Most Popular
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Yoon's approval rating plunges to all-time low
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S. Korea votes in favor of Palestinian bid for UN membership
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Russia's denial of entry of S. Korean national unrelated to bilateral ties: Seoul official
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Bae Doo-na shares portraying Korean identity in Hollywood's 'Rebel Moon'
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[From the Scene] Monks, Buddhists hail return of remains of Buddhas
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Medical schools granted enrollment quota flexibility for next year
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Yoon offers first one-on-one meeting with opposition leader next week
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France rejects opening Paris flight routes to T'way Air, deals blow to Korean Air merger
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Iran fires air defense batteries in provinces as sound of explosions heard near Isfahan
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Chinese man behind drug scam targeting teens nabbed in Cambodia
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[Yoo Choon-sik] Worrying signals from 2023 GDP data
South Korea’s economy grew 2.2 percent in real terms during the final quarter of last year compared to the same period in 2022, marking an acceleration from a 1.4 percent rise in the third quarter and bringing growth for the entire of 2023 to 1.4 percent, according to revised data released by the country’s central bank last week. The headline figures looked fine overall, with growth accelerating in the October-December period compared to the preceding quarter, defying fears that Asia
ViewpointsMarch 11, 2024
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[Robert J. Fouser] Conditions for dealing with South Korea’s baby bust
South Korea’s low fertility rate made the news again recently after a government report predicted that the rate would fall to a new low of 0.72 children per woman in 2023. The country’s fertility rate is already the lowest in the world, despite a spate of recent policy initiatives to address the issue. The rate is expected to fall below 0.70 in 2024, which is far below the replacement rate of 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population without any immigration. Though the lowest in the
ViewpointsMarch 8, 2024
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[Editorial] ‘Sticky’ inflation
South Korea’s inflation rose back to over 3 percent in February due to the high prices of fresh food and energy, meaning both the Bank of Korea and the Yoon Suk Yeol administration face a bewildering situation where there are few quick fixes to tame rising prices. Consumer prices, a key measurement of inflation, rose 3.1 percent on-year last month, according to the data released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday. It was a discouraging development for policymakers who had expected inflation
EditorialMarch 8, 2024
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[Wang Son-taek] Election schedules and provocations of North Korea
With April's general election about a month away, predictions of more provocations from North Korea have increased. They say that North Korea is carrying out armed provocations to cause social chaos in South Korea ahead of the general election. Although large-scale South Korea-US joint military drills in March or an annulment of military agreement between the South and the North in November last year are direct factors in heightening military tensions, interpretation using the possible conn
ViewpointsMarch 7, 2024
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[Gernot Wagner] What does Trump mean for the climate?
It is easy to see how Donald Trump’s election to a second term would negatively affect the world’s climate -- and not just the political one. During his first term, more than 125 US environmental rules and policies were rolled back. Trump returning to the White House would be significantly worse for the environment and public health, and the damage would be harder to reverse. However, the technological revolution and fundamental market forces driving the low-carbon transition are too
ViewpointsMarch 7, 2024
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[Editorial] Foreign caregivers
As the rising cost of caregiving takes a toll on South Korean households, the Bank of Korea proposed two different ways of hiring foreign workers amid a growing imbalance between supply and demand for caregivers for the elderly and children. According to a report from the central bank released Tuesday, it cost about 3.7 million won ($2,770) per month last year for an individual to hire a caregiver at a long-term care hospital or other facilities for the elderly who are unwell. This amounts to ov
EditorialMarch 7, 2024
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[Kim Seong-kon] Are we on the brink of World War III?
Recently, authoritarian leaders from formerly imperialist countries are threatening the world that they will start World War III if their territorial expansion policy and dream of restoring their glorious past meet challenges from other countries. Accordingly, people are beginning to worry about the possibility of World War III, which could likely be a nuclear war resulting in global annihilation. In The Telegraph, Sherelle Jacobs recently wrote an intriguing article entitled: “World War T
ViewpointsMarch 6, 2024
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[Noah Feldman] Supreme Court buries fantasy of keeping Trump off ballot
The Supreme Court has unanimously concluded that Colorado can’t keep Donald Trump off the ballot. Section 3 of the 14th amendment, which says that a former officeholder who becomes an insurrectionist can’t hold federal office, won’t save us from a potential second Trump presidency. The court correctly rejected what I would call the National Treasure theory of the US Constitution, according to which an obscure, almost discarded provision could have determined the outcome of a pr
ViewpointsMarch 6, 2024
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[Editorial] Time to catch up -- fast
South Korea posted a trade surplus of $240 million with China, its biggest export destination, in February, the first surplus in 17 months since September 2022, according to government data. It is a welcome sign that the country’s trade balance with China swung to the black helped by a pickup exports of semiconductors. But this reversal in trade may be only temporary, as Korea faces an increasingly uphill battle with China in global trade as well as in technology competition. One depressin
EditorialMarch 6, 2024
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[Cynthia M. Allen] Tech without morality and IVF ruling
I have spent several days reading coverage of the recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that recognized extrauterine embryos as children. Then I read the court’s actual decision and found that the two -- the coverage and the ruling -- have almost nothing in common. Headlines decry how the court has effectively “ended in-vitro fertilization” in the state, with breathless reports of clinics closing. Panicked current and prospective IVF parents, even some in Texas are described as &
ViewpointsMarch 5, 2024
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[Editorial] After-school child care
The new school year has now begun, with the fewest ever first graders – about 369,400 – starting the 12-year journey. Typical school hours will begin at 9 a.m. and end around 1 p.m., but many more first graders will be staying in school longer starting this semester. South Korea’s public elementary schools have run after-school child care programs for a select number of first and second graders. Children with both parents working have been given priority, and if there are more
EditorialMarch 5, 2024
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[Mariana Mazzucato, Ilan Strauss] The algorithm and its discontents
In a new lawsuit in the United States against Meta, 41 states and the District of Columbia argue that two of the company’s social-media products -- Instagram and Facebook -- are not just addictive but detrimental to children’s well-being. Meta is accused of engaging in a “scheme to exploit young users for profit,” including by showing harmful content that keeps them glued to their screens. According to one recent poll, 17-year-olds in the US spend 5.8 hours per day on s
ViewpointsMarch 5, 2024
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[Yoo Choon-sik] Chip exports recovery masks deeper issues
South Korea announced robust export figures for February last week, instilling a glimmer of hope that the nation could see an uptick in economic growth this year after enduring one of its lowest rates in modern history. The government emphasized that the surge in semiconductor sales abroad drove the brisk exports in February. On the surface, February's exports grew by just 4.8 percent from a year ago, according to data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy. However, the average d
ViewpointsMarch 4, 2024
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[Editorial] No end in sight
The confrontation between the government and doctors intensified over the weekend, with neither side willing to seek a compromise that is urgently needed by patients waiting for delayed surgeries and treatments to resume. Some 20,000 doctors took part in a rally in Seoul on Sunday in protest against the government’s plan to increase the annual medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 starting from next year. “If the government ignores doctors’ efforts, it will face strong resis
EditorialMarch 4, 2024
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[Carl P. Leubsdorf] Ukraine’s battles drag on
Two years after Vladimir Putin sought to wipe it off the European map, Ukraine still stands. But its future remains in doubt. The resistance of House Republicans has stalled the provision of more vital US aid. And the past few months have not been kind to Ukrainian troops on the country’s hundreds of miles of battlefields. That the embattled country still stands is a surprise to both sides -- an unpleasant one to Putin, who was confident his mighty legions could score a quick success, and
ViewpointsMarch 1, 2024
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[Editorial] A country for children
South Korea’s fertility rate, or the average number of births a woman is expected to give in her lifetime, fell to the lowest ever of 0.72 last year. It has continued downhill from 1.24 in 2015. The number of babies born in the country dropped 7.7 percent from 2022 to the fewest ever of around 230,000, according to Statistics Korea. The dwindling fertility rate, which has been getting worldwide attention, has several reasons. The first is the number of marriages, which has plunged from its
EditorialMarch 1, 2024
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[Room Tone] Perfect companion to 'honbap' -- 30-minute shows
As a producer in the Korean television industry, I recognize that my competitors are no longer confined to fellow producers within the industry but rather extend to creators in the domains of YouTube, TikTok and video games. As the founder of Netflix once said, his biggest competitors are video games and … sleep. In this age of on-demand everything, everywhere, all at once, the battle for audience engagement has never been more difficult. I will admit that I now find it difficult to compl
ViewpointsFeb. 29, 2024
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[Chung Chan-seung] The collapse of trust: South Korea's true health care crisis
"Doctor, are you going on a strike too? Then how should I receive treatment from now on? I have respected doctors all this time, but I was so surprised and disappointed to see doctors leaving their patients behind to strike," a patient receiving treatment for panic disorder asked me. Up until now, the patient and I have had a solid mutual trust relationship. If the task were merely about fixing machines, knowledge and skills would suffice. However, the subject of medical art is not a m
ViewpointsFeb. 29, 2024
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[Takatoshi Ito] Japan as No. 4: Wake-up call for Tokyo
Harvard Professor Ezra Vogel’s 1979 book, "Japan as Number One: Lessons for America," became an instant bestseller in Japan. The flattering title certainly helped sales, but it was the book’s central argument – that the Japanese approach to governance and business were superior to others – that really made a splash. At the time, Japan was riding high. Its GDP had grown by about 10 percent annually for most of the 1950s and 1960s, and 4-5 percent during the sec
ViewpointsFeb. 29, 2024
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[Editorial] Real ways to boost value
The South Korean government on Monday unveiled a plan to help companies enhance shareholder value by addressing the so-called “Korea discount” that has plagued the local markets for years. Markets, however, seem unimpressed. The Korea discount is a chronic issue in which Korean shares are undervalued compared with their peers in other markets, reflecting smaller-than-expected shareholder returns and poor corporate governance. Under the “corporate value-up program,” the go
EditorialFeb. 29, 2024