[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

July 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

July 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

July 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

July 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

July 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

July 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

July 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

July 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

July 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

July 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

July 19, 2023

[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

July 19, 2023

[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

July 18, 2023

[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

July 18, 2023

[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

July 17, 2023

[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

July 17, 2023

[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

July 14, 2023

[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

July 13, 2023

[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

July 13, 2023

[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

July 12, 2023