Officials of the Ministry of Homeland and Maritime Affairs in charge of the Four Rivers Development Project, the local authorities along the rivers and millions of residents are anxiously watching the water levels rising in this rainy spell. They all fear possible damage to the embankments, dikes and bridges built over the past couple years under President Lee Myung-bak’s signature project.The yea

The presidential office is at odds with the ruling Grand National Party, which is abandoning much of its conservative tenet ahead of next year’s elections. But it has few tools to use against the move.Fatigue is settling among presidential aides, who find it virtually impossible to force the party to toe the line, unlike at the outset of President Lee Myung-bak’s administration. They apparently fe

President Lee Myung-bak is meeting Rep. Sohn Hak-kyu, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, on Monday morning. They are set to discuss six agenda items at the breakfast talks, which their aides expect to last for about two hours.The agenda items are: a cut in university tuition fees, a corruption scandal involving savings banks, an early ratification of the Korean-U.S. free trade agreeme

The past five years must have been good times for Korea’s chaebol groups. During this period, the nation’s 30 largest business groups saw their number of affiliates more than double. According to data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service, the figure surged from 500 in January 2006 to 1,087 in April this year. This means the conglomerates added a new member to their fleet of subsidiaries e

Controversy is raging over the government’s plan to make general household medicines available at supermarkets and convenience stores. The Health and Welfare Ministry recently announced a list of 44 over-the-counter pharmaceutical products that would be sold at retail outlets starting August. If the plan goes as scheduled, it will be the first time in Korea that OTC products are sold at places oth

A random glance at newspaper front pages shows that few encouraging stories are making the headlines these days. Instead, they are filled with corruption scandals involving public officeholders, never-ending animosity among ostensibly irreconcilable political adversaries, looming economic disasters ― you name it, it’s there.Few bright spots are in sight at a time of political transition. Instead,

The legislation process is under way to cut university tuition fees. Similar efforts are being made by the administration. But it will be no less important for the administration to close private universities and colleges whose lifeline is nothing but government subsidies.On Wednesday, the parliamentary committee on education approved a bill banning the transfer of collected tuition fees to reserv

The prosecution and the police have struck a deal to end an unedifying dispute on the right to investigate crimes. The agreement, struck Monday between Justice Minister Lee Kwi-nam and National Police Agency chief Cho Hyun-oh, is a compromise that balances the key demands of the two sides.Specifically, they agreed to empower police officers to launch an investigation if there is reasonable suspici

The government’s renewed plan to privatize Woori Finance Holdings appears to have collapsed in the face of lawmakers’ opposition to the possible emergence of a mega bank. Last month, the Public Fund Oversight Committee resumed the process of selling off the government’s 57 percent stake in the nation’s second-largest financial group. The process was stalled in December following an aborted attempt

As social and political debates on cutting university tuition fees rages on, the restructuring of higher education has emerged as an urgent issue. There is a need to strengthen university finances in general and concentrate state support on more viable institutions. While the Board of Audit and Inspection is checking the financial, personnel and academic affairs of all 200 four-year universities,

North Korea again blared out warnings of “merciless retaliation,” this time against the move here to pass the North Korean human rights bill at the National Assembly. Their language grew harsher as with a change in activities in the South that they consider to threaten the stability of their system.Jopyeongtong, Pyongyang’s mouthpiece on South Korean affairs, said the bill represented Seoul’s atte

With the U.N. Security Council’s unanimous approval of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s second term Friday, the General Assembly is expected to confirm his appointment with a vote this week, probably on Tuesday. Thus, for the next five-and-a-half years, the world will see a South Korean preside over the United Nations as it deals with major global issues ranging from wars and disarmament to poverty

The incident last week at Gyodong Island in which two Marines watching the North Korean coast fired their rifles at an Asiana airliner approaching Incheon International Airport revealed how our soldiers guarding the northwestern-most territory have increased their alertness since the deadly North Korean attacks last year. Yet, it also exposed how poorly trained our front line guards are about what

The prosecution and the police are again clashing over the right to investigate crimes. The old conflict between the two law-enforcement agencies has been reignited as a parliamentary special committee on judicial reform is set to revise the laws defining their relationship.At the heart of the dispute is a clause in the Criminal Procedure Act requiring police officers to investigate crimes under t

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced Friday that his metropolitan government has begun to take steps to hold a referendum on free school lunches. The referendum was requested by a coalition of conservative civic groups opposed to the controversial free meal program launched by the city’s education office in March.The coalition, dubbed the National Anti-Populism Union, submitted Thursday more than 800,