The presidential office appears to be trying to shift some of the blame for the escalating woes from the Park Geun-hye scandal to the parliamentary opposition, seemingly as part of a desperate political tactic to block a breakup of the administration.　A Cheong Wa Dae official has raised the necessity of naming a new prime minister as soon as possible to effectively prepare for widening uncertainties in economy and defense. His remarks were targeted at opposition parties, condemning them for dela

In the thunder of a presidential campaign, it is sometimes hard to remember that the president of the United States is the head of just one of three equal branches of the federal government.　The president cannot raise or cut taxes, expand or contract the defense budget, commit the US to treaties or amend the US Constitution. There is very little that a president can do without the consent of at least a majority of US senators, who are under no obligation to support the president’s agenda, and a

South Korea’s prosecutors are believed to have been quite loyal to President Park and her predecessor Lee Myung-bak, both of whom came from the Saenuri Party.　The prosecution’s stance is in contrast to its tense relations with the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, who had tried but failed to root out irregular practices in the monopolistic agency via a drastic overhaul.　Unlike Roh, Lee and Park sought to maintain friendly relations with the prosecution by securing the agency’s vested interests

Hillary Clinton already had an elaborate plan for tax reform. This week she added to it, again. She now wants to double, to $2,000, the tax credit granted to parents of young children, and to make it “refundable,” meaning that cash would be paid even to parents who owe little or no tax.　As it stands, there is lot to be said for this idea. The rest of Clinton’s tax plan contains some good ideas, too. The problem, though, is a surfeit of ideas of every kind -- good, bad and indifferent. What the U

Rival parties are poised to clash over corporate tax levels during the plenary session of the National Assembly, which will run through this December. The issue came into the spotlight during the parliamentary audit, which ended Friday.　The former President Lee Myung-bak administration slashed the highest corporate tax rate from 25 percent to 22 percent, and President Park Geun-hye has kept it untouched in line with her commitment to provide welfare without tax hikes. The ruling Saenuri Party al

Chances are that the strained relations between Pyongyang and Washington will not thaw in the coming months, as the U.S. has put North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on its sanctions blacklist for the first time.　Dictator Kim is among 15 officials and eight entities identified in the blacklist designated by the U.S. State Department and Treasury. This is the first time that Kim has been personally blacklisted, although in the past there have been international and unilateral bans in connection with t

The government has unveiled measures, deregulations and tax rewards to reinvigorate newly emerging industries, amid growing concerns over a longer-than-expected export slump.　Its announcement, which was made at a trade promotion gathering chaired by President Park Geun-hye on Thursday, is drawing wide attention, as the government — in coordination with the private sector — has pledged to inject up to 4 trillion won ($3.4 billion) into prospective industries.　A project for a robot theme park in a

Statistics Korea data shows that 1 in 5 seniors aged 65 or over are living alone. The number of senior citizens living in solitude has continued to increase over the past decade, and the future growth is projected to be more rapid.　And some local demographers predict that by 2035, 15.4 percent of all households will be seniors who live alone.　The seriousness of the situation is evident from a survey by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, which found that more than 4 out of every 1

South Korea has introduced the English disclosure system, through which investors can access corporate regulatory filings both in Korean and English. This is a major development in the stock market, which was opened to foreign investors in 1992.　The collective market capitalization of publicly traded companies on the main and secondary bourses is the 13th-biggest in the world with about 1.2 quadrillion won ($1.03 trillion). Considering the scale and policy aims of Korea‘s globalized investment e

On May 2, Choi Gye-woon stepped down as CEO of the Korea Water Resources Corp. His resignation drew attention as there was no particular reason for him to step down six months before the expiration of his term.　A former university professor, Choi is recognized as one of Korea’s top experts in water management. Until recently, he had been passionate about his work. In March, he was elected the first president of the Asia Water Council.　Choi’s abrupt resignation spawned speculation that he had bee

North Korea has officially kicked off the era of Kim Jong-un by reaffirming his unchallenged one-man rule at a rare congress of its ruling Workers’ Party.　The party congress is being held for the first time in 36 years. The young leader’s father, Kim Jong-il, had never convened it during his reign for 17 years because his father, Kim Il-sung, the founder of the communist country, told him not to hold a congress until “everyone lived in tile-roofed houses with a hot bowl of rice and beef soup eve

Voters in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, did not coordinate in the liberal parties’ sweep of the Seoul metropolitan area during the April 13 general election. The two constituencies -- Danwon-A and Danwon-B -- are residential districts of bereaved families of the Sewol ferry disaster.　It had been widely expected that angry sentiment toward the incumbent administration would lead to a landslide victory for opposition parties in the two constituencies. But the ruling Saenuri Party candidates were elect

The recent general election witnessed an extraordinary event, very much like rare cases at soccer matches. 　As a recent example, the Netherlands has failed to advance to the Euro2016 tournament, slated for this summer, as it ranked below the Czech Republic, Iceland and Turkey in a regional qualifying round.　Considering that the number of advancing teams has increased from 16 to 24, starting from this event in Paris, the dropping out of the Netherlands -- which was runner-up in 2010 and third in

Korea is undergoing rapid demographic changes such as the fast aging of the population and an increase in the number of multicultural families, but it would not be wrong to say that both the government and society are not yet coping with the changes properly. 　Of all, the most serious problem is aging. It is normal for a society like Korea to get increasingly older in accordance with its economic advancement. Nevertheless, the pace of aging is too fast.  　Government statistics show that the prop

Korea is a democracy, and any one eligible has the constitutional right to seek elected office. But what we hear about some of the candidates running for the April 13 general election provides cause for concern. 　Most worrisome is that some of the candidates are former members of a radical leftist party banned by the Constitutional Court for its pro-North Korea, socialist platform and activities that the court said were acts of rebellion. 　News reports said that about 40 of the 60 candidates run

When candidates for the April 13 general election started to register with the National Election Commission on Thursday, many thought that the internecine feud in the ruling Saenuri Party over candidate nomination was over. They were wrong.　The unsavory drama reached its climax that day, as the party’s chairman, Rep. Kim Moo-sung, dropped a bombshell. He announced that he would not put his seal on the nomination papers of five candidates who he said were selected based on seriously biased criter

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering has admitted that it manipulated its financial statements for 2013 and 2014.　The ailing shipbuilder reported operating profits of 424 billion won in 2013 and 454 billion won in 2014. But the company announced Friday that it actually suffered operating losses of 776 billion won in 2013 and 743 billion won in 2014.　It also corrected its 2015 operating loss, which was overblown as a result of the window dressing in the preceding two years. Earlier this year,

Like in other parts of the world, work culture in Korea has evolved with the passage of time. But in general, it is still based on the tradition of Confucianism and has yet to remove remaining vestiges of authoritarianism that prevailed during the military dictatorship until the late 1980s. 　It could be noted that some traditional work culture -- like loyalty to organizations and superiors, readiness to take and execute orders without questioning and sacrificing private life -- were part of the

As political parties are gearing up for the April 13 general election, all the negative aspects of Korean politics are being laid bare. Most salient among them are intraparty power struggle, promotion of populist promises and switching party affiliations. 　This time, internal power struggle is more fiercer in the ruling Saenuri Party than in other parties as the confrontation between the faction loyal to President Park Geun-hye and its rival faction has exploded during the candidate nomination p

Lee Se-dol, one of Korea’s top professional Go players, is due to play a five-game match against a computer program developed by a Google affiliate starting March 9. 　The match has drawn keen attention from Go players and technology experts around the world because Go has thus far been viewed as an unsolved “grand challenge” for artificial intelligence. 　Go, which originated in China more than 2,500 years ago, is much more complicated than chess. The classic game is played on a board with a 19x1