Most Popular
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
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Golden chance to liquidate babies’ gold rings?
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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[Editorial] More signs of risks
Last week, South Korea’s policymakers noted their alarm at the risks of military clashes in the Middle East that spin out of control, dragging more nations in the region into complex conflicts and hurting weakened supply chains further. On Tuesday night, Iran carried out a missile and drone attack on what it called “terrorist” targets in Pakistan. In response, Pakistan struck militant targets inside Iran on Thursday. The tit-for-tat attacks, the biggest cross-border intrusions
EditorialJan. 22, 2024
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[Editorial] Upgrade intelligence capabilities
South Korea, the US and Japan staged their largest-ever joint naval exercise in international waters south of Jeju Island for three days through Wednesday, following North Korea’s launch of a hypersonic missile. Nine warships including the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson with F-35C stealth fighters and F-18 Super Hornets on board, South Korean Aegis combat system-equipped destroyers and Japanese Kongo-class destroyers took part in the drill. The maritime exercise began a d
EditorialJan. 19, 2024
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[Patricia Lopez] Time to scrap the Iowa caucuses
The Iowa caucus has become an outdated relic. Like eight-track cassettes and checkbooks, it served a valuable purpose at one time, but no longer. Donald Trump, as he has with so many things, reset the rules of the political game here, essentially turning the state into a backdrop for his brand of theatrics. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, on the other hand, played by the old rules. He dutifully visited each of Iowa’s 99 counties, poured money into building the ground game that everyone said w
ViewpointsJan. 19, 2024
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[Daniel DePetris] Strikes on Houthis yet another example of Congress sidelined
President Joe Biden’s decision on Thursday to order a wave of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen was inevitable the moment the Yemeni militia disregarded Washington’s warnings a week earlier and sent a swarm of 18 drones and three anti-ship ballistic missiles in the direction of US warships. Last week’s strikes, which took place with the cooperation of the United Kingdom and were aimed at 60 locations, were designed to degrade the Houthis’ capabilities and hopefully
ViewpointsJan. 18, 2024
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[Editorial] Chip cluster plan
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday announced a plan to form a massive semiconductor chip cluster in southern Gyeonggi Province, which is projected to draw combined investments of 622 trillion won ($471.4 billion) for facilities and provide 3 million jobs over the next 20 years. The plan, unveiled at Yoon’s public debate event, aims to double the number of chip-producing plants in the region to 37, consolidating them into a vast chip cluster covering cities like Hwaseong, Giheung, Pyeongtaek
EditorialJan. 18, 2024
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[Andreas Kluth] World is feeling angst of liminality
The crisis of 2024 “consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.” Symptoms such as extreme polarization, democratic corrosion and neo-fascism in the US and elsewhere, in turn boding conflict, serfdom and war. Oh, wait. That line above was meant to describe the year 1930. That’s when it appeared in prison notebook number 3, written by Antonio Gramsci, a Marxist philosopher in Beni
ViewpointsJan. 18, 2024
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[Kim Seong-kon] If America chooses to 'leave the world behind'
Currently, the United States of America is experiencing a plethora of domestic and overseas crises. Internally, there is unprecedented political bipolarity, severe inflation and the surge of a COVID-19 variant called JN 1 that have caused widespread deaths. Externally, the Ukraine war, the South China Sea dispute and North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile launches threatening mainland America come to mind. Under the circumstances, many Americans no longer want their country to in
ViewpointsJan. 17, 2024
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[Editorial] Prosecutors' election rush
The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office requested the Justice Ministry last week to penalize two incumbent prosecutors over their inappropriate behavior related to the April 10 general election. Under the Public Official Election Act, state public officials who wish to stand for election are required to resign 90 days before the vote. A prosecutors’ code of ethics stipulates that a prosecutor shall not be involved in political campaigns, and remain politically neutral in performing his or he
EditorialJan. 17, 2024
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[Claudia Sahm] Don't worry about US debt. Seriously
US federal government debt ended 2023 at a record $34 trillion. The worries are bipartisan, with both Republicans and Democrats hearing about out-of-control borrowing from their constituents. In fact, almost six in 10 Americans say reducing it should be a top priority, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center. So, it’s not a surprise that Congress is moving closer to passing a budget for fiscal year 2024 that would cap spending at $1.59 trillion which is a bit less than the $1.7 tr
ViewpointsJan. 17, 2024
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[Lara Williams] Prod people into acting more greenly
If there’s a month dedicated to self-betterment, it’s dark and dreary January. The gyms are full, the pubs are empty and green juices are flying off the shelves. At least for now. Even with the best of intentions, the vast majority of New Year’s resolutions don’t last very long at all. Many goal-setters give up on their commitments within just three months. We’re now in the second week of January, and some of you may have already slipped up on your promises. There&r
ViewpointsJan. 16, 2024
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[Dr. Joannes Ekaprasetya Tandjung] Let creativity be core of Indonesia-Korea relations
“If there is one thing that unites us, it is our never-ending creativity. The world salutes the power of individuals to remain creative, to put forward our most thought-provoking ideas and turn those ideas into real events and sellable products,” Gandi Sulistiyanto, Indonesia’s ambassador to South Korea, said at the opening of the Korea-Indonesia Cooperation Forum in Jakarta on Nov. 30 last year. Launched by The Korea Herald CEO Choi Jin-young, the Korea-Indonesia Cooperation F
ViewpointsJan. 16, 2024
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[Editorial] Taiwan’s election result
Lai Ching-te of Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party won Saturday's presidential election, defying continued warnings from China regarding the self-ruled democracy’s sovereignty. Lai, the current vice president, won with 40.1 percent of the vote, outpacing Hou Yu-ih from the conservative Kuomintang, who garnered 33.5 percent, and former Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je from the Taiwan People’s Party, who secured 26.5 percent. The high-profile election result is expected to ha
EditorialJan. 16, 2024
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[Thitinan Pongsudhirak] Myanmar's military junta is losing power
As autocratic leaders gain influence, if not power, in more countries than proponents of democracy care to count, Myanmar is a remarkable exception: its military junta appears untenable. In fact, Myanmar’s people are putting their lives on the line to break the generals’ grip on power and reclaim their future. After nearly a half-century of military dictatorship, starting in 1962, a decade of political liberalization, economic reform and development progress followed, lasting from 20
ViewpointsJan. 15, 2024
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[Editorial] Another national disgrace
Police are investigating 12 board members and four executives of Posco Holdings on charges of occupational breach of trust over allegations that they had subsidiaries partially pay for a lavish five-night-seven-day trip to Canada in August last year. Some of them, including outside directors who are professors, are also suspected of violating the law on improper solicitation and graft. Citing a complaint filed with the prosecution last month by a Pohang-based civic group, the Chosun Ilbo newsp
EditorialJan. 15, 2024
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[Jieun Kiaer] Hangeul should be at the heart of Hallyu
"I want my country to be the most beautiful country in the world. I don't want it to be the richest country. I don't want my country to invade other countries because I've been heartbroken by invasions. I’m satisfied if we have enough wealth to provide for ourselves and enough strength to keep us safe from invasion. Yet one thing that I deeply wish to have is a culture that has lasting legacy and power." ("My Wish" from Kim Ku, 1876-1949) As I start a new
ViewpointsJan. 15, 2024
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[A READER`S VIEW]Step back from Hwang hype
Questions surrounding stem-cell pioneer Hwang Woo-suk have been making the headlines for the past month. Since the MBC-TV program raised ethical issues about Hwang`s research, nationalism devoid of objectivity has been rife, with diverging opinions splattered daily on news pages. The entire society seems to be swept up in self-made fervor from which they cannot swim away. Why is the Hwang issue such a huge deal in South Korea? Is it something that deserves the amount of attention and hype it
OpinionJan. 12, 2024
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[Media Art Now] TZUSOO engenders new cybernetic imagination
When advanced technologies bring about radical changes in society, there is always a collision of utopian and dystopian views. The heated debate last year over generative AI is one example. If you want to learn how to have your own point of view, why not turn to artists of our time, to their “anthropologically” attentive exploration of the contemporary conditions of the world? A group of young, free-spirited Korean artists stands out in this respect. Born digitally and technologica
CultureJan. 12, 2024
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[Robert J. Fouser] A visit to Osaka’s Koreatown
For the first time in years, I spent the holidays in Japan. One of the highlights of my visit was a long afternoon walk through Osaka’s Koreatown. The area has changed dramatically since my first visit in the mid-1990s. As I walked around, I thought about what the many changes mean and about how the area might change in the future. Located near Tsuruhashi Station in south-central Osaka, the Koreatown here had historically been the largest in Japan. An influx of people from South Korea in t
ViewpointsJan. 12, 2024
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[Editorial] Help drive up tourism
South Korea chalked up a current account surplus for the seventh straight month in November. But there is a troubling detail that keeps policymakers concerned: the biggest deficit of the country’s travel account in five years. South Korea’s travel account deficit doubled to $1.28 billion in November 2023 compared to the previous month, the Bank of Korea’s preliminary data showed Tuesday. The latest figure marks the biggest deficit since November 2018, when the travel account de
EditorialJan. 12, 2024
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[Takatoshi Ito] When will Japan normalize its monetary policy?
Japan has had a difficult year so far. On Jan. 1, as Japanese families gathered to celebrate the new year, a powerful earthquake shook the Noto peninsula, causing buildings to collapse and forcing mass evacuations. More than a week later, the death toll -- already in the dozens -- continues to rise, as road damage, heavy rains, and landslides impede rescuers’ ability to reach affected villages. The next day, a Japan Airlines plane landing at Tokyo’s Haneda airport collided on the run
ViewpointsJan. 11, 2024