Most Popular
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Hyundai Motor eyes 80,000 jobs, W68tr investment at home by 2026
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Korea enters full election mode
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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Dialogue hopes fade as doctors pick hard-liner as new head
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Coupang pledges W3tr to expand Rocket Delivery nationwide by 2027
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[Election Battlefield] Political novice to face off star politician in ‘swing district’
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Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
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[Kim Seong-kon] The April 2024 election will decide our future
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[Herald Interview] Son Suk-ku chooses to be swayed by others in navigating life
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[Editorial] Foregone conclusion
The state audit agency announced inspection results last week showing that the previous Moon Jae-in administration's decision to dismantle three weirs and keep two open indefinitely on the Geum and Yeongsan rivers was made in an irrational and biased fashion following a foregone conclusion. From the beginning, there was no room for the possibility of weir management or maintenance. In May 2017, the Environment Ministry formed a four-river project evaluation group under the pretext of restor
EditorialJuly 24, 2023
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[Robert J. Fouser] Korea and global competition for labor
On my recent visit to South Korea and Japan, the topic of foreign migrant labor came up more than on any previous visit. An architect friend in South Korea said that construction would be almost impossible without foreign labor. A Japanese friend in Tokyo said that the service industry would face a severe shortage of workers without foreign labor. As the COVID-19 pandemic recedes, interest in other long-standing issues has reasserted itself. In 2021, South Korea joined Japan as one of the few na
ViewpointsJuly 21, 2023
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[Editorial] Seek a new option
A tripartite commission representing labor, business and the general public finally set the hourly minimum wage for next year at 9,860 won ($7.8) Wednesday, up 2.5 percent from this year. It is equivalent to a monthly wage of nearly 2.07 million won. The process for determining the minimum wage is always a painful process, but this year proved to be extremely tough. From the outset, representatives from labor and the general public clashed with each other, resulting in the cancellation of the fi
EditorialJuly 21, 2023
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[Lee Kyong-hee] Gyeongju: archaeology, myths and memories
Summer 1973. The sights and sounds of excavations descended on Gyeongju, turning the entire city into a massive archaeological project. If a Korean movie studio ever decides to make its own version of “Indiana Jones,” they would not have to search much for opening-scene inspiration. The “comprehensive tourist development” of the ancient royal capital of Silla, a pet project of then President Park Chung-hee, triggered the cacophony. Famously called “the museum withou
ViewpointsJuly 20, 2023
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[Editorial] Don't pass the buck
The causes and background of the Osong underpass flooding accident in North Chungcheong Province are coming to light in dribs and drabs. Further details will emerge now that the government has launched its inspection, but facts revealed so far show that the anti-disaster response system was not working properly due to insensitivity to safety and complacency. The flooding of the Gungpyeong-2 underpass tunnel in Osong-eup in the Heungdeok district of Cheongju was a fatal accident that could have b
EditorialJuly 20, 2023
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[Kim Seong-kon] Demagogy ruins our friendship with neighbors
John F. Kennedy once said, “Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners, and necessity has made us allies. Those whom God has so joined together, let no man put asunder.” Indeed, no one can force us to change such a God-given situation. Having a good neighbor is crucial for having a peaceful life. On the contrary, a bad neighbor is like a recurring nightmare that you have to suffer and endure every day. Therefore, what kind of a neigh
ViewpointsJuly 19, 2023
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[Chris Edelson] Surreal prospect of Trump's reelection
In the wake of Donald Trump’s federal indictment, the former president remains legally eligible to run again -- even if he is convicted, and even (bizarrely) if he is incarcerated, which is unlikely to occur before the election. In a functioning, healthy democracy, Trump would be denied the Republican Party’s nomination. GOP elites would stand together to reject his candidacy and rally behind a nominee who is not facing criminal prosecution related to willful retention of classified
ViewpointsJuly 19, 2023
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[Editorial] Household debt issue
South Korea’s household debt is growing at an alarming pace amid lingering concerns about financial risks that might shoot up depending on a combination of internal and external factors. The debt service ratio, or DSR, for households in Korea stood at 13.6 percent last year, the second-highest among 17 major countries, the Bank of International Settlements said in a report. Australia ranked first with 14.7 percent DSR. The DSR is used as a metric by lenders and borrowers to measure the pro
EditorialJuly 19, 2023
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[Howard Davies] Buffer madness
Speaking at this summer’s European Central Bank Forum in Portugal, Gita Gopinath, the International Monetary Fund’s first deputy managing director, set out what she described as “Three Uncomfortable Truths for Monetary Policy.” But it was the speech itself that often made for awkward listening. Gopinath’s first truth was that “inflation is taking too long to get back to target” and that “sustained high inflation makes bringing down inflation more d
ViewpointsJuly 18, 2023
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[Andrew Sheng] The promises and perils of the tech war
How well or badly is the US-China chip war going? After the Biden administration announced its industrial strategy to revitalize domestic manufacturing, create jobs, strengthen American supply chains and accelerate future industries, the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 will give as much as $280 billion over the next decade to support US semiconductor chip industry. Goodbye free markets, hello industrial policy. The outcome of the US-China rivalry hinges on the technology edge and how to use such t
ViewpointsJuly 18, 2023
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[Editorial] Quick fix won't work
The damage from the weekend's torrential rain is enormous across the country. A dayslong downpour brought mountain slopes crashing down on houses. Swollen rivers burst their banks, inundating villages and farmland. A multipurpose dam overflowed. Regular train services were interrupted. There has been huge property damage, but above all, many people lost their lives. According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, 41 peopl
EditorialJuly 18, 2023
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[Peter Singer] The coming disruption of animal production
One day, we may look back on 2023 as the year when it became apparent that the gigantic industry of raising animals for food was heading the same way as the industry that for most of the 20th century dominated how we record and store images. Is this year the equivalent, for animal production, of 1989, when the first digital camera aimed at the general public was launched? There are signs that it might be, starting with the Israeli Ministry of Health’s approval, in April, of a dairy produc
ViewpointsJuly 17, 2023
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[Editorial] Medical workers’ strike
Unionized medical workers ended their two-day strike Friday, a relatively brief walkout. However, it caused operational disruption at hospitals and much inconvenience to patients across the nation, showing how much damage such a strike could generate -- even in a short period of time. After all, hospitals play crucial roles of treating and saving people in their local communities. Massive disruptions started by a walkout could delay surgical operations and emergency treatment, putting innocent p
EditorialJuly 17, 2023
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[James Stavridis] NATO's Arctic windfall: Finland, Sweden
In the wake of Finland’s and Sweden’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the alliance can take a well-deserved victory lap. I commanded troops from both nations in Afghanistan, and Swedish forces in the Libyan campaign of 2011. The countries have professional and motivated personnel equipped with superb technology systems, from advanced fighter jets to stealthy naval corvettes. This spells trouble for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military, already much d
ViewpointsJuly 17, 2023
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[Nani Jansen Reventlow] Righting imperialism's wrongs
At long last, European countries have begun to grapple with their colonial legacies. In the Netherlands, the government has issued an apology for the country’s role in the global slave trade, and the king has “asked for forgiveness.” The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has urged Denmark to “address the negative impacts” of its colonization of Greenland. And in the United Kingdom, media outlets, the Church of England, and cities
ViewpointsJuly 14, 2023
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[Editorial] Boost nuclear energy
The government expressed its intention to construct new nuclear power plants. Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Lee Chang-yang said in the 29th meeting of the Energy Committee on Monday that it is necessary to consider expanding capacity to supply nuclear energy and hydrogen to meet the increasing demand for electric power. The Yoon Suk Yeol administration scrapped the previous Moon Jae-in administration's policy, which was to phase out nuclear energy in favor of transitioning more rap
EditorialJuly 14, 2023
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[Carl P. Leubsdorf] Dangerous criticisms of Biden
Despite differences on abortion and Ukraine, most members of the large Republican presidential field have generally followed former President Donald Trump’s lead in roundly condemning President Joe Biden. While some of that criticism is justified -- his difficulty in taming inflation, or his mishandling of Afghanistan, for example -- some is not. And the most dangerous example of mistaken Republican Party condemnation of Biden is the continuing assertion that the current administration i
ViewpointsJuly 13, 2023
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[Wang Son-taek] Another scenario for Fukushima wastewater problem
Japan's discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant seems imminent. As the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that the discharge plan meets safety standards, the only thing that remains is Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s decision on the discharge date. Some Japanese media are predicting the release in August. The prospect that the Japanese government will push ahead with the release underscores the IAEA's final report. It is also a boon for
ViewpointsJuly 13, 2023
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[Editorial] Absence of oversight
The National Election Commission, whose reputation suffered a serious setback over a nepotism dispute in recent months, is now in hot water again as a new inspection has revealed different types of irregularities. The Board of Audit and Inspection conducted a regular inspection and announced Monday that 128 employees of the election watchdog violated the country’s anti-graft law by misusing taxpayer money. The audit shows that some NEC committees did not pay the non-permanent commissioners
EditorialJuly 13, 2023
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[Yuliya Tymoshenko] What Ukraine brings to NATO
This week, almost every Ukrainian will be looking longingly toward Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius. It is there, at the summit of NATO’s leaders, that our place in Europe and the West will begin to be decided. Although virtually all Ukrainians dream of NATO membership, the brutal fighting in which we have been forced to engage since Russia invaded our country nearly 18 months ago has taught us hard lessons in realism. So, we are well aware that making our NATO dream a reality will be
ViewpointsJuly 12, 2023