Most Popular
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After opposition U-turn, Korea to repeal plan for financial capital gains tax
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North Korea fires ballistic missiles hours before US Election Day
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Harris, Trump face off as North Korea tests US on Election Day
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Gangnam Station ramming suspect to face detention
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Amid record-low approval rating, Yoon forgoes Assembly budget address
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[Out of the Shadows] Seoul room clubs offer drugs to compete for clientele
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Local food festivals enjoy unexpected popularity as snacks go viral
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South Korea and Central Asia set stage for first summit
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Ruling party leader condemns North Korea troop dispatch as crime against humanity
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‘Children have the right to great stories': Head of Astrid Lindgren Award stands firm against book ban
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[Editorial] Beat populism
The National Assembly on Monday started in earnest to deliberate on the 667.4 trillion won ($483.4 billion) government budget for next year. The budget increased a modest 3.2 percent year over year. Deliberation ends in the general meeting of the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts on Nov. 29. Voting on the budget bill is slated for Dec. 2 in the Assembly plenary session. The ruling People Power Party makes much of fiscal austerity, while the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea regard
EditorialNov. 5, 2024
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[Editorial] Face the reality
President Yoon Suk Yeol’s approval rating dropped to just 19 percent in a poll released Friday, marking its lowest recording since he took office in May 2022. The continued fall of his approval ratings illustrates public discontent about his handling of political disputes. According to the survey conducted by Gallup Korea, positive assessments of Yoon’s performance edged down 1 percentage point from the previous week. But negative assessments hit an all-time high of 72 percent, up 2
EditorialNov. 4, 2024
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[Lee Kyong-hee] True blessing from Han Kang’s Nobel Prize
The news of Han Kang being awarded the Nobel Prize in literature carried me to the winter of 1970, when I started my journalism career at The Korea Times. My tasks included assisting the managing editor, who was creating the Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards, the first of its kind. In considering the more than 50 years that have transpired for Korean literature -- and Korean culture at that -- it may be said that the Nobel Prize is a crowning achievement for one Korean and a watershed
ViewpointsNov. 4, 2024
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[Room Tone] Go the distance
An acquaintance recently asked me, "Hey, why do you love running?" My response was, "I don’t. I love having run." It might sound like a flippant remark, but it’s the honest truth; the act of running itself still feels like a form of legalized torture. For the past 20 years, I've had a love-hate relationship with running. There are moments when I bathe in the euphoric haze of a post-run high, contrasted with times when my frail ankles scream in agony fro
ViewpointsNov. 1, 2024
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[Robert Fouser] Accepting migrants in South Korea
Last week, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety reported that 2,459,542 foreign residents were living in South Korea as of November 2023. In the ministry's case, the term “foreign residents” includes foreign nationals living in the country for three months or more as well as most naturalized citizens. The number of foreign residents, which is close to reaching almost 5 percent of the population, is the highest in South Korean history. The continued increase in the number of f
ViewpointsNov. 1, 2024
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[Editorial] Tackle tech roadblocks
The confrontation between the US and China over high-stakes technology sectors is expected to intensify next year as a new set of rules set up by the US will restrict investment in China. The question is how the rules will affect South Korea, which maintains close trade relations with both the US and China. In the short term, such rules are likely to have a limited impact on Korea’s technology industries, according to experts in Seoul, but in the long term, there are shifting factors that
EditorialNov. 1, 2024
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[Wang Son-taek] Diplomatic composure in tumultuous times
The world is undergoing significant shifts, and the pace of these changes can often provoke anxiety and uncertainty. Across continents, events are unfolding with potentially profound impacts on global stability. Former US President Donald Trump is positioning himself for another term that could potentially reshape the liberal order. North Korea is sending troops to Russia to fight Ukraine, creating new geopolitical complexities. In Japan, a new prime minister faces political instability, increas
ViewpointsOct. 31, 2024
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[Editorial] Fiscal expedient
The government forecasts tax revenue to be 29.6 trillion won ($21.4 billion) short this year. The Ministry of Economy and Finance said Monday that it will use 14 to 16 trillion won in three funds to make up for the shortage. The three are: the foreign exchange stabilization fund, the national housing and urban fund and the public capital management fund. It will not issue government bonds. The government plans to cover the rest of the shortfall by withholding some 6.5 trillion won in national ta
EditorialOct. 31, 2024
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[Kim Seong-kon] Living in the animal kingdom
These days, intellectuals lament that humans behave as if they were living in the animal kingdom. It means that we have lost our humanity and act like animals. An animal’s primary concern is to eat and survive. In addition to searching or hunting for food, some animals flock together and others fight for dominance over territorial disputes. Of course, animals also have some admirable traits, such as caring and sharing, but these behaviors tend to be limited to family or individuals within
ViewpointsOct. 30, 2024
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[Editorial] Currency risks
South Korea’s financial authorities cautiously watch the fluctuation of the Korean currency’s value against the US dollar in recent weeks, a fresh warning sign that may threaten to undermine the recovery of the country’s economy. The Korean won against the dollar opened at 1,390.5 won on Monday before hitting an intraday high of 1391.5 won. It closed down at 1,385 won. On Tuesday, the Korean currency has ended at 1,386.5 won. In the short term, the fluctuations in the past two
EditorialOct. 30, 2024
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[Grace Kao] Taking gratitude into our own hands
I received a handwritten thank-you card from my childhood friend’s daughter this week. I sent a birthday check a little while ago. I very much appreciated it, and it shows that my friend has taught her daughter well, and that her daughter has good manners. I constantly remind my students to write thank-you notes (even a simple email message). I dare not ask them to handwrite thank-you cards. However, every so often, a handwritten thank-you card will appear. It is an exceedingly rare event.
ViewpointsOct. 29, 2024
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[Editorial] Multicultural era
The number of foreign residents living in the country for three months or longer as of November last year hit an all-time high of 2,459,542, a report by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety showed last week. The report defines all foreign nationals living in Korea for over three months, naturalized citizens who are not ethnically Korean and children born here to foreign national parents as "foreign residents." This record was attributed to a surge in the numbers of foreign workers a
EditorialOct. 29, 2024
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[Yoo Choon-sik] Monetary policy confined by apartment prices
South Korea’s economy posted surprisingly weak growth in the third quarter, as exports declined due to cooling demand from major markets like China, while construction investment plummeted amid a persistent slump in the domestic real estate market, according to official estimates from the central bank. Disappointing growth and slowing inflation typically point to a need for loosening in monetary policy to support the economy. However, most analysts predict the Bank of Korea will not lower
ViewpointsOct. 28, 2024
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[Editorial] Poor approval rating
Gaining and maintaining popularity is not necessarily the top priority for a president. After all, the person who leads the nation often has to embrace policies that may generate protests but need to be enacted for the country’s future. However, data on the popularity of a president can be viewed from a different angle. If the president's approval rating remains near rock bottom, and the reasons for such dismal results are related to bad policies or unwise decisions, the data inevitab
EditorialOct. 28, 2024
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[Allison Schrager] Populism bad for economic growth
The degrowth movement, which had a moment a few years ago, is over -- and not a moment too soon. As nations in Europe and North America face mounting debt and aging populations, politicians are again talking about how to increase economic growth. There’s only one problem: No one is advocating policies that will actually work. Doing that would require embracing change, which is the last thing any politician beholden to populism wants to do. The best recent illustration is former President D
ViewpointsOct. 28, 2024
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[Editorial] A glimmer of hope
It is a pleasant surprise that South Korea's number of newborn babies rose on-year for two months in a row in August, a development that offers a glimmer of hope for the country struggling to resolve its demographic crisis. Korea has long suffered a dismal birth rate, painting a negative picture of economic health in tandem with the rapidly aging population. But according to data compiled by Statistics Korea, 20,098 babies were born in August, marking a respectable 5.9 percent increase from
EditorialOct. 25, 2024
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[Lee Byung-jong] President Park’s legacy
In this season of Nobel Prize awarding, South Koreans were happily surprised twice. The biggest news was of course the winning of the Nobel Prize in literature by the novelist Han Kang. Equally important, but perhaps less noticed news was the fact that the three winners of the Nobel Prize in economics revealed their work was largely inspired by the success of the Korean economy. In studying why some countries succeed economically, while others fail, they used Korea as a prime example of a succ
ViewpointsOct. 25, 2024