[Rachel Bronson] Ways to honor Oppenheimer’s legacy

J. Robert Oppenheimer was the first chair of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ board of sponsors, a group composed of the world’s leading scientists based at the University of Chicago. Because I serve as the bulletin’s president, I am fielding a lot of questions lately about why I think Christopher Nolan’s eponymous film about Oppenheimer, which hit theaters nationwide on Friday, is resonating so deeply with the public. The all-star cast, feted director, and script

ViewpointsJuly 31, 2023

[Lucrezia Reichlin] Europe’s monetary over-tightening trap

Headline inflation is falling fast in the United States and the eurozone, following a succession of sharp interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank. But monetary policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic have made it clear that they are not done yet. Are they going to go too far? Core inflation, which is still running at around 5 percent in the US and the eurozone, remains a major cause for concern. Central bankers fear that, given a resilient labor market, hig

ViewpointsJuly 28, 2023

Pakistan eyes Korean investments, suggests potential sectors

Officials and representatives from Pakistan showcased trade and investment potential at the Pakistan-Korea trade and investment conference seeking Korean investments at the Ambassador Hotel in Seoul, Thursday. Attendees shared diverse ideas and business solutions in energy, construction, minerals, agriculture, food processing, textiles, automobiles, information technology and telecommunications to reach out to investors and key figures taking the lead. Underscoring Pakistan’s economic outl

Foreign AffairsJuly 27, 2023

[Wang Son-taek] USS Kentucky and the security dilemma

South Korea was hit by torrential rain last week. The flood killed 47 people and left three missing. All the news was focused on flood damage, and other stories were not the matter of attention. However, many headlines significantly impacted the security situation on the Korean Peninsula as much as heavy rain. The inaugural Nuclear Consultative Group meeting, USS Kentucky‘s visit to Busan Port, a US soldier’s defection to North Korea, and North Korea’s missile launches, all t

ViewpointsJuly 27, 2023

[Jonathan Bernstein] Third party ‘No Labels’ unhelpful

A group called “No Labels” is moving ahead with the possibility of running a third-party candidate for president next year -- at least if Donald Trump and Joe Biden are the major party nominees. Democrats are livid at the prospect, concerned that such an effort is more likely to help Trump. Some Democrats are even convinced that it’s a deliberate plot to deliver the election to Republicans. Polling shows that neither Biden nor Trump is especially popular -- and that many voters

ViewpointsJuly 27, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] Teachers change the world and our children

Recently in Seoul, an elementary school teacher died by apparent suicide in her classroom, with claims emerging since that she had been dealing with a belligerent parent. The deceased teacher was a 23-year-old young woman who had just begun her career as an educator. In another elementary school in Seoul, a sixth grader beat up his female homeroom teacher, whose injuries will likely take weeks to heal. Embarrassingly, violent assaults on teachers by students and parents are becoming common these

ViewpointsJuly 26, 2023

[Gearoid Reidy] Fukushima water opposition is steeped in anti-science

Hong Kong is so opposed to Japan’s plan to release treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant that it’s banning seafood products -- from four of the country’s landlocked prefectures. That sounds a bit off, yes? Tochigi, Gunma, Nagano and Saitama, which have a combined zero kilometers of coastline between them, are among the 10 regions whose aquatic produce will no longer be welcome in Hong Kong’s restaurants once Japan proceeds with its aim to begin releasing the more

ViewpointsJuly 25, 2023

[Pankaj Mishra] Europe's far right in the ascendant

A global upheaval looms as Donald Trump strengthens his candidacy for the next US presidential elections. Ukraine and its European allies need to start considering the prospect that by the end of next year, they could face a US no longer invested in resisting Russia’s aggression. We should also start bracing ourselves for a geopolitical earthquake in Europe itself. In Spain, which holds national elections on July 23, and across the continent, far-right demagogues are in the ascendant. Prim

ViewpointsJuly 25, 2023

[Gordon Brown] For whom Spain polls: a test for democracy in Europe

Spain’s general election Sunday matters not just for the country’s future but also for the future of Europe. A defeat for socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez would likely propel the extreme right-wing Vox party from back street demagogues to parliamentary power, and if, as is widely expected, Vox and the Popular Party (PP) enter into a coalition government, it will mark the end of Spain’s long aversion to far-right politicians, which has endured since the death of Generaliss

ViewpointsJuly 24, 2023

[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

[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

[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