Most Popular
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Debate rages over ‘overly fatty’ samgyeopsal
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40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather
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[Weekender] Korean psyche untangled: Musok
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N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel
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Pandemic left Korea more depressed than before: report
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Gov't appears to shelve punitive measures against mass walkout by doctors
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[Eye Interview] 'If you live to 100, you might as well be happy,' says 88-year-old bestselling essayist
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From fake prostitution ring to nonexistent robber, prank calls hamper police
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Missing S. Korean traveler in Paris found safe after 2 weeks
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S. Korea, China, Japan in talks to hold trilateral summit May 26-27: official
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[Editorial] Med school obsession
The overwhelming and almost obsessive popularity of medical schools among elite Korean students has been a concern among education policymakers over its side effects, such as a growing number of repeat test takers. Another troubling sign is emerging: 1 in 5 applicants who made it to much-coveted medical schools hailed from wealthy districts in southern Seoul -- and their share is steadily on the rise. Among those who were admitted to medical schools, 20.8 percent of applicants came from the thre
EditorialMay 12, 2023
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[Lee Kyong-hee] History matters in Korea-US-Japan relations
On the cusp of World War II, Syngman Rhee warned Americans about Imperial Japan’s expansionist ambitions. “To review the past is to preview the future,” wrote the future president of Korea in his 1941 book, “Japan Inside out: The Challenge of Today.” Months after the book’s release, Japanese planes bombed US naval ships at Pearl Harbor. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Korea-US alliance and mutual defense treaty, hailed as a historic success. Yet, t
ViewpointsMay 11, 2023
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[Doyle McManus] Concerns grow about US debt ceiling
It's time to start worrying about the debt ceiling. The US federal government is careening toward its borrowing credit limit, beyond which the Treasury won't be able to pay all its bills. The consequences could be truly catastrophic -- a global financial crash -- or merely damaging: a jump in interest rates, a plummeting stock market and a more likely recession. Last week, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said the "X Date," the day the money runs out, could arrive as soon a
ViewpointsMay 11, 2023
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[Editorial] Step up reforms
The accomplishments of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration in its first year are far from small. His presidency marked the first anniversary on Wednesday. It set some state affairs that had caused problems right. The Yoon administration scrapped the nuclear phase-out policy that damaged Korea’s advanced nuclear industry. It eased anti-market real estate regulations that caused property prices to skyrocket. Its attempt to redress the high-handedness of large labor unions is something the previ
EditorialMay 11, 2023
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[Kim Seong-kon] From Hallyu fans to Korean studies specialists
The other day, I passed by a Books-A-Million store near my house in rural New England. Otherwise known as “BAM!,” this big store is a typical pop culture emporium that sells books, DVDs, movies and toys. Normally I would walk by without a second thought, but I saw something that intrigued me, a big poster hanging on the front window that said, “K-Pop Available Here.” The poster got me so curious that I decided to drop in to see what they had. Inside, I found another large
ViewpointsMay 10, 2023
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[Editorial] Shift in COVID-19 policy
The World Health Organization announced Friday that COVID-19 is no longer a global public health emergency, a landmark declaration that calls for a change in policy and strategy to handle the coronavirus. The WHO said in a statement that deaths and hospitalizations related to COVID-19 are declining, while the levels of immunity to the coronavirus is going up as a result of vaccination or prior infection. The global health agency suggests it is time to shift to more long-term prevention and contr
EditorialMay 10, 2023
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[Antara Haldar] The price of sweatshop development
It has been ten years since an eight-story commercial building housing several textile factories on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, collapsed on April 24, 2013. The collapse of Rana Plaza claimed the lives of 1,134 people and severely injured 2,000 more, most of them women. It was the deadliest industrial disaster since the 1984 gas leak that killed more than 3,000 people in Bhopal, India, and the worst accident in the modern history of the textile industry. Thousands of workers were trapped
ViewpointsMay 10, 2023
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[Faye Flam] AI helps us read minds, but should we?
Since mind reading has only existed in the realms of fantasy and fiction, it seems fair to apply the phrase to a system that uses brain scan data to decipher stories that a person has read, heard, or even just imagined. It’s the latest in a series of spooky linguistic feats fueled by artificial intelligence, and it’s left people wondering what kinds of nefarious uses humanity will find for such advances. Even the lead researcher on the project, computational neuroscientist Alexander
ViewpointsMay 9, 2023
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[Jonathan Bernstein] Why US elections are more democratic
Colin Allred, a former NFL player now in his third term in the US House, plans to give up a safe Texas seat to take on Ted Cruz for the US Senate in 2024. He is probably Democrats’ best hope to challenge the Republican incumbent. While his bid, announced Wednesday, is a long shot, Allred’s candidacy is proof that the torrent of money involved in political campaigns, and specifically the huge number of small-scale donations, has been a boon for American democracy. A lot of people hav
ViewpointsMay 9, 2023
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[Editorial] Foundation for cooperation
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to South Korea is significant in that it revived the "shuttle diplomacy" format after a 12-year hiatus. It was a two-day working visit in return for President Yoon Suk Yeol's visit to Japan in March. Kishida's return visit came less than two months after they met in Tokyo. The Japanese leader came to Seoul on Sunday for a summit with Yoon. The last time a Japanese leader visited Korea was February 2018. At that time, Prime Mi
EditorialMay 9, 2023
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[Editorial] Crypto asset disclosure
Rep. Kim Nam-kuk of the Democratic Party of Korea is now at the center of an intensifying political conflict over his cryptocurrency transactions. The focus is on whether his holdings and disposal of crypto assets violated laws or regulations. With the investigation still underway, there is no way at this point to conclude that any illegal acts were committed by Kim. Regardless of the result of the probe, however, the implications of the case are likely to be far-reaching, especially in connecti
EditorialMay 8, 2023
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[Nicholas Goldberg] Trump‘s up in the polls. How can that be?
I guess it’s possible that Republicans really don’t care about Donald Trump’s run-ins with the law. Maybe, despite the numerous allegations, investigations and charges against him -- for rape, for defamation, for seeking to subvert the 2020 election, for his role in the Jan. 6 assault, for falsifying records about hush money payments -- he will maintain his position as the front-running GOP candidate and once again persuade his tens of millions of zealous supporters to vote for
ViewpointsMay 8, 2023
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[Tom Ginsburg] Charles' realm will not disappear
As Britain’s King Charles III is officially coronated, the “empire on which the sun never set” is looking a little shabby. In addition to the United Kingdom, 14 former British colonies still maintain Charles as their monarch and head of state, but many of his subjects around the world are reconsidering the arrangement. Barbados became a republic in 2021, and Jamaica has initiated a similar process of constitutional reform. Others might soon follow. Why should countries from Bel
ViewpointsMay 8, 2023
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[Robert J. Fouser] Problems with the ‘Pax Americana’ revival
President Yoon Suk-yeol charmed Washington last week on his first state visit to the US. His speech before a joint session of Congress was received warmly and his rendition of “American Pie” was the highlight of a lavish state dinner. He relished the hospitality, much as President Joe Biden did on a visit to Ireland in mid-April. The visit will be remembered, however, as a turning point, not in relations between South Korea and the US but in relations between South Korea and China. P
ViewpointsMay 5, 2023
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[Editorial] Biased evaluation
Korea Gas Corp., a state-owned enterprise that effectively monopolizes the import of liquefied natural gas, is said to have raised the annual salary of its executives by 30 percent on average last year despite its mounting debt. The average annual salary of its board members was 171.48 million won ($128,545) in 2022, according to ALIO, a government system that provides management information on public institutions including state-owned enterprises. The amount was up 30.1 percent from 131.79 mill
EditorialMay 5, 2023
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[Wang Son-taek] The secret to success following the Korea-US summit
President Yoon Suk Yeol returned to Seoul after a state visit to the US. As the visit is of national interest, it is natural to see many assessments and debates on whether the summit was successful. However, there are concerning elements in the discussions. The evaluations are sharply divided according to the political camps, becoming the subject of political struggle and causing the whole country to be cut in two. However, applying such tribalism to the outcome of the President's foreign
ViewpointsMay 4, 2023
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[Noah Feldman] Kids have free speech rights too
The new bipartisan bill to limit kids’ access to social media will no doubt appeal to many parents. The trouble is that, under existing First Amendment doctrine, the proposed law is almost certainly unconstitutional. For the Supreme Court to uphold it would require it to repudiate a 2011 precedent, Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, which struck down a California ban on selling or renting violent video games to minors. The proposed legislation, named the Protecting Kids on Soc
ViewpointsMay 4, 2023
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[Editorial] Shuttle diplomacy
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is scheduled to pay a two-day visit to South Korea this weekend amid growing attention about whether the Japanese leader will respond in kind to President Yoon Suk Yeol’s friendly gesture. Kishida’s visit to Seoul -- the first bilateral visit by a Japanese leader in 12 years -- was initiated by Yoon’s efforts to improve the badly damaged ties between the two countries in recent years over historical and economic disputes. In March, Yoon fle
EditorialMay 4, 2023
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[Editorial] Leafleting of NK positive
The Supreme Court ruled last week that it was unfair for the Moon Jae-in administration to cancel the permission for the establishment of a group run by North Korean defectors to fly balloons filled with leaflets into North Korea. It reversed the lower courts’ decision which had said the cancellation of the permission was just. The Supreme Court ruled that sending leaflets into North Korea plays a positive role in showing North Koreans the reality of their nation's regime, calling att
EditorialMay 3, 2023
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[Jean Pisani-Ferry] Economic threat of geopolitical primacy
In recent weeks, there has been no shortage of speeches by prominent leaders discussing their countries’ relationships with China and the potential economic fallout of geopolitical fragmentation. This is a welcome, if much-belated, discussion. But it must address a fundamental question: Can rivalry and economic integration coexist and, if so, under which terms? The answer will determine the fate of the global economy. In February 2020, Jennifer Harris and Jake Sullivan published an article
ViewpointsMay 3, 2023