중앙데일리

Don't Gamble With Pensions

In a meeting Thursday with stock market personnel, President Kim Dae-jung revealed that the government is planning to raise the percentage of the national pension funds invested in stocks. Officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economy added that in the near future the ministry would increase the portion of the national pension funds invested in the stock market from 10 percent to 20 percent. It is only natural that the nation's top lea…

Feb 08,2001
Did The Maritime Chief Misspeak?

We are curious as to the background of the remark supposedly made by Noh Mu-hyun, maritime affairs and fisheries minister. He reportedly said, "The regime should not hesitate to declare war against the press." Although he asked rhetorically why tax audits into some news companies pose a problem, when asked whether the audits contained a political intention, he said, "What action in the world is done without an intention?" Perhaps he wanted to sho…

Feb 08,2001
Coordinating North Korea Policy

The first South Korea-U.S. meeting of the two nations' top foreign affairs officers since the new American administration was installed served to confirm in principle the need and intention to cooperate on North Korea policy. In a jointly issued press release, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed support for Seoul's policy of rapprochement and cooperation with Pyongyang. But to see this as a resolution of the subtle differences between…

Feb 08,2001
[EDITORIAL] A Call for Proper Hiring

In a cabinet meeting on Monday, President Kim Dae-jung said, "Personnel decisions must not be based on regional or school connections or on personal relations," and emphasized his point by adding, "Be prepared to suffer the consequences if it becomes known that any of you have either made requests for special consideration for someone seeking a job or accepted such requests." Just before this, Prime Minister Lee Han-dong stated that he would over…

Feb 08,2001
[EDITORIAL] Thoughts on Mr. Hahn's Speech

In a National Assembly speech laying out his party's positions, Hahn Hwa-kap, Supreme Council member of the Millennium Democratic Party, suggested that the ruling party and the opposition declare a cease-fire on political wrangling, at least for this year. Lee Hoi-chang, president of the Grand National Party, also said the same thing in his speech Tuesday. Now that the two sides have agreed to put a stop to political quarrels, we hope things will…

Feb 08,2001
[EDITORIAL] Who Is to Blame?

The government and political circles are vacillating over what to do about the Hankook Real Estate Trust. The government, which had been insisting that contractors must bear their share of the loss, yesterday did an about-face, announcing a six-month grace period for court receivership. The story is that the extra time will be used to discuss how the case should be handled and how the losses should be divided up. Since Hankook is already in a sta…

Feb 08,2001
Heed Cardinal Kim's Advice

On Tuesday, Stephen Cardinal Kim Soo-hwan, head of Korean Catholics, gave a gentle, but stinging piece of his mind on Korean politics. When Kim Joong-kwon, chairman of the Millennium Democratic Party, visited him, the cardinal asked if politicians listened to the people''s voices at all. He went on to point out that all are preoccupied with the next presidential election and fail to listen to people''s voices and heed the issues closely related t…

Feb 06,2001
Lee Hoi-chang's Assembly Speech

In his parliamentary address Tuesday, Lee Hoi-chang, president of the Grand National Party, suggested a grand reform in politics and pledged to put the public first. We hope that politicians will go through a self-cleansing period to recover public confidence and then place the people on the top of the agenda. In addition, Mr. Lee''s understanding of the current situation is quite different from that of the ruling camp. Mr. Lee said, "For the …

Feb 06,2001
Curbing Celebrity Fan Clubs

This can be characterized as an era of public "heartthrobs." Thanks to today''s technology, which allows people to "get close" to celebrities by means of Internet sites, fan clubs easily spring up to enable their members to communicate with each other, beyond time and the space, as it were. We need not be too concerned about teen-agers forming fan clubs for their favorite stars, using Web sites to express themselves and share their feelings…

Feb 05,2001
Wasteful Speeches

The extraordinary parliamentary session is finally open, but it is moving at a snail''s pace. Monday accomplished nothing but the prime minister''s address, and starting Tuesday, for three days running, each negotiation body representative takes up a day for a speech. Devoting an entire day to a speech lasting 30 to 40 minutes is utterly wasteful. Furthermore, cabinet ministers need to present themselves for four days in a row. It is necessary to…

Feb 05,2001

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