nov. 26, 2021
-
[Editorial] The end of a dark history
Chun Doo-hwan, a general-turned-strongman who died Tuesday at the age of 90, was the central figure in South Korean democracy’s dark history. His death came just 28 days after his coup d’etat comrade and immediate successor, Roh Tae-woo, passed away on Oct. 26. With the deaths of the two ex-presidents, the curtain fell on a chapter of Korea’s turbulent times: the bloody crackdown on the Gwangju Democratic Uprising of May 18, 1980. Chun’s iron-fisted rule (1980-1988) le
Nov. 25, 2021
-
[Editorial] Public safety
South Korea has long been recognized as a relatively safe place to live thanks to tight security and the absence of guns in the hands of criminals. But this perception is breaking apart following latest incidents where police failed to protect victims against brutal assailants. The majority of rank-and-file police officers work hard to protect people day and night, and their dedicated efforts should be duly appreciated. But two tragic cases that took place last week are sending shock waves thro
Nov. 24, 2021
-
[Editorial] Budget cut concerns
The National Assembly’s National Defense Committee curtailed the Ministry of National Defense’s budget for next year by 446.4 billion won ($375 million), from 55.227 trillion won to 54.781 trillion won. The committee cut the ministry’s “defense capability improvement” expenditures by 612.2 billion won, from 17.336 trillion won to 16.724 trillion won. The expenses, calculated by the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, are needed to purchase or develop advanc
Nov. 23, 2021
-
[Editorial] COVID crisis, again
“Living with COVID-19” has turned out to be more painful than the government forecast, with related figures reaching a precarious level. Unless proper measures are taken in time, the spread of the coronavirus is feared to spiral out of control. Few want to stop the gradual return to pre-pandemic life under the state-guided “living with COVID-19” scheme, but there are signs the nationwide easing of antivirus restrictions on Nov. 1 has caused serious problems. The Korea
Nov. 22, 2021
-
[Editorial] Parliamentary probe threat
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea went too far when it put pressure on the Ministry of Economy and Finance to include presidential nominee Lee Jae-myung’s major election pledges in the government budget. Referring to this year’s surplus tax revenue, estimated at 50 trillion won ($42.3 billion), Democratic Party Floor Leader Rep. Yun Ho-jung said Tuesday that the financial authorities’ underestimation of the nation’s tax revenue constitutes dereliction of duty and is g
Nov. 19, 2021
-
[Editorial] Time to halt stopgap measure
As South Korea loosens social distancing rules this month, the number of people venturing out of their homes is rising sharply. This upsurge of outdoor activities was widely expected. What’s surprising, though, is that the Korean government appears to be ill-prepared to handle the increase in human traffic and related changes, suggesting that policymakers did not see what was coming with the introduction of the “living with COVID-19” transition. Even before the restrictions
Nov. 18, 2021
-
[Editorial] Tax politics
The ruling Democratic Party of Korea is belatedly rushing to pass its bill to cut the real estate transfer income tax for homeowners without second homes during the ongoing parliamentary session. The party adopted a platform in June to ease the real estate transfer income tax and proposed a bill in August to expand the exemption of the tax to houses owned by persons without second homes from 900 million won to 1.2 billion won ($765,000-$1.02 million) in terms of sale price. It put the bill on t
Nov. 17, 2021
-
[Editorial] Shutdown law shuttered
South Korea finally moved to scrap the decade-old rule blocking minors from playing PC-based online games past midnight, a belated yet welcome move considering that the dispute-laden regulation has long been outdated and ineffective. The National Assembly on Thursday held a plenary session and voted in favor of a revision to the Youth Protection Act, abolishing what is called the “shutdown law” banning online PC game access for youngsters under 16 between midnight and 6 a.m. The co
Nov. 16, 2021
-
[Editorial] Swim with the current
Nuclear power has reentered the spotlight overseas as an effective response to climate change and energy issues. At home, heads of state-owned electric power enterprises drew attention for mentioning the need to change the current government’s stubborn nuclear phase-out policy. French President Emmanuel Macron said in a televised address to the nation Tuesday that France would build new nuclear reactors to help the country reduce its dependence on foreign countries for energy and meet car
Nov. 15, 2021
-
[Editorial] Due attention
A draft resolution condemning North Korea’s dire human rights situation was recently submitted to the UN’s Third Committee for approval. If passed, it will be put to a vote at the UN General Assembly in mid-December. South Korea excluded itself from a list of 35 co-sponsors of the resolution, though it plans to join the document’s adoption by consensus. President Moon Jae-in’s government has taken such a lukewarm position with regard to a UN resolution on human suf
Nov. 12, 2021
-
[Editorial] Unfair probes
The prosecution and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials are investigating suspicions involving the presidential nominees of the ruling and main opposition parties, but their investigations seem unfair. The CIO booked Yoon Seok-youl, presidential nominee of the opposition People Power Party, again. This time, in connection with a complaint that he instructed prosecutors to document judges’ ruling tendencies when he was the prosecutor general. It marked the fourt
Nov. 11, 2021