Many of the public agencies that are to relocate from Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi Province to other cities have learned no lesson at all from local governments that ruined their finances by pouring money into exorbitant office buildings.Under a balanced regional development scheme, 147 public agencies are required to move out of the capital zone to local “innovation hubs.” Of them, 121 have decided to construct their own office buildings, while 26 have chosen to rent. Of the 121 not renti

Pyongyang is reportedly conducting an experiment of far-reaching economic reform again, this time under the leadership of young leader Kim Jong-un. A lack of information, however, makes it difficult to connect the dots. Moreover, it is risky to read too much into news reports on North Korea’s decision to abandon some of the pillars supporting communist-style economic management, including central planning and rationing. That said, signs were coming that the Swiss-educated Kim was launching an ec

The main opposition Democratic United Party hopes that more than 2 million people will vote in its presidential primary, scheduled for Sept. 23. But the target may prove to be too high, given the initial lackluster response to the DUP’s call for voter registration. Only 40,365 people registered during the first two days of registration, which had started last Wednesday. Registration will continue until Sept. 4. The low level of registration was disappointing to say the least for the DUP’s leader

Rep. Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party, who has her sights on the presidency, looked invincible only a few months ago. She was not just the indisputable frontrunner for nomination but ranked the highest in approval ratings among potential presidential candidates.That is no longer so. Her leadership is under attack. True, her nomination still looks assured, with the party placed under her tight control. Moreover, no rival in the party is putting up an effective challenge against her. In o

The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party have been competing to commit themselves to expanding welfare programs and introducing new ones. Of course, their spending commitments aim to help their campaigns in the December presidential election.A ballpark estimate by the administration puts the additional spending needed to finance the welfare programs for the next five years at 340 trillion won. The administration says yearly additional spending would range from 43

The proposal by the main opposition party to raise corporate tax rates should be withdrawn, as it goes against the global trend of giving incentives for businesses to invest more and create more jobs.The draft tax revision announced by the Democratic United Party on Monday calls for, among other things, raising corporate tax rates to 22 percent for companies with annual taxable profits of between 200 million won ($177,200) and 50 billon won, and to 25 percent for firms with profits of more than

Seoul officials might have felt somewhat embarrassed by Vietnam’s reported commitment to donate 5,000 tons of rice to flood-hit North Korea. Making the pledge in his meeting with North Korea’s visiting nominal head of state Kim Yong-nam on Monday, Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang expressed his “deep sympathy” for the deaths and property damage caused by the flooding. Pyongyang’s official news agency said last Saturday floods in the North had killed 169 people since late June, with about 400

Corporate governance in Korea is characterized by the circular structure of cross holdings among affiliates of a large business group. Take the Hyundai Motor Group for example. Hyundai Motor owns stock in Kia Motors, which owns stock in Hyundai Mobis. The cross-holding structure comes full circle with Hyundai Mobis owning stock in Hyundai Motor.This circular structure of cross holdings among chaebol affiliates is the target of an attack from the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democ

Korea Electric Power Corp. is walking a tightrope, as its electricity reserves frequently fall to dangerous levels these days. It cannot rule out the possibility of a blackout, as demand for power remains unexpectedly high as the nation is gripped by a scorching heat wave.With the summer holiday season entering full swing at the end of July, KEPCO had expected power demand to subside. But a protracted period of scorching days and tropical nights continues to push up power demand, resurrecting th

Korea and Vietnam announced Monday the launching of negotiations on a free trade deal between the two countries. The announcement by their trade ministers in Hanoi followed six rounds of preliminary talks since June 2010.Formal negotiations are scheduled to begin in September, with a final conclusion likely to be reached within the first half of next year, according to trade officials here.We hope negotiations will proceed smoothly to ensure the early signing of the agreement, which would bring

Armed with higher education, more certificates and better English skills, they should be expected to land jobs more easily and live more happily than their parents. In reality, however, they have more difficulty finding work, delay marriage and can scarcely dream of owning their own home.A recent research by Statistics Korea paints an ironical contrast between the lives of the baby boomer generation born in 1955-63 and their children’s generation born in 1979-92, which is termed by demographers

The Supreme Court will have to restart the time-consuming process of filling a vacancy sooner or later, with only three of the four justice nominees approved by the National Assembly earlier this month. The other nominee, a former senior prosecutor, had withdrawn from nomination under mounting pressure over suspicions of lawbreaking and ethical lapses.Prior to starting the process anew, however, the court will have to make a very important decision ― one regarding whether to continue to honor or

Electricity rates were raised 4.9 percent on average on Monday. As a consequence, an average urban household will have to pay 1,200 won more each month ― not a small burden for low-income families in particular. Businesses will be hit harder, with their energy bills raised more than 6 percent at a time when the global economy is in a protracted slump.But the increase is too small to cover the cost. Korea Electric Power Corp., which sustained 2.9 trillion won in operation losses during the first

The ruling Saenuri Party has been rocked by allegations that one of its lawmakers bribed her way into parliament. If the suspicion surrounding Rep. Hyun Young-hee proves true, it would deal a serious blow not only to the party but to its leading presidential hopeful Park Geun-hye. Park led the party through the April general elections as interim party chief.The National Election Commission asked the prosecution last week to investigate allegations that Hyun became a proportional representative c

Concerns are mounting that continuous rises in international grain prices, prompted by severe droughts in the U.S., will heighten inflationary pressure on the economy. The country is expected to begin feeling the full impact of the price hikes in about four to six months when its current stocks are used up.Government officials are scrambling to cope with the increasing possibility of agflation, which would make the livelihoods of low-income families, in particular, more difficult.In a meeting of