The Korea Herald

[Editorial] Blind spot

In the past decade, the South Korean government has been trying to locate and help people struggling with extreme poverty and diseases outside of the social security net. But the system is still fraught with loopholes, resulting in more tragic and unattended deaths. On Friday, a woman in her 40s was found dead alongside a young child, unconscious, in a rented residential villa in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province. The police said Monday the direct cause of the woman’s death is presumed to be a

EditorialSept. 13, 2023

[Andrew Sheng] The unending cycle of war and peace

Are we moving into an escalating phase towards war? With war returning to Europe with armed conflict in Ukraine, coups in Niger, Central Africa, amid the hottest July in recorded history, the heating of climate and war is becoming a toxic mix. The US Director of National Intelligence’s 2021 report on Global Trends 2040 gloomily assessed the prospects as follows: “In coming years and decades, the world will face more intense and cascading global challenges ranging from disease to clim

ViewpointsSept. 12, 2023

[Andrew Sheng] The unending cycle of war and peace

[Editorial] Build anti-sub ability

North Korea's threat of underwater nuclear attacks, which are difficult to detect beforehand, is looming large. The North disclosed through state media Friday that it launched its first “tactical nuclear attack submarine” that can fire nuclear missiles underwater. Photos North Korea disclosed reveal 10 vertical launch tubes for short and medium-range ballistic missiles. The submarine is presumed to be capable of firing not only ballistic missiles tipped with nuclear warheads but

EditorialSept. 12, 2023

[Antara Haldar] After the demise of Beijing Consensus

For four decades, “Made in China” has been a defining feature of global capitalism. China has manufactured a majority of global exports since 2010, and many countries are emulating its development paradigm. But a wave of disappointing economic news from China has given rise to increasingly gloomy forecasts, with some going so far as to argue that decline is imminent. There has been much speculation about this reversal’s implications for the global economy, but what does it mean

ViewpointsSept. 11, 2023

[Antara Haldar] After the demise of Beijing Consensus

[Editorial] Supply chain risks

China’s moves to place restrictions on two fields -- one on exports of urea for fertilizer and the other on the use of Apple’s iPhone for government workers -- have sent a chill down the spine of South Korean policymakers and businesspeople. Both regulations have not affected Korean exporters and consumers yet, but given the past case in which China caught the country off guard with its curb on urea solution exports, much caution and proactive preparations for export control on other

EditorialSept. 11, 2023

[Editorial] Fake election news

Kim Man-bae, a key figure in the high-profile Daejang-dong development scandal, was found to have fabricated news stories unfavorable to the then-People Power Party candidate Yoon Suk Yeol before the 2022 presidential election. The scandal concerns a project to develop Daejang-dong in Seongnam City as apartment complexes. The project was planned and executed under then-Mayor Lee Jae-myung, who is leader of the Democratic Party of Korea. Kim allegedly received astronomical returns on investment

EditorialSept. 8, 2023

[Wang Son-taek] Japan must make chance for Kanto massacre apology

The Japanese remember the Great Kanto Earthquake on Sept. 1 every year. There was a 7.9 magnitude earthquake, and more than 100,000 people died. Koreans remember the same day as the Great Kanto Massacre. Shortly after the quake, Japanese police, military and civilian vigilantes brutally killed over 6,000 Koreans, around 750 Chinese as well as Japanese socialists and others on the left. The Great Kanto Massacre took place in 1923, so this year marks the 100th anniversary. Since it was the centena

ViewpointsSept. 7, 2023

[Wang Son-taek] Japan must make chance for Kanto massacre apology

[Editorial] Kim’s visit to Russia

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s rare expected trip to Russia sometime next week is sending loud alarms to government officials in South Korea and the United States, as Kim is seen pushing for an arms deal with President Vladimir Putin, a scenario that will complicate the already thorny geopolitical situation on and possibly beyond the Korean Peninsula. Kim is now expected to travel from Pyongyang by armored train to Vladivostok on the Pacific coast of Russia, where he would attend the Ea

EditorialSept. 7, 2023

[Sarah Green Carmichael] Is ChatGPT coming for entry-level jobs?

The first years of my career in media were spent making photocopies, collecting faxes and filing papers. I also opened reader mail, took notes on meetings and ran errands for my bosses -- picking up everything from skim lattes to control-top Donna Karan tights. I’ve been thinking back to those dues-paying days recently due to an onslaught of depressing research about how generative AI could hurt the career prospects of Generation Z, or those born 1997 to 2012. If it transforms or even take

ViewpointsSept. 7, 2023

[Sarah Green Carmichael] Is ChatGPT coming for entry-level jobs?

[Kim Seong-kon] 'My precious' and 'If it’s Him, I will Consider'

There is an image in our collective consciousness that has become indelible, unmistakable: It is when, in the famous fantasy movie, “The Lord of the Rings,” the iconic character Gollum greedily clutches the powerful magic ring at the heart of the story and whispers, “My precious!” Originally, Gollum was a good, peaceful hobbit, but twisted by his greed and obsession with the One Ring, he turned into the monstrous Gollum, a depraved and corrupted creature. The lesson of th

ViewpointsSept. 6, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] 'My precious' and 'If it’s Him, I will Consider'

[Editorial] Dubious qualifications

Youn Mee-hyang's qualifications as a lawmaker are questionable. The independent lawmaker attended an event Friday in Tokyo organized by the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, a pro-North Korean group of Zainichi residents in Japan, abbreviated as Chongryon, to commemorate Korean victims of the Kanto Massacre in the wake of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. Chongryon Chairperson Ho Jong-man, who was granted the title of "hero" by North Korea, and other leaders of the

EditorialSept. 6, 2023

[Martin Schram] It’s time to make America’s democracy great again

To tell you the truth, if I do just that, the polls all say that one out of three of you won’t want to hear or read it -- and that you damn well won’t believe it. So let’s start today with the things just about all of us believe. Almost all of us believe that we are on the side of the Patriotic Americans. And way too many of us believe, these days, that those on the other side aren’t true patriots at all -- but fake patriots who are America’s true enemies. We have f

ViewpointsSept. 6, 2023

[Martin Schram] It’s time to make America’s democracy great again

[Joseph E. Stiglitz] Extreme inequality a fertile ground for retreat of democracy

There has been much handwringing about the retreat of democracy and the rise of authoritarianism in recent years -- and for good reason. From Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and former US President Donald Trump, we have a growing list of authoritarians and would-be autocrats who channel a curious form of right-wing populism. Though they promise to protect ordinary citizens and preserve longstanding national values, they pursue policies that prot

ViewpointsSept. 5, 2023

[Joseph E. Stiglitz] Extreme inequality a fertile ground for retreat of democracy

[Editorial] Teachers’ rally

Tens of thousands of schoolteachers in South Korea held a massive rally in front of the National Assembly in Seoul on Monday to mourn the recent deaths of fellow teachers who had suffered from extreme stress due to abusive parents and unruly students. The rally in Seoul was held along with similar mourning events across the nation, and some school classes finished early since as many as a thousand teachers in a single local education district took the day off to join the collective action. The c

EditorialSept. 5, 2023

[Kelly A. Grieco, Jennifer Kavanagh] Biden's backward SE Asia itinerary

When US President Joe Biden visits Vietnam after his stop at the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi this month, he is expected to upgrade our two nations’ bilateral relationship to a “strategic partnership.” The shift will mark a significant turning for both countries. But it should not come at the cost of skipping the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations around the same time in Indonesia. Biden’s choice to go to Hanoi -- and send Vice President Kamala Harris

ViewpointsSept. 4, 2023

[Kelly A. Grieco, Jennifer Kavanagh] Biden's backward SE Asia itinerary

[Mariana Mazzucato] Rethinking growth and the entrepreneurial state

From high-level policy debates and political manifestos to everyday news coverage, anxiety about economic growth is everywhere. In Germany, the government’s latest budget identifies stronger growth as a top priority. In India, national leaders are eager to reclaim their country’s place as the world’s fastest-growing economy. In China, where the prospect of deflation looms, the government is undoubtedly worried about hitting its 5 percent growth target for the year. In the Unite

ViewpointsSept. 4, 2023

[Mariana Mazzucato] Rethinking growth and the entrepreneurial state

[Editorial] Absurd hunger strike

Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung's hunger strike is irrational and unjustifiable. He suddenly declared he would go on an indefinite hunger strike on Thursday, just a day before the National Assembly opened its regular session. Whenever he opens his mouth, out come concerns about the livelihoods of the public. But in the Assembly, where the party he leads holds a legislative majority, he behaves like he does not care. The demands he made are absurd. He demands three things from

EditorialSept. 4, 2023

[Robert J. Fouser] S. Korea and Japan after Camp David

The recent trilateral summit between the leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan on Aug. 18 was heralded as a turning point in trilateral security cooperation. US President Joe Biden hosted South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a summit at the Camp David presidential retreat. The leaders agreed to form a quasi-alliance in the face of the growing threat from China. They agreed to cooperate on a range of security-related issues and t

ViewpointsSept. 1, 2023

[Robert J. Fouser] S. Korea and Japan after Camp David

[Editorial] Red alert

Setting a fresh record is usually a positive development. But it’s disheartening when it comes to South Korea’s dismal birth rate, which is breaking one record after another -- in a downward direction. According to population data released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday, only 249,000 babies were born in 2022, down 11,000 from a year earlier. It is the first time the figure fell below 250,000 since the agency began compiling data in 1970. The latest figure comes as a big challenge f

EditorialSept. 1, 2023

[Lee Kyong-hee] Truth behind the 1923 massacre

Tomorrow is the 100th anniversary of one of the worst natural disasters in history, the Great Kanto Earthquake, which leveled swaths of Japan’s main island. The tremor and subsequent fires destroyed 40 percent of Tokyo and left 60 percent of the population homeless. Yokohama, the second-largest city, suffered a similar fate. Nationwide, the estimated death toll was 140,000. Today, the cities’ neighborhoods leave no trace of the ruins or lives lost. They also bear little trace of a

ViewpointsAug. 31, 2023

[Lee Kyong-hee] Truth behind the 1923 massacre