The nation is set to make a change in its accounting method from cash to accrual this year. One of its consequences is a rise in the measurement of national debt.The government has yet to announce by what margin the new accounting method would readjust upward the debt, which was posted at 359.6 trillion won at the end of last year. But the opposition Democratic Party has already come up with a new

Last week, a South Korean government agency provided statistical data regarding North Korea, some of which have great security implications. Among them were figures indicating North Korea’s rapidly expanding reliance on China for its external trade.According to a report from Statistics Korea, North Korea’s volume of external trade was at a miniscule $5,093 million in 2009. It was nowhere near that

Kim Seok-dong, the newly appointed chairman of the Financial Services Commission, has established a reputation as a troubleshooter. Since the mid-1990s, he has led many task forces formed to resolve crises in the financial and real estate markets. Kim’s appointment comes at the right time, since the domestic financial sector faces a host of problems. In the first place, Kim needs to address the dr

Prices of daily necessities are going through the roof. According to the Korea Consumer Agency, during the last week of 2010, the prices of some 90 everyday goods rose sharply from a week ago. They included sugar (38.7 percent), dishwashing rubber gloves (33.1 percent), washing powder (31.9 percent), ketchup (17.8 percent), flour (13.5 percent), tissue paper (12 percent), mayonnaise (9.8 percent),

Military cooperation in such rudimentary areas as sharing of information and mutual logistics supporting in emergencies may sound harmless with any friendly countries, but we have reasons to be cautious if it concerns Japan. Two things have to be considered: Are we ready to forget about all the legacies of the past, and are we prepared to antagonize China as Japan emerges as our military ally? Bel

North Korea again said many words in the latest verbal peace offensive, launched from the beginning of the year. This time, a joint statement by the government, political parties and civic groups called for an immediate and unconditional opening of “dialogues, negotiations and contacts” with South Korea “to discuss and resolve all problems related to the important matters of the (Korean) nation in

The Korea Communications Commission has recently selected a consortium formed by Yonhap News Agency as the sole successful applicant for a news-only cable TV channel license. The panel announced on Dec. 31 that among the five bidders, Yonhap News TV alone earned more than the cut-off score of 800 points. But serious questions are being raised about the fairness of the screening process.First of al

Few by now remember what the Sept. 19, 2005 and Feb. 13, 2007 agreements were in the six-party talks, while there are signs that the multilateral process will be resumed more than two years after it went into recess. To help readers’ memories, North Korea agreed, in the earlier accord, to abandon all nuclear weapons and nuclear programs and return to the NPT, while other parties vowed to provide e

Kim Young-ran, chairwoman of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, cautioned everyone of the nation to guard against “the virus of corruption.” Upon her inauguration this week, the former Supreme Court justice observed that corruption was still a chronic malady in our society, although it seems fairly weakened.The new head of the corruption watchdog will now see for herself how the viru

About 10 presidential hopefuls made their entries in the opinion polls conducted by major dailies and broadcasters at the beginning of the year. Park Geun-hye of the governing Grand National Party commanded supporting rates ranging from a high of 42.3 percent (MBC) to a low of 29.8 percent (Seoul Shinmun) with Ryu Shi-min of the People’s Participation Party and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon trailing neck

From sometime in the latter part of this year, Koreans will have four new cable TV broadcasters of general programs and a news cable channel, all of which will be owned by newspapers and a news agency. The Korea Communications Commission says that the media restructuring will contribute to improvement of broadcasting content and globalization of the TV industry as well as diversification of inform

North Korea has called for an end to confrontation with the South, urging inter-Korean dialogue and cooperation. In a joint New Year editorial issued on Saturday, the North Korean press said, “Confrontation between north and south should be defused as early as possible.” The editorial, considered Pyongyang’s New Year policy statement, also said, “Active efforts should be made to create an atmosphe

The Seoul Metropolitan Council has committed a serious violation of law in passing the capital city’s 2011 budget bill. No matter what the reason may have been, the council cannot avoid criticism for its undemocratic practice.The council, which is under the control of the main opposition Democratic Party, approved the municipal budget of 20.6 trillion won during a session held in the small hours o