If ill-conceived nominations cost the opposition alliance a majority in the parliamentary election, the election of candidates with moral or ethical deficiencies is threatening to hurt the ruling Saenuri Party.When Kim Yong-min, a podcaster who gained fame for lampooning President Lee Myung-bak, was nominated by the opposition Democratic United Party, he was found to have made morally indefensible remarks, including those about Korean women forced into sexual slavery during World War II, on an I

The Ministry of Health and Welfare has recently revised a regulation on daycare services to ensure that working moms and families with multiple children have priority in enrolling their toddlers at daycare facilities. The measure was necessitated by a surge in demand for daycare services for children aged 0-2 years. Starting March, the government expanded its subsidy program for children under 24 months old. Previously, the subsidy was given to families in the bottom 70 percent of the income lad

The U.N. Security Council acted with unusual swiftness when it condemned North Korea on Monday for launching a long-range rocket. It took just three days for the council to toughen sanctions against the rogue regime for violating its previous resolutions. While the council’s response was timely, it lacked teeth needed to deter the wayward regime from making further provocations. On Tuesday, the North “resolutely and totally” rejected the council’s unanimous statement, asserting that it ignored i

Employees in grade 5 and upward of the Yongin municipality are set to forfeit their pay raises this year ― a consequence of its ill-advised investment in a light-rail transit system. The municipality in Gyeonggi Province has also decided to cut perks for its employees and shelve big-ticket projects, including the replacement of dilapidated air-conditioning systems in school.The savings are estimated to total 22.6 billion won if such efforts are continued during the next five years. Yet the amoun

Growth is slowing. The Bank of Korea, which forecast in December that the Korean economy would grow 3.7 percent this year, has recently trimmed the growth outlook to 3.5 percent.It should not come as a surprise if the central bank makes a spate of downward adjustments again, as it has done in the past. Last year, it had to revise its growth forecasts several times, as economic conditions worsened both in Korea and across the world.Bearing the direct impact are households, whose income is stallin

After days of costly rituals to mark the centenary of their eternal leader Kim Il-sung, North Koreans are returning to their usual routine with the decade-old goal of becoming a “mighty, prosperous state” still beckoning them like a mirage. Awaiting them in reality are tons of debris from an all-night fireworks display in Pyongyang and continuing shortages of food and necessities.The more gruesome fireworks show of launching a long-range rocket on Friday, April 13, failed when it exploded minute

China’s state news agency Xinhua reported last week that the government had shut down 42 websites and arrested 1,065 people for “fabricating or disseminating online rumors.” Xinhua also revealed that Beijing police had deleted 208,000 “harmful” online messages during the past month. The report did not specify the contents of the rumors, but most Chinese and concerned outsiders know what the main targets of the nationwide crackdown were.Tourists returning from trips to China report that everybody

The 19th National Assembly has been elected and the outgoing 18th Assembly will finish its term at the end of May. This means that the current legislature has only a month to act on the bills submitted to it since its inauguration in 2008. As proof of the low productivity of our representatives and their parties, there are more than 6,000 bills pending in the Assembly, about 400 of them proposed by the administration. If these bills are not handled during the final session of the present Assembl

Stunned by the sudden rise in fares for Seoul Subway Line No. 9 by an incredible 500 won from 1,050 won to 1,550 won, we are puzzled at an incomprehensible clause in the contract between Seoul City and the operating company of the newest transit system in the capital city. Article 51 of the contract reads: “The operating company can decide fares independently within a certain limit and the company should consult with the mayor of Seoul when it wants to raise the fare beyond that limit.” On the b

When the new National Assembly is inaugurated in June, the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party will continue to hold the exclusive power to negotiate the parliamentary operations. They will be the only parties that qualify as official negotiating groups. Still, they will certainly find chinks in the faade of the virtual two-party system, as a resurgent third party is set to have its voice heard. During the run-up to the parliamentary elections last week, few talk

As it had promised, the United States confirmed Friday that it suspended its commitment to providing North Korea with 240,000 tons of nutritional aid after the communist state defied the international community and went ahead with the launch of a satellite using a long-range missile. Washington suspended the aid even though North Korea failed to place the satellite into orbit. Washington threatened to take more sanctions if North Korea should engage in additional provocations. The warning came a

Now that the parliamentary election is over, political parties are shifting their focus to the presidential race. The Wednesday election was widely viewed as the precursor to the December poll. Yet there is no guarantee that the Saenuri Party victory will be repeated in eight months’ time. To win the crucial election in December, political parties should listen to the vox populi expressed in the parliamentary poll. This applies to the ruling Saenuri Party, as well as to the main opposition Democ

On Wednesday, about 800 Japanese right-wingers gathered in Tokyo to reiterate their claim that Dokdo, Korea’s easternmost islets, is Japanese territory and urge the Tokyo government to act on the issue.The rally, organized by Shimane Prefecture of western Japan, is notable as it was the first of its kind held in Tokyo. Furthermore, the participants included some 60 Japanese lawmakers and senior government officials. Some of the politicians at the rally made highly provocative comments. For insta

Defying earlier predictions, the ruling Saenuri Party won a majority in the parliamentary elections on Wednesday and put the National Assembly under its control again. Due credit must be given to Rep. Park Geun-hye, who reorganized a party in disarray after the October by-elections and successfully rallied conservative voters behind the party.It was not just pre-election opinion polls but exit polls that indicated that the opposition alliance could beat the ruling party. They did not even rule o

The nation’s debt obligations have surpassed the 400 trillion won mark for the first time. The national debt, or the combined debt obligations of the central and local governments, was at 420.7 trillion won as of the end of 2011.The increase of 28.5 trillion won over the previous year raised the ratio of national debt to gross domestic product from 33.4 percent to 34 percent. This must be seen as a matter of concern.Nevertheless, it should not come as a surprise. That increase had been anticipat