The Korea Herald

[Kim Seong-kon] 'My precious' and 'If it’s Him, I will Consider'

There is an image in our collective consciousness that has become indelible, unmistakable: It is when, in the famous fantasy movie, “The Lord of the Rings,” the iconic character Gollum greedily clutches the powerful magic ring at the heart of the story and whispers, “My precious!” Originally, Gollum was a good, peaceful hobbit, but twisted by his greed and obsession with the One Ring, he turned into the monstrous Gollum, a depraved and corrupted creature. The lesson of th

ViewpointsSept. 6, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] 'My precious' and 'If it’s Him, I will Consider'

[Editorial] Dubious qualifications

Youn Mee-hyang's qualifications as a lawmaker are questionable. The independent lawmaker attended an event Friday in Tokyo organized by the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, a pro-North Korean group of Zainichi residents in Japan, abbreviated as Chongryon, to commemorate Korean victims of the Kanto Massacre in the wake of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. Chongryon Chairperson Ho Jong-man, who was granted the title of "hero" by North Korea, and other leaders of the

EditorialSept. 6, 2023

[Martin Schram] It’s time to make America’s democracy great again

To tell you the truth, if I do just that, the polls all say that one out of three of you won’t want to hear or read it -- and that you damn well won’t believe it. So let’s start today with the things just about all of us believe. Almost all of us believe that we are on the side of the Patriotic Americans. And way too many of us believe, these days, that those on the other side aren’t true patriots at all -- but fake patriots who are America’s true enemies. We have f

ViewpointsSept. 6, 2023

[Martin Schram] It’s time to make America’s democracy great again

[Joseph E. Stiglitz] Extreme inequality a fertile ground for retreat of democracy

There has been much handwringing about the retreat of democracy and the rise of authoritarianism in recent years -- and for good reason. From Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and former US President Donald Trump, we have a growing list of authoritarians and would-be autocrats who channel a curious form of right-wing populism. Though they promise to protect ordinary citizens and preserve longstanding national values, they pursue policies that prot

ViewpointsSept. 5, 2023

[Joseph E. Stiglitz] Extreme inequality a fertile ground for retreat of democracy

[Editorial] Teachers’ rally

Tens of thousands of schoolteachers in South Korea held a massive rally in front of the National Assembly in Seoul on Monday to mourn the recent deaths of fellow teachers who had suffered from extreme stress due to abusive parents and unruly students. The rally in Seoul was held along with similar mourning events across the nation, and some school classes finished early since as many as a thousand teachers in a single local education district took the day off to join the collective action. The c

EditorialSept. 5, 2023

[Kelly A. Grieco, Jennifer Kavanagh] Biden's backward SE Asia itinerary

When US President Joe Biden visits Vietnam after his stop at the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi this month, he is expected to upgrade our two nations’ bilateral relationship to a “strategic partnership.” The shift will mark a significant turning for both countries. But it should not come at the cost of skipping the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations around the same time in Indonesia. Biden’s choice to go to Hanoi -- and send Vice President Kamala Harris

ViewpointsSept. 4, 2023

[Kelly A. Grieco, Jennifer Kavanagh] Biden's backward SE Asia itinerary

[Mariana Mazzucato] Rethinking growth and the entrepreneurial state

From high-level policy debates and political manifestos to everyday news coverage, anxiety about economic growth is everywhere. In Germany, the government’s latest budget identifies stronger growth as a top priority. In India, national leaders are eager to reclaim their country’s place as the world’s fastest-growing economy. In China, where the prospect of deflation looms, the government is undoubtedly worried about hitting its 5 percent growth target for the year. In the Unite

ViewpointsSept. 4, 2023

[Mariana Mazzucato] Rethinking growth and the entrepreneurial state

[Editorial] Absurd hunger strike

Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung's hunger strike is irrational and unjustifiable. He suddenly declared he would go on an indefinite hunger strike on Thursday, just a day before the National Assembly opened its regular session. Whenever he opens his mouth, out come concerns about the livelihoods of the public. But in the Assembly, where the party he leads holds a legislative majority, he behaves like he does not care. The demands he made are absurd. He demands three things from

EditorialSept. 4, 2023

[Robert J. Fouser] S. Korea and Japan after Camp David

The recent trilateral summit between the leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan on Aug. 18 was heralded as a turning point in trilateral security cooperation. US President Joe Biden hosted South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a summit at the Camp David presidential retreat. The leaders agreed to form a quasi-alliance in the face of the growing threat from China. They agreed to cooperate on a range of security-related issues and t

ViewpointsSept. 1, 2023

[Robert J. Fouser] S. Korea and Japan after Camp David

[Editorial] Red alert

Setting a fresh record is usually a positive development. But it’s disheartening when it comes to South Korea’s dismal birth rate, which is breaking one record after another -- in a downward direction. According to population data released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday, only 249,000 babies were born in 2022, down 11,000 from a year earlier. It is the first time the figure fell below 250,000 since the agency began compiling data in 1970. The latest figure comes as a big challenge f

EditorialSept. 1, 2023

[Lee Kyong-hee] Truth behind the 1923 massacre

Tomorrow is the 100th anniversary of one of the worst natural disasters in history, the Great Kanto Earthquake, which leveled swaths of Japan’s main island. The tremor and subsequent fires destroyed 40 percent of Tokyo and left 60 percent of the population homeless. Yokohama, the second-largest city, suffered a similar fate. Nationwide, the estimated death toll was 140,000. Today, the cities’ neighborhoods leave no trace of the ruins or lives lost. They also bear little trace of a

ViewpointsAug. 31, 2023

[Lee Kyong-hee] Truth behind the 1923 massacre

[Editorial] Shift to fiscal soundness

The government budget proposal for 2024 which passed the Cabinet meeting Tuesday shows the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's will to recover its financial soundness through retrenchment. Next year's expenditure budget amounts to 656.9 trillion won ($497 billion), 2.8 percent or 18.2 trillion won more than this year's. The on-year increase rate is the lowest since 2005 -- a big difference from the annual budget growth average of 8.7 percent for five years of the previous Moon Jae-in a

EditorialAug. 31, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] What led to the fall of Roman Empire?

In his celebrated book, “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” Edward Gibson clarified the reasons why the Roman Empire perished. He wrote that the political and military leaders of Rome “first oppressed the freedom of the republic, and afterwards violated the majesty of the purple.” Then he continued, “The emperors, anxious for their personal safety and the public peace, were reduced to the base expedient of corrupting the discipline which ren

ViewpointsAug. 30, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] What led to the fall of Roman Empire?

[Editorial] Telemedicine failure

South Korea’s major telemedicine service operators announced they would shutter their operations, an inevitable outcome resulting from a mix of strict government restrictions and strong pressure from the medical sector. Telemedicine was hailed as a promising field, offering innovative remote medical services for patients. When telemedicine was temporarily allowed in 2020 to fight COVID-19, few expected that it would become very popular. During the three-year period, a total of 36.61 millio

EditorialAug. 30, 2023

[Andrew Sheng] Who will drive Asia’s animal spirits?

Throughout history, humanity’s creativity, innovation and daring have come from “animal spirits,” leading it out of adversity. In his 1936 “General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money,” English economist John Maynard Keynes famously saw that psychology played a great role in economic behavior. “Most, probably, of our decisions to do something positive, the full consequences of which will be drawn out over many days to come, can only be taken as a result

ViewpointsAug. 29, 2023

[Andrew Sheng] Who will drive Asia’s animal spirits?

[Editorial] Overflowing grant

The reality of a government grant program for elementary, middle and high school education, exposed as a result of a 10-month inspection by the top audit agency, is extremely deplorable. The Board of Audit and Inspection disclosed the results of its inspection into the program on Thursday. Grants to the nation's 17 offices of education and schools in their districts were so excessive that much of them were wasted, for example, on an array of cash welfare benefits and interest-free loans to

EditorialAug. 29, 2023

[Editorial] Ballooning household debt

South Korea’s growth momentum is weakening. The real income of households is dropping, even as their debt is mounting. The economic debacle of China, which is the country’s biggest trading partner, is deepening. Although both the nation’s internal and external economic situations face more and more obstacles, there is one strangely upbeat sector here: the real estate market, where speculative investors sense property prices are close to hitting their bottom. In a country where

EditorialAug. 28, 2023

[Takatoshi Ito] Is Japan-style deflation coming to China?

Recent economic news from China has triggered the same helpless, sinking feeling that gripped me when Japan’s property bubble collapsed in 1991-92. Will this sense of déjà vu continue, with China apparently heading down the same path of deflation and stagnation on which Japan embarked three decades ago? Earlier this month, Evergrande -- the massive Chinese real-estate developer that defaulted on its debt in 2021 -- filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in the United Stat

ViewpointsAug. 25, 2023

[Takatoshi Ito] Is Japan-style deflation coming to China?

[Editorial] Affront to nation

Gwangju Metropolitan City is constructing a park at the cost of 4.8 billion won ($3.61 million) to honor Jeong Yul-seong, who composed a song for the People’s Liberation Army of China and a marching song for the North Korean People’s Army. Jeong, a Gwangju native, received a hero’s welcome in both China and North Korea. He entered a Korean independence fighter training academy in Nanjing, China, and later joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1939. After Korea gained independen

EditorialAug. 25, 2023

[Wang Son-taek] From Camp Bonifas to Camp David

In the Republic of Korea, Aug. 18 has long been a day to remember. On that day in 1976, US soldiers were attacked at the Joint Security Area of Panmunjom by North Korean soldiers with axes, and two US officers were brutally killed. The US military unit in charge of Panmunjom at the time was Camp Kitty Hawk, which was changed to Camp Bonifas in remembrance of Capt. Bonifas, who was killed horribly in that incident. Forty-seven years later, in Camp David, Maryland, the leaders of South Korea, the

ViewpointsAug. 24, 2023

[Wang Son-taek] From Camp Bonifas to Camp David