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Free childcare system
Confusion mirrors policy disunity, poor preparation Despite attacks from deficit hawks and welfare minimalists, the ruling Saenuri Party has decided to push ahead with a free daycare system for all toddlers. And to help ease funding crises at local administrations, it will likely draw about 620 billion won from the…
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Shatter glass ceiling
Firms need to sharply increase female executives Women have come a long way to almost equal men in schools and entry- level job markets in male-dominated Korea. But female executives are still a novelty in corporate boardrooms here, meaning they have even a longer way to go to make the…
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Column
Did foreign minister know it?
On the front page of our Tuesday edition, we ran a story about a mix-up inside the government over its handling of a military information-sharing pact with Japan. The headline ― Rebellion against lame duck ― concisely summarized the situation, one that couldn’t even be imagined, say, six months ago.…
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Talks with NK won’t come until after U.S. presidential election
Perhaps the biggest news out of Pyongyang in the last month or two is actually about a non-event. In early June, a North Korean spokesperson said that North Korea has no intention of staging a nuclear test in the near future. And indeed, a nuclear test was almost universally expected…
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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…
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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…
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Column
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.…
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Column
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…
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Geneva talks on Syria produce no effective results
The nine-hour talks held in Geneva on Saturday with the intention of tackling the Syrian crisis produced “significant” decisions that are unlikely to be “effective.” These decisions are significant in that Russia and China, who have so far not refrained from backing the Assad regime, have, for the first time,…
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Column
Remembering South Korea’s “Hoop Boy” in 1988 Seoul Olympics
SEOUL, July 2 (Xinhua) — Without doubt, one of the most unforgettable moments in the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics was created by a young South Korean boy who rolled a hoop across the grass infield of Olympic Stadium in front of a huge crowd during the opening ceremony. The whole…
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