Germany has recently emerged as a source of inspiration for Korean politicians who want to arm themselves with more effective and sophisticated tools to solve a raft of tasks facing their country. Some of them have opted to spend a period of self-reflection and soul-searching in Germany to prepare for another leap forward in their political career.The European powerhouse has certainly made remarkable achievements that Korean politicians and policymakers may do well to look to in their efforts to

As the National Assembly is to pass the government reorganization bill today, President Park Geun-hye will be able to launch her pet ministry as planned. But it is questionable whether the new ministry, dubbed the Ministry of Future Creation and Science, will be able to play its expected role.That is because the ministry will not be created in the form envisioned by the president. Its scope of business and power have been curtailed in the process of negotiations between the ruling Saenuri Party

Recent months have seen the world’s major countries making fresh moves to reshape the global trade landscape. As these developments pose serious challenges to Korea, the new Seoul government needs to assess their implications carefully and draw up countermeasures. Among the latest developments, the most notable one may be Japan’s decision to participate in Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade negotiations. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced his bold decision on March 15. The TPP is a comprehens

Last week’s decision by the central bank to freeze its benchmark interest rate at 2.75 percent for a fifth straight month has been viewed by many economists as out of step with the need to spur the sluggish economy.As the grounds for continuing to leave the rate unchanged, the Bank of Korea cited the signs of U.S. and Chinese economies beginning to recover and the local economy rebounding after probably hitting the bottom at the end of last year. Their argument still appeared weak for justifying

North Korea appears to know no limit to its bellicose rhetoric against South Korea. A commentary carried by the North’s state news agency Saturday warned South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won would be the “first target to be mowed down.”The latest threat from Pyongyang came in response to Chung’s visit to a border island two days earlier, when he told soldiers to hit back “with force 10 times” the size of any possible provocations by North Korea. The island of Yeonpyeongdo, located near the

Reviews of President Park Geun-hye’s selection of senior prosecutor Chae Dong-wook as nominee for the post of prosecutor-general are favorable, with commentators giving him high marks for not compromising his principles in investigating politically sensitive cases. Yet, he has to prove his mettle in the face of strong public demand for reform in the prosecution.Chae’s nomination on Friday came three months after Prosecutor-General Han Sang-dae resigned from his post in disgrace. Han quit when hi

On Thursday, the Board of Audit and Inspection, which looked into the books of eight government-invested corporations in September and October last year, announced the outcome of the audit, focusing on the alleged mismanagement of KDB Bank. When it came to Korea Eximbank, Korea Exchange and Korea Security Depository, it found fault with minor issues. It made no mention of the remainder.The state watchdog said KDB Bank is set to sustain 140 billion won in losses this year alone because it began t

The February employment indicators are nothing short of abysmal ― the smallest increase in the number of employed people in three years, the highest jobless rate for young people in 23 months and a sharp decline in the number of self-employed people. No less discouraging is a continued decline in the economically active population as a percentage of the working-age population.According to a Wednesday report from Statistics Korea, the February number of working people marked the smallest year-on-

What was supposed to be the nation’s largest-ever property development project is on the brink of falling apart as its executor has defaulted. All stakeholders will have to prepare themselves to contain the fallout from the potential bankruptcy of Dream Hub Financial Investment, the executor of the 31-trillion won project to develop an area in Yongsan, Seoul, into a huge complex of offices, shopping malls and apartments.On Wednesday, Dream Hub defaulted on the payment of interest on its business

Representatives from about 140 nations and international organizations attended a memorial service in Tokyo on Monday for the victims of the massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami that hit Japan’s northeastern coast two years ago. South Korea and China failed to send delegates to the ceremony in what could have been viewed as a move reflecting the strained relationship between the Northeast Asian neighbors over historical and territorial rows. They were represented at last year’s service to mour

Korea’s antismoking policy is one of the weakest among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a recent report indicated, giving weight to calls for higher cigarette prices to cut the country’s smoking rate. According to the report released by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, a state-funded think tank, Korea ranked 24th out of 25 major industrialized nations in terms of the effectiveness of their antismoking measures.It is a natural result that the

Former independent presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo has returned home, pledging to “walk the thorny road to usher in a new politics.” Ahn’s plan to run in the April by-election in Seoul’s Nowon C district has left the main opposition Democratic United Party flustered. The party’s leaders are anxious, not knowing how to respond.The party is split over whether it should field a candidate of its own or return the favor Ahn made in the presidential election. He dropped out of the presidential ra

Plans are shaping up for a household debt write-off, one of the key campaign pledges of President Park Geun-hye. The Financial Services Commission is planning to launch an 870 billion won debt-rescheduling fund as early as the end of this month.The envisioned fund, dubbed the “People’s Happiness Fund,” will purchase overdue debts from financial companies and then write them down so that delinquent borrowers can resume debt repayment.Eligible for the debt rescheduling program are people who have

Retired Army general Nam Jae-joon, who was picked by President Park Geun-hye early this month to head the National Intelligence Service, is said to have charged on several occasions before his nomination that the nation’s top intelligence agency “has remained dead” in past years. His remarks referred to the weakening of the agency’s function of gathering and analyzing sensitive information on North Korea during the rule of Park’s predecessors.Its crucial human intelligence network in the North,

It has increased public concerns over the slack posture of the new government that dozens of military officials played golf over the weekend amid heightening tensions with North Korea. No excuse can be made for the military officials, including some generals, having enjoyed a round of golf at a time when they should have been on standby against growing threats from the North.Pyongyang had threatened to stop abiding by the Armistice Agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War from Monday, when So