The Korea Herald

[Editorial] Drastic changes in order

The first half of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s five-year term has largely been disappointing. Instead of pushing for key policy initiatives, Yoon has been dragged down by a host of controversies and challenges amid plunging approval ratings. More worrisome is that Yoon shows no sign of making fundamental changes in his stances on controversial issues, including the soaring public criticism over first lady Kim Keon Hee. Yoon did apologize at a rare press conference Thursday to mark the second

EditorialNov. 13, 2024

[Lim Woong] AI and keeping humans in the loop

I teach graduate courses about AI and mathematics education, and my students -- mostly working professionals -- often express concerns about their future, not the distant future but the next two or three years: "Is AI going to take over my job?" Especially when some AI tools already seem to outperform their best work, it is quite a valid worry. My response is that while AI might make some jobs obsolete, it will also create new opportunities, such as AI device designers, AI ethics speci

ViewpointsNov. 12, 2024

[Lim Woong] AI and keeping humans in the loop

[Grace Kao] Approved songs for the CSAT

On Nov. 14, 2024, the Korean College Scholastic Ability Test will be administered in Korea. Approximately 522,000 Korean high school students will take the day-long exam, and their results will determine their college placement and career paths. It’s a national event where additional police are sent to test sites to direct traffic, and air traffic control limits aircraft takeoff and landing around 1 p.m., so as to not distract students during the English listening comprehension part of the

ViewpointsNov. 12, 2024

[Editorial] Dangerous ties

The main opposition Democratic Party of Korea held a rally in Seoul on Saturday, substantially calling for President Yoon Suk Yeol to step down. The party was going to hold a rally in Daejeon after the first one near Seoul Station on Nov. 2, calling for a special counsel probe of first lady Kim Keon Hee’s alleged illegal intervention in state affairs. It changed locations by holding its rally near a separate rally by civic groups including the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, which ha

EditorialNov. 12, 2024

[Editorial] Remain cautious, proactive

The US Federal Reserve trimmed its benchmark rate by 0.25 percentage points, reflecting cooling inflation and other economic data. But the Fed's monetary easing comes at a tricky moment as President-elect Donald Trump signaled the coming of a host of drastic changes in fiscal and economic policies. Given the close economic and financial relations between South Korea and the US, the forthcoming changes offer a difficult choice for Korea’s policymakers and central bankers. The country c

EditorialNov. 11, 2024

[Yoo Choon-sik] Would you buy South Korea?

It is always heartwarming to meet a close friend after a long time. I experienced such a joyful moment last week when I reunited with a former colleague I had worked with at the same company, in the same area of macroeconomic reporting, after many years, during his visit to Seoul for a holiday. We discussed many topics, ranging from our daily lives since leaving the company several years ago to our thoughts on the outcome of the US presidential election -- which had been decided just hours befor

ViewpointsNov. 11, 2024

[Yoo Choon-sik] Would you buy South Korea?

[Contribution] APEC, passing the baton to Korea

On Nov. 16, President Yoon Suk Yeol will participate in the APEC Leaders' Summit in Lima, coinciding with his official visit to Peru. This is a significant occasion as Korea will assume the presidency of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation for 2025, a forum which serves as the primary platform for economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Over the past 35 years, APEC has effectively promoted trade and investment integration in the world's most dynamic economic region, which curren

Diplomatic CircuitNov. 8, 2024

[Contribution] APEC, passing the baton to Korea

[Editorial] Brace for changes

As Donald Trump has won the high-stakes US presidential election, sweeping changes are expected to affect South Korea in fields including economy, trade, security, defense and inter-Korean relations. While Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again,” resonated among the majority of US voters, his core stance -- “America First” -- is likely to force many countries, including South Korea, to confront drastic challenges and costly decisions in their relations with the U

EditorialNov. 8, 2024

[Lee Byung-jong] US presidential election and Korea

Now that the US presidential election is over, with former President Trump’s victory, it may be time to review the heated and divisive campaigns of the election, along with its close resemblance to South Korea’s polarized politics. Perhaps because Korea borrowed its political system from the US at the time of its inception, there are alarming similarities between the two countries’ politics, notably during elections. It is alarming because the bitter and destructive nature of t

ViewpointsNov. 8, 2024

[Lee Byung-jong] US presidential election and Korea

[Wang Son-taek] Ten moments in the 2024 US election

The US presidential election is crucial for American voters and also significant for global citizens, influencing worldwide security, economic order and diplomatic trends. This election, however, stands out as one of the most dynamic and consequential in US history. Here, we recount 10 pivotal moments that shaped the election and underscored the importance of women's role in politics. 1. Debate between Biden and Trump (June) The election's first decisive moment was the early TV debat

ViewpointsNov. 7, 2024

[Wang Son-taek] Ten moments in the 2024 US election

[Antara Haldar] Why do countries prosper?

Each fall, a telephone call from Stockholm launches one or a few scholars to international fame with the bestowal of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences -- a process that Irving Wallace dramatized in his 1962 potboiler The Prize. This year, the call went to three figures who are already well-known, the economists Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the political scientist James A. Robinson of the University of Chicago. The three were recog

ViewpointsNov. 7, 2024

[Antara Haldar] Why do countries prosper?

[Editorial] Damaging consent

The Democratic Party of Korea on Monday decided to push through a bill to require the government to obtain consent from the National Assembly before allowing exports of defense articles. If the Defense Industry Development and Support Act is revised as written by Democratic Rep. Kim Byung-joo, the government will have to ask the Assembly if it assents to such exports. Lawmakers will then have 30 days to deliberate on the request behind closed doors and make a decision. Every instance of defense

EditorialNov. 7, 2024

[Daniel DePetris] Is there really an ‘axis of evil’?

If we didn’t know any better, we might flip through the newspaper and conclude that the international order the United States helped construct after World War II was coming apart. We might also be led to believe that four countries, China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, are not only contributing to its demise but also forming an alliance to destroy the so-called rules-based order that senior US officials crow about. Since the war in Ukraine erupted in February 2022, US foreign policy expert

ViewpointsNov. 6, 2024

[Daniel DePetris] Is there really an ‘axis of evil’?

[Editorial] Intel, a cautionary tale

In South Korea, Intel and Samsung Electronics used to be mentioned together as the leading examples of innovative frontrunners in the global tech business. Yes, they were; however, they no longer enjoy such flattering comparisons. Trouble-laden Intel is set to be replaced by Nvidia on the Dow Jones Industrial Average index Friday, a shocking setback for the US-based chipmaker in a changing landscape where even a technology behemoth can get kicked out of the index of blue-chip companies. The deci

EditorialNov. 6, 2024

[Kim Seong-kon] Traveling on the Silk Road for the Golden Fleece

The worst tragedies of human history tend to arise from our too-rigid notions of binary oppositions and our hatred of the other. The antagonisms between the East and the West, Christianity and Islam, or capitalism and communism are good examples. History shows us that the atrocities of wars, massacres and genocides are done in the name of God, the righteousness of pure ideology or delusions of racial supremacy. Recently, I came across a riveting book of poems by the renowned Korean poet Oh Sae-y

ViewpointsNov. 6, 2024

[Kim Seong-kon] Traveling on the Silk Road for the Golden Fleece

[Catherine Thorbecke] Indonesia’s iPhone 16 ban

Even the world’s fourth most-populous country, which has more active cellphones than people, seems to be no match for Apple. Indonesia’s ban on the sale of iPhone 16s after the company failed to meet local investment requirements didn’t faze investors. Shares of the world’s most-valuable company were largely unchanged by the news, which makes sense given the smaller footprint it has in the emerging market. And the deck was already unevenly stacked: Indonesia’s entir

ViewpointsNov. 5, 2024

[Catherine Thorbecke] Indonesia’s iPhone 16 ban

[John Mark Hansen] Why is the US presidential race even close?

I teach a course at the University of Chicago on presidential elections, and I hear the same kind of question from friends on both the right and the left. The Republicans I grew up with in western Kansas cannot understand why Donald Trump is not far ahead in the polls, whereas the Democrats who surround me in Chicago wonder how it can possibly be that Kamala Harris is not running away with the race. These are the right questions for understanding contemporary US politics. For all its unusual asp

ViewpointsNov. 5, 2024

[John Mark Hansen] Why is the US presidential race even close?

[Editorial] Beat populism

The National Assembly on Monday started in earnest to deliberate on the 667.4 trillion won ($483.4 billion) government budget for next year. The budget increased a modest 3.2 percent year over year. Deliberation ends in the general meeting of the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts on Nov. 29. Voting on the budget bill is slated for Dec. 2 in the Assembly plenary session. The ruling People Power Party makes much of fiscal austerity, while the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea regard

EditorialNov. 5, 2024

[Editorial] Face the reality

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s approval rating dropped to just 19 percent in a poll released Friday, marking its lowest recording since he took office in May 2022. The continued fall of his approval ratings illustrates public discontent about his handling of political disputes. According to the survey conducted by Gallup Korea, positive assessments of Yoon’s performance edged down 1 percentage point from the previous week. But negative assessments hit an all-time high of 72 percent, up 2

EditorialNov. 4, 2024

[Tyler Cowen] AI's uneven effect on economy

One of the only things growing faster than progress in AI applications is speculation about AI’s effect on the economy. I don’t have all the answers, not by a long shot, but I do think we should expect great unevenness in adaptation, and that itself will alter our world. To see how this is likely to play out, start with a distinction between sectors in which it is relatively easy to go out of business, and sectors in which it is not. Most firms selling computer programming services,

ViewpointsNov. 4, 2024

[Tyler Cowen] AI's uneven effect on economy