[Editorial] The $30,000 trap

South Korea’s per capita income marked $36,855 in 2025, according to Bank of Korea data released this week. The increase from the previous year was just 0.3 percent, a gain so small it barely registers in an economy once accustomed to rapid progress. The modest rise might have drawn little notice if neighboring economies were moving at a similar pace. They are not. Japan’s per capita income climbed to about $38,100, while Taiwan advanced to $40,585, firmly entering the $40,000 range. The more re

March 13, 2026

[Editorial] Uphold deterrent

Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense antimissile systems deployed with US Forces Korea appear to be bound for the Middle East. "The USFK may dispatch some air defense systems abroad in accordance with its own military needs," President Lee Jae Myung said Tuesday. "While we have expressed opposition, the reality is that we cannot fully push through our position." Frequent takeoffs and landings of large US military transport aircraft C-5 and C-17 at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi

March 12, 2026

[Editorial] Oil price ceiling

Oil markets have become a theater of nerves. Within little more than a day, Brent crude fell from nearly $119 a barrel to below $90 after US President Donald Trump suggested the war with Iran could end “very soon.” Traders cheered, Asian equities bounced and currencies steadied. Yet even as prices retreated Tuesday, Seoul took steps to revive a tool unused since 1997: a ceiling on domestic fuel prices. For South Korea, oil shocks rarely arrive alone. Rising crude feeds inflation, weakens the cur

March 10, 2026

[Editorial] Tilted playing field

The revised Trade Union and Labor Relations Act, more commonly known as the “Yellow Envelope Act,” has just gone into effect. Labor groups hail it as a step forward for workers’ rights, but critics warn it could destabilize the country’s labor-management relations. Earlier, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions warned it would call a general strike in July against prime contractors that refuse to bargain with subcontractors' unions. The business community, meanwhile, is on edge. The law takes

March 10, 2026

[Editorial] Managing energy turmoil

Inflation, much like a storm at sea, typically makes landfall well after the winds have shifted. South Korea’s consumer prices rose 2 percent in February, hitting the central bank’s target with deceptive precision. Yet the stability suggested by that data belongs to a geopolitical landscape that has already vanished. The US-Israeli war with Iran has jolted global energy markets and placed the Strait of Hormuz under strain. The implications are serious. This narrow waterway carries a substantial

March 9, 2026

[Editorial] A fragile rebound

On Thursday, South Korea’s stock market staged a dramatic rebound, a day after a dizzying crash. Yet the spectacle should not be mistaken for stability. On Wednesday, the benchmark Kospi plunged 12.06 percent to 5,093.54, its steepest one-day decline since the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. The selloff was triggered by escalating war fears in the Middle East. Circuit breakers halted trading as panic spread across the market. The “fear index,” the Kospi 200 volatility index,

March 6, 2026

[Editorial] Cost-effective war

The US-Israeli war on Iran reveals how the paradigm of modern warfare is rapidly changing. According to Bloomberg News, Iran has continued to pound targets across the Middle East, using Shahed-136 one-way attack drones and small cruise missiles. US-made Patriot air-defense missiles have reportedly intercepted more than 90 percent of Iran’s Shahed drones and ballistic missiles. The real issue, however, is the price imbalance: $4 million interceptor missiles are being used to shoot down drones wor

March 5, 2026

[Editorial] War spreads across Gulf

Wars are often sold as swift. This one began with a promise of speed and precision, and within days exposed the illusion. On Feb. 28, the US and Israel launched “Operation Epic Fury,” a coordinated strike that killed Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and targeted missile facilities. US President Donald Trump projected four to five weeks of operations, while stressing that US forces could continue far longer if required. What was framed as a decapitation strike has instead widened into a regio

March 4, 2026

[Editorial] Maintain readiness

As North Korea escalates its nuclear threats and seeks to drive a wedge between South Korea and the United States, signs of discord within the alliance are fueling concern. At last month’s Ninth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea, Kim Jong-un pledged to accelerate the buildup of his country’s nuclear arsenal and broaden its deployment. He branded South Korea “the most hostile entity” and warned that its complete collapse cannot be ruled out if it were subjected to a North Korean nuclear att

March 3, 2026

[Editorial] When markets sprint

The meaning of a market milestone is rarely obvious at the moment it is crossed. On Wednesday, South Korea’s benchmark Kospi closed above 6,000 for the first time. It did not pause there. On Thursday, the index finished at 6,307.27, up 3.67 percent. A number once reserved for distant forecasts has become a daily quotation. The speed matters as much as the level. The climb from 5,000 to 6,000 took barely a month, ending decades in which investors spoke more easily of the “Korea discount” than of

Feb. 27, 2026

[Editorial] Unchecked party

Ruling party lawmakers gathered Monday to form a group pushing for the dismissal of charges against President Lee Jae Myung. A total of 105 Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers joined the group, with roughly 60 attending its launch ceremony at the National Assembly. It is the largest group of lawmakers not just within the party, but also in the National Assembly as a whole, with its size nearly matching the 107 seats held by the main opposition People Power Party. They claim that prosecutors fabr

Feb. 26, 2026

[Editorial] Reversal of tech tide

For years, South Korea drew comfort from a familiar belief. China might scale faster, but Korea would stay ahead in the technologies that mattered most: semiconductors, precision manufacturing and secondary batteries. That assumption no longer holds. The latest government assessment points not to a temporary slip, but to a change in direction. China has moved ahead in areas that Korea once treated as defensible ground, and the gap is widening. A 2024 evaluation reported by the Ministry of Scienc

Feb. 25, 2026

[Editorial] Tariff turmoil

The US Supreme Court on Friday struck down the Trump administration’s reciprocal tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act as unlawful. The decision effectively dismantles the legal basis for the "reciprocal" tariffs the US has been imposing on countries worldwide since last April. However, this is far from a development to be celebrated. Uncertainty is deepening over US tariffs and the trade agreements the United States secured in exchange for tariff reductions. Trump prompt

Feb. 24, 2026

[Editorial] Silicon chill

For much of South Korea’s modern history, the social bargain was clear. Education promised insulation. Master a profession, pass the right exams and stability would follow almost by default. The latest employment data suggests that promise has expired. Figures released for January show total employment rising by only 108,000 from a year earlier, the weakest gain in 13 months. This reflects a shift that cuts against long-held assumptions. According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, employme

Feb. 20, 2026

[Editorial] Reform for whom?

The ruling Democratic Party of Korea reportedly plans to push through what it calls “three judicial reform bills” during February’s provisional session of the National Assembly. On Wednesday, it moved ahead with one of the measures — a proposed revision to the Constitutional Court Act — at the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee. The bill would allow plaintiffs or defendants to challenge Supreme Court rulings by appealing to the Constitutional Court. While appeals serve to pr

Feb. 19, 2026