중앙데일리

Appointments Key to National Unity

President Kim Dae-jung again stressed the "great unity of the nation" when he stopped in Taegu on his inspection tour. Rhetoric like "national unity" and "overcoming regional conflict" has become too commonplace to mean much, but this time there is something about the circumstances and in the old President''s tone that will have us watching with interest what will follow. Since his nomination for the Nobel Prize, the President has been emphasizin…

Oct 30,2000
The Emperor's New Underwear

A project to provide large quantities of winter underwear to the people of North Korea has fallen through, giving us yet another look into the sorry state of our program for economic cooperation with the North. It''s an embarrassingly typical tale of the kind of poor preparation and backroom dealings that have marred our efforts so far. Taechang, an underwear manufacturer, was to produce 10 million sets of long underwear to be sent to the Nort…

Oct 28,2000
Venture Capital at a Crossroads

Yesterday President Kim Dae-jung complained about "some venture capitalists'' wrong behavior" and urged them to clean up their act in the aftermath of the scandal involving Chung Hyun-joon, the head of the failed Korea Digital Line. Even without the president''s comment, the immoral actions of some venture capitalists, coming to light one after another, are enough to disappoint the general public. According to an investigation by tax authorities,…

Oct 27,2000
Power Plays on the Peninsula

The relationship between the United States and North Korea is progressing fast. U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright held talks with National Defense Commission Chairman Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang over a period of two days, and she has arrived in Seoul. She has met with President Kim Dae-jung and presided over a three-way foreign ministers'' meeting with her Korean and Japanese counterparts. It seems that she is taking steps to resolve N…

Oct 26,2000
Financial Watchdog in the Doghouse

The impact of the scandal involving Chung Hyun-joon, head of the failed venture firm Korea Digital Line, has triggered snowballing doubts about Korea''s financial watchdog. Some people were suspicious even before this case came up, because of widespread rumors concerning the staff of the Financial Supervisory Service. They feel that the watchdog''s employees cannot be innocent in this case, and are insisting that there''s no smoke without a f…

Oct 25,2000
Public Firms Lose Moral Compass

The lack of morals on the part of public corporations has become the focus of public outrage. Executives of some corporations have used corporate credit cards to spend freely in massage parlors and other dubious establishments. Others have sold used equipment to employees at dirt-cheap prices. Unscrupulous management of public companies is nothing new. However, now that dishonest management practices have been revealed in such benchmark compan…

Oct 24,2000
'Peace' is the Primary Issue

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright begins her visit to North Korea today. The visit reflects the way the North Korea-U.S. relationship has been affected by the mood of reconciliation originating from the June meeting of Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il. Mrs. Albright’s visit is particularly noteworthy because it is clearly aimed at preparing for a visit by President Clinton in the near future. The matter of greatest concern to the Uni…

Oct 23,2000
Asia, Europe at a Crossroad

Friday and Saturday, Seoul hosts the Third Asia-Europe Meeting, with the participation of the leaders of 10 Asian nations and 15 member countries of the European Union as well as the EU''s executive chairman. Under the banner of "Partnership for Prosperity and Stability in the New Millennium," the conference promises to be a watershed in determining what direction cooperative relations between Europe and East Asia will take in the 21st century. …

Oct 20,2000
Fundamentals First

Yesterday the Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, plummeted briefly to below 490. In response, the government has hurriedly put forth a stabilization measure. For listed companies the purchase of their own stocks has been made easier and for insurance companies the ceiling for equity investment has been greatly raised. Besides, the government will buy corporate bonds of Daewoo affiliates held by investment trust companies for 1 trillion …

Oct 19,2000
Public Needs Clear Talk About Aid

Representative Kim Deog-ryong of the Grand National Party caused a stir on Monday when he told the National Assembly, "In May, South Korea and the United States discussed the idea of replacing a light-water reactor for North Korea with a thermoelectric power plant and direct provision of electricity to North Korea from the South." He exhibited documentation to back his claim, but the government denied that such alternatives had been studied. E…

Oct 18,2000

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