Most Popular
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S. Koreans' happiness rising slowly but surely: presidential panel
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No. of depression patients exceeds 1m in 2022
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Seoul subway fare to rise 12% beginning Saturday
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Races tighten in Seoul as parties battle for Assembly control
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Korean Air to submit new merger plan to ease antitrust concerns
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6-year-old Uzbek girl found dead in Daegu
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Korea to begin experiment with central bank digital currency
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US House votes to remove Speaker Kevin McCarthy
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US calls on China to encourage N. Korea's return to diplomacy
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22 Chinese apprehended after illegal entry attempt
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[Editorial] Mixed outlook
For South Korea, a nation heavily dependent on exports, the continued slump in key export items such as semiconductors casts a dark cloud over its economic prospects for the second half of this year. Attention is now turning to the second-half economic plans and projections the government will announce next week. Ahead of the crucial announcement, Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho hinted at the government’s policy focus. The country will strive to revive exports, stimulate investment and main
EditorialJune 30, 2023
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[Wang Son-taek] US-China dialogue sheds light on a new global order
On June 18-19, US Secretary of State Tony Blinken visited Beijing, where he talked with China's top foreign policy decision makers one after another and achieved some consensus for improving bilateral relations. This is welcome news when 8 billion people worldwide, including myself, are troubled by anxiety over the US-China strategic competition. The two countries have not made splendid breakthroughs in managing the US-China strategic competition. However, considering the two sides' di
ViewpointsJune 29, 2023
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[Susan Stokes] Neutralizing Trump’s big lies
With the federal indictment of Donald Trump, the former US president is doubling down on divisive rhetoric. America is thus at the start of another depressing chapter of in a seemingly never-ending war of narratives. A June 7-10 CBS/YouGov poll found that only 38 percent of likely Republican voters view Trump’s mishandling of classified documents as a national-security risk, compared to 80 percent across other voter blocs. Trump’s falsehoods about the case threaten to undermine publi
ViewpointsJune 29, 2023
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[Editorial] Flip side of minimum wage
The purpose of minimum wage is to protect vulnerable workers by preventing employers from exploiting employees. But the current minimum wage, a result of excessive hikes under the government of President Moon Jae-in, has done serious harm to both employers and workers. A lot of financially distressed small business owners were driven into firing employees or closing down their stores as they could not afford minimum wage any longer. Minimum wage put vulnerable workers in danger of job loss rath
EditorialJune 29, 2023
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[Kim Seong-kon] “The Child is father of the Man”
In his celebrated 1802 poem, “My Heart Leaps Up,” poet William Wordsworth wrote the famous line: “The Child is father of the Man.” The poem, also known as “The Rainbow,” reads: “My heart leaps up when I behold/ A rainbow in the sky/ So was it when my life began/ So is it now I am a man/ So be it when I shall grow old/ Or let me die!/ The Child is father of the Man.” Then, he concludes, “And I wish my days to be/ Bound each to each by natural
ViewpointsJune 28, 2023
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[Editorial] Tackling private education
South Korea’s Education Ministry unveiled new plans aimed at reducing students’ excessive reliance on private education in preparing for the country’s college scholastic ability test, known as the Suneung. At the heart of the plans is setting up a ministry-level committee made up of public school teachers, which will adjust the difficulty level of the Suneung by excluding so-called “killer questions” -- usually the most difficult test questions covering topics often
EditorialJune 28, 2023
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[Kati Marton] Saving Poland’s democracy
Elections are always high-stakes affairs in countries experiencing democratic backsliding. This was true of Turkey’s recent presidential election -- described as “free but unfair.” Likewise, when Poles go to the polls this fall, democracy itself will be on the line. Since coming to power in 2015, Poland’s populist Law and Justice (PiS) party has politicized the judiciary, harassed civil society, and worked tirelessly to drive independent media out of business. It has capi
ViewpointsJune 27, 2023
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[Jan-Werner Mueller] Can local journalism be saved?
“All politics is local,” proclaims an old American saying. That might partly explain why democratic politics is going so badly -- especially, but not only, in the United States. For local government to work properly, there must be local journalism to hold politicians and policymakers to account. But local journalism has been collapsing in many parts of the world. This makes it more difficult for citizens to connect to civic life, both locally and, eventually, nationally. Local proble
ViewpointsJune 27, 2023
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[Editorial] Disclose merits
The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs recently requested from the National Archives of Korea records on those who are to be recognized as meritorious persons under the opposition Democratic Party of Korea's "bill on the honorable treatment of persons of distinguished service to democracy of Korea," but the request was turned down. In a session of the bill review subcommittee of the National Policy Committee of the National Assembly on Tuesday, the ministry said that it had
EditorialJune 27, 2023
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[Thomas Spoehr] US military recruiting getting worse
At a recent House Armed Services Committee hearing, leaders from the US Army, Navy, and Air Force all dutifully reported that they expected to miss their annual recruiting goal this year by thousands. This is just the latest sign that the military recruiting crisis -- the worst since the institution of the all-volunteer force in 1973 -- is not abating. Despite significant efforts by the military services, such as offering hefty enlistment bonuses of up to $50,000 and the ability to choose your
ViewpointsJune 26, 2023
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[Editorial] Protect unregistered babies
In South Korea, where the fertility rate remains at a record low, each and every newborn baby deserves proper care and attention. Unfortunately, some unregistered babies are exposed to fatal risks and horrendous crimes, due largely to irresponsible parents and the absence of a policy to protect babies. The Board of Audit and Inspection found that a total of 2,236 babies born between 2015 and 2022 were undocumented after birth, and conducted a sample investigation into 1 percent, or 23 unregister
EditorialJune 26, 2023
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[Editorial] Follow reciprocity
Kim Gi-hyeon, leader of the ruling People Power Party, said in an address to the National Assembly on Tuesday: “China grants no suffrage to our people. It is fair to give no voting rights to foreigners from such country.” Kim also said, “Compared with the range of those dependents of our people residing in China who can be registered as beneficiaries of its health insurance system, that of dependents of Chinese residents in South Korea on its health insurance plan is much wider
EditorialJune 23, 2023
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[Ricken Patel] Why is Biden silent on Modi?
India’s democracy is in danger. There is no sound moral, political or economic case for President Joe Biden and other democratic leaders to pretend this isn’t happening. Yet the red carpets keep being rolled out. This week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be welcomed for a lavish state dinner at the White House on Thursday aimed at fostering a “free, open, prosperous, and secure Indo-Pacific” region. On India’s current trajectory toward repression, this w
ViewpointsJune 23, 2023
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[Clifford A. Young, Justin Gest] Elections a salve to soothe populism
As Donald Trump’s star rises again even with multiple criminal indictments looming, many observers fear that anti-establishment populism in America is no longer just a flirtation, but a feature of our democratic system. More generally, it has become common to think that democracies anywhere -- with their open public spheres, majoritarian institutions and propensity for frustrating incrementalism -- have fueled the rise of populist leaders and demagogues. Examples of the success of “s
ViewpointsJune 22, 2023
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[Joseph E. Stiglitz, Tommaso Faccio] Global minimum corporate tax needs more work
It has now been over two years since G-7 leaders announced a groundbreaking agreement to divvy up taxation of multinational corporations’ profits. That breakthrough followed years of fraught negotiations under the aegis of the OECD/G-20 Inclusive Framework, which then adopted the same agreement later that year. By establishing a 15 percent global minimum tax rate that companies would have to pay wherever they operate, the agreement aimed both to deter profit-shifting through tax havens an
ViewpointsJune 22, 2023
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[Editorial] Sluggish competitiveness
The annual report on world competitiveness ranking issued by the International Institute for Management Development, or IMD, tends to draw keen attention from media and policymakers here. While some critics question the report’s accuracy, it nonetheless serves as a valuable yardstick for assessing a country’s global competitiveness. The IMD has been putting out the report since 1989, reflecting four factors that determine a nation‘s competitiveness: economic achievements, gover
EditorialJune 22, 2023
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[Kim Seong-kon] How to end the Korean War forever
This year commemorates the 70th anniversary of the truce of the Korean War. Technically, the Korean War has not ended yet, and therefore the Korean people have been living in a state of suspension for the past 70 years. In the eyes of the electronic generation, it is as if the screen were stuck on “pause,” and could resume anytime when someone presses the “play” button again. Strangely, however, many Korean people seem to be oblivious of their precarious situation. Such
ViewpointsJune 21, 2023
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[Editorial] Natural step
In a speech at the plenary session of the National Assembly Monday, Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, vowed to give up his privilege as a lawmaker of being able to avoid a pre-trial detention hearing. In Korea, the prosecution is required to seek consent from the National Assembly on the detention of its members when the Assembly is in session. Consent is given if the majority of Assembly members attend the voting session and the majority of those members pr
EditorialJune 21, 2023
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[Noah Feldman] US Supreme Court on tribal rights
Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s majority opinion for the Supreme Court in Haaland v. Brackeen is conservative in the good, old-fashioned sense of the word. In upholding the Indian Child Welfare Act, the court reaffirmed precedent and declined an invitation to revolutionize the law with a reactionary constitutional holding. Along the way, Barrett demonstrated a style of doctrinal confidence and aphoristic clarity reminiscent of her old boss, Justice Antonin Scalia. The opinion marks a step in
ViewpointsJune 21, 2023
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[Conor Sen] EVs complicate GOP message
It’s still very early days, but if you're wondering how the 2024 presidential campaign might be different from the last matchup between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, one place to start is electric vehicles. Battery-powered cars are one of the biggest economic vulnerabilities that Republicans have in the battleground states such as Georgia, Michigan and Arizona that could wind up deciding the winner. The growth of electric vehicles is unique in that it touches an area of the US economy
ViewpointsJune 20, 2023