[Grace Kao] International fans on the way to 'Music Bank'

One of my favorite activities when I’m in South Korea is to watch the idols arrive at KBS’ “Music Bank” on Friday morning. While “Music Bank” is broadcast Friday evenings, there is a promenade of idols who arrive in the morning in preparation for prerecording and their live performance later in the day. Fans can line up near the entrance and watch them pose for the official photographers before entering the building. This may be the closest they will get to se

ViewpointsJune 11, 2024

[Yoo Choon-sik] Divide between exports, domestic demand

South Korea’s revised gross domestic product data, released late last week, showed its economy grew at the fastest rate in just over two years during the first quarter of this year. While the overall growth rate matched the earlier official estimates, details from the revised data raise a louder alarm about the magnitude of the slump in domestic demand. The country’s GDP grew by a seasonally adjusted 1.3 percent in the January-March period over the previous quarter, the same as the o

ViewpointsJune 10, 2024

[Paolo Cesarini, Christophe Leclercq, Maria Joao Rodrigues] Europe needs a democracy commissioner

When European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took office in December 2019, she established a “new push for European democracy” as one of her six policy priorities. After the European Parliament elections on June 6-9, one of the biggest threats to democracy still needs to be adequately addressed: the risks confronting Europe’s media sector. To be sure, EU lawmakers have taken important steps that will help safeguard media. The Digital Markets Act, limiting the power o

ViewpointsJune 7, 2024

[Room Tone] Thoughts on talent compensation

Recently, there has been a surge in discussions about the Korean television industry, focusing particularly on the rising production costs of scripted dramas. A key area drawing media attention is the economics of talent compensation, especially for A-list talent at the very top of every casting list. In order to better understand the economics of talent compensation, let us turn to the Korean film industry. For the past two decades, the Korean film industry has thrived on the success of its dom

ViewpointsJune 6, 2024

[Winnie Byanyima, Joseph E. Stiglitz] How to protect world from next pandemic

“History teaches us that the next pandemic is a matter of when, not if,” warned World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus earlier this year. He is right. That is why it is vital that the world’s governments successfully conclude their work of negotiating an accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. Negotiators were not able to meet the latest deadline for an agreement. They need more time, but they must also be mindful that time is r

ViewpointsJune 6, 2024

[Wang Son-taek] Trash balloons vs. leaflet balloons

North Korea sent over around a thousand balloons filled with trash, including excrement, to South Korea, scattering them across the country. The garbage itself is filthy, but the base nature of North Korea's actions is even more despicable. This incident is also a disgraceful and embarrassing display of the current state of inter-Korean relations. Why did this humiliating situation occur? How should we respond? A lot of angry South Koreans might think the answer should be to accuse North Ko

ViewpointsJune 6, 2024

[Kim Seong-kon] Remembering John Barth and the Korean 1980s

Recently, the celebrated American author John Barth passed away, leaving behind his long-lasting legacy of postmodern literature. In his monumental essay, “The Literature of Exhaustion” (1967), Barth declared that literary realism and conventional modes of literary representation had used up their possibilities in the postmodern era of electronic media and pop culture. In his 1982 sequel essay “The Literature of Replenishment,” he proposed “postmodernism” as a

ViewpointsJune 4, 2024

[Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Binaifer Nowrojee] More women are needed at the top

Mexico has just elected its first female president, following a rare contest between two women. But while this result represents welcome gains for gender equality, it was an outlier. The broader picture is disheartening. Consider, for example, another recent election. Thirty years after the end of apartheid and the first free vote -- and despite impressive strides (led by women) toward gender equality in other domains -- the people of South Africa still have not had a chance to elect a woman to

ViewpointsJune 4, 2024

[Eric Posner] Rough justice for Trump

Now that a Manhattan jury has convicted Donald Trump of falsifying business records in order to cover up a crime – whether it is an election-related or a tax-related crime is not clear – a host of new questions arise. Will Judge Juan Merchan send the former president to jail before the election in November, and, if so, will Trump nonetheless be reelected and released? If the judge merely fines Trump or puts him on probation, what impact might that have on the outcome? Finally, will

ViewpointsJune 4, 2024

[Grace Kao] K-pop 'fanmeetings' and collective nostalgia

The term “fan meeting” ought to be self-evident. It’s an event where artists meet their fans, but don’t fans and artists meet at a traditional concert? Perhaps one imagines a “meet and greet” event where you pay extra for the opportunity for a photo or to say hello to your favorite artist. In the world of K-pop, a “fanmeeting” (one word) refers to an event with a very unique format. My husband and I just attended the VIXX Starlight 6th Fanmeeting

ViewpointsJune 4, 2024

[Yoo Choon-sik] Value-up program fails to lift stocks

South Korea’s stock prices fell for the past two consecutive months, pushing the main board’s benchmark index below its starting point for this year and faring worse than many indices in major countries worldwide. Moreover, the disappointing performance of the country’s share prices contrasts with some signs of improving economic growth in recent months. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index, or Kospi, fell 2.1 percent in May after losing 2 percent in April. This follows a st

ViewpointsJune 3, 2024

[Daniel DePetris] China’s message to Taiwan’s president

Last week, Taiwan got a new president. Lai Ching-te, also known as William Lai, was sworn in after a rough and tumble campaign, succeeding his old boss, former President Tsai Ing-wen. Elections in Taiwan are always a sore spot for China, which claims the self-ruled island as its own and regards any expressions of Taiwanese sovereignty as a violation. But Lai’s inauguration is an especially thorny subject for Beijing because the Chinese Communist Party views him as a dangerous instigator of

ViewpointsMay 31, 2024

[Wang Son-taek] Five takeaways from the trilateral summit

The trilateral summit between South Korea, Japan, and China held in Seoul, Korea, earlier this week was the first such event in four and a half years since 2019, and it has significantly positive implications for the resumption of the platform for peaceful coexistence and prosperity among the three countries. It was also a successful diplomatic event for the Republic of Korea, raising expectations for peace and stability in Northeast Asia and restoring Korea-China relations. However, it is ne

ViewpointsMay 30, 2024