Capitalism or feudalism?
Time to ponder how to rectify chaebol system The Fair Trade Commission released a chart Monday, which illustrates the shareholding structure of 63 family-controlled conglomerates and their subsidiaries. The diagram, which appears even more complicated than the Seoul subway map, drew attention to two things: how these families dominate huge corporate empires with limited equity, […]
Raise minimum wage
People who work full time shouldn’t incur debt A trilateral panel of government, labor and management has set next year’s minimum wage at 4,860 won ($4.2) an hour. This is not enough to buy a bowl of cold noodles, or even a Big Mac set, including a coke and French fries. Yet business associations complain […]
Moscow supports Kim Jong-un
Russia claims it is willing to link divided Korea with energy pipelines and electricity grids. But its economic relations with North Korea indicate a return to the Cold War politics of the past. In 1948, Stalin sponsored the creation of the DPRK in the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. The following year, Prime Minister […]
Sejong City and decentralization
July 1, 2012 marked a major change in Korean geography: Sejong City became the first “special autonomous city” in Korean history and the 17th province-level administrative division. This gives it equal status to Seoul and other provinces and cities. Sejong City’s new status is important because it is the first planned city to obtain the […]
Military pact with Japan
Scrap ill-advised accord; sack relevant ministers To the relief of most Koreans, the foreign ministry postponed the signing of its first military pact with Japan, Friday. Now that the government has avoided the worst with the last-minute turnaround, it should bring the matter to the National Assembly for discussion from the ground up. Yet it […]
Military ties with Japan
President must persuade National Assembly first When an administration has what it thinks are necessary but unpopular things to do, it usually explains them to the people and seeks their consent. But the Lee Myung-bak administration pushes ahead with them stealthily and keeps them secret until someone else exposes what is happening. A case in […]
Leaks of key technologies
Int’l cooperation needed to uproot industrial spying Alarm bells are ringing again in our corporate security system after the prosecution announced that key technologies to manufacture advanced flat-panel displays were leaked overseas through a local unit of an Israeli company. We regard this latest leak as a grave matter and urge the government to make […]
Park Geun-hye’s way
Arrogant, egotistical image is last thing she needs Unless something major comes up, the governing Saenuri Party will likely pick its presidential candidate at a national convention Aug. 20. And, unless some new sensation appears, Park Geun-hye will be the standard-bearer of the conservative majority party. Despite ― or because of ― this seemingly unalterable […]
Mental health checkup
Changes needed in perception, infrastructure Korea has one of the world’s highest suicide rates, scores among the lowest on happiness indexes, a serious overdrinking problem, and ominous school violence. A word that best sums up such a society is “abnormal.” So it seems only natural, if long belated, that the government has decided to force […]
US-Burma ties: from isolation to engagement
After years of diplomatic tension over isolation and sanctions, U.S.-Burma relations improved in recent months. What prospects does this rapprochement have? The relationship between the United States and Burma was mostly cordial in the years following Burma’s independence from the British in 1948. It was strained by the Burmese military coup of 1962, and worsened […]
Media in Tie-up with The AsiaN 
Trump, Kim, and the Three P’s of Summit Diplomacy: 
