From time to time, we hear about North Korean defectors. Then they quickly recede from the public conscience, as if their plight has been fully understood and cared for. But is it? A young North Korean defector recently risked his life to return to a poor, authoritarian environment 14 months after he crossed the border in the reverse direction. How horrible was trying to adjust to the South that...

The presidential election is coming up fast. The leading candidates, Lee Jae-myung and Yoon Suk-yeol, are locked in a close race as each candidate looks for a breakthrough to gain a decisive advantage. Third-placed Ahn Cheol-soo has seen a slight uptick in support, but he may have peaked as conservative voters shift back to Yoon. Regardless of who wins, the election marks an important generation...

Politicians make speeches far more than ordinary people do, even more than salespeople, perhaps. They speak of the policies they are pushing for the interests of the people, present their opinions about domestic and international issues, and expose their own personal matters or their political opponents’. In particular, they are capable of mixing truths with half-truths and outright lies when nec...

The New York Times reports that US President Joe Biden “will retreat from the tangle of day-to-day negotiations with members of his own party that have made him seem powerless to advance key priorities, according to senior White House advisers. The change is part of an intentional reset in how he spends his time, aimed at emphasizing his power to govern as president, rather than getting trapped i...

It had been months since the president’s last East Room press conference. And his team’s best and brightest understood that, just like sports stars, all-star political communicators can get rusty riding the bench, away from the game’s give-and-take. This time they were determined to leave nothing to chance. Their president was sitting in the center of the Cabinet Room, awaiting his advisers’ tou...

Back when I lived in the US pursuing an advanced degree in the 1970s, Americans frequently exchanged a salutary “Hi!” or “Hello!” when they passed by on the street, even if they were total strangers. Even today, when a baby wakes up in the morning, American parents teach the baby how to greet, by saying “Hi!” with a bright smile. Surely, such warm and friendly greetings, among other things, made ...

After a long, mysterious silence, US President Joe Biden has spoken out about the ever-increasing concentration of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border. He would have been better off keeping quiet, given his astonishing and dangerous message. NATO officials -- and his own aides -- have had to scramble to redefine the meaning of his words. When asked at a press conference if he thought Russia...

At 86, the Dalai Lama is beloved around the globe for his promotion of world peace, religious harmony and the need for climate action. But while the Western world protests China’s human rights abuses, the Dalai Lama is eerily quiet. The spiritual leader of Tibet remains hopeful for a better future for Tibet with China. When the Dalai Lama was asked about the leadership of Chinese President Xi Ji...

The “New World Symphony” by Dvorak has been performed at the most New Year’s concert series around the world. I think this is why. When I was studying in the United States, I often felt lonely and missed my family and friends who were in South Korea. Whenever I encountered any issues or problems, I had to solve them on my own. Since I was a graduate student, I had to prepare to face the real wor...

In the war on disinformation, the enemy can be hard to determine. Journalists, politicians, governments, and even grandparents have been accused of enabling the spread of online falsehoods. While none of these groups is entirely innocent, the real adversary is more mundane. As Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen testified late last year, social media’s own algorithms are what makes disinformat...