The Korea Times

Opposition demands defense chief resign

By Jun Ji-hye Rep. Park Jie-won, Democratic United Party (DUP) floor leader, Tuesday called for the resignation of Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and the chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Jung Seung-jo, to take responsibility for the border crossing of a North Korean solider into the South on Oct. 2. “I require their voluntary resignation. If they don’t resign voluntarily, I urge the President to dismiss them,” Park said during a parliamentary inspection session. “They didn’t speak honestly about the time they were informed of a North Korean soldier who knocked on the door of the barracks.” “But they evaded punishment. If there is no appropriate action about this, the DUP will take measures in the National Assembly,” the lawmaker added. The military has come under criticism for its failure to detect the North Korean soldier going through the heavily armed border until he appeared at the barracks on the eastern border unit. Defense Minister Kim held a press conference Monday to deliver a formal apology and said 14 commanding generals and senior officers at the

Oct 16, 2012By Jun Ji-hye

South Korea

Will woman CEO aide help or hurt Rep. Park?

By Jun Ji-hye Kim Sung-joo, who recently joined the election team of Park Geun-hye, the ruling Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate, was criticized Monday over her view of the economy and women’s issues. Rep. Park is said to have recruited Kim, a successful and some say eccentric businesswoman, to balance out her own icy image and win support from young female voters. Shin Yul, a noted political science professor at Myongji University, raised questions over Kim’s economic vision. “The concept of warm-hearted capitalism emphasizing co-existence and cooperation has emerged as a significant issue. But what she has been talking about is far from this idea,” he told The Korea Times. The professor said Kim’s view on conglomerates, or “chaebol,” may fail to strike a chord with voters seeking a “democratization” of the Korean economy. The 55-year-old chairwoman and CEO of the Sungjoo Group, a maker of high-end handbags, said Monday that “economic democratization” should not be mandated. The conglomerates “emerged under government-led efforts to develop the nation’s eco

Oct 15, 2012By Jun Ji-hye

South Korea

Tax hikes inevitable in next government

By Jun Ji-hye Koreans will likely face an increased tax burden from next year regardless of who is elected in the December election, as all three major presidential candidates have called for investing more in a social safety net, according to a recent report Sunday. The Korea Institute of Public Finance (KIPF) found that the ruling Saenuri Party’s welfare pledges will require the government to raise an additional 75.3 trillion won ($68 billion), compared with 164.7 trillion won to pay for the Democratic United Party’s (DUP) pledges. Reps. Park Geun-hye of the Saenuri Party and Moon Jae-in of the DUP have promised to spend more on free school meals, free childcare, compulsory education and halving tuition costs. If these pledges are to be implemented as planned, the think tank warned that the government debt would jump to as high as 114.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2050. This is a similar level to such crisis-hit European countries as Spain and Portugal. Koreans’ tax burden against the GDP is 20 percent, compared to Organization for Economic Coo

Oct 14, 2012By Jun Ji-hye

South Korea

New camp leader suggests wealth tax

By Jun Ji-hye Another political feud is likely to emerge in the Saenuri Party after Kim Moo-sung, the newly-appointed general manager of its election camp, suggested a net wealth tax Thursday. "Collecting more taxes from rich people has to be considered," Kim said. "Other levies including a reunification tax and a special purpose tax on cigarettes and alcohol should be introduced." However, Kim downplayed the remarks Friday, saying they were his personal view. A wealth tax on high income earners goes against the party platform and its presidential candidate Park Geun-hye뭩 election pledge to freeze taxation. The net wealth tax issue emerged a decade ago, when it was raised by Kwon Young-gil, then presidential candidate for the Democratic Labor Party in 2002. But the Grand National Party, the precursor to the Saenuri Party, attacked the idea, saying “It is just populism by left-wingers.” Although some reform-minded party members discussed the possible introduction of such a tax last November, their bid met a setback ahead of the April 11 general electio

Oct 12, 2012By Jun Ji-hye

South Korea

‘Guardian of teenagers’ hopes to change campaign culture

By Jun Ji-hye Kang Ji-won, a former prosecutor who became a youth mentor has decided to enter the presidential race in order to counter what he says is a lack of focus on core issues in the election race. “Look at our campaigns. They are not about policies to help people’s livelihood or strengthen the nation’s competitiveness,” Kang told The Korea Times. “The candidates are spending most of their time going places to beg for votes while not paying enough attention to their core issues.” The 63-year-old lawyer admitted he has little chance of winning but is determined to pursue a bid for the presidency. He said that in contrast to the leading candidates, he holds policy talks on a daily basis to set out plans for the nation’s future. Alone, perhaps he can’t make a big difference to the outcome of the Dec. 19 vote but he can combine with other minor candidates and make an impact, if the election is closely contested. Ruling Saenuri Party candidate Park Geun-hye is still the front-runner, but main opposition Democratic United Party’s Moon Jae-in and independ

Oct 12, 2012By Jun Ji-hye

South Korea

Korea misrepresented in foreign schoolbooks

By Jun Ji-hye Foreign textbooks for elementary, middle and high school students around the world contain over 600 errors or incorrect information on Korea, said Rep. Kim Tae-won of the Saenuri Party on Sunday. According to a report that the Academy of Korean Studies submitted to Kim for a parliamentary audit, it found 602 cases of inaccurate information on Korea in 289 foreign schoolbooks out of 543 that they researched between 2008 and 2011. Among the errors, only 91 cases have been corrected, while 511 cases still remain unchanged. The errors included a Kuwaiti schoolbook stating that Koreans speak Chinese and an Argentinian text describing Korea as having a tropical climate under which malaria is endemic. On the naming of the East Sea, most books use the "Sea of Japan." Another common inclusion is the simultaneous use of both the “East Sea” and “Sea of Japan” in other books. Instances of using only the “East Sea” were very rare. Ironically, some of these incorrect pieces of information were found in textbooks produced in countries such as the U.S., Germany an

Oct 9, 2012By Jun Ji-hye

South Korea

Only 15% of budget for K-pop executed

By Jun Ji-hye The government has only spent 15 percent of its initially planned budget for the promotion of K-pop to the world globally, according to Rep. Nam Kyung-pil of Saenuri Party on Monday. Nam claims this adds up to approximately 20 billion won, since 2009, and comes against the background of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s (MCST) plan to invest 127.5 billion won ($115 million) over a four-year period to showcase K-pop as a high value-added business. The plan included the construction of a K-pop concert hall and an array hallyu stars’ performances across various countries in Asia and Europe. It also envisaged offering support to indie or nonmainstream musicians. However, according to Nam, neither the construction of the concert hall nor the planned concerts, which were all billed to run from 2009 to 2013, has taken place. Despite the MCST’s plan to support eight annual showcases just one took place in Singapore. To this end, Shin Jong-pil, in charge of the popular culture industry at the ministry, said in an interview with The Korea Times that

Oct 8, 2012By Jun Ji-hye

South Korea

Novelist upset by SNS insults

By Jun Ji-hye A maverick novelist, Lee Oi-soo, denied the Chosun Ilbo’s report on Wednesday that he warned opposition netizens against using abusive language when commenting on a meeting he had with the ruling Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate Park Geun-hye last week, through his Twitter page. Following the report, Lee whose nickname is Twitter president with over 1 million followers tweeted, “They wrote the article based on speculation, not on investigation.” Lee has said through his Twitter on Monday that “I am warning you. It is fine even if you attack me with mean words. But you should bear in mind that the presidential candidate you follow will lose votes from hundreds of thousands people if I post one tweet in response to your violent language.” Although the liberal novelist didn’t specify the reason why he uploaded those tweets, the daily reported that it is related to his meeting with the daughter of the late President Park Chung-hee on Sept. 25. Park visited Lee in Hwacheon, Gangwon Province a day after she delivered a formal apology for past affairs

Oct 3, 2012By Jun Ji-hye

South Korea

Dispute flares up on polling hour extension

by Jun Ji-hye The possible extension of polling hours has emerged as a major issue ahead of the presidential election with support from the opposition Democratic United Party (DUP) and independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo; while the ruling Saenuri Party opposes it. Civic groups have called for a revision of the Public Official Election Law to add two hours to the voting time for presidential and parliamentary elections. “We want to vote. There should be no people who cannot vote when they want to,” they said. In a statement the groups noted that many employees are forced to work on Election Day although it is a temporary holiday so it is difficult to vote before 6 p.m. Current voting hours in Korea are from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Civic groups and the labor sector held a rally in front of the National Assembly Thursday, calling for extension of polling hours. They cited a survey of 840 irregular workers conducted last year by the Korean Political Science Association, which showed 64 percent responded they were not able to vote in 18th parliamentary elections in 2008 and 4

Sep 28, 2012By Jun Ji-hye

South Korea

Campaign staff reflect candidates’ style

By Jun Ji-hye The ruling Saenuri Party’s presidential candidate Park Geun-hye has offered positions in her campaign to people who had worked for her before, as she rarely trusts those who have not been tested. The Democratic United Party’s Moon Jae-in has invited competitors from within to his team as he strives to fix his weakness: the Roh Moo-hyun “shadow effect.” Professionals and experts who are second to none in their areas of specialization tend to get phone calls from independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo. Expertise is the single criteria that the software millionaire-turned-politician counts when he selects his people. The unique line-up of the presidential election camps draws attention because they are mirrors of each candidate’s vision and philosophy for the upcoming presidential election. Park: loyalty Campaign strategists of the Park camp have one thing in common: They have worked for her before. Some are from Park’s “Study Group” that was composed of five key experts who advised her on major policy areas during the 2007 primary of the then Gra

Sep 27, 2012By Jun Ji-hye

Jun Ji-hye

Read more

Opposition demands defense chief resign

Will woman CEO aide help or hurt Rep. Park?

Tax hikes inevitable in next government

New camp leader suggests wealth tax

‘Guardian of teenagers’ hopes to change campaign culture

Korea misrepresented in foreign schoolbooks

Only 15% of budget for K-pop executed

Novelist upset by SNS insults

Dispute flares up on polling hour extension

Campaign staff reflect candidates’ style

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