[Grace Kao] BTS J-Hope’s ‘Sweet Dreams’ an update to ‘Daydream’

J-Hope of BTS released the new single “Sweet Dreams,” featuring Miguel, on Friday. Like an increasing number of K-pop songs, it was released at midnight in the eastern US to match the start of the week for the US Billboard Hot 100 Charts. The song is R&B and pop, with a memorable chorus and hook. It is also a love song. And unlike most of BTS’ discography, the love is directed at one person and not to the BTS fandom Army. However, what was most notable for me were the parallels to his 2018 solo

March 11, 2025

[Lim Woong] From programming to AI agents: The next frontier

Every day, it seems there’s fresh news about artificial intelligence: self-driving cars, cloud-based services, generative AI that can produce art and text, and even robots with synthetic muscles. The pace of change is dizzying, filling us with hope for a better future as well as worries about deepfakes, misinformation and ethical lapses. It can feel like we’re driving on a foggy highway or drifting on a vast, uncharted ocean. In this column, I hope to clear some of that haze by looking at how ou

March 11, 2025

[Elizabeth Shackelford] How to spot autocracy’s rise

Global freedom and democracy have been declining for two decades, reaching historic lows, according to two reports just released from the Economist Intelligence Unit and Freedom House. To those of us who witnessed the end of the Cold War, it’s hard to accept that the trend toward a freer and more democratic world has reversed. But that’s just because we haven’t been looking for the right signs. Autocracy is on the rise, but it’s not happening with tanks in the streets or generals in uniform anno

March 10, 2025

[Lee Kyong-hee] Struggle of the ‘beasts’ far from over

Seeing tens of thousands of demonstrators engulfing the capital’s downtown streets on Saturday, March 1 harkened back to a massive rally on the very same byways exactly 106 years ago. It is extremely disheartening to fathom the difference. On March 1, 1919, our forebears were firmly united in confronting the brutal Japanese gendarmes under the sole objective of regaining independent sovereignty. Their rally in Seoul sparked a nationwide movement that laid the spiritual and legal cornerstone of o

March 10, 2025

[Robert J. Fouser] Where should next president live?

The possibility of an early presidential election in South Korea in May raises the interesting question of where the new president should live. Until President Yoon Suk Yeol, every South Korean president had lived in Cheong Wa Dae, commonly known in English as the Blue House. Located behind the main royal palace Gyeongbokgung, Cheong Wa Dae was long the center of political power in South Korea. After winning the presidency in 2022, Yoon Suk Yeol refused to live in Cheong Wa Dae, arguing that it

March 7, 2025

[Jeffrey Frankel] Trump’s imaginary victories

The torrent of far-out policy moves that Donald Trump has announced during the first month of his second presidency has left pundits struggling to find method to the madness. Some say it is all a negotiating tactic: Trump starts by staking out an extreme position, so that he later has space to exchange “concessions” with the other party without giving up anything valuable. They point to Trump’s 1987 book, “The Art of the Deal,” which encourages readers to “do things that are bold or controversia

March 6, 2025

[Wang Son-taek] Moments that made a diplomatic fiasco

The heated exchange in the White House on Feb. 28 between US President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shocked the world. The meeting was supposed to be a routine diplomatic event where national leaders exchanged opinions using calculated expressions and sophisticated language. However, what transpired shattered every fundamental element of diplomatic communication. Given the significance of this failure, a thorough review should be meaningful. W

March 6, 2025

[Robert D. Atkinson] Korea’s digital gamble: Will new tech rules hurt innovation and help China?

South Korea is on the verge of making a costly mistake by copying Europe’s misguided digital competition regulations. The Korean government’s proposed competition rules for major internet platforms misunderstand how digital markets function and would actually hurt Korean consumers’ online experience. Even worse, by unfairly penalizing large American technology companies, these policies risk provoking President Trump, who is already looking for excuses to slap tariffs on adversaries and allies al

March 5, 2025

[Kim Seong-kon] The Heungbu and Nolbu traits in our minds

The story of "Heungbu and Nolbu” is one of Korea's all-time favorite folktales, together with “The Story of Sim Cheong,” “The Story of Chunhyang” and “The Fairy and the Woodcutter.” It is the story of two brothers: Heungbu is a poor, but goodhearted, empathetic little brother and Nolbu is a rich, but coldhearted, avaricious big brother. Their comparison presents us with a good parable for our time. One day, good-natured Heungu takes care of a swallow with a broken leg. The grateful swallow bring

March 5, 2025

[Vitit Muntarbhorn] Protecting children in the age of AI

The age of artificial intelligence is very much here. The term “generative AI” is now commonplace, with the public fascinated that AI can actively produce content such as written and audio creations. In fact, the world is moving toward artificial general intelligence whereby robots will be able to match and even outdo human intelligence. Aptly, its relationship with children invites reflection and precaution. On the one hand, AI can bring great benefits, building on the strengths of existing dig

March 4, 2025

[Grace Kao] Preparing for a zombie attack

I love a good zombie movie or Korean drama series. Let me convince you why you should pay attention the next time you watch one. In the United States in 2011, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an instructional guide for how to prepare for a “zombie apocalypse.” Coincidentally in April 2011, the US Defense Department issued a “secret” document titled CONOP 8888 ― otherwise known as “Counter-Zombie Dominance” ― that provided strategic instructions for how to survive a zombie

March 4, 2025

[Lee Byung-jong] Samsung’s fall vs. SK’s rise

Until recently, South Korea was often called “the Republic of Samsung.” Accounting for nearly 20 percent of the country’s total exports, Samsung Group dominated industries ranging from electronics and finance to construction. SK Group, on the other hand, was a distant second or third in terms of economic influence. Yet, in just a few years, their fortunes have reversed dramatically. Although Samsung remains Korea’s largest conglomerate, its performance has stagnated in recent years, while SK has

Feb. 28, 2025

Hurry up and slow down

When I explain the Korean age system to my non-Korean friends, the inevitable question always follows: “Why?” I usually respond with a canned answer, “Such in a rush are Koreans that the clock starts at conception.” Though meant to be facetious, there is a kernel of truth to it. In South Korea, wherever you look, the clock ticks. Many see this ticking clock as a key driver behind South Korea's modern achievements. Even Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, recently remarked, “Of course, Korea is very imp

Feb. 27, 2025

[Wang Son-taek] The price of disruption and arrogation

The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution on the Russia-Ukraine war on Monday, and its contents are both astonishing and disappointing. The resolution demanded a swift end to the war between the two nations and called for sustainable peace. However, it failed to mention who initiated the invasion and who bears responsibility for this tragic conflict. This resolution marks a stark departure from the consistent position of Western nations over the past three years, which condemned R

Feb. 27, 2025

[Bartosz M. Rydlinski] What Germany’s election means

Germany’s Social Democrats are one of the West’s oldest political parties, with a legacy of advocating parliamentary democracy, opposing Nazism, and leading the modernization of postwar Germany. In addition to the many notable labor, economic, and human rights reforms that the party has implemented over the years, former SPD leader and West German Chancellor Willy Brandt’s Ostpolitik in the 1970s laid the groundwork for Germany’s reunification in 1990. But today’s SPD is a shadow of its former s

Feb. 26, 2025