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[Editorial] No retaliation in probes
Three bills mandating special counsel probes into allegations involving the administration of former President Yoon Suk Yeol were enacted Tuesday following approval at a Cabinet meeting. One of the bills requires special counsels to investigate insurrection and treason charges related to Yoon's failed declaration of martial law. The second bill calls for a probe into allegations against Yoon's wife, Kim Keon Hee. She allegedly accepted luxury goods as bribes, manipulated stock prices and interve
June 12, 2025 -
[Editorial] Ramyeon, reality and reform
Just days into his presidency, Lee Jae-myung has found himself facing an unlikely but potent symbol of economic distress: the cost of ramyeon. “Is it true,” he asked during an emergency economic meeting on Monday, “that one packet now costs 2,000 won ($1.50)?” The figure was exaggerated, but the sentiment behind the question struck a nerve. For many South Koreans, the supermarket has become the front line in a broader struggle over living costs and public trust in government. Consumer prices hav
June 11, 2025 -
[Editorial] Build confidence
President Lee Jae-myung will attend the summit of the Group of Seven advanced countries in Alberta, Canada, from June 15-17. It will mark Lee's debut on the stage of summit diplomacy 11 days after he took office Wednesday. South Korea is not a G7 member state but was invited to participate as an observer. The summit is an opportunity for Lee to start building confidence with leaders of the seven major countries -- Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US. Particularly, his first
June 10, 2025 -
[Editorial] Avoiding the Japan trap
In the early 1990s, Japan seemed unstoppable. Decades of breakneck growth had swelled its asset wealth, and many believed the good times would never end. Then came the crash. A bursting real estate bubble ushered in what would become Japan’s “lost decades” — a prolonged era of stagnation and disillusionment. Today, a similar unease hangs over South Korea. Just days into office, President Lee Jae-myung faces a stark warning from the Bank of Korea: Without sweeping reforms, the country risks sleep
June 9, 2025 -
[Editorial] Bridge divisions
Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea was elected president on Tuesday, ending six months of turmoil stemming from his predecessor's botched attempt to impose martial law on Dec. 3, 2024. While South Korea has been embroiled in its own political chaos, the international situation and trade scene changed rapidly. Donald Trump was inaugurated as the president of the United States and US-China relations soured. The US, warning of a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, has indicate
June 5, 2025 -
[Editorial] A crucial vote amid crisis
South Koreans went to the polls on Tuesday in what may come to be seen as one of the most pivotal elections in the nation’s modern democratic history. The June 3 vote was called after the dramatic downfall of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached and removed from office earlier this spring for attempting to invoke martial law in December 2024. Against a backdrop of economic malaise, diplomatic strain and a public weary of political dysfunction, the election became a test not only of
June 4, 2025 -
[Editorial] Tariff damage
South Korea's exports decreased 1.3 percent to $57.27 billion from a year earlier in May. After rebounding from a 10 percent fall in January, they dropped again four months later. Outbound shipments to the US and China decreased about 8 percent each. Most analysts say that US tariffs affected South Korea's exports directly. Tariff pressure from the Donald Trump administration shows no sign of waning. Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports on March 12 and raised them to 50
June 3, 2025 -
[Editorial] Ballots and blunders
Elections in South Korea have long served as both a civic ritual and a litmus test for the health of its democracy. But as the country heads into a pivotal presidential vote on Tuesday, confidence in the integrity of that process is under severe strain. Early voting, which took place over two days beginning Thursday, drew an enthusiastic response from the public. Turnout reached 34.74 percent — the second-highest since the system was introduced in 2014 — signaling a population deeply engaged in
June 2, 2025 -
[Editorial] A cut that cuts deep
For weeks, financial markets anticipated the move. On Thursday, just five days before South Korea’s pivotal June 3 presidential election, the Bank of Korea lowered its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 2.5 percent. The decision itself came as no surprise. What did surprise was the central bank’s sharp downgrade of its growth forecast. Its projection for 2025 collapsed from an already modest 1.5 percent to just 0.8 percent — a halving of expectations in the span of three mo
May 30, 2025 -
[Editorial] Improve transparency
Early voting in South Korea's 21st presidential election is being held over two days, today and tomorrow, at 3,569 polling places across the country. Election Day is June 3. South Korean livelihoods and state affairs were thrown into disarray by former President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived martial law decree last December followed by his impeachment and dismissal. The election has historical significance in that it is held to fill a leadership void and stabilize the nation as quickly as possible
May 29, 2025 -
[Editorial] No work, no future
It is one of South Korea’s most confounding contradictions: a nation bracing for demographic collapse, yet failing to provide its young people with the jobs they need to build lives, families and futures. With the presidential election just days away, on June 3, the major candidates remain preoccupied with political brinkmanship — dredging up old scandals and lobbing accusations over peripheral controversies — rather than addressing what may be the country’s most urgent crisis: the hollowing out
May 28, 2025 -
[Editorial] Stop the cycle
Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea, said in a press conference Sunday that he is the right person to end the pattern of political retaliation because he knows its ills better than anyone else. He also said that if he is elected president, there will be no political revenge targeting certain persons, though the crime of insurrection will be strictly punished. Considering he is the front-runner in the presidential race, this is a welcome promise. As
May 27, 2025 -
[Editorial] Troops, trust and alliance
In geopolitics, ambiguity is seldom accidental. The Wall Street Journal’s report Thursday that the Pentagon is weighing the withdrawal of some 4,500 troops from South Korea — roughly 16 percent of the 28,500-strong United States Forces Korea — landed like a spark in a dry forest. Both Seoul and Washington issued swift denials. But those denials failed to fully dispel the speculation. A Pentagon spokesperson, when asked directly about the reported drawdown, said only that “there were no policy an
May 26, 2025 -
[Editorial] Korea’s crypto gambit
Crypto is crashing the campaign trail. With South Korea’s presidential election on June 3 fast approaching, one of the more unlikely issues to seize the spotlight is stablecoins — digital tokens tied to real-world currencies. At the forefront is the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, which has positioned won-backed stablecoins as a flagship of its digital finance agenda. Advocates argue they will preserve monetary sovereignty and foster innovation. Yet the speed with which this intricate
May 23, 2025 -
[Editorial] Hole in cybersecurity
The nation was jolted by interim probe findings that personal information and universal subscriber identity module or USIM data of practically all subscribers of SK Telecom may have been leaked by hackers. The cyberattack dated back about three years and turned out to be much more extensive than revealed in the initial briefing, according to the second briefing Monday by a joint investigation team of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Internet & Security Agency. SK Telecom discovered
May 22, 2025