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욱일기 퇴치 캠페인에 힘쓰는 서경덕 교수가 잉글랜드 프리미어리그(EPL) 20개 구단에 욱일기 사용 자제를 요청하는 이메일을 보냈다고 12일 밝혔다. EPL 소속 리버풀은 지난해 말 영상을 게재하며 욱일기 형상이 들어간 이미지를 삽입해 논란을 일으켰다. 맨체스터 유나이티드는 과거 자체 제작 잡지에서 욱일기를 사용했다. 서 교수는 “세계 축구 팬들의 이목이 집중된 EPL에서 욱일기가 꾸준히 등장한 사실을 비난만 할 것이 아니라 욱일기의 정확한 역사적 배경을 전 구단에 제대로 알려주고 싶었다”고 설명했다. 이메일에는 국제축구연맹(FIFA) 산하 아시아축구연맹(AFC)이 2017년 챔피언스리그에서 욱일기 응원을 펼친 일본 가와사키 구단에 벌금 1만5천달러(약 1794만원)를 부과한 사실도 첨부했다. 또 일본 ..

Preemptive policy steps needed to block speculative mindset Apartment prices in some unregulated areas of the Seoul metropolitan region have shown signs of a resurgence, prompting the government to vow to take strong anti-speculative measures. Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki said Thursday that he would work out appropriate policies at any signs of instability in the housing market an..

Concrete measures needed to better protect children from abuse A 43-year-old woman was arrested in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, June 3, for killing her nine-year-old stepson by locking him in a suitcase for hours. The boy suffered a cardiac arrest inside the suitcase and died two days later. During questioning, the stepmother confessed to having put him into the suitcase as a punishment ..

President listens to the experts To the relief of many, President Moon Jae-in has called for a complete review of the just-unveiled scheme to upgrade the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). It is a bold but right step that will address the necessity to fortify the nation's diseases prevention and treatment ability when crises occur. The center has been crucial in its fight a..

Basic income should not be mere campaign promise The idea of basic income has been thrown into the center of political debate. Kim Chong-in, head of the conservative opposition United Future Party's emergency committee for reform, is acting as the catalyst fueling the debate. Basic income refers to money distributed to citizens, regardless of wealth or employment status. Relatively new in the Ko..

Activists should stop acts that threaten residents' safety, cause tension North Korea demanded Thursday that the South keep defectors from the North from flying anti-Pyongyang leaflets into the communist state. Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and first deputy director of the North's ruling Workers' Party, made the demand in a statement in the Rodong Sinmun, the party's mou..

Korea, Japan should find compromise over wartime forced labor South Korea and Japan are showing signs of reigniting their diplomatic row over the latter's wartime forced labor. If they fail to find a compromise, the two countries may risk aggravating their already-sourced relations further. The dispute is turning for the worse as a South Korean court has decided to start a legal procedure to liq..

Time to maximize effect of economic stimulus It is rare for a government to draw up a third supplementary budget in a year, but the Moon Jae-in administration has drawn one up. This shows how desperate the country is to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating impact on the economy. On Thursday, the government presented a new extra 35.3 trillion won ($29 billion) budget bill to the Natio..

Ruling party should embrace opposition Having a dominant majority must be a confidence booster. That is how it looks for the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) as with its 177 seats the party is seeking to unilaterally open the new National Assembly, Friday. The Assembly, by law, must hold its opening session within a week of its inauguration; and the new speaker and vice speakers must also ..

Japan should lift export controls as soon as possible South Korea has decided to resume its complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over Japan's export curbs against some Korean firms, saying the two countries have failed to make progress in bilateral talks to resolve their trade dispute. "Japan has not shown a willingness to settle the dispute, and no progress has been made. We have r..