Opinion - The Korea Times

ED Prosecutors abandon their duty

Controversy is flaring as the prosecution has abandoned its duty to appeal a district court’s ruling acquitting five defendants of breach of trust and conflict of interest charges in connection with the massive Daejang-dong urban redevelopment project in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. The five defendants, including Yoo Dong-kyu, former executive of the Seongnam Development Corporation, and Nam Wook, a former lawyer for President Lee Jae Myung, were key private partners in the controversial land development project launched in 2015. Initially, prosecutors sought to confiscate 781.4 billion won ($537 million) out of the 787.8 billion won in profits generated in what has become widely known as the “Daejang-dong scandal.” However, the court ordered the confiscation of only 47.2 billion won. Because the prosecution opted not to appeal, the five defendants will be able to keep the bulk of their gains from the public-private partnership. Critics are describing it as a situation in which criminals have effectively been given the green light to keep money earned through corruption. The prosec

Nov 10, 2025

ED Raising the retirement age

Korea is reaching a demographic turning point. With one of the world’s fastest-aging populations and the national pension eligibility age set to rise to 65 by 2033, extending the retirement age has become an unavoidable national issue. The country’s two major labor unions, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), are now pressing the government and ruling party to legislate a 65-year retirement age before the end of the year. The Democratic Party of Korea has voiced its support, arguing that older workers deserve job security and a stable income until they can receive their pensions. The rationale sounds compelling, yet the proposal’s current form is fraught with risk. The unions demand a five-year extension without any wage reduction, an approach that may appeal politically but is economically unsustainable. An across-the-board extension that preserves seniority-based pay would raise labor costs dramatically, strain small and medium-sized enterprises and likely crowd out youth employment. According to the Bank of Korea, f

Nov 9, 2025

ED Steel and petrochemical restructuring

Korea’s steel industry stands at a critical crossroads. Plagued by oversupply, sluggish domestic demand and the global rise of protectionism, it faces the most serious downturn in decades. In response, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources has unveiled the Steel Industry Advancement Plan, signaling the long-awaited start of restructuring. The plan encourages reductions in production capacity for rebar and other general-purpose steel products while providing limited financial aid to certain export-oriented firms. Yet critics warn that without concrete measures to offset losses or ease cost pressures, this initiative risks becoming a hollow gesture rather than genuine reform. The steel sector’s predicament is emblematic of broader structural weaknesses in Korea’s manufacturing base. Construction activity has slowed, eroding domestic demand for rebar, beams and pipes. At the same time, global oversupply, driven by China’s relentless output, has depressed prices and profit margins. Add to that the tightening grip of protectionism, particularly from the United States, and t

Nov 6, 2025

[ED] Steel and petrochemical restructuring

ContributionReputation: K-factor driving Korea’s next higher education wave

Korea doesn’t only export semiconductors and K-pop. It exports standards — the fusion of precision, creativity and confidence that has made it a global benchmark in everything from technology to entertainment. Ban Ki-moon, the former secretary-general of the United Nations, reflected on Korea’s remarkable journey during his opening remarks at the QS Summit at Korea University earlier this week, observing that Korea remains the only country to have transformed itself from an international aid recipient to a donor country. Now, its universities are finding their own global stage. And in higher education, reputation is the K-factor — the intangible yet powerful currency that turns performance into perception and perception into influence. Reputation as Korea’s new growth engine The QS World University Rankings: Asia 2026 underline Korea’s rise. The country remains the fourth most represented nation, with 103 ranked universities, including six among the region’s top 20. More than 40 institutions improved their academic reputation scores, the single most heavily weighted indicat

Nov 6, 2025By Ben Sowter

Reputation: K-factor driving Korea’s next higher education wave

ED Nat'l budget boosts AI drive

Fresh from the success of last week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, President Lee Jae Myung has announced his administration's 728 trillion won ($525 billion) budget, which includes a massive push to advance the development and application of artificial intelligence (AI). Asking for bipartisan cooperation to pass the largest-ever national budget by Dec. 2, Lee highlighted the 10.1 trillion won allocated to position Korea as one of the world’s leading AI powerhouses. That amount is more than triple the AI budget for this year. Despite talk of an "AI bubble," the administration and Korean businesses have been advancing sovereign AI initiatives rapidly, a move that Nvidia appears to back, pledging to supply the Korean government and four major conglomerates with 260,000 of its coveted graphics processing units. With industries and technology racing toward AI, the government’s budget appears increasingly justified. "It is Korea's first budget to open the era of AI," the president said, likening his agenda to the industrializat

Nov 5, 2025

ED 260,000 Nvidia GPUs for Korea

The recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, delivered a string of diplomatic breakthroughs: the conclusion of Korea-U.S. tariff negotiations, the normalization of Korea-China relations and renewed multilateral cooperation. Yet the most transformative outcome may not have been diplomatic at all. Korea’s deal to secure 260,000 of Nvidia’s latest Blackwell graphics processing units (GPUs) stands as a game-changing achievement that could redefine the country’s position in the global artificial intelligence (AI) landscape. GPUs, the computational engines that power everything from language models and generative systems to robotics and advanced manufacturing, are the beating heart of the AI revolution. The Korean government had initially aimed to secure 50,000 GPUs by 2030. Acquiring more than five times that number in a single stroke catapults the nation into the top tier of AI infrastructure powers, alongside the United States and China. This deal is not merely a commercial transaction. It is a powerful signal of trust and partne

Nov 4, 2025

ED Sinophobia hinders Seoul-Beijing ties

President Lee Jae Myung expressed hope that South Korea and China will work together to get their bilateral relations back on track following his summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Saturday. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation event in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. “There have been ups and downs in Seoul-Beijing relations. Despite this, our friendship and the history we have built together remain unchanged,” Lee wrote on social media Sunday, a day after his meeting with Xi. Lee added that he hopes to visit China soon to continue efforts to bring the two countries closer. It is a positive sign that the leaders of South Korea and China finally met face-to-face — albeit briefly — after years without dialogue at the highest level. The Lee-Xi summit reflects the current state of Seoul-Beijing relations. The absence of a joint statement after the meeting underscores the remaining gaps between the two sides. It will take time for the two countries narrow their differences, and improving bilateral ties will not be easy. South Korea

Nov 3, 2025

[ED] Sinophobia hinders Seoul-Beijing ties

ED Progress, trade truce at APEC

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit hosted last week in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, ended with tangible successes. It appears President Lee Jae Myung's pragmatic diplomacy has served the nation well. By bringing together the leaders of 21 member economies for the multilateral meeting — including the rival “G2” powers, the United States and China — and adopting the Gyeongju Declaration, which reaffirmed the members' commitment to a multilateral cooperative framework, Lee provided a measure of reassurance. This was felt by both domestic and international observers. Yet it will be hard to dismiss concerns about whether the level of goodwill and the agreements reached at Gyeongju will hold. Lee has passed a major diplomatic test, but now he faces more advanced and complex pressures. Korea was able to reach an agreement with the United States on the implementation of its promised $350 billion investment into the world’s largest economy, in return for a flat tariff rate of 15 percent on Korean goods, including major export items such as cars and car parts. Th

Nov 2, 2025

ED A new dawn for alliance

The Korea-U.S. relationship has entered a new chapter. On Wednesday in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump reached a dramatic breakthrough in the long-stalled tariff and security negotiations. The two leaders agreed on a framework for Korea to invest $350 billion in the United States, which will involve cooperation in shipbuilding and advanced technology, and a tentative pathway to expanding nuclear energy collaboration. While the deal may not fulfill every expectation, it stands as a balanced and realistic compromise that strengthens both countries’ strategic and economic foundations. At the heart of the talks was a dispute over how to finance the $200 billion in cash-based investments that form the core of the agreement. Washington had initially demanded that Seoul make a full, upfront payment, an impossible condition given Korea’s foreign exchange capacity. The final deal allows Korea to pay up to $20 billion annually, a middle ground between the U.S. proposal of $25 billion annually for eight years and Korea’s suggesti

Oct 30, 2025

ED Trump courts Kim

Here in South Korea, people are paying close attention to every word U.S. President Donald Trump says about North Korea and its leader, Kim Jong-un. Many are wary, as Trump has floated unprecedented — if not unthinkable — options to persuade Kim to meet with him during his Asia tour. Trump mentioned the possibility of sanctions relief as a discussion point, should a meeting with Kim take place. “We have sanctions. That’s pretty big to start with,” Trump told reporters. Before departing the U.S. for Malaysia, the first stop on his Asia tour to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, Trump referred to North Korea as “sort of a nuclear power.” “I think they are sort of a nuclear power. I mean, I know how many weapons they have. I know everything about them…” he said. It seems clear that neither Trump nor his administration intended to recognize North Korea as a legitimate nuclear power. Nevertheless, his high-handed negotiating style has made many South Koreans uneasy. Preventing North Korea from being accepted as a nuclear state and maintaining

Oct 29, 2025

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