[Editorial] Vetting failures

In legislative elections, voters may expect candidates to have certain qualifications and attributes, such as competence, integrity and commitment to the rule of law. In South Korea, however, it is due time for public expectations about such essential qualifications to be lowered, as some candidates nominated by major parties have problematic backgrounds, including criminal records. The disappointing records were revealed as candidates completed their registrations last week for the April 10 gen

March 26, 2024

[Editorial] Game of chicken

Trainee doctors who walked out over a month ago, and refused to comply with the government’s order to return to work face three-month license suspensions starting this week. Professors at 19 medical schools said they would begin tendering their resignations from Monday unless the government takes proactive steps for dialogue. Once their medical licenses are suspended, the interns and residents will not be allowed to do even volunteer work as doctors inside or outside of South Korea. They c

March 25, 2024

[Editorial] Perils of hasty policy shift

In recent years, many Korean homeowners have come under overwhelming pressure over soaring property taxes, due partly to the previous Moon Jae-in administration’s controversial real estate policy to increase the state-led declared prices of properties to 90 percent of market value by 2035. President Yoon Suk Yeol announced in a town hall meeting on Tuesday that the government will abolish the “reckless” declared real estate price policy, openly criticizing Moon’s policy t

March 22, 2024

[Editorial] Talks must begin

The government’s plan to increase medical school enrollment by 2,000 from next year became more specific on Wednesday as it announced that 1,639, or 82 percent, of the additional places will go to colleges outside the greater Seoul area. Of the 40 medical colleges in South Korea, 13 are in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province. They account for 1,035 places, or 33.8 percent, of the nation’s current total of 3,058. In case of the so-called “mini” medical colleges that admit

March 21, 2024

[Editorial] Korea’s slow pace in chip race

The news reports last week that Samsung Electronics would likely receive over $6 billion in subsidies from the US government for expanded investments present mixed implications for both the South Korean government and the chipmaker. It is certainly a positive development for Samsung to receive the largest amount of subsidies as a non-American company. Given that the subsidies would amount to a range between $2 billion and $3 billion, the scale of US support tops expectations by a wide margin. Th

March 20, 2024

[Editorial] Ambassador to Australia

Lee Jong-sup, a former defense minister who is under investigation over allegations that he meddled with an internal probe into the death of a young Marine last year, began serving as South Korea’s ambassador to Australia last week. In July 2023, Marine Cpl. Chae Su-geun was found dead after being swept away by a torrent in a stream in Yecheon County, North Gyeongsang Province, during a search mission for victims of heavy rain. The Marines were ordered to go into the overflowing stream wit

March 19, 2024

[Editorial] No laughing matter

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s senior secretary Hwang Sang-moo issued a formal apology Saturday, two days after his controversial remarks about a 1988 terrorist attack on a journalist and the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising touched off a firestorm of criticism from the media and opposition parties. “I apologize for the distress my words have caused,” Hwang said in a notification to the press from the presidential office. “I apologize to the journalists for failing to consider

March 18, 2024

[Editorial] Strike goes overboard

With medical school professors shaving their heads and threatening to resign to “protect” their students and trainee doctors, the doctors’ strike has gone too far. Earlier this week, the government sent notices to over 5,500 trainee doctors who left work more than three weeks ago and have not complied with the ministry’s order to return to work that their medical licenses will be suspended. Medical students are taking leaves of absence en masse and may be collectively flu

March 15, 2024

[Editorial] Proportional seats in trouble

South Korean voters are already feeling deep political fatigue, as major parties have unsurprisingly sparked a flurry of disputes over their candidates for the upcoming National Assembly election. On Tuesday, Jeon Ji-yeh offered to resign from her candidacy for a proportional representative seat for a satellite party linked to the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, a development that sheds light on the fundamental weakness of the current election system. A civic group earlier recommended

March 14, 2024

[Editorial] Obsession with scores

The state auditor’s latest disclosure of illicit trading of test questions between schoolteachers and cram schools known here as hagwon once again reminds one of the need to further diversify the college admissions system. The Board of Audit and Inspection said on Monday it has requested a police investigation into 56 people, including 27 schoolteachers who sold exam questions to the after-school study centers for violating the anti-graft law, obstruction of business and bribery by breach

March 13, 2024

Avert medical crisis

South Korea continues to suffer medical service disruptions across the nation as nearly 12,000 intern and resident doctors, who play key roles in diverse fields at major hospitals, remain off work over the government’s plan to increase the medical school enrollment quota. As the confrontation between the government and junior doctors enters its fourth week, local hospitals have been forced to delay or cancel surgeries amid deepening concerns that these medical disruptions could drag on wit

March 12, 2024

[Editorial] ‘Peace’ out

The Foreign Ministry is set to downsize and revamp an office in charge of diplomacy related to North Korean nuclear issues amid a prolonged stalemate in dialogue with Pyongyang. The Office of Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs, led by a vice ministerial level official, was established 18 years ago in a whirlwind of nuclear diplomacy with the North through six-party talks among the two Koreas, the US, China, Russia and Japan. It was set up as a temporary agency, but was made a permanent

March 11, 2024

[Editorial] ‘Sticky’ inflation

South Korea’s inflation rose back to over 3 percent in February due to the high prices of fresh food and energy, meaning both the Bank of Korea and the Yoon Suk Yeol administration face a bewildering situation where there are few quick fixes to tame rising prices. Consumer prices, a key measurement of inflation, rose 3.1 percent on-year last month, according to the data released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday. It was a discouraging development for policymakers who had expected inflation

March 8, 2024

[Editorial] Foreign caregivers

As the rising cost of caregiving takes a toll on South Korean households, the Bank of Korea proposed two different ways of hiring foreign workers amid a growing imbalance between supply and demand for caregivers for the elderly and children. According to a report from the central bank released Tuesday, it cost about 3.7 million won ($2,770) per month last year for an individual to hire a caregiver at a long-term care hospital or other facilities for the elderly who are unwell. This amounts to ov

March 7, 2024

[Editorial] Time to catch up -- fast

South Korea posted a trade surplus of $240 million with China, its biggest export destination, in February, the first surplus in 17 months since September 2022, according to government data. It is a welcome sign that the country’s trade balance with China swung to the black helped by a pickup exports of semiconductors. But this reversal in trade may be only temporary, as Korea faces an increasingly uphill battle with China in global trade as well as in technology competition. One depressin

March 6, 2024

[Editorial] After-school child care

The new school year has now begun, with the fewest ever first graders – about 369,400 – starting the 12-year journey. Typical school hours will begin at 9 a.m. and end around 1 p.m., but many more first graders will be staying in school longer starting this semester. South Korea’s public elementary schools have run after-school child care programs for a select number of first and second graders. Children with both parents working have been given priority, and if there are more

March 5, 2024

[Editorial] No end in sight

The confrontation between the government and doctors intensified over the weekend, with neither side willing to seek a compromise that is urgently needed by patients waiting for delayed surgeries and treatments to resume. Some 20,000 doctors took part in a rally in Seoul on Sunday in protest against the government’s plan to increase the annual medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 starting from next year. “If the government ignores doctors’ efforts, it will face strong resis

March 4, 2024

[Editorial] A country for children

South Korea’s fertility rate, or the average number of births a woman is expected to give in her lifetime, fell to the lowest ever of 0.72 last year. It has continued downhill from 1.24 in 2015. The number of babies born in the country dropped 7.7 percent from 2022 to the fewest ever of around 230,000, according to Statistics Korea. The dwindling fertility rate, which has been getting worldwide attention, has several reasons. The first is the number of marriages, which has plunged from its

March 1, 2024

[Editorial] Real ways to boost value

The South Korean government on Monday unveiled a plan to help companies enhance shareholder value by addressing the so-called “Korea discount” that has plagued the local markets for years. Markets, however, seem unimpressed. The Korea discount is a chronic issue in which Korean shares are undervalued compared with their peers in other markets, reflecting smaller-than-expected shareholder returns and poor corporate governance. Under the “corporate value-up program,” the go

Feb. 29, 2024

[Editorial] Young doctors at crossroads

Some 80.6 percent of the nation’s trainee doctors have tendered their resignation, and 72.7 percent, or about 9,000, have left the hospitals in protest of the government’s plan to increase the number of places at medical schools. The worsening shortage of interns and residents for over a week at emergency rooms and operating rooms has led to delays in surgeries and emergency treatments as well as severe fatigue of the remaining medical staff. The Ministry of Health and Welfare on Tue

Feb. 28, 2024