North Korea’s planned rocket launch is shaping up as the first major test of how China, led by Xi Jinping, will handle its impoverished neighbor sticking to costly nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs in defiance of international pressure.Officials in Seoul and Washington say they have been in close consultation with Beijing over ways to dissuade Pyongyang from launching its rocket and possible measures to be taken if it pushes ahead with the launch. China has shown a notably different

As a cold snap grips the nation, power consumption is increasing rapidly, fueling worries about possible power shortages. On Wednesday, power demand reached 73.02 million kilowatts, leaving only 4.45 million kW in reserve. The previous day, reserve electricity dropped to 4.11 million kW, barely staying above the 4 million kW mark that triggers emergency measures. The government’s emergency response manual identifies four stages in emergency management. It enters emergency mode when backup power

The recent case of a mother murdering her three-year-old son sheds light again on the seriousness of child abuse in Korean society.The 30-something woman, who was undergoing a divorce, beat her son to death out of anger when he insisted on meeting his father and deserted the body at a reservoir in the southern city of Changwon, according to the police. She turned herself in on Friday as the police investigation closed in on her after her son’s body was found in a black bag early last week.Figure

From the first day in office, the next president, who will begin a five-year term in February, will have to grapple with a complicated mixture of security and diplomatic tasks. Successfully handling them would be crucial to ensuring peace and prosperity for the country.The successor to President Lee Myung-bak will face tougher external conditions. Navigating them will need long-term strategies, sophisticated tactics, diplomatic discretion and, in some situations, firm determination.North Korea,

As the presidential race heats up, the two leading candidates ― Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party and Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party ― are crisscrossing the nation to collect votes. And at every stop, they never fail to unveil development plans to woo residents.During the one week since the official campaigning period started on Nov. 27, they have promised a litany of projects. As there are two more weeks left before the Dec. 19 election, the list will be exte

Last week, the heads of the nation’s five business organizations pledged to make efforts to create jobs, increase exports and expand investment in a bid to help the Korean economy cope with a prolonged global economic downturn.While the business leaders will be seeking to expand corporate investment, big Korean companies remain reluctant to do so as global economic uncertainty persists. They are following the conventional wisdom that cash is a safe investment in uncertain markets.According to ne

In an interview with news outlets on Sunday, President Lee Myung-bak sounded an optimistic note about the Korean economy, claiming that the nation would be able to balance its budget next year as growth would begin to recover, albeit at a slow pace. Though Korea has experienced a slowdown for a while, he said, it is not entering an era of low growth, as Japan did a few decades ago.But the president’s outlook bordered on wishful thinking, rather than being based on a careful reality check. His pr

If the presidential election were to be held today, Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party would likely defeat her rival, Moon Jae-in of the main opposition United Democratic Party. Park leads Moon by a margin of 3.8 percentage points.Nonetheless, Park could hardly be assured of her win. Her lead was within the margin of error. Moreover, she would have to take into consideration so many variables, both known and unknown, that could affect the outcome of the Dec. 19 vote.Among the most notable

Almost a year has passed since North Korea’s new leader Kim Jong-un took power following his father’s death on Dec. 17, 2011. The Swiss-educated young man was widely expected to take his impoverished nation in a new direction and show a leadership different from his father’s iron fisted rule. Since his enthronement, the 20-something leader has repeatedly pledged to focus on building the economy and raising the standard of living, saying that it is an objective laid out for him by his father.As r

An OECD report has shown that Korea’s gender wage gap is the widest among the organization’s member countries.According to the report, the pay gap between men and women in Korea was 39 percent in 2010, more than double the OECD average of 15 percent and much higher than that of the runner-up ― Japan’s 29 percent. Coming next were Germany and Israel, which both marked 21 percent, and the U.S., Finland, Switzerland and Austria, which all posted 19 percent.What is more disturbing is the fact that t

The prosecution, whose reputation has recently been smeared by bribery and sex scandals involving prosecutors, had intended to announce a sweeping reform Friday. But the plan was shelved indefinitely, as Prosecutor-General Han Sang-dae, whose leadership was challenged by his subordinates, cancelled it and resigned from his post.The source of the conflict was a key item of the prosecutor-general’s reform plan ― the proposal to abolish the Central Investigation Department in the Supreme Prosecutor

Few forums offer a better opportunity to compare one promising presidential candidate with another than a live policy debate on television. But the 2012 presidential election may go down in history as one that had no TV face-off between the two most competitive candidates.The responsibility lies with Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party, who has turned down invitations from two terrestrial television networks to participate in live debates with her main rival, Moon Jae-in of the main opposi

The presidential election campaign is heating up as the two major candidates ― Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party and Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party ― scramble to take an early lead in the race.The two contenders launched their official campaigns on Nov. 27 after registering their candidacy with the National Election Commission. Besides the two, five more people have thrown their hats into the ring, but their bids are unlikely to matter much.The initial campaig

The government has announced that Korea’s trade volume will pass the $1 trillion milestone for a second consecutive year in 2012, overtaking Italy to become the world’s eighth largest trading nation.According to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, the nation’s trade volume totaled $888.5 billion during the first 10 months of the year, with exports accounting for $455.4 billion and imports $433.1 billion. The ministry forecast the trade tally would hit $1 trillion in the middle of next month. One

One of the few tense moments during Monday’s TV debate attended by Park Geun-hye, the presidential contender for the ruling Saenuri Party, came when a panelist pressed her to clarify her aims for balanced personnel management.He said most figures in Park’s campaign team did not give a fresh image to the public, asking her whether she would fill key posts with them if she won the Dec. 19 election.Park suggested her campaign aides, many of whom she said have voluntarily come to help her, would not