Most Popular
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Pyongyang to bolster readiness against nuclear retaliation: Choe
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Yoon's approval rating falls to 19%, all-time low: survey
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[Herald Review] ‘Amazon Bullseye,’ motley comedy of forced empathy, outdated wordplay
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Allies say 1953 mutual defense treaty extends to cyber, space threats
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S. Korea seeks to boost cooperation in Asia on AI-incorporated legal tech: minister
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[Photo news] Rally against first couple
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Korea’s instant ramyeon exports cross $1b milestone
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S. Korea not considering troop dispatch to Ukraine: nat'l security adviser
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Seoul bans doctors, dentists' self-prescription of propofol
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[Weekender] Welcome to S. Korea’s first ‘vegan village’
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[Contribution] Towards responsible AI in military domain
On Sept. 9-10, South Korea will host the second summit on the Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain (REAIM). The first-ever summit on this topic was held last year in the Netherlands. REAIM 2024 in Seoul will continue to deepen understanding and awareness of the issues surrounding the application of AI in the military domain, and will explore ways to ensure that AI is used responsibly by militaries around the globe. AI is transforming all facets of human existence at an asto
ViewpointsAug. 29, 2024
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[Wang Son-taek] Were they not Koreans?
A nasty specter of historical revisionism has again shaken the Republic of Korea. This time, a comment in question came from Kim Moon-soo, the labor minister nominee. During his confirmation hearing in parliament, he denied the nationality of Koreans in the Japanese occupation period from 1910 to 1945. He asserted, “Our country was completely taken over and forcibly incorporated in Japan. How could there be such a thing as (Korean) nationality?” Shockingly, there exists a faction in
ViewpointsAug. 29, 2024
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[Takatoshi Ito] Japan after Kishida
On Aug. 14, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that he would step down as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in September. Soon after, the LDP will select Kishida’s replacement -- who will serve as prime minister, given the LDP-led coalition’s control of the Diet (the lower house of parliament). The new government is then likely to call a snap election, in the hopes that the “honeymoon effect” will help it increase its majority. What the LDP must f
ViewpointsAug. 29, 2024
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[Editorial] Uproot sexual deepfakes
Making deepfake images or videos by combining facial photos of innocent persons with pornography, as well as their distribution, is undoubtedly criminal. It is punishable under the Sexual Violence Prevention and Victims Protection Act. It is a heinous crime that abuses the anonymity of social media and computer technology. Deepfake sexual material is spreading fast and indiscriminately. Police recently arrested the operator of a Telegram chatroom where users shared deepfake sexual content crea
EditorialAug. 29, 2024
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[Tony McAleer] How language enables the extremes
When I was a white supremacist who had infiltrated the Canadian military reserves, an officer who had spent two tours of Northern Ireland embedded in a British unit told me that the Irish Republican Army had only 75 active personnel who pulled triggers and planted bombs. Behind those combatants were 3,500 people who offered them safe houses and storage for their ammunition. Bolstering them was a much broader community of people who endorsed their efforts. Ultimately, decades of sectarian violenc
ViewpointsAug. 28, 2024
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[Kim Seong-kon] How to replenish our exhausted political parties
We Koreans are very proud of the outstanding young athletes and charming K-pop singers who made South Korea internationally famous. On the other hand, we are not so proud of our politicians, who have seriously damaged the reputation of our country in the international community lately. Some political analysts have observed that the two representative political parties of South Korea seem to have exhausted their possibilities. Others have diagnosed that the Korean political parties are now suffer
ViewpointsAug. 28, 2024
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[Editorial] Tackle debt crisis
A clear warning sign for policymakers is on the horizon: surging debt -- not only in the South Korean government, but also among households. According to data from the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Korea, the combined debt of the South Korean government and households has surpassed 3,000 trillion won ($2.26 trillion) for the first time. In detail, the country’s combined national debt and household debt came in at 3,042 trillion won at the end of the second quarter this year. This negati
EditorialAug. 28, 2024
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[Zaki Laidi] The geopolitics of Olympic medals
Why do certain countries dominate the Olympics? The answer may lie in the correlation between athletic performance and gross domestic product. The 2024 Paris Olympic Games were a case in point: the top seven medal winners -- the United States, China, Japan, Australia, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom -- are all among the world’s 20 largest economies. This can be partly attributed to demographics: a larger population provides a deeper pool of athletic talent from which to draw
ViewpointsAug. 27, 2024
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[Jeffrey Frankel] Finance goes to Hollywood
Over the years, Hollywood films have had much to say about financial markets and institutions -- often reflecting a distinctly populist perspective. At a time when both populism and financial volatility are much in evidence, what lessons might these films hold about regulation? Start with the 1939 classic “The Wizard of Oz,” in which Dorothy and her cohort -- the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man -- travel along the “yellow brick road,” in order to reach the ma
ViewpointsAug. 27, 2024
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[Editorial] R&D bang for buck
The world’s leading science journal Nature reported in its Aug. 21 supplement on South Korea that the country invests heavily in science, but that its "bang for the buck" -- judged by pitting research spending against output in the Nature Index -- is surprisingly low. The Nature Index tracks the affiliations of high-quality scientific articles. Updated monthly, it presents research outputs by institution and country. Korea's research and development spending at 5.2 percent o
EditorialAug. 27, 2024
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[Contribution] Misconceptions and truths about earthquakes
By Chang Dong-eon Administrator of the Korea Meteorological Administration Bullfighting, a Spanish cultural tradition, has three main elements: the bullfighter, or matador, the bull and a red cloth called the muleta. When we think of bullfighting, a classic image that comes to mind is a bull charging at the muleta. Many people believe that the red color of the muleta excites the bull. However, this belief is a misconception. Bulls are actually colorblind, so they can’t distinguish betwee
ViewpointsAug. 26, 2024
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[Lee Kyong-hee] Yoon’s dangerous spin on history
Saburo Ienaga, arguably the most famous historian in 20th-century Japan, waged a more than 30-year fight against his government’s efforts to omit wartime atrocities from school textbooks. “Even if you hide from the Japanese,” he declared, “the people in other countries know about them. The side that inflicted sufferings forgets, but the side that suffered doesn’t forget.” Not necessarily so, one may say, when it comes to the current Korean administration. Ad
ViewpointsAug. 26, 2024
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[Jackie Payne] Tipping point in US presidential election
After a wild few weeks, the top of the ticket is once again set for Democrats and Republicans. Polls show US Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are neck and neck. Over the last several years, we’ve seen presidential elections decided by slimmer and slimmer margins, and 2024 will likely be no different. There’s one thing that links these historically close election results in recent years -- and that’s the voting behavior of America’s moderate w
ViewpointsAug. 26, 2024
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[Editorial] Prolonged disruptions
Last week, a pregnant woman gave birth inside an ambulance. The disheartening incident came as four hospitals had refused her, citing a lack of medical staff or beds in their emergency rooms, according to rescue officials in North Chungcheong Province. It is widely feared that such dire situations involving patients in emergency and critical conditions may occur across the nation more frequently unless the government tackles the escalating medical service disruptions started by its plan to incre
EditorialAug. 26, 2024
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Welcome to the Pride Parade
The sun shone brightly on June 1, as the street between Jonggak and Euljiro 1-ga Stations in Seoul lit up with the colors of the rainbow. Dozens of tents lined the street as thousands of people waved brightly colored signs and celebrated the 25th Seoul Queer Culture Festival. From the smiling faces and exuberant atmosphere, you wouldn’t think such an event would be a wellspring of political controversy. However, despite its quarter-century history in South Korea, the Queer Festival and L
ViewpointsAug. 23, 2024
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Idolization of English pronunciation
Heated debates ensue in Korea whenever K-pop idols like Jang Won-young introduce themselves in English or South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers an English speech. The discussion is around an element that supposedly has a large influence in determining the speaker's English proficiency — the public figures’ English pronunciation. Praised are the ones who imitate the smooth American intonation or posh British accent; those who fail to do so are viewed as terrible English s
ViewpointsAug. 23, 2024
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From Manila and Seoul: Have you heard of Kopinos?
As borders become more open around the world, the possibilities for creating connections with people from different countries increase. In this generation, there are a growing number of children with mixed heritage and multiple nationalities. Among these, the term "Kopino" has been coined, combining "Korean" and "Filipino." A moment that has stuck with me my whole life was the first time a complete stranger called me a “Kopino.” At age 12, I had no idea
ViewpointsAug. 23, 2024
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[Robert Fouser] 'Dynamic USA' and 'Welcoming Korea'
The switch from President Joe Biden to Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate for US president brought an instant change in atmosphere to the campaign for the White House. Former President Donald Trump, who had previously looked younger compared to Biden, suddenly looked old and has struggled to regain his postconvention dominance. Harris, meanwhile, has pulled ahead in the national polls and will get another bounce from this week’s Democratic convention. The change at th
ViewpointsAug. 23, 2024
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[Editorial] Debt and property market
In June, the Financial Services Commission announced that the tougher rules on household loans would be applied from September, instead of July -- a sudden schedule change that was feared to send wrong signals to the markets. South Korea’s top financial regulator intended to guide the real estate project financing market to a soft landing by delaying the implementation of the second phase for the stress debt service ratio, or DSR -- a tool that serves as a ceiling on aggregate lending. As
EditorialAug. 23, 2024
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[Wang Son-taek] National interest and diplomatic messages
Remarks by President Yoon Suk Yeol and Kim Tae-hyo, the first deputy director of the National Security Office, on foreign policy have sparked controversies recently. In his Liberation Day speech on Aug. 15, Yoon stressed the importance of unification, saying Korea's independence is incomplete as long as the division continues. The problem is that he said, "The freedom that we enjoy should be expanded to the North Korean region," thus making it clear that he aims for unification by
ViewpointsAug. 22, 2024