Most Popular
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[Exclusive] Korean military set to ban iPhones over 'security' concerns
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Korean, Romanian leaders discuss defense tech, nuclear energy
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[Graphic News] 77% of young Koreans still financially dependent
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S. Korea calls on Japan to confront history amid Yasukuni Shrine visit
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Yoon’s jailed mother-in-law excluded from latest parole list
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Hybe and Min Hee-jin, CEO of Hybe sublabel Ador, lock horns
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[Pressure points] Leggings in public: Fashion statement or social faux pas?
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Yoo Jae-suk, Yoo Yeon-seok team up in 'Whenever Possible'
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Korea’s homegrown nanosatellite successfully launches into space
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Aging population to drive down Korea's housing prices from 2040: experts
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[Jeffrey Frankel] How to fix America’s broken air-traffic control system
With air travel finally returning to pre-pandemic levels, this holiday season is expected to be exceptionally hectic. Many passengers, especially in the United States, will face maddening flight delays, and many more will suffer unnecessarily long flying times. But, most worrying of all, at least a few might witness or be involved in frightening airport near-misses. To be sure, the US has an outstanding record of aviation safety, with no fatal commercial airplane crashes since 2009. But the freq
ViewpointsDec. 19, 2023
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[Editorial] Boost military intel
North Korea fired its fifth intercontinental ballistic missile this year into the East Sea on Monday morning, just 10 hours after it launched a short-range ballistic missile Sunday night as it reviled South Korea and the US over their latest show of resolve against the North’s nuclear provocations. A US nuclear-powered submarine arrived in Busan on Sunday, after South Korea and the US said “any nuclear attack by North Korea against the US or its allies will result in the end of the K
EditorialDec. 19, 2023
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[Michael Ignatieff] Universal values at bay
Seventy-five years ago last week, UN member states meeting in Paris adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was not a binding law, only a statement of principle. But it was the first declaration to embed an ancient moral ideal of human equality into the new architecture of international law established in response to the genocidal nationalism that had left so much of the world in ruins after World War II. This new moral universalism asked us to turn our backs on our instinctive par
ViewpointsDec. 18, 2023
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[Christine Abely] Are sanctions against Russia actually working?
In February 2022, Russian troops mounted an invasion of Ukraine. Following Russia’s flagrant violation of Ukrainian territorial sovereignty, the US joined with nations around the world to impose sanctions. Instead of military action against Russia, these countries turned to economic warfare. The world is now approaching two years of Russia’s war, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went to Washington, D.C., to lobby Congress for support after Republican lawmakers rejected US
ViewpointsDec. 18, 2023
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[Editorial] Self-serving ex-activists?
In the National Policy Committee of the National Assembly on Thursday, the Democratic Party of Korea, which holds a majority in the Assembly, passed a bill to treat democratization movement contributors as “persons of distinguished service to the state,” amid protest by members of the ruling People Power Party. In a bid to prevent the opposition party from rushing the bill, the People Power Party requested the creation of a six-member panel under the committee that must deliberate th
EditorialDec. 18, 2023
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[Robert Fouser] South Korea and a second Trump term
December in the US brings short days, chilly weather, and the Holidays, but every four years it brings something else: quiet before the stormy primary season for major party nomination that begins in January. This year, however, things are different. President Joe Biden, running for reelection, is facing little serious opposition for the Democratic nomination. But with sagging approval ratings and advancing age, many doubt the viability of his candidacy. On the Republican side, former President
ViewpointsDec. 15, 2023
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[Editorial] Support singletons
The South Korean government has long pushed for policies aimed at supporting what is considered a typical form of families with more than two members: two parents and a child or two. But it’s time to acknowledge that such a traditional concept does not work any longer, as over one third of Korean households are single-person households, and the share of these smallest of family units has been on a steady rise in recent years. According to Statistics Korea, 7.5 million Korean nationals were
EditorialDec. 15, 2023
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[Wang Son-taek] Seven problems with the Asian version of NATO
It is reported that a task force enactment has been introduced in the US Congress to consider establishing an Asian version of NATO. Mike Lawler, a US congressman from New York who proposed the initiative, argued in a press release that the Indo-Pacific Treaty Organization, an Asian version of NATO, was needed to respond to the rising threats facing the US and its allies. However, the organization could be misrepresented and not help many global villagers or the US itself. We can present a long
ViewpointsDec. 14, 2023
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[Editorial] Get the job done
The preliminary candidate registration for the general election on April 10 opened this week, but once again, rival parties are dragging their feet to set electoral boundaries and rules. Those who sign up as preliminary candidates can open an election office, hire up to three paid staff members, launch a fundraising organization, make phone calls, give out name cards and wear a sash to make themselves known. Introduced in 2004, the preliminary registration system is designed to provide opportuni
EditorialDec. 14, 2023
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[Kim Seong-kon] Do we need anger management therapy?
Due to South Korea's rapid industrialization and globalization, these days many Korean people comfortably meet a number of global standards that suit citizens of advanced countries. In this regard, foreign tourists frequently commend some laudable behaviors of Koreans, such as forming a line at the subway station, observing public etiquette and being considerate of other people. When waiting in line, foreigners say, Koreans even care about other people behind them and try to finish their bu
ViewpointsDec. 13, 2023
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[Peter Singer] A bargain in saving lives
In 2021, malaria caused 619,000 deaths, 77 percent of which were children under 5, and 96 percent of them in Africa. But now, after decades of research – and several false dawns – a malaria vaccine known as R21/Matrix-M (henceforth just R21) has been shown to be effective in 70-78 percent of cases. Although three doses are required before that level of protection is reached, and a booster is needed one year later, the vaccine, developed at the University of Oxford and the Serum Insti
ViewpointsDec. 13, 2023
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[James Stavridis] Venezuela’s threats to Guyana follow Putin’s Ukraine playbook
A nation that few Americans could find on a map, the oil-rich South American country of Guyana, is in trouble. It has a large and aggressive neighbor, Venezuela, run by an authoritarian leader who maintains close relationships with Russia, Iran, Cuba and other authoritarian states. In a move reminiscent of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the dictator of Venezuela -- Nicolas Maduro, a former bus driver and acolyte of leftist strongman Hugo Chavez -- sponsored a referendum in his natio
ViewpointsDec. 13, 2023
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[Editorial] Normalize the judiciary
The most urgent task for Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, who was inaugurated in a ceremony Monday, is to do away with judiciary distrust stoked by his predecessor, Kim Myeong-su. Distrust of the court was fanned by trial delays, among other factors. It took three years and nine months to issue first-trial sentences against former Justice Minister Cho Kuk and two years and five months for Yoon Mi-hyang, an independent lawmaker. Cho was indicted in connection with his children’s unlawful universi
EditorialDec. 13, 2023
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[Francis Wilkinson] Republican redefinition of an American
Using specific dates to define entire eras is often a gimmick, a way of compressing wild and unwieldy life into a neatly artificial package. But some days, or years, just massively overproduce, leaving behind a nation, or world, transformed. As a quote typically attributed to Vladimir Lenin has it, “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” For the reactionaries who drive Republican politics today, one year looms like Godzilla over a darkenin
ViewpointsDec. 12, 2023
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[Editorial] Regulating AI
The European Union agreed Friday to a set of new controls aimed at regulating artificial intelligence, marking the world’s first attempt to put limits on the use of fast-evolving technology that generates both positive and negative responses. The EU’s new law, called the “AI Act,” is yet to be formally approved by the European Parliament and the bloc’s 27 member states, but Friday’s political agreement signals that the legislation’s key points have been
EditorialDec. 12, 2023
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[Mohammad Hosseini, Kristi Holmes] Beware inherent biases and inequities in AI tools
A year ago, OpenAI released ChatGPT -- a free generative artificial intelligence chatbot that creates text in response to user prompts. With its launch, millions of people started using ChatGPT for tasks such as writing school essays, drafting emails and personal greetings, and retrieving information. Increasingly, more people and public offices are using ChatGPT to improve productivity and efficiency, conducting sophisticated tasks instantaneously that are typically beyond human abilities. Pub
ViewpointsDec. 12, 2023
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[Lisa Jarvis] Hard part of sickle cell breakthrough
The approval of Casgevy, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Crispr Therapeutics Inc.’s gene therapy for sickle cell disease, is a transformative moment in medicine. Not only is it the first Crispr-based drug to reach the market -- it’s a potentially life-altering advance for a patient population that has been for too long ignored and underserved by the medical establishment. Lyfgenia, a second gene therapy from Bluebird Bio that uses different technology, was also given the Food and Dru
ViewpointsDec. 11, 2023
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[Editorial] Did 'people come first'?
The state audit agency released last week the final results of its yearlong inspection into North Korea’s killing of a South Korean government official who drifted into the North’s waters in the West Sea in 2020. Relevant government agencies under the Moon Jae-in administration at the time -- the presidential National Security Office, the Coast Guard, the Unification and Defense Ministries, and the National Intelligence Service -- did virtually nothing to save the South Korean citize
EditorialDec. 11, 2023
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British Embassy, BASS celebrates 'Mince Pie Morning'
The British Embassy and the British Association of Seoul (BASS) celebrated the annual Mince Pie Morning at the residence of British Ambassador Colin Crooks in Seoul on Thursday. The event featured traditional English mince pies — a sweet pastry filled with a delectable mixture of fruit, spices, and suet — marking the spirit of the holiday season in English-speaking traditions. “BASS is an important part of the vibrant expat community here in Seoul. It was, as always, a pleasure
Foreign AffairsDec. 8, 2023
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[Mark Hannah] Foreign policy to sway 2024 campaign
Conventional wisdom suggests Americans know little about foreign policy and care about it even less. Opinion polls regularly show that international issues take a back seat to topics more prosaic (economics, education) or provocative (culture wars, gun control). Next year’s presidential election, however, might be a bit different. Continued international crises could focus attention on the benefits and burdens of American global leadership, and our polarized politics may turn on battles an
ViewpointsDec. 8, 2023