[Editorial] E-government holes

The e-government that South Korea has boasted is having a rough time. Serious holes came to light in the government computer network after a battery fire at the National Information Resources Service in September paralyzed electronic government services. The Onnara System, an online platform used by civil servants when they work, is said to have been hacked and data leaked for about three years. It is the first time that the system managed by the Interior Ministry was infiltrated. About 650 elec

Oct. 21, 2025

[Editorial] The handcuffed generation

When 64 young South Koreans arrived at Incheon Airport in handcuffs on Saturday, the scene looked less like a crime roundup than a mirror held up to the nation’s quiet tragedy. They were not hardened criminals, but victims of a cruel equation: despair multiplied by debt, driven by the promise of “10 million won ($7,030) a month.” Their return from Cambodia, where they were detained for online scams, exposed not only the brutality of foreign criminal networks, but structural neglect that has left

Oct. 20, 2025

[Editorial] Collateral damage

China’s decision on Oct. 14 to bar transactions between Chinese entities and five US-based affiliates of Hanwha Ocean is a sharp escalation in the economic contest between Beijing and Washington. It also delivers a clear warning to Seoul. The Chinese Commerce Ministry justified the measure by saying the US affiliates “assisted and supported the US government’s Section 301 investigation” into China’s maritime and shipbuilding sectors. That is Beijing’s stated rationale — not an accusation about e

Oct. 17, 2025

[Editorial] Nobel laureates’ lessons

The 2025 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences went to three economists — Joel Mokyr at Northwestern University, Philippe Aghion at College de France and Peter Howitt at Brown University. They were honored as the prize recipients for their work on how innovation and the forces of "creative destruction" can drive economic growth. Their study was significant in that it has awakened people to the importance of innovation in the age of the "fourth industrial revolution," characterized by advance

Oct. 16, 2025

[Editorial] Productive longevity

South Korea has entered a demographic inversion that few advanced economies have faced so abruptly. As of the end of 2024, those in their 70s outnumbered people in their 20s. The milestone is more than a statistical curiosity; it exposes the structural limits of a labor market still built for a younger, expanding workforce. Unless the Korean government acts to turn longevity into a new source of growth, the country’s model — strained by a falling fertility rate and stagnating output — risks hard

Oct. 15, 2025

[Editorial] Ever-present risk

Trade war tensions between the US and China are escalating again, ending months of an uneasy truce. Beijing said Thursday that it would restrict its exports of rare earths. The following day, US President Donald Trump said he would impose an additional 100 percent tariff on imports from China beginning Nov. 1. That would bring US tariffs on China to 130 percent, nearing the 145 percent rate Trump imposed in April before the US agreed to shelve them while China paused its retaliatory duties. The

Oct. 14, 2025

[Editorial] Trapped beyond borders

A nation’s responsibilities extend beyond its borders. When a South Korean university student was allegedly tortured to death in Cambodia in August, the tragedy exposed more than a single failure of law enforcement. It revealed the erosion of safety for Koreans abroad and the limits of Seoul’s reactive diplomacy. The case was shocking in its cruelty: A young man lured by a “high-income” overseas job offer was apparently held captive by a criminal ring and found dead in a car near Bokor Mountain,

Oct. 13, 2025

[Editorial] Europe’s steel fortress

A steel tariff shock has landed, this time from the European Union. On Oct. 7, the European Commission unveiled a sweeping plan to halve duty-free quotas on steel imports and double the tariff on excess volumes from 25 to 50 percent. The EU’s move confirms that protectionism is back in fashion. For South Korea, the second-largest supplier to Europe after China, it closes off one of its key open markets. After Washington’s tariff surge earlier this year, the EU’s move tightens the squeeze. The ne

Oct. 10, 2025

[Editorial] Double signals

It is a paradox worthy of an economic textbook: South Korea's exports in September surged to their highest in 3 1/2 years, yet domestic consumption in August sagged to its lowest point in more than a year. On paper, outbound shipments soared 12.7 percent year-on-year to $65.9 billion, the highest September tally ever. But behind the record, the arithmetic is less flattering. With four more working days than last year, the daily average slipped by more than 6 percent. South Korea's celebrated exp

Oct. 3, 2025

[Editorial] Risky response

Some ruling party lawmakers have been harshly criticizing the United States recently over the difficult tariff negotiations between South Korea and the US. Referring to US President Donald Trump's demand that Korea invest $350 billion in the US in "upfront" cash, a member of the Supreme Council of the Democratic Party of Korea said Monday that the demand is without cause, comparing it to forcing reparations from defeated countries for their war crimes. Seoul had pledged to invest that amount in

Oct. 2, 2025

[Editorial] Voyage to nowhere

The image was meant to be triumphant: sleek vessels skimming across the Han River, ferrying office workers from Seoul’s eastern suburbs to the towers of Yeouido. Instead, what lingers are idle docks and grounded boats — the city’s much-heralded Hangang Bus service suspended only 10 days after its launch. Billed as emblematic of innovation, it has become a case study in haste, hubris and squandered trust. From the outset the project invited skepticism. Commuters noted the ferry would be slower th

Oct. 1, 2025

[Editorial] Duplicate the network

A fire at a major state data center halted 647 government services at the same time. The state administration has been effectively paralyzed. The National Information Resources Service under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety provides 1,600 government services online, and more than a third of them were down due to a fire in a computer room at its headquarters in Daejeon on Friday. Restoring the 96 systems damaged or destroyed by the fire is expected to take considerable time. It is deplorab

Sept. 30, 2025

[Editorial] Tariff stalemate

Trade disputes rarely spiral into full-blown economic crises. Yet the latest standoff between South Korea and the United States over tariffs and a $350 billion investment package is doing precisely that — unsettling markets, testing diplomatic trust and forcing both governments into an awkward contest of brinkmanship. At issue is US President Donald Trump’s demand that Seoul’s pledge be delivered not as loans or guarantees but as “upfront” cash or equity. President Lee Jae Myung has warned that

Sept. 29, 2025

[Editorial] Korea’s growth mirage

The International Monetary Fund’s latest forecast for South Korea offers a small lift laced with a warning. Growth this year is projected at 0.9 percent, a notch above the IMF's earlier estimate and neatly aligned with the Bank of Korea’s outlook. The uptick, fueled by resilient semiconductor exports and fiscal largesse at home, is the kind of revision Seoul is tempted to celebrate. But it should not. Buried in the IMF’s analysis is a sharper verdict: Without structural reform, the government’s

Sept. 26, 2025

[Editorial] One team

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said in a speech to the Supreme People's Assembly on Sunday that there is no reason to avoid dialogue with the US if it stops insisting that his country give up nuclear weapons. This is an expression of his intention to engage in talks only if denuclearization is off the agenda. The US administration has made it clear that the goal of its North Korea policy is to denuclearize the country. However, security experts in South Korea and the US have consistently raised

Sept. 25, 2025