[Robert J. Fouser] Korean learning boom at US universities

The Modern Language Association recently released its survey of second language enrollment at US universities as of the fall 2021 semester. Founded in 1883, the MLA is the most prominent organization of college and university second language educators in the county. The survey has been conducted every three or four years since 1958 and offers a window into the state of second language education in the US. The most notable change in the latest survey is the rise of Korean. For the first time ever

Dec. 1, 2023

[Wang Son-taek] Why do we need the trilateral summit?

The Korea-China-Japan foreign ministers' meeting was recently held in Busan, with considerable expectations at home and abroad. At the first meeting in four years, the ministers reaffirmed trilateral cooperation and held in-depth discussions on cooperation measures. It is a welcome diplomatic achievement that the three major countries in Northeast Asia met and discussed peace and prosperity amid anxiety over the wars in Europe and the Middle East. However, it is also necessary to point out

Nov. 30, 2023

[Lisa Jarvis] Hospitals are shortchanging Black cancer patients

A new analysis from researchers at the American Cancer Society suggests that the distressing disparity in outcomes for Black and white colon cancer patients could narrow if hospitals simply treated all patients with the same level of high-quality care. The disparity in rates and deaths from colorectal cancer among Black people has been a longstanding problem in cancer care. Black individuals are 20 percent more likely to be diagnosed with colon cancer and 40 percent more likely to die from it. T

Nov. 29, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] Amid the war of political ideologies

South Korea is a country where conservatism and socialism/progressivism have been at war for the past eight decades. Unfortunately, this means that there has been no room for liberalism in the Korean political arena. Surely, there are many liberals, and yet they are invisible in the whirlwind of ideological warfare between conservatives and socialists/progressivists. Watching the chronic war, one might have the impression that the Korean people do not seem to correctly perceive the definition of

Nov. 29, 2023

[Stephen Mihm] Civil War-era US Congress vs. today's

Congressional dysfunction took a dangerous turn this month. In the House, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy allegedly elbowed Rep. Tim Burchett in the kidney (McCarthy denied the claim). Not to be outdone, Sen. Markwayne Mullin challenged the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union, Sean O’Brien, to a fight, with the two men exchanging insults. For those inclined to believe that these childish provocations auger the end of the republic, please consider life in the US Cong

Nov. 28, 2023

[Shang-Jin Wei] Biden missed chance to help US and himself

At their recent summit in San Francisco, US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed on a few important issues. Notably, the two countries will resume military-to-military communication, thereby reducing the chances of an accidental conflict, and China will do more to restrict the export of chemicals used to make the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl -- a major cause of death in the United States. But there is one crucial area where progress remained elusive: tariffs. In 2018

Nov. 27, 2023

[Eric Posner] The monopolists fight back

As the Google antitrust trial winds down, corporate opposition to antitrust reform in the United States is winding up -- and not by coincidence. With the trial having once again revealed the prevalence of anticompetitive behavior in the tech industry, big corporations are turning to the US Congress to block the two federal agencies tasked with antitrust enforcement, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, from ramping up their efforts after decades of neglect. In the Google t

Nov. 27, 2023

[Ron Grossman] A long history of anti-Jewish hatred

At the first reports of a massacre of Israeli civilians, I shuddered, fearing the worst was yet to come. Sadly, I was right. Before sundown on Oct. 7, Israel was being blamed for Hamas’ killings, mutilations and kidnappings of Israeli civilians. As a historian, I know only too well the common denominator of thousands of years of my people’s experience: Jews are blamed for whatever calamity humanity suffers. That is true even when Jews are the victims. Eighty-five years ago, Nazi mobs

Nov. 24, 2023

[Takatoshi Ito] China’s self-inflicted economic wounds

At their recent summit in San Francisco, US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping made progress in a few key areas. Notably, they agreed to resume direct military-to-military communications -- which China had suspended last year, following a visit by then-Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan -- in order to reduce the chances of accidental conflict. But neither leader was negotiating from a particularly strong position: as Biden struggles with low approval

Nov. 23, 2023

[James Stavridis] Send US’ floating hospitals to Gaza

In my military career, I was frequently deployed on the US Navy’s massive nuclear-powered aircraft carriers into combat and on more routine peacetime missions. I embarked in the USS Abraham Lincoln as a commodore in the late 1990s, and I sailed around South America in the USS Eisenhower as a four-star admiral in command of US Southern Command in 2009. These are fearsome machines of war, apex predators at sea with significant land-attack powers as well. But in many ways, the most satisfying

Nov. 23, 2023

[Doyle McManus] Xi and Biden agreed on easy steps

In a world beset by wars in Gaza and Ukraine, it's good news when two superpowers step back from frictions that increased the danger of another war in Asia. That's what happened last week when President Joe Biden met with China's Xi Jinping at a country estate in the ridges west of Silicon Valley. The two presidents met after a year of frosty noncommunication, touched off by China's suspected espionage balloon that wandered across US airspace last winter, by aggressive Chines

Nov. 22, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] Korea in the eyes of a Generation MZ philosopher

Recently, a Korean intellectual sent me a reporter’s interview with a well-known Korean scholar of East Asian philosophy, Im Gun-soon. Reading the intriguing interview, I found he rightly diagnosed the current maladies of our society and prescribed the remedies we urgently needed in order to survive and thrive in this era of global disruptions. As a Generation MZ philosopher, I believe he could not possibly be a conservative. Thus, I believe that his observations and opinions were those of

Nov. 22, 2023

[Ana Palacio] The case for energy realism at COP28

At this year’s upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, world leaders will, for the first time, officially take stock of global progress toward the goals set out in the Paris climate agreement in 2015. The growing frequency of extreme-weather events makes this a decisive moment for climate action, and it is no secret that countries are falling short of their Paris commitments. The question is whether the assembled leaders -- whose ranks will include Pope Franc

Nov. 21, 2023

[Joseph E. Stiglitz] A victory lap for the transitory inflation team

As the world was recovering from the pandemic, inflation shot up, owing to widespread disruptions to global supply chains and sudden changes in patterns of demand. While the demand shifts might have posed a challenge to price stability even in the best of times, the breakdown in supply chains made matters worse. The market could not respond immediately to the new demand patterns, so prices increased. Recall that we initially experienced a car shortage, simply because there was a shortage of comp

Nov. 21, 2023

[Jerome H Kim] Rebuilding trust in vaccines amidst declining confidence

Today (Nov. 20) is World Children’s Day, and as we reflect on the future these young lives represent we are confronted by an insidious, but ultimately lethal, trend. Confidence in childhood vaccinations has fallen. According to the UNICEF report, "The State of the World’s Children 2023: For Every Child, Vaccination," there was a marked drop in the perception of the importance of vaccines for children in 52 out of 55 countries studied. This is an issue that demands immediate

Nov. 20, 2023

[Martin Schram] Show-and-tell, Bibi and Joe

It happens occasionally, but only rarely. All the good options suddenly seem to have failed at once. The only thing left is to just spread your cards across the table -- and play this hand faceup. The truth is, this happens far more at a negotiation table than a card table. Another truth is it has just happened to Israel -- and Israel’s forever kibitzer and guarantor, the United States – in yet another cruel crisis in Gaza. Israel and its staunchest ally must now show their most conv

Nov. 20, 2023

[Robert J. Fouser] The shifting conversation about cities

As we move deeper into the 2020s, it feels like the 2010s are fading into history. Among the many trends of the 2010s, interest in cities boomed, sparking an “urban rediscovery” in much of the developed world. Slick magazines like Monocle and Kinfolk portrayed cities as hip playgrounds for in-the-know youth. In South Korea, conversational walks in older neighborhoods became a trend just as social media took off. Social media posts of retro streetscapes dotted with new cafes suddenly

Nov. 17, 2023

[Jude Dumfeh] Is nuance possible in polarized world?

We humans are tempted to attack anything that appears foreign to us. As psychologist Abraham Maslow observed, when you have only a hammer, you’re inclined to look at everything as if it’s a nail. This unfortunate tendency often stems from a lack of nuance. Our world has become more polarized. We tend to see things in black or white, with little ability to handle shades of gray. It seems easy to stay in our silos and hurl attacks in other directions. An ability to see nuance, on the

Nov. 16, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] Remembering Lee O-young’s legacy

Almost two years have passed since Lee O-young, the great Korean thinker and eminent culture critic, sadly passed away. Last month, Minumsa published his last words in book form under the title, “Reading Lee O-young: Civilization, Culture, and Literature in the Era of Artificial Intelligence and Life Capitalism.” In that book, Lee left some invaluable wisdom and insights to his readers who felt lost in the whirlpool of today’s shallow social atmosphere full of fake news and gra

Nov. 15, 2023

[Daoud Kuttabo] Path for Gaza after a cease-fire

The Americans, the Israelis and the Palestinians are in a bind. No one knows who will govern Gaza after a cease-fire, when it comes. The Palestinian leadership in the West Bank city of Ramallah is not willing to enter Gaza on the back of Israeli tanks and without the agreement of Palestinian fighters there. No one else will either. Jordan’s prime minister has categorically denied that his country would play such a role, and the same will hold for almost any other Arab or international forc

Nov. 14, 2023