[Editorial] Gas, oil exploration

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s surprise press briefing Monday over the possibility of gas and oil sent energy stocks higher and generated plenty of media buzz about a rosy scenario for a country heavily dependent on imported resources. But there are skeptical views about its feasibility. Yoon said the government has approved a massive project to kick off exploratory drilling in search of gas and oil reserves in the deep sea off the country’s southeastern coast. He said the reserves could

June 5, 2024

[Editorial] NK provocations

The South Korean government confronts the tricky task of taking stern measures against North Korea’s latest provocations in the form of trash-filled balloons floated over to the South and at the same time seeking ways to defuse inter-Korean tensions. The conflicting challenges for Seoul came after Pyongyang sent another batch of balloons carrying waste and propaganda to the South over the weekend, and continued to jam GPS signals near the border since Wednesday. The Joint Chiefs of Staff s

June 4, 2024

[Editorial] Soaring power demand

South Korea announced plans to build up to three new nuclear reactors by 2038, launch a 0.7-gigawatt small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) by 2035, and triple solar and wind power generation facilities by 2038. As it takes about 14 years to secure a site for and build a nuclear reactor, the planned reactors could be operational by 2038 if the government begins the process this year. Under the blueprint, carbon-free energy sources such as renewables and nuclear power will take up 70 percent of the

June 3, 2024

[Editorial] Reasonable doubt

The former defense minister's telephone records drew renewed attention this week to suspicions that President Yoon Suk Yeol interfered with an inquiry into the death of a marine last year. News reports revealed that the president spoke on the phone with then-defense minister Lee Jong-sup three times on the day the Marine Corps inquiry team handed over the results of its probe to the police. Lee also exchanged dozens of phone calls and text messages with senior officials of the presidential

May 31, 2024

[Editorial] China’s big bet on chips

China has ratcheted up its plan to pour a massive amount of money into the semiconductor industry to better compete with the US. China’s aggressive move has alarmed South Korea, whose crucial chip industry is now stuck with a stalled bill and other troubling issues. China has set up its third state-backed investment fund valued at 344 billion yuan ($47.5 billion), marking the largest-ever fund aimed at strengthening the global competitiveness of Chinese chipmakers. The third fund, expected

May 30, 2024

[Editorial] Good bills abandoned

A slew of bills for deregulation and support of industries among others are set to die as the 21st National Assembly’s term expires Wednesday. At the plenary session on Tuesday, parliament voted down the controversial special counsel bill to investigate allegations that the presidential office unduly meddled with an inquiry into the death of a marine. The special counsel bill, which President Yoon Suk Yeol had vetoed earlier, has therefore been automatically scrapped. The majority-controll

May 29, 2024

[Editorial] Progress at summit

South Korea, China and Japan held their first trilateral summit in over four years in Seoul on Monday amid expectations that the three countries would focus on exploring deeper cooperation in the economic and trade sectors. But the focus of the three-way summit expanded to cover the threats of North Korea, which announced it would launch a spy satellite just hours before South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sat down for the nint

May 28, 2024

[Editorial] Time to end standoff

South Korea has finalized the first increase in its total medical school enrollment quota in 27 years, a move that the government hopes will help address the shortage of doctors in the coming years. But the outlook for a full normalization of the country’s medical services hit by the prolonged strikes of trainee doctors remains uncertain. The Korean Council for University Education, a group of university presidents, held its admission committee meeting Friday, where it approved the hike of

May 27, 2024

[Editorial] Pension reform bill

With only a few days left until the 21st National Assembly’s term expires on May 29, rival parties have one thing they can achieve, if they have the will, which is passing the pension reform bill. As South Korea rapidly ages, the national pension fund is expected to be drained by 2055 if no structural changes are made. If the pension system isn’t revamped now, the National Pension Service might have to sell off its investment assets in six years to pay out pension benefits, according

May 24, 2024

[Editorial] Minimum wage debate

The official review process to set the 2025 minimum wage started Tuesday, heralding a heated debate among the members of the tripartite commission due to conflicting views about how much minimum wage should be raised. This year, there are two primary issues: whether next year’s minimum wage per hour will exceed the threshold of 10,000 won ($7.34) for the first time and whether the differentiated application of minimum wages will be allowed, depending on the situations of industries. The ou

May 23, 2024

[Editorial] Special counsel bill

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday vetoed a special counsel bill to investigate allegations that his office or others exerted undue influence on an inquiry into the death of a Marine last year. "The special prosecutor system is an exceptional measure that can only be introduced supplementarily when the investigation by law enforcement agencies is inadequate or when the fairness or objectivity of the investigation is in doubt, but investigations by police and the CIO are currently underway,&

May 22, 2024

[Editorial] Cross-border trade

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s embarrassing backtracking of its hastily formulated policy plan to block consumers from directly buying cross-border items -- mostly from China -- has sparked a wave of criticism, raising questions about its administrative capabilities, as well as its ulterior motives regarding the country’s safety certification system, which is saddled with some critical issues. On Sunday, Lee Jeong-won, second vice minister of the Office for Government Policy Coor

May 21, 2024

[Editorial] Doctors' self-isolation

The Seoul High Court on Thursday rejected a request from trainee doctors, medical professors and medical students to stop the government from increasing the medical school enrollment by 2,000 starting next year from the current cap of 3,058. While the planned increase could infringe on medical students’ right to learn, suspending it could have a severe impact on the public welfare promoted by the medical reform, the court said in its ruling. The court judged that the latter was more import

May 20, 2024

[Editorial] Start working on AI bill

OpenAI, a frontrunner in generative AI technology, unveiled ChatGPT-4o, a faster and more powerful iteration of its popular chatbot, on Monday, heralding a new chapter in the fast-evolving sector that is reshaping the way people work, study and communicate. Unfortunately, South Korea is lagging behind in the rapidly shifting global AI trend, with government officials and lawmakers stuck in a wasteful stalemate. The updated model of OpenAI is not only “much faster” but also capable of

May 17, 2024

[Editorial] Korea-China relations

South Korea and China expressed a wish to improve ties in their first foreign ministerial talks in seven months. Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing on Monday, marking the first visit by South Korea’s top diplomat to the Chinese capital in more than six years. It is not without meaning that the two top diplomats expressed their goodwill to improve the countries’ strategic cooperative partnership. Bilateral ties had soured after South Korea

May 16, 2024

[Editorial] NK cyberattack threat

In what appears to be one of the biggest hacking attacks in recent years, it was belatedly known that a North Korean hacking group had continued to steal a massive amount of personal data from a South Korean court computer network over two years. The hackers, presumed to be from the notorious Lazarus Group, stole a staggering 1,014 gigabytes of data and legal documents from a Seoul court's computer network, according to the police, the prosecution and the National Intelligence Service on Sa

May 15, 2024

[Editorial] Dating violence

A gruesome murder of a young woman by her boyfriend shocked the nation last week. The assailant, a medical student in his 20s, stabbed her multiple times on the rooftop of a building in Seoul. In March, another man named Kim Re-ah in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, murdered his girlfriend after she expressed her wish to break up with him, and hurt her mother as well. In Incheon, a man in his 30s who was under a restraining order after physically attacking and stalking his ex-girlfriend killed her i

May 14, 2024

[Editorial] Simplify property taxes

In South Korea, property tax is one of the most controversial and sensitive topics for both politicians and citizens. Since real estate prices and related taxes involve the bulk of individual assets, even a slight policy change, especially regarding taxation, tends to touch off heated disputes. In particular, the comprehensive real estate holding tax -- an additional tax burden imposed on owners of pricey houses -- is a hot-button issue, since major parties have long exchanged attacks at each ot

May 13, 2024

[Editorial] Yoon's press conference

President Yoon Suk Yeol apologized Thursday for his wife’s “unwise behavior” regarding her alleged acceptance of a luxury bag in 2022 after his inauguration. "I apologize for causing concern to the people with the unwise conduct of my wife," he said during a press conference marking the second anniversary of his presidency. Yoon said he would refrain from commenting further, however, as his remarks could be misconstrued as trying to influence the prosecution's on

May 10, 2024

[Editorial] Negligence of duty

With about three weeks left before the 21st National Assembly closes on May 29, a significant number of lawmakers from both the ruling People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea have gone on overseas trips -- or plan to do so -- while failing to work on piles of pending bills. Of course, not all lawmakers of the current session are eager to travel abroad to exploit their privilege and spend taxpayer money for their own leisure. And not all trips are meaningless, as &ldq

May 9, 2024