Reform of 'Indiscriminate Welfare' Comes before Tax Hike Debate The recent controversy over tax adjustments for income earned in 2014 was caused by politicians and the government attempting to raise welfare benefits without tax hikes. During the 2012 presidential election campaign, both the ruling and opposition parties competitively spewed out rosy promises of welfare support while promising voters their tax burden would not be heavier. Immediately after she took office, President Park Geun-hye emphatically told her senior secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae not to...

Korea’s Public Diplomacy Needs Better Coordination and Strategies I attended two consecutive international conferences on issues related to the Korean peninsula at the end of last year in Washington, D.C. The conferences were supported by the Korean government and happened... Economic Democratization of Two Presidents “Economic democratization" has come into focus again thanks to U.S. President Barack Obama. In his State of the Union address on January 20, Obama pledged to reduce inequality by raising taxes on the rich and reviving the middle... Child Abuse at Daycare Centers Requires Gender Perspective The public wrath over child abuse at a daycare center shows no sign of cooling. The suspect’s personal information has been available on the Internet for weeks. But does making the suspect’s identity public and condemning...

Conflict Creeps into the Busan International Film Festival In the early 2000s, when I was a film journalist, major film festivals were held in Busan, Jeonju, Gwangju and Bucheon. At the time there were endless conflicts between the festival organizers and the respective local... Economic Effect of the Reunification of the Korean Peninsula People in both South and North Korea yearn for unification. Debates on possible economic gains from reunification are actively under way these days. It is believed that a reunified Korea would enjoy higher international ... Trends in Economic Happiness and Policy Implications Most Koreans feel a lack of preparation for later life and children’s education are the two greatest obstacles to their economic happiness, according to Hyundai Research Institute’s latest survey. Among the respondents...

Neighbors Help Siblings from North Korea Enter Seoul National University “I was admitted to such a prestigious university thanks to the help and support of so many people. The only way for me to repay your kindness is to study hard and make you all proud.” Standing in front of the entrance to Seoul N... Destruction of Humanity in North Korea More Serious than Food Shortage On the northeastern outskirts of Pyongyang stands the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun. This is where the body of the late Kim Il-sung lies immaculately embalmed in a clear glass sarcophagus. Jiang Xuen, deputy chief editor of Hong Kong... Kim Soon-kwon: “I was Cheated Out of Payment for Fertilizer and Used by the Politicians.” “Look at my fingertips,” Dr. Kim Soon-kwon said. They were all black. “They got this way from pollinating the corn with my own hands. At the very tip of the corn stalk are the tassels, the...