The Korea Herald

[Editorial] Suspension of savings banks

Sept 19, 2011

Announcing six-month suspensions of seven more savings banks Sunday, Kim Seok-dong, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, said that the unease over the insolvency of the second-tier lenders would now be put to rest. The tough action followed the suspension and closure earlier this year of n
[Editorial] Ruling party in trouble

Sept 18, 2011

Defeatism prevails among members of the ruling Grand National Party. No trace of the gung-ho spirit is found among its members with the Seoul mayoral by-election fast approaching. Few believe they will win the race again this time.The low morale, resulting from a shift in voter sentiment against the
[Editorial] Key aide under probe

Sept 18, 2011

Kim Doo-woo, senior presidential secretary for public relations, resigned from his post on receiving a summons from the prosecutors’ office last weekend ― four months after his name was first mentioned in connection with an insolvent savings bank’ illegal lobbying. An arrested lobbyist for the savin
[Editorial] Power blackouts

Sept 16, 2011

Unprecedented power blackouts struck Seoul and many parts of the nation Thursday, causing enormous inconvenience to the public and temporarily disrupting industrial and commercial activity in the affected areas.The unexpected power outages, the first of their kind in Korea, paralyzed banks, offices,
[Editorial] Peak wage system

Sept 16, 2011

Domestic banks are among the first companies in Korea to adopt a peak salary system, which extends retirement age for senior employees in return for gradually reducing their salaries in the years leading up to retirement. They introduced the new arrangement one after another following an example set
[Editorial] Cornered opposition party

Sept 15, 2011

The main opposition Democratic Party appeared to be coming roaring back when its gamble paid off in the April parliamentary by-elections. Its leader, Sohn Hak-kyu, ran in one of the ruling Grand National Party’s conservative bastions and won.Then came an ill-advised decision by Oh Se-hoon, the GNP-a
[Editorial] R&D collaboration

Sept 14, 2011

According to a report published by the National Science and Technology Council, the Korean government, research institutes, universities and corporations invested a total of 43.85 trillion won ($37.93 billion) in R&D in 2010, up 15.6 percent from the previous year. The high increase rate is notewort
[Editorial] Curbing household loans

Sept 14, 2011

Last month, domestic banks were criticized for abruptly halting the extension of fresh loans to households. They took the surprise move to comply with the regulator’s policy to rein in household debt. But it was an act that totally ignored the inconvenience that people in urgent need of loans would
[Editorial] 10 years on

Sept 13, 2011

The Chuseok holidays kept Korean newspapers from editorially remembering the 9/11 terror on the 10th anniversary of the attacks, but we now join the Americans in renewing the resolve to make the world safer from violence and freer from hatred. From reports of memorial ceremonies at Ground Zero in Ne
[Editorial] Politics of vortex

Sept 13, 2011

In his book, The Politics of the Vortex (1968), Gregory Henderson, a former cultural and political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, observed that political groupings in Korea over a millennium and a half have been associations of individuals whose desire for personal power has far outweighed an
[Editorial] Chuseok for lawmakers

Sept 9, 2011

Prices have gone up. Jobs are hard to find. It is not easy to rent a home at a reasonable price. But these and other concerns of ordinary people are put to rest for a while, as the four-day Chuseok holiday has just started.For tens of millions of people joining the annual holiday migration, Chuseok
[Editorial] Botched battle on prices

Sept 9, 2011

It would be humiliating for a man in public office to acknowledge that he has failed in his mission. But Kim Choong-soo, governor of the Bank of Korea, virtually did so when he was briefing on its monetary policy to the press on Thursday.On its homepage, the central bank has a statement in bold lett
[Editorial] From growth to welfare

Sept 8, 2011

Under pressure from the ruling Grand National Party, the government has finally agreed to pull back on the planned tax cuts for large corporations and high-income individuals. Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan, emerging from a meeting with top GNP officials on Wednesday, said the government would not pu
[Editorial] Specter of currency war

Sept 8, 2011

The specter of a global currency war is looming large following Switzerland’s surprise decision to peg the Swiss franc to the euro in a bid to hold back a runaway appreciation of its safe-haven currency. The Swiss National Bank shocked global markets Tuesday by declaring that it would cap the franc’
[Editorial] Party politics in crisis

Sept 7, 2011

The default political system throughout the world is representative democracy ― a form of government in which people are represented by those they have elected to the legislature. It applies not just to the parliamentary system of government but to the presidential system.With representatives select

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