Most Popular
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Yoon calls for dialogue, trust from medical community
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NK leader guides firing drills involving super-large multiple rocket launchers
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Dyson founder visits Seoul for global debut of new hair dryer
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Leaders call for action against threats to democracy posed by AI
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Asiana Airlines wins data transfer certification in China
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Dispute heats up over dispatch of scandal-ridden envoy to Australia
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Dodgers beat S. Korea in final exhibition before MLB opener in Seoul
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Disgraced ex-K-pop star released after serving time for sex crimes
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Trump unlikely to unravel IRA: experts
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Yoon says medical licenses should not be used as tool against people
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[Kim Seong-kon] ‘If I were born in the 1930s’
There is a trend in Korean social media lately, called “If I were born in the 1930s,” which has tremendous popularity among young people. Artificial intelligence draws your portrait in elegant 1930s-style suits or dresses with stylish hairdos and hats, which obviously appeals to Korean young men and women who are fond of fashionable trends. Ostensibly, nothing seems to be wrong with it. Yet, Koreans in their eighties and nineties may frown because of what the 1930s means in our his
Feb. 14, 2024
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[Peter Singer] The competitive edge of doing good
It seems counterintuitive, but in a capitalist economy, doing the most good can provide a competitive edge. I am not referring to businesses that donate a tiny percentage of their profits to charities or tell you that they are reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. I am talking about businesses that donate 100 percent of their profits -- or close to it -- to effective charities that do a lot of good. Newman’s Own, the American food company founded in 1982 by the actor Paul Newman and author A.
Feb. 14, 2024
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[Grace Kao] Are pets replacing kids in Korea?
I must confess that I have always had cats. I have no children. However, at least for me, my cats were not a cause or consequence of a child-free life. My husband and I both love cats and we cannot imagine our lives without our furry family members in our household. In fact, our lives with our non-human companions are typical of the average American household. In 2022, the US Census Bureau reported that 70 percent of US households included pets. In contrast, the proportion of households with chi
Feb. 13, 2024
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[Yoo Choon-sik] Rescuing South Korea Inc. from complex crisis
Zombies have risen as a prevalent theme across various media platforms, including movies, TV shows, books and art, often serving as metaphors for societal issues and symbolizing the breakdown of social order. Moreover, they spark discussions about economic concepts, such as "zombie companies." A "zombie company" is a term used to describe a firm that persists in operation despite being unable to meet its debt obligations with its operating profits. These entities lack financi
Feb. 13, 2024
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[Career Compass] Effective communication key
This is a question I often get asked. Typically, I respond, “Your English is already good enough. Don’t worry and just try it. You will learn by doing.” Despite my sincere encouragement, I usually fail to convince them. “Oh, you are just saying that to make me feel better. You don’t understand because your English must be good,” they say. But I do understand. When I was asked to write this column for The Korea Herald, I had a similar doubt. My first question t
Feb. 10, 2024
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[Robert J. Fouser] An argument for more smoking booths
On a recent visit to Seoul, I noticed something that had never caught my attention before: smoking in outdoor nonsmoking areas. As a nonsmoker, I try to avoid secondhand smoke, but I began to look at smoking areas after noticing groups of smokers in front of a restaurant with a no-smoking sign on the side of the building. The sidewalks near the restaurant also had a sign stating that smoking was prohibited and punishable by a fine. I wondered what caused people to ignore the sign, even at the ri
Feb. 9, 2024
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[Wang Son-taek] Diplomatic disaster and message management
Relations between South Korea and Russia are facing a severe crisis. The spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry belittled the South Korean president's remarks publicly. Under normal diplomatic relations, disparagement is an entirely unacceptable diplomatic provocation. In response, the spokesperson of the South Korean Foreign Ministry directly criticized the Russian president. It might be self-defensive as a draw because both nations exchanged accusations against each other. However
Feb. 8, 2024
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[Mark Gongloff] California floods and Chile fires
After a 2023 filled with climate disasters, 2024 seems in a hurry to top it, with atmospheric rivers in California, wildfires in Chile, drought in Spain and more in just the first weeks. Even as humanity is missing its goals for limiting global warming, nature is reminding us that every tenth of a degree of heat we can avoid will be precious. While Joni Mitchell sang “I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now” at the Grammy Awards in the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sunda
Feb. 8, 2024
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[Kim Seong-kon] 'The most depressed country in the world'
A video on South Korea uploaded by a famed American author, Mark Manson, has become the talk of the town lately. In the video, “I traveled to the most depressed country in the world,” Manson poses a question: “How come a dynamic, vibrant country influencing the world with advanced technology, K-pop and K-drama suffers the world’s highest rate of suicide, alcoholism, anxiety and depression?” In his intriguing video, Manson argues that Korea’s unique blend of Co
Feb. 7, 2024
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[J. Bradford DeLong] What Is US Fed Thinking?
At its monthly meeting on Jan. 31, the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee held firm on interest rates. “The Committee judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are moving into better balance,” the FOMC explained in its press release. But the “economic outlook is uncertain, and the Committee remains highly attentive to inflation risks.” As a result, “the Committee does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the targ
Feb. 7, 2024
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[Op-ed] Holding firm in support of Ukraine
This month we mark a grim anniversary; two years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This period has seen Russia breach international law, commit war crimes and engage in unlawful military cooperation with the DPRK. The Ambassadors of the European Union reiterate their condemnation of these actions, and their appreciation for the solid support of the Republic of Korea for Ukraine. We are confident that the ROK’s support will remain firm, including in full implementation of sanction
Feb. 6, 2024
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[Antara Haldar] Populism’s great replacement of economics
In 1944, as World War II neared its end, the exiled Hungarian economic sociologist Karl Polanyi published The Great Transformation, a treatise that focused on the dangers of trying to separate economic systems from the societies they inhabit. Eighty years on, Polanyi’s warnings about a market economy unleashed from human needs and relations may prove prescient. In fact, the future that he foretells bears a strong resemblance to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, in which the doctor’s
Feb. 6, 2024
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[Jan-Werner Mueller] The case for banning anti-democratic candidates
What should democracies do about parties that use elections and other democratic means to destroy democracy itself? One well-established, but not universally accepted, answer is to ban the party before it comes to power. But what about individual politicians? Americans are heatedly debating that question now that various legal challenges have sought to disqualify former President Donald Trump from running for a second term, owing to his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol. The
Feb. 5, 2024
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[Yoo Choon-sik] Praises, and concerns, over Yoon’s clampdown on borrowings
As we entered February, many of us who resolved to lose weight and achieve a healthier, slimmer body in the new year may be growing restless with the gradual pace of progress. However, it’s important to resist the urge to drastically alter your plan for the remainder of the year in a way that could compromise your health, which is the true objective of these efforts. Similar advice should work for President Yoon Suk Yeol. Having made significant progress in curbing the red-hot surge in the
Feb. 5, 2024
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[Room Tone] If I were in charge
As a producer in the film and television industry, it's rare for us not to indulge in some sort of imaginative play. What used to be "cops and robbers" in the schoolyard has now evolved into scenarios such as "If I were in charge.” Because, let’s be honest, many of us -- correction, all of us -- producers believe we could successfully oversee a film and TV studio. In that same spirit, I offer my own take on “If I were in charge of a film and television stu
Feb. 2, 2024
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[Doyle McManus] Will ‘double haters’ shape US election?
The general election campaign between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the rematch almost nobody wanted, began ahead of schedule last week. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is still contesting the Republican nomination, but she will need a miracle -- actually, more than one miracle -- to dethrone Trump. The chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, declared the former president to be her party's presumptive nominee even though only two stat
Feb. 2, 2024
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[Ana Palacio] The good news from Taiwan
International media are brimming with pronouncements that the West is in decline. The institutions that have formed the foundation of the rules-based international order since World War II are on the brink of collapse, we are warned, and the principles that underpin our open societies have been eroded. These claims are not baseless, and there is plenty of reason to pay attention to them. But it is too soon to write off the West, let alone democracy. At the very least, we should wait to see what
Feb. 1, 2024
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[Mark Jones] Will 2024 be the new 1933?
On Jan. 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany. To his supporters, it was a day of “national revolution” and rebirth. Germany, they believed, needed the restorative force of an authoritarian strongman after 14 years of the liberal-democratic Weimar “system.” That night, Hitler’s torch-bearing brownshirts marched through central Berlin to mark the dawn of a new era. It was also a triumphant moment in the history of popular deception. Since the Wei
Feb. 1, 2024
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[Kim Seong-kon] Overcoming the ‘three S words’ in our traits
In the eyes of foreigners, Koreans are often said to have many admirable, charming character traits, but one also hears of a few negative ones as well, such as having a “short memory,” “shortsightedness” and a “short temper.” These are often known as the “three S words.” As for having a “short memory,” it seems generally true that we tend to forget things too easily. For example, we seem to have completely forgotten how we have survived
Jan. 31, 2024
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[Lisa Jarvis] Post-Roe America’s national shame
It’s now been about a year and a half since the Supreme Court’s decision to revoke the constitutional right to abortion. Over that time, new data has been gradually filling in the picture of what access to reproductive health care looks like in much of the US. And the image forming is increasingly grim. Consider a gut-punch of a research letter published this month in JAMA Internal Medicine, in which researchers estimate that nearly 65,000 pregnancies have resulted from rape in the 1
Jan. 31, 2024