[Editorial] Focus on tariffs

President Lee Jae Myung presided over a general meeting of the National Security Council on July 10, three weeks before the US is scheduled to impose tariffs. People expected the meeting to deal mostly with the issue of negotiations with the US over its tariffs. But officials related to trade were absent from the meeting. During the meeting, Lee called for efforts to mend inter-Korean ties. He was also reportedly briefed by the Ministry of National Defense on security issues, including an early

July 15, 2025

[Editorial] Consensus under strain

After nearly two decades of deadlock, South Korea’s Minimum Wage Commission last week reached an agreement to raise the hourly minimum wage by 2.9 percent for 2026. The increase, from 10,030 won to 10,320 won ($7.51), marks the first such accord among labor, business and public interest representatives since 2008. The importance of this agreement lies less in the numerical increase than in the process by which it was reached. For the first time in 17 years, the commission finalized its proposal

July 14, 2025

[Editorial] Korea’s industrial drift

Giants don’t stumble quietly. The latest earnings from Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, two pillars of South Korean manufacturing, signal not just a downturn but deeper structural cracks. Their second-quarter profits more than halved, falling far short of even the most conservative forecasts. While escalating US tariffs, rising logistics costs and fierce competition from China are the immediate culprits, the roots of this crisis stretch further, exposing an industrial model increasingly i

July 11, 2025

[Editorial] Golden hour

The United States will start imposing 25 percent tariffs on all South Korean products on Aug. 1, US President Donald Trump said in a letter addressed to President Lee Jae Myung on Monday. Trump sent tariff letters to 14 countries, first releasing the letters to South Korea and Japan on his Truth Social platform. He seems to have disclosed tariff letters to the two countries first because of their large trade surpluses with the US — $66 billion for South Korea and $69.4 billion for Japan. Trump a

July 10, 2025

[Editorial] Korea’s academic exodus

At Seoul National University, long regarded as the pinnacle of South Korea’s higher education system, an unsettling pattern has emerged. Over the past four years, 56 professors have left for academic posts overseas, a quiet but steady migration to institutions offering not only higher salaries but also more generous research funding and fewer bureaucratic hurdles. The symbolism is hard to miss: Even South Korea’s most prestigious university struggles to retain talent in an era when intellectual

July 9, 2025

[Editorial] Saving self-employed

The number of business owners that wound up their operations topped 1 million for the first time in history last year. Retail and restaurant businesses accounted for nearly half of the closures. This means that many business owners are still struggling with debt due to high interest rates, high inflation and stagnant sales. In South Korea, early retirees in their 40s and 50s tend to take out loans to start a business for a living only to close it as they could not withstand the economic slowdown

July 8, 2025

[Editorial] Power without restraint

Late Friday night, as the nation’s attention was focused elsewhere, South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party of Korea passed a supplementary budget worth 31.8 trillion won ($23.3 billion). The party acted alone. No opposition lawmakers took part. There was no compromise, no negotiation. This was no routine fiscal exercise. It was the first major budget under President Lee Jae Myung’s administration, pushed through just a month after his inauguration. Yet the process followed a now familiar pattern

July 7, 2025

[Editorial] Sandbox, not straitjacket

South Korea has long prided itself on its technological sophistication, a nation of 5G networks, semiconductor giants and integrated mobile ecosystems. Yet the legal and regulatory machinery governing its economy remains ill-suited to the demands of the industries it claims to champion. A modest but telling countermeasure has been the “regulatory sandbox,” a policy tool that grants temporary exemptions from outdated laws, allowing innovative companies to test new services or products without bei

July 4, 2025

[Editorial] Diversify markets

South Korea's exports rose from a year earlier in June, rebounding from an on-year drop the previous month. Exports to the US and China decreased largely affected by their trade conflicts, while exports to Europe increased markedly. Exports came to $59.8 billion last month, up 4.3 percent from the same month last year, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy data showed Tuesday. Outbound shipments were the highest for any June. Semiconductors and cars, the country's top two export items, led the

July 3, 2025

[Editorial] Stablecoins, unstable ground

In Seoul’s financial circles, a new image is emerging: a digital coin emblazoned with the South Korean flag, suspended somewhere between statecraft and speculation. Once a fringe idea among cryptocurrency enthusiasts, the notion of a won-backed stablecoin has moved to the center of the country’s monetary policy debate. What appears to be a pragmatic embrace of innovation conceals deeper tensions about the architecture of money, institutional trust and the evolving role of central banks in a digi

July 2, 2025

[Editorial] Be consistent

Contrary to the Korean people's expectations for political parties to pursue the politics of integration under a new administration, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea is acting as it pleases. Just one day after President Lee Jae Myung emphasized communication with the opposition in his speech on Thursday, calling for the passage of an extra budget bill, the Democratic Party monopolized the leadership of four major committees. The opposition People Power Party had demanded the National Assembl

July 1, 2025

[Editorial] New curbs, old fears

Just 23 days into President Lee Jae Myung’s term, the South Korean government has unveiled its most forceful intervention in years to tame a resurgent property market. On Friday, authorities introduced sweeping restrictions on household borrowing, marking the administration’s first major policy initiative and offering early clues to its governing style. At the core of the package is a strict cap on mortgage lending for property purchases in the capital region. Beginning this week, buyers will be

June 30, 2025

[Editorial] Deterrence vs. dialogue

In the uncertain wake of the ceasefire between Israel and Iran — a truce brokered in part by US President Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to enter the conflict — the physical ruins offer more than a lesson in escalation. They reflect a deeper, more enduring question for another tense region: the Korean Peninsula, where policymakers in Seoul are left to assess not triumph but strategic exposure. The 12-day confrontation between Israel and Iran came to a halt not through negotiation but through a d

June 27, 2025

[Editorial] Job blues

The employment situation for young people, women and older workers is deteriorating. According to a Federation of Korean Industries report, released on Tuesday, that analyzed employment indices of a 10-year period (2014-2023), employment rates of Korean youth, women and workers over 55 rose somewhat over the time period but they ranked middle or low among 38 member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Korea's youth (aged 15-29) and women (aged 15-64) employment ra

June 26, 2025

[Editorial] A pause in the storm

Tensions soared early Sunday as the US launched strikes on key nuclear facilities in Iran. Less than 48 hours later, US President Donald Trump announced a “complete and total” ceasefire between Israel and Iran on social media. The twelve-day conflict in the Middle East, which had threatened to spiral further, now appears to be winding down. Oil prices dipped and global markets edged higher, reflecting a collective sigh of relief from investors and governments alike. For South Korea, the immediat

June 25, 2025