Most Popular
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BTS, NewJeans fandoms clash over Hybe-Min Hee-jin conflict
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N. Korea launches missiles in latest show of military, nuclear strength
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High temperatures may worsen mental health conditions: study
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Samsung chief travels to France to encourage young talents
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Korean battery makers zero in on global commercial EV market
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Yoon leaves for Prague to cement nuclear energy push
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N. Korea fires multiple short-range ballistic missiles: JCS
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[Off the Pages] German bestseller gets new twist in ‘Snow White Must Die -- Black Out’
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4th case of lumpy skin disease confirmed in S. Korea
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Main opposition to railroad multiple contentious bills after Chuseok
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[Wang Son-taek] Dreaming of new Trump after assassination attempt
On the evening of July 13 in Butler, a small town in western Pennsylvania, a shocking incident erupted. Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old man known to be from a town near the scene, tried to kill former US President Donald Trump with a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle but failed. The former president suffered a penetrating right ear injury but survived without danger to his life. The gunman was killed at the scene by a special security team. Amid various kinds of bustling, the Republican Party offi
ViewpointsJuly 18, 2024
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[Editorial] Focus on livelihoods
The main opposition party is turning up the heat on President Yoon Suk Yeol and the ruling party over impeachment and special counsel issues. Democratic Party lawmakers on the legislation and judiciary committee of the Assembly on Monday filed a complaint with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials about Presidential Chief of Staff Chung Jin-suk and nine others who refused to attend the committee hearings on presidential impeachment as witnesses. In spite of the complaint
EditorialJuly 18, 2024
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[Jean Pisani-Ferry] Finding a new French majority
French President Emmanuel Macron was first elected in 2017 on a promise to end the often-artificial divisions between left and right. France had become tired of theatrical posturing between adversaries who overplayed their differences during electoral campaigns, only to end up, once in power, governing in fairly similar ways. Macron’s brand of radical centrism was meant to end the grandstanding, draw on good ideas from both sides of the political spectrum and govern accordingly. It intende
ViewpointsJuly 17, 2024
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[Kim Seong-kon] Our precious things can be 'Gone With the Wind'
Today, South Korea is enjoying worldwide popularity thanks to the Korean Wave and its reputation as a country of economic success and democratization, all of which it has accomplished in a relatively short span of time. In addition, South Korea is also a global center of cutting-edge technology, represented by Samsung, LG and Hyundai. For these reasons, the people of South Korea are now well off and living comfortably in “a fully developed, advanced country.” Therefore, few Koreans
ViewpointsJuly 17, 2024
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[Editorial] Trump’s reelection odds
The attempted assassination of former US President Donald Trump on Saturday sent shock waves throughout the world, generating a torrent of reactions, analyses and predictions about its political impacts in the US and elsewhere. The powerful photograph capturing Trump with his fist in the air and blood streaking down his cheek, surrounded by Secret Service agents with an American flag hanging at an odd angle set in the background immediately stole the first page of newspapers and hit social media
EditorialJuly 17, 2024
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[Abby Margolis Newman] Lego was my son’s world. It took me decades to see why
Six decades after the age when most people do, I’ve become obsessed with Lego. My gateway drug was a set reminiscent of an ice cream truck. Like many parents, I was trying something new as a way to connect with one of my kids. Unlike many parents, in my case, the kid in question was an adult, and I was building a set that he had designed. My three boys were infatuated with building blocks as children, and my husband would play with them, teaching the concept of a “stable base.”
ViewpointsJuly 16, 2024
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[Editorial] Longer working life
The number of Korean people still working at 70 and above increased by 150,000 in the first half of this year from a year earlier. It was the largest increase since related statistics began to be compiled in 2018, according to Statistics Korea. The population of employees aged 15 years and over expanded by 220,000, largely led by senior workers. Workers in their 60s and above increased by 282,000, posting the sharpest increase among age groups. Considering Korea’s working-age population is
EditorialJuly 16, 2024
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[Lee Kyong-hee] Syngman Rhee gets a shaky makeover
Syngman Rhee died in exile 59 years ago. Time has not tempered visceral reactions to his mention. To his supporters, he was an astute politician, savvy diplomat, staunch anti-communist and wrongly accused leader. To his detractors, he was a corrupt, vain, power-hungry authoritarian who did little to end postwar poverty. In 1919, Rhee was elected president of the Korean Provisional Government in exile to confront Japanese imperialism. In 1948, he became president of the newly independent Republ
ViewpointsJuly 15, 2024
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[Yoon Young-kwan] What to make of Russia-NK alliance
Not content with disturbing the peace in Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin recently signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jong-un. As troubling to China’s leaders as it is to Western officials, the deal is shaking up the geopolitics of Northeast Asia and sending reverberations around the world. Despite the strategic unease that Putin has provoked, the West must be careful neither to overestimate nor underestimate the treaty&rsq
ViewpointsJuly 15, 2024
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[Editorial] Reform wage commission
South Korea has finalized the minimum wage for 2025 at 10,030 won ($7.3) per hour, marking the first time the compulsory hourly minimum wage has surpassed 10,000 won. The tripartite Minimum Wage Commission, which is composed of nine members each from labor, business and the public sector, opted for an increase of 170 won, or 1.7 percent, from last year’s rate of 9,860 won. It is the second-lowest increase on record, in percentage terms. The new rate translates as 2.1 million won per month,
EditorialJuly 15, 2024
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[Robert Fouser] Toward sustainable tourism in Seoul
Tourism around the world is booming this year, building on several years of recovery from the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Seoul, of course, is no exception, as any walk through Myeong-dong reveals. Empty two years ago, the area is now full of international tourists and shops are doing a booming business. Other areas of Seoul, such as Bukchon, Hongdae and Seongsu-dong are full of international tourists. Myeong-dong’s recovery and the ongoing tourist boom are part of a long-term tr
ViewpointsJuly 13, 2024
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[Editorial] Health insurance deficit
South Korea’s public health system is still mired in a protracted dispute between the government and doctors over the medical school enrollment quota. On top of the current debacle, there is a potentially devastating problem that needs more attention from policymakers: the growth of the country’s health insurance deficit. According to research submitted to the Korean Association of Health Economics and Policy, the accumulated deficit of Korea’s health insurance will top 563 tri
EditorialJuly 12, 2024
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[Room Tone]Industry premieres: Glitz, glamour and grind
Industry film premieres are a delicate high-wire act where glitz and glamour can quickly devolve to grind, depending on your bias toward large social gatherings. From the stressful hunt for parking to navigating the after-party, the night is abundant with the complexities of a blockbuster film production. First off, dress code: Assuming you aren’t walking the photo line, there is none. Its important to note that during the winter months, the theaters really crank up the thermostat
ViewpointsJuly 11, 2024
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[Wang Son-taek] Yoon needs to work on diplomacy, not just security
As South Korea and Russia exchanged vulgar words again, the relationship between the two countries reached a new low. The trouble began on July 8 with a foreign media interview of President Yoon Suk Yeol ahead of his attendance at the NATO summit in Washington. He said Russia should consider who is more important to Russia between South and North Korea. He then warned that South Korea's possible provision of weapons to Ukraine depends on the level and content of cooperation between Russia a
ViewpointsJuly 11, 2024
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[Editorial] Watch CIO probe
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday vetoed a bill mandating a special counsel investigation into alleged external pressure on the military response to a Marine’s death. It is a reasonable veto. A bill for a special counsel probe of the case was first proposed by the main opposition party and passed the previous National Assembly, but Yoon sent it back to the Assembly on May 21. It failed to pass an Assembly re-vote on May 28. The Democratic Party of Korea proposed a modified version of the
EditorialJuly 11, 2024
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[Kim Seong-kon] Conspicuous forms of discrimination in our society
Anyone who has lived in South Korea long enough has likely encountered subtle or even open forms of discrimination. Perhaps one of the most conspicuous forms of discrimination in Korea is ageism. Ageism is taboo in most advanced countries, but in Korea, a supposedly Confucian country, many people openly practice it. Not long ago, our newspapers were full of headlines declaring the urgency of revoking senior citizens’ privilege of riding the subway for free or carrying out pension reforms t
ViewpointsJuly 10, 2024
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[Ylli Bajraktari] NATO must confront disinformation
NATO’s July summit in Washington marks the 75th anniversary of the alliance’s establishment, and it comes at a critical juncture. As threats to global stability evolve beyond conventional military domains, NATO must confront the barrage of disinformation undermining its unity and values. Specifically, member countries must prevent hostile authoritarian regimes from manipulating public opinion by leveraging technology to wage “cognitive warfare.” Fittingly, the summit is e
ViewpointsJuly 10, 2024
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[Sung Soo Eric Kim] Why generative AI must be regulated
I visited the Louvre Museum a couple of months ago, where legends and mythologies of humankind are preserved. Before the age of scientific reasoning in the 19th century, humankind lived based on beliefs and myths since we could not prove or scientifically reason what someone else observed. What became a legend and then a truth was based on what we wanted to see as a truth from a compelling story told by others. We could record what we see with modern recording technology during the Industrial Re
ViewpointsJuly 10, 2024
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[Editorial] Tighten loan conditions
South Korea’s household loans surged at an embarrassing pace last week, ringing alarm bells for financial authorities over local home buyers rushing to take out mortgage loans from banks, often beyond their repayment capacity, in a bid to ride a recovery period in the housing market. The combined household loans from the country's five major banks -- KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank, Woori Bank and NongHyup Bank -- climbed by around 2.2 trillion won ($1.6 billion) in the first
EditorialJuly 10, 2024
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[Editorial] Impeachment right abuse
The main opposition party’s recent move to impeach prosecutors is hard to accept from a common-sense point of view. It seems ill-founded and threatens to undermine the rule of law. The Democratic Party of Korea proposed a motion last week to impeach four prosecutors, three of whom either investigated or commanded investigations of allegations linked to its former leader, Rep. Lee Jae-myung. The complaints include concerns about development projects and Ssangbangwool Group’s illegal c
EditorialJuly 9, 2024