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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[Gernot Wagner] Europe must tax brown and subsidize green
After years of global climate-policy leadership, the European Union is looking warily at the United States’ sudden embrace of ambitious clean energy subsidies. Ultimately, America’s entry into the clean energy race is good news for both the planet and Europe. But will US generosity toward its own companies under the recent Inflation Reduction Act hollow out Europe’s industrial base even further? Will dirty industries continue moving east and south as clean ones move west across
ViewpointsApril 11, 2023
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[Editorial] Strengthen drug investigations
Police recently arrested four people who handed out drugged drinks to high school students on a street in Daechi-dong, southern Seoul. The suspects allegedly told students the drinks were good for memory and concentration. The police are currently on the hunt for another suspect who is thought to have ordered the manufacture and distribution of the drinks. Spiked drinks have been a problem for years among adults in nightclubs and other places, and the same approach is now used to blackmail young
EditorialApril 11, 2023
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[Editorial] Beyond chip glut
Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest memory chip and smartphone maker, said its operating profit in the January-March period would likely be at the lowest level in 14 years, a clear sign that its earnings are suffering from a setback in its core chip business. Samsung’s woes, however, cannot be brushed off as a temporary drop in profits, as its memory chip business has significant implications for the South Korean economy, particularly concerning semiconductor exports. Samsung&rs
EditorialApril 10, 2023
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[Robert J. Fouser] Prospects for Busan’s World Expo bid
Busan’s bid for the 2030 World Expo made big news this week as a delegation from the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) visited South Korea to evaluate the Busan’s ability to hold the event successfully. The country has united behind Busan’s bid and hopes are high that the city will win the event. Amid the enthusiasm for the Busan, two important questions remain. What does it mean for Busan? And what happens if the bid fails? World Expos rank up with the Olympics or the
ViewpointsApril 7, 2023
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[Editorial] Pass fiscal rule
Managing national debt counts for a lot. If a nation manages it poorly, its people pay a terrible price. If sovereign debt exceeds an optimum range, the country’s credit ratings could fall and foreign capital could flee. Worse, the nation could default on its debt. Many people's living standards would fall dramatically, as they did during the Greek and Latin American debt crises. The statement of government accounts for the fiscal year of 2022, which was approved in a recent Cabinet m
EditorialApril 7, 2023
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[Mohammed Soliman] New Asian order is emerging
By building up the notion of the Indo-Pacific as a critical region, Abe Shinzo, the late Japanese prime minister, created a strategic framework that presaged the geopolitical and economic integration now taking place across Asia and parts of Africa. As South Asian and Middle Eastern countries merge into West Asia, a new continental order could reshape the global balance of power. During his first visit to India as prime minister, in August 2007, Abe delivered his seminal “Confluence of t
ViewpointsApril 6, 2023
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[Wang Son-taek] China diplomacy is shining. Where is the US?
Chinese diplomacy is being highlighted in the international theater. As Chinese President Xi Jinping entered the mediation of the Russo-Ukrainian war, there has been increasing attention, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also showing a positive response. President Xi's moves have drawn even more regard since he was recently successful in assisting with a peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran. An interstate cease-fire or peace mediation is usually led by a hegemonic state li
ViewpointsApril 6, 2023
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[Editorial] Regulating ChatGPT
Tech buzzwords tend to come and go quickly. Remember the metaverse? Or the fourth industrial revolution, a concept that swept South Korea several years ago? Now, all attention is placed on what is called “generative AI,” led by OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The popularity of artificial intelligence-powered ChatGPT, which generates highly human responses to text queries based on algorithms and a vast volume of data sets, is sparking off a whole host of new phenomena in various applications
EditorialApril 6, 2023
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[Doyle McManus] Ukraine’s offensive against Russia
After a winter of punishing but indecisive battles, Ukraine is preparing a long-promised spring offensive that officials hope will change the course of the war against Russia. The goal is to break Russia's hold on southern and eastern Ukraine and convince Russian President Vladimir Putin that his war has become a losing proposition. US officials say that if Ukraine succeeds, Putin could eventually agree to peace talks on terms acceptable to Ukraine. But if Ukraine fails, the conflict is lik
ViewpointsApril 5, 2023
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[Kim Seong-kon] Balancing nationalism and globalism
There are certain English words that Koreans misunderstand due to awkward or erroneous translations. For example, the Korean translation of “people” is “gungmin” in the famous phrase from Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.” The Korean word, “gungmin,” means “citizens of a country.” However, the word “people” has nothing t
ViewpointsApril 5, 2023
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[Editorial] Delaying the inevitable
It is indisputable that raising electricity and gas fees is the only solution in the current situation to prevent majority state-owned public enterprises Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) and Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS) from going bankrupt. Their losses have snowballed because they failed to reflect sharp international energy price increases in their fees. KEPCO suffered an operating loss of 32.65 trillion won ($24.8 billion) last year alone. It has to pay 3.8 billion won each day in interest payme
EditorialApril 5, 2023
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Indonesian foreign minister attends Iftar in Seoul
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi (front row, center) attended the Iftar dinner hosted by Indonesian Ambassador Gandi Sulistiyanto (front row, fourth from right) in Yeouido, Seoul, last Wednesday. Iftar is a meal taken by Muslims at sunset to break the daily fast during Ramadan. Marsudi was in Seoul to attend the 2nd Summit for Democracy, the Indo-Pacific Regional Anti-Corruption Meeting and the 4th Indonesia-Korea Joint Commission Meeting (JCM). The dinner was followed by an informal
Foreign AffairsApril 4, 2023
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[Adam Minter] Farmers are fighting for our right to repair our iPhones
The average Tesla-driving, iPhone-using suburbanite isn’t spending a lot of time worrying about tractor software payloads. They should, though. Fixing a broken-down farm tractor used to take just a wrench set and some elbow grease. Now repairs might require a mobile-device interface, online diagnostic tools and secure software updates, too. And that stuff isn't just sitting around in the barn. It’s mostly held at a shrinking number of manufacturer-authorized dealerships. As a
ViewpointsApril 4, 2023
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[Editorial] Decline in tax revenue
A drop in tax revenue is inevitable when the broader economy slows down and corporations suffer operating losses. But the country's tax revenue is currently declining at a worrisome pace, prompting policymakers to discuss the need for raising taxes. According to data from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, South Korea’s tax revenue amounted to 54.2 trillion won ($41 billion) in the first two months of this year, down 15.7 trillion won from the 69.9 trillion won recorded over the sam
EditorialApril 4, 2023
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[Antara Haldar] Wanted: Vladimir Putin
The internet has recently been flooded with AI-generated images of Russian President Vladimir Putin being put on trial or incarcerated. But while the images are fake, international criminal justice is becoming a reality. On March 17, after years of being mired in controversy and crisis, the International Criminal Court surprised the world by formally indicting Putin and issuing a warrant for his arrest. The ICC’s specific charge -- that Putin is responsible for the unlawful abduction and d
ViewpointsApril 3, 2023
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[Song Young-gil] Low birthrate signals warning about ‘hopeless society’
South Korea has already entered into a "demographic onus" era under which the productive age population (15-64 years old) is less than the non-productive population (over 65 years old) due to the continually declining birthrate. The total fertility rate of South Korea dropped to 0.78 in 2022, the lowest in the world, indicating the significance of a childbirth problem in Korea. The figure is significantly lower than the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development average (1.5
ViewpointsApril 3, 2023
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[Editorial] Spotlight NK rights abuses
The government made public its report on North Korea’s human rights violations on Thursday. It is the first time that the government has made public its annual report on the North’s dismal human rights record since it began drafting a report under the North Korean Human Rights Act. The Unification Ministry is said to have prepared a report on North Korea’s human rights violations annually from 2017, a year after the act was passed and when the Moon Jae-in administration began.
EditorialApril 3, 2023
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[Elizabeth Shackelford] Consensus in foreign policy can be dangerous
With the 20th anniversary of the launch of the Iraq War, I’m reminded of the remarkable consensus behind that decision, which passed with strong bipartisan support. Experts, journalists and well-known media personalities joined the bandwagon too. Often, consensus is good. It clears away opposition and helps make things happen. But too often, quick agreement on hard problems is a sign of dangerous groupthink instead. This wide support has not aged well. It launched a bloody war, at a cost o
ViewpointsMarch 31, 2023
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[Editorial] ‘Bold measures' needed
There is no question that South Korea has to address its low birthrate, a chronic problem that can deepen problems affecting a wide range of fields such as the economy, welfare, defense and national competitiveness in the coming years. Strangely enough, the country’s low fertility rate did not get full attention from the presidents of the past two administrations. In this context, it is an encouraging sign that President Yoon Suk Yeol presided over a meeting of the Presidential Committee o
EditorialMarch 31, 2023
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[Lee In-hyun] ‘Naatu Naatu’ proves universal power of music
Los Angeles, the heart of the movie and entertainment industries, held two big festivals recently: the Golden Globes and the Oscars. In my opinion, the Oscars is more valuable and popular than the Golden Globes. Although not many people sit and watch the Oscars on TV, I personally enjoy watching it every year. While many tend to focus on who won the best movie, the best actor, or the best actress award, I am most interested in who won the best music award. Three years ago, the Oscars gave four p
ViewpointsMarch 30, 2023