The Korea Herald

[Angus Deaton] Who broke American democracy?

ViewpointsNov 1, 2022

The current mainstream narrative in the United States holds that democracy is under threat from MAGA zealots, election deniers and Republicans who are threatening to ignore unfavorable results. That narrative is true, but only up to a point. There is another, longer-running story with a different set of malefactors. It’s a story in which, for more than 50 years, Americans without college degrees...
[Editorial] Deadly crush in Itaewon

EditorialNov 1, 2022

Lethal Halloween crowd surge raises questions about public security in Korea
[Jeffrey Frankel] Why do Americans vote for extremists?

ViewpointsOct 31, 2022

American voters seem poised to hand the Republican Party control of the House of Representatives, and possibly the Senate as well, in November’s midterm elections. The same goes for many state races, where polls show Republicans gaining ground. Such an outcome could have profound consequences for American democracy, especially if it results in even greater degradation of the US electoral system....
[Editorial] Abrupt warning

EditorialOct 31, 2022

Putin makes threatening remarks about Seoul's support for Ukraine
[Lynn Schmidt] Putting country before party

ViewpointsOct 28, 2022

What if the way to break through our polarized politics was to reward those willing to cross the partisan divide for the greater good? America is mired in a dysfunctional stew of hyper-partisanship. Too many view members of the opposing political party as enemies and not fellow Americans. Not to mention this environment can make it difficult to govern. A multitude of books have been written abou...
[Editorial] Proliferation of drugs

EditorialOct 28, 2022

Government must strengthen crackdown and run joint programs to stop spread of drugs
[Rick VanMeter] Pro-competitive laws to benefit app consumers

ViewpointsOct 27, 2022

In September 2021, South Korea became the first country to pass legislation seeking to address the harmful, monopolistic app-store practices of two of the world’s most powerful companies: Apple and Google. Fast forward just one short year, and Apple’s anti-competitive behavior appears unchanged. Last month, Apple announced it will force developers to increase prices for applications and in-app ...
[Mariana Mazzucato] New missions for Latin America

ViewpointsOct 27, 2022

The war in Ukraine and the global cost-of-living crisis are hitting Latin America and the Caribbean hard. Growth in the region, which rebounded impressively from COVID-19 to reach an average rate of 6.8 percent in 2021, will fall to just 1.8 percent this year, with crippling effects on the most vulnerable people. Compared to 2021, Latin America’s poverty rate will increase by 0.9 percentage point...
[Lee Kyong-hee] Peace in East Asia 113 years ago and now

ViewpointsOct 27, 2022

“On the morning of the 26th, the temperature in Harbin dropped below zero and it snowed lightly. Ahn Jung-geun changed into new clothes and headed to Harbin Station. He took a seat in a tearoom on the second floor of the third-class lounge and ordered tea. Russian military police officers stood guard outside, while foot patrol officers made their rounds with resounding footsteps.” This is Kim Ho...
[Editorial] No free lunch

EditorialOct 27, 2022

National Assembly's ad hoc committee holds first meeting to reform pensions
[Gearoid Reidy] The West has failed — North Korea is a nuclear state

ViewpointsOct 26, 2022

The world might not want to hear it, but Kim Jong-un might be right. “There will never be such a thing as our abandonment of the nuclear weapons or denuclearization,” Kim declared last month. “The position of our state as a nuclear nation has become irreversible.” Decades of pursuing the “denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula has failed. After North Korea last month declared itself a nuclea...
[Kim Seong-kon] Good intentions, bad outcomes

ViewpointsOct 26, 2022

Due to cultural differences or a lack of foreign language proficiency, we are prone to misunderstanding others or making mistakes despite our good intentions. Such a tendency may result in awkward situations, and yet we should try to understand each other. Recently, for example, many Koreans were upset about the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, which grants benefits to electric ca...
[Editorial] Credit crunch

EditorialOct 26, 2022

Policymakers should block Legoland-induced tumult from spilling over to financial market
[Kim Sang-kyun] Reasons to stay away from illegal drugs

ViewpointsOct 25, 2022

Last July, in the middle of Gangnam, a posh district in Seoul well known for the global hit K-pop song “Gangnam Style,” a man in his 20s, who took methamphetamine at a drinking party, died in a car accident on his way home. Police found 64 grams of methamphetamine in his vehicle. Recently, a smuggler carrying illegal drugs to South Korea in his stomach died after packets of drugs burst inside hi...
[Martin Schram] A little inflation help from the other side

ViewpointsOct 25, 2022

President Joe Biden and his designated message-deliverers just got some crucial, last-minute insights -- from a most unlikely source -- Wednesday night. It made clear how they should be talking about the only issue that almost half of Americans say they really care about in this all-over-the-lot midterm campaign. Yep, we are talking today about the issue you assumed Democratic strategist James C...