Opinion - The Korea Times

ED Stern warning for Korea Inc.

Appalling future scenario due to rapid demographic decline Three major global credit ratings agencies have all come to the same appallingly dismal conclusion regarding the future of Korea Inc. They forecast that Korea will face its worst economic situation by 2050, as a result of its rapid demographic aging. They said that the looming crisis will result due to potentially weakened economic growth, paired with snowballing state debts, which are a consequence of a fast rise in fiscal spending on pensions and medical insurance coverage. They cautioned that the nation will be downgraded to junk status should it fail to press for reforms concerning aging-related policies as soon as possible.The ratings agencies have thus far regarded “aging” as a mid-to-long-term factor, not an immediate one. Yet aging has emerged as a key factor in determining the state's credit in light of the growing impact it has on state debt amid the continued hikes of interest rates. The agencies picked Korea as one of the most vulnerable countries among 81 major economies in the world, citing its unpre

May 22, 2023

ED Lonely deaths on rise

Tighter social safety net urgent to protect needy“The life of man is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Seventeenth-century English political philosopher Thomas Hobbes said so in his masterpiece, "Leviathan."No other words better describe the lives of jobless and homeless men in their 50s and 60s in Korea now. However, there is one more thing here ― most of them die alone and are even buried with nobody to mourn them.More than 1.5 million Koreans are at risk of what is commonly referred to as “lonely death,” accounting for 3 percent of the country's population, a government survey showed last week. People in their 50s made up 33.9 percent of them, followed by those in their 60s accounting for 30.2 percent.According to a separate report released last year, Korea saw 3,378 lonely deaths in 2021, growing at an average annual rate of 8.8 percent over the past five years. That is more than nine every day. Men outnumbered women by five to one. All this shows that middle-aged or elderly Korean men today, driven out of jobs and homes, are the most vulnerable

May 21, 2023

ED Opposition at crossroads

DPK tainted by number of corruption charges President Yoon Suk Yeol's approval rating has hovered at around 30 percent since he took office a year ago, which is the lowest among recent presidents.It is now approaching 40 percent for the first time, however. But the rise is not due to Yoon's diplomatic feats as he wants everyone to believe. Yoon is moving too close to the U.S. and too far from China, making even experts sympathetic to him tilt their heads. Instead, Yoon turning a blind eye to all disadvantaged groups, such as unionized workers, farmers and nurses, has rallied his conservative support base.There is a far more decisive factor ― the self-harming main opposition party. The approval rating of the Democratic Party of Korea has fallen to the low 30 percent range. That of its leader, Lee Jae-myung, is even lower. The center-of-left DPK is at a crossroads with its very existence at risk. On Wednesday, the party decided to refer Rep. Kim Nam-kuk, a DPK member until a few days ago, to the National Assembly's ethics committee due to his suspicious cryptocurrency transactions. Lee

May 18, 2023

ED Veto of Nursing Act

Politicians, medical workers must work out a compromisePresident Yoon Suk Yeol refused to sign the opposition-led Nursing Act bill into law Tuesday. “The proposed law causes excessive conflicts among medical workers and anxiety about health among people,” the president said, returning the bill to the National Assembly.Yoon's veto overturned his campaign pledge made 16 months ago.However, he offered no explanation, let alone an apology, for another breach of his election promises. In January last year, Yoon told nurses he would do his best to enact the law. His campaign chief reaffirmed it, saying, “The candidate promised himself.” The presidential veto, the second one in as many months, will likely lead to the discarding of the Nursing Act. The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) vowed to overturn the veto at the Assembly. But that will be difficult even for the majority opposition, given the current legislative landscape. All this will end up just another case of irresponsible politics.Nurses have long aspired to have a separate law that clearly s

May 17, 2023

ED Teens in crisis

Steps required urgently to address suicide, self-isolation among young peopleKorea's suicide rate, still the highest among OECD member nations, has declined gradually over the past decade. A notable exception is the suicide rate among children and adolescents.According to Statistics Korea, the suicide rate among people aged 17 and under was 1.2 per 100,000 in 2000. However, the figure more than doubled to 2.7 in 2021. The comparable rate primarily for middle school students aged 12-14 jumped nearly fivefold, from 1.1 to 5.0 persons.That, along with Korea's lowest birthrate worldwide, casts doubt on this society's health and sustainability. So many buds wither or are trampled long before they blossom. What has gone wrong?Suicide by teenagers, and its weaker or preceding stage of reclusion, are due to the avoidance of social activities such as study and play. Another possible cause is society itself teeming with limitless greed and competition. All parents here wish the worldly successes of money and reputation for their children ― and only that. Kids unable or unwilling to go all the

May 16, 2023

ED Power rate hikes

Energy policy should be based on economics, not politicsStarting today, electricity consumers will pay an additional 8 won (0.6 cents) per kilowatt-hour (kWh).That is 2,800 won ($2) more a month for a four-member family using 300 kWh. The power rate hike will reduce the operating loss of Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) by 2 trillion won in the second quarter.However, that is only a fraction of the cumulative losses at the listed but state-controlled power utility, which snowballed to 44 trillion won as of the first quarter of this year. Company officials say they must increase the electricity rate by 50 won per kWh to stop the deficit.But such chances are slim because of parliamentary elections set to be held next April.The result of delays in rectifying the abnormally low power rates will be dismal. KEPCO's 192.8 trillion won debt will continue to swell, paralyzing operations and hindering necessary investments to expand and upgrade the nation's power grid and cause the industry to come to a grinding halt. Now is the time to normalize the power and other utility sectors.Pre

May 15, 2023

ED Alarm bells ring

Low growth, widening deficits pose threats to economyThe Korean economy is bracing for diverse daunting challenges. The state-run Korea Development Institute (KDI) made a gloomy forecast Thursday, lowering the nation's economic growth estimate for the year to 1.5 percent from the previous 1.8 percent. It revised down the growth estimate for the first half to 0.9 percent from 1.1 percent and lowered the rate for the second half to 2.1 percent from 2.4 percent.The KDI's forecast is based on the possible recovery in outbound shipments of semiconductors paired with the potential effect from China's reshoring. The institute also said the growth rate could fall to the lower range of the 1 percent level should the current conditions continue. In fact, the sluggish exports of chips and demand from China continued in May. According to the Korea Customs Service, the nation's exports in the first 10 days of May declined 10.1 percent from the same period last year, registering a trade deficit for more than 14 consecutive months. It said the trade shortfall amounted to $29.4 billion as of May 10

May 14, 2023

ED A field trip or verification?

World will watch Korean inspectors in FukushimaA team of Korean inspectors will visit nuclear plants in Fukushima, Japan, on May 23. The inspection tour was one of the few significant results of the summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday.However, the visit will likely end up being little more than a field trip. A Japanese official said Tuesday that the inspection is “not meant to evaluate or certify” the safety of the contaminated water that is possibly going to be released into the sea. The remark came only a day after Kishida returned to Japan.Its intent is clear. Tokyo wanted to ensure the upcoming visit is purely observational in terms of how well Japan treats its nuclear-contaminated water before letting it flow into the Pacific Ocean. The comment was also a response to Seoul's claims of joint verification of the water's safety. Why is there such a wide gap between their positions?There are two possibilities. First, the Korean side might have agreed, to certain things, on a very basic level at the summit and then tried to ma

May 11, 2023

ED President's 1st anniversary

Chief executive must reread his inaugural addressPresident Yoon Suk Yeol has marked his first anniversary in office.Yoon started his presidency a year ago, vowing to restore fairness and common sense and conduct a politics of unity.Has he kept the promise ― or struggled to do so? Almost two-thirds of voters say no. Many surveys show negative ratings are nearly twice as high as positive ones. Some think he went in exactly opposite ways. Yoon got off on the wrong foot. The first thing he did after taking office was relocate the presidential office from Cheong Wa Dae to the defense ministry compound, citing unconvincing reasons. It was as if U.S. President Joe Biden had moved the White House to the Pentagon without saying much.Yoon said he “returned Cheong Wa Dae to the public.” But few people had asked for it or even wanted it. Most are still wondering why. The president also said he wanted to communicate with people more directly. Yet Yoon held just one official press conference for the entire year. To be fair, he tried to communicate with the public by allowing reporters

May 10, 2023

ED Intensifying verbal battle

Seoul and Beijing must calm down and return to normalcySouth Korea and China are now exchanging harsh, undiplomatic words. The bilateral relationship has gone from bad to worse since President Yoon Suk Yeol took office a year ago. Their aggravating ties are not surprising. The conservative South Korean leader made clear his preference for America in the G2 battle for global hegemony. The other reason was North Korea's escalation of nuclear threats and China's apparent disregard for it.Astonishing was the quite undiplomatic ― almost irrational ― responses from the Chinese government and state media to Yoon's slightly-too-frank statements on China and Taiwan. Late last month, Yoon expressed his opposition to a potential “change of status quo by force” while commenting on China-Taiwan relations. That was passable by international standards. However, Yoon's comparison of the cross-strait relationship to inter-Korean relations lacked finesse because he seemed to forget to reaffirm the “One China” principle. Global Times, Beijing's English-language mouthpiece, edito

May 9, 2023

Editorial