Most Popular
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Russia sent more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to N. Korea in March: White House
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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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[Graphic News] Number of coffee franchises in S. Korea rises 13%
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S. Korean children, teens grow taller, mature faster than before: study
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Some junior doctors are returning: Health Ministry
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Army takes group action against Hybe for neglecting BTS
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[Robert J. Fouser] AI changes rationale for learning languages
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[Today’s K-pop] Stray Kids go gold in US with ‘Maniac’
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Woman dangling from power lines rescued by residents holding blanket
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Naver Q1 net income soars 1,171.9% on growth of major businesses
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[Media Art Now] Lee Eun-hee renders palpable the mechanics of stress
That digital is immaterial is simply a delusion, but this idea is not easy to dispel. We hold a screen, whether it be a smartphone, a tablet or a laptop, but looking at only the images on it, we are not really conscious of the physical machines. We tend to forget about them or take them for granted. However, the digital world we live in today is reliant on mechanical infrastructure and on natural resources, perhaps more critically so than ever. Think about the digital blackout caused by physical
ViewpointsMarch 24, 2024
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[Editorial] Perils of hasty policy shift
In recent years, many Korean homeowners have come under overwhelming pressure over soaring property taxes, due partly to the previous Moon Jae-in administration’s controversial real estate policy to increase the state-led declared prices of properties to 90 percent of market value by 2035. President Yoon Suk Yeol announced in a town hall meeting on Tuesday that the government will abolish the “reckless” declared real estate price policy, openly criticizing Moon’s policy t
EditorialMarch 22, 2024
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[Robert J. Fouser] Seoul as a multilingual city
When people think of multilingual cities, big names like New York and London immediately come to mind. Other important global hubs, such as Brussels, Dubai, Singapore, and Toronto are known for their linguistic diversity. But what about Seoul? With 95 percent of its residents being native speakers of Korean who were born in South Korea, Seoul does not give the impression of being a multilingual or multicultural city. At 5 percent, the percentage of residents born abroad is high by historical sta
ViewpointsMarch 22, 2024
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[Wang Son-taek] Democracy summit and dispute over autocratization
The third Summit for Democracy was held in Seoul for three days from March 18. The event was significant because foreign ministers of major countries gathered to discuss Democracy for future generations and the sensitive problems from cutting-edge technologies, including Artificial Intelligence. In particular, Korea, one of the poorest countries and one of the military dictatorships 50 years ago, is proud to have become a prosperous country and hold a democracy summit. However, according to the
ViewpointsMarch 21, 2024
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[Editorial] Talks must begin
The government’s plan to increase medical school enrollment by 2,000 from next year became more specific on Wednesday as it announced that 1,639, or 82 percent, of the additional places will go to colleges outside the greater Seoul area. Of the 40 medical colleges in South Korea, 13 are in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province. They account for 1,035 places, or 33.8 percent, of the nation’s current total of 3,058. In case of the so-called “mini” medical colleges that admit
EditorialMarch 21, 2024
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[Kim Seong-kon] Competition begins from birth in Korea
Few Koreans would deny that South Korea is a highly competitive society. People say that the competition is so stiff that your child should begin preparing for it as soon as he or she turns three years old. Indeed, parents send their three-year-olds to preschool and private academies for piano, violin or art lessons after school. Then, a little later, English-speaking kindergarten awaits your child. When your child enters elementary school, the competition for college entrance has already begun.
ViewpointsMarch 20, 2024
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[Editorial] Korea’s slow pace in chip race
The news reports last week that Samsung Electronics would likely receive over $6 billion in subsidies from the US government for expanded investments present mixed implications for both the South Korean government and the chipmaker. It is certainly a positive development for Samsung to receive the largest amount of subsidies as a non-American company. Given that the subsidies would amount to a range between $2 billion and $3 billion, the scale of US support tops expectations by a wide margin. Th
EditorialMarch 20, 2024
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[Joseph E. Stiglitz] A big defeat for Big Tech
Last year, US President Joe Biden’s administration infuriated lobbyists representing Big Tech firms and others that profit from our personal data by denouncing a proposal that would have gutted domestic data privacy, online civil rights and liberties, and competition safeguards. Now, Biden’s new executive order on Americans’ data security reveals that the lobbyists had good reason to worry. After decades of data brokers and tech platforms exploiting Americans’ personal da
ViewpointsMarch 20, 2024
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[Grace Kao] My Korean hospital adventures after breaking ankles
The doctors’ strikes in South Korea reminded me of what happened after I broke both of my ankles in Seoul last April. While there is never a good time or place to break one’s ankles, doing so while traveling abroad is quite a challenge. I was in Seoul giving talks at universities and meeting with people in the K-pop industry. While my friends joked that I should tell people that I fell while working as a backup dancer for a K-pop act, the truth is that I fell from a single missed ste
ViewpointsMarch 19, 2024
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[Yvette Wohn] Korean modern art needs permanent home
As an art enthusiast living in New York whose pastime is spent traveling to see art, I have never felt more proud to be Korean. Since last year, there have been so many special exhibitions of Korean art and solo exhibits of Korean artists taking place in the US and Europe. Adding to my excitement is the fact that there is more modern Korean art (from the 1860s to the 1970s) on display, which is relatively hard to find outside of Korea. These days, however, there seems to be a surplus of Korean a
ViewpointsMarch 19, 2024
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[Editorial] Ambassador to Australia
Lee Jong-sup, a former defense minister who is under investigation over allegations that he meddled with an internal probe into the death of a young Marine last year, began serving as South Korea’s ambassador to Australia last week. In July 2023, Marine Cpl. Chae Su-geun was found dead after being swept away by a torrent in a stream in Yecheon County, North Gyeongsang Province, during a search mission for victims of heavy rain. The Marines were ordered to go into the overflowing stream wit
EditorialMarch 19, 2024
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[Yoo Choon-sik] Korea’s construction industry slump deepens
South Korea’s economy is widely expected to post a pick-up in growth this year thanks to a recovery in exports after months of extremely poor performance. However, a recent series of data points to the slump in domestic demand worsening, and the construction sector’s troubles are particularly worrying as project-financing loans remain a key risk to the economy. Some of the project-financing loans, which surged in line with the booming property market, especially during the previou
ViewpointsMarch 18, 2024
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[J. Bradford DeLong] The mystery of US interest rates
In the United States, the long-term real safe interest rate – the inflation-adjusted return on low-risk investments such as Treasuries – is, in addition to “financial conditions,” the key mechanism influencing both the incentive to build and the balance of net exports (owing to its effect on the exchange rate). From early March to mid-May 2022, this metric jumped by more than one percentage point as the bond market realized that the US Federal Reserve would soon curtail i
ViewpointsMarch 18, 2024
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[Editorial] No laughing matter
President Yoon Suk Yeol’s senior secretary Hwang Sang-moo issued a formal apology Saturday, two days after his controversial remarks about a 1988 terrorist attack on a journalist and the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising touched off a firestorm of criticism from the media and opposition parties. “I apologize for the distress my words have caused,” Hwang said in a notification to the press from the presidential office. “I apologize to the journalists for failing to consider
EditorialMarch 18, 2024
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[Carl P. Leubsdorf] Another key date in US history?
With Donald Trump, everything is often the biggest ever or the grandest ever. His political movement, he often proclaims, is the greatest in American history. And Nov. 5, when he hopes to regain the presidency, “will be the most important day in our nation’s history.” Really? Bigger than July 4, 1776? Or the day Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation? Or the day the Berlin Wall fell, marking the end of the Cold War and portending the collapse of the Soviet Union?
ViewpointsMarch 15, 2024
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[Editorial] Strike goes overboard
With medical school professors shaving their heads and threatening to resign to “protect” their students and trainee doctors, the doctors’ strike has gone too far. Earlier this week, the government sent notices to over 5,500 trainee doctors who left work more than three weeks ago and have not complied with the ministry’s order to return to work that their medical licenses will be suspended. Medical students are taking leaves of absence en masse and may be collectively flu
EditorialMarch 15, 2024
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[Career Compass] Mentor is invaluable asset. Get one, or more
Is having a mentor a good idea? I want to try it but don’t know much about how the relationship works. Where do I find a good mentor, and what do I discuss with the mentor? Yes, having a mentor is an invaluable asset. A mentor is hugely beneficial for both professional and personal growth. Think of a mentor as an advisor, a supporter and a confidant. Mentors lend their ears, share their experiences and offer wisdom to help you overcome challenges and achieve your goals. However, like a
ViewpointsMarch 14, 2024
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[Noelle Lenoir] Can UNRWA officials be prosecuted?
There is growing evidence that some employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) have been involved in terrorism-related activities in Gaza. If true, and if the problem turns out to be more widespread than is currently known, the implications would be profound. An official UN body being complicit in war crimes would be one of the greatest scandals in the organization’s history. According to an Israeli intelligence document, a dozen UNRWA emplo
ViewpointsMarch 14, 2024
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[Editorial] Proportional seats in trouble
South Korean voters are already feeling deep political fatigue, as major parties have unsurprisingly sparked a flurry of disputes over their candidates for the upcoming National Assembly election. On Tuesday, Jeon Ji-yeh offered to resign from her candidacy for a proportional representative seat for a satellite party linked to the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, a development that sheds light on the fundamental weakness of the current election system. A civic group earlier recommended
EditorialMarch 14, 2024
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[Kim Seong-kon] ‘Home is where the heart is’
What is “home”? The English word “home” has diverse meanings. It refers to not only “home,” but also “house,” “hometown” and “homeland.” English-speaking people also use expressions, such as “homeless,” “home for sale,” “high school homecoming” or “homecoming queen.” Well-known English phrases include: “There’s no place like home,” “Home, sweet home&rdqu
ViewpointsMarch 13, 2024