[Editorial] Tariff stalemate

Trade disputes rarely spiral into full-blown economic crises. Yet the latest standoff between South Korea and the United States over tariffs and a $350 billion investment package is doing precisely that — unsettling markets, testing diplomatic trust and forcing both governments into an awkward contest of brinkmanship. At issue is US President Donald Trump’s demand that Seoul’s pledge be delivered not as loans or guarantees but as “upfront” cash or equity. President Lee Jae Myung has warned that

Sept. 29, 2025

[Editorial] Korea’s growth mirage

The International Monetary Fund’s latest forecast for South Korea offers a small lift laced with a warning. Growth this year is projected at 0.9 percent, a notch above the IMF's earlier estimate and neatly aligned with the Bank of Korea’s outlook. The uptick, fueled by resilient semiconductor exports and fiscal largesse at home, is the kind of revision Seoul is tempted to celebrate. But it should not. Buried in the IMF’s analysis is a sharper verdict: Without structural reform, the government’s

Sept. 26, 2025

[Editorial] One team

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said in a speech to the Supreme People's Assembly on Sunday that there is no reason to avoid dialogue with the US if it stops insisting that his country give up nuclear weapons. This is an expression of his intention to engage in talks only if denuclearization is off the agenda. The US administration has made it clear that the goal of its North Korea policy is to denuclearize the country. However, security experts in South Korea and the US have consistently raised

Sept. 25, 2025

[Editorial] Pricing out talent

It is one thing to put a price on opportunity, quite another to place it beyond reach. By signing a proclamation last Friday to raise the H-1B visa fee from $1,000 to an eye-watering $100,000, US President Donald Trump has turned what was a bureaucratic formality into an economic moat. A gateway for global talent has been recast as a tollbooth designed less to collect revenue than to block passage altogether. The move is more than fiscal bravado. It is the clearest signal yet that the Trump admi

Sept. 24, 2025

[Editorial] Raise productivity

The government is pushing for legislation of a 4.5-day workweek this year. The Ministry of Government Legislation on Wednesday said that it will submit a new bill to support working hours reduction to the National Assembly this year as one of 123 legislative tasks of the government. The Ministry of Employment and Labor on Thursday said that it had set aside a related budget and that it plans to revise the law on working hours this year. Current statutory working hours are 40 hours per week, and

Sept. 23, 2025

[Editorial] Cybersecurity red flags

Once dismissed as the acts of foreign governments, obscure start-ups or the occasional reckless teenager, cyberattacks have become an immediate domestic threat. South Korea’s largest telecoms, leading card issuers and major insurers have all seen their systems breached, customer data exposed and reputations shredded. The breaches at KT, Lotte Card and SK Telecom are not anomalies but symptoms of a systemic national vulnerability. The numbers tell their own story. More than 7,000 corporate breach

Sept. 22, 2025

[Editorial] Losing traction

A Hyundai sedan that once undercut Toyota’s Corolla by thousands of dollars in the US is now, courtesy of Washington, the pricier option. On Sept. 16, US tariffs on Japanese cars were cut to 15 percent, while Korean vehicles remain saddled with 25 percent. What was once an advantage has turned into a brake on competitiveness. The flagship auto sector, long a pillar of South Korea’s economy, now finds itself boxed in by geopolitics, domestic discord and new competitors. The numbers show how quick

Sept. 19, 2025

[Editorial] A spider's web of regulations

Every previous government attempted to abolish or ease regulations. It is true of the current government, too. President Lee Jae Myung presided over the first "strategy meeting to rationalize core regulations" on Monday. He emphasized that his government's goal is to clear away a cobweb of regulations that impede corporate innovation and growth. Lee vowed efforts to ensure this does not become empty rhetoric, saying that it must be very hard to run a business. He also pledged to change unnecessa

Sept. 18, 2025

[Editorial] Taiwan tops Korea

Economic rankings rarely change without fanfare. Yet this year, for the first time in 22 years, Taiwan’s per capita income will edge past South Korea’s. The symbolism is rich: A supposed imitator has overtaken its former model. For Koreans, long used to viewing themselves as the exemplar among Asia’s “tiger” economies, the reversal is jarring. The numbers are unambiguous. Taiwan’s per capita GDP is set to reach about $38,000 in 2025, with South Korea nearer $37,400. Taipei should join the $40,00

Sept. 17, 2025

[Editorial] Respect court’s opinion

Regarding some ruling party lawmakers' demand for Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-de's resignation, the presidential office said Monday that the reasons for making such a demand should be considered and that elected officials (like the legislature) should be given top priority. This is understood to mean that if the National Assembly demands Jo resign, he should consider the background of that demand. A day earlier, Choo Mi-ae, chair of the National Assembly judiciary committee, said on socia

Sept. 16, 2025

[Editorial] Unequal terms

South Korea finds itself in the awkward position of being treated less like a treaty ally than a cash dispenser. Washington’s message has been blunt: Accept the terms of a $350 billion investment package or face a 25 percent tariff wall. That ultimatum, delivered by US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, is not the language of partnership but of coercion — and it is straining the credibility of an alliance that has long been framed as mutually beneficial. The backdrop is the July agreement betwee

Sept. 15, 2025