Most Popular
-
1
[Exclusive] Korean adoptee sisters meet for the first time in 39 years
-
2
Signs point to N. Korean troops in Russia-Ukraine combat zone
-
3
Rose's 'Apt.' redefines K-pop's global appeal
-
4
Yoon calls for measures to protect Koreans amid escalating Iran-Israel conflicts
-
5
Two years on, thousands mourn Itaewon tragedy, calling for accountability
-
6
Civil servant’s death linked to workplace bullying
-
7
[Weekender] Walk around Korea to really get to know the country
-
8
N. Korea slams Seoul-Washington joint air exercise
-
9
[Herald Interview] Love for K-drama, food defines 'Secret Ingredient'
-
10
[Herald Interview] K-pop’s 'best years are ahead of us': Spotify’s general manager for Asia Pacific
-
[Song Jong-hwan] Buddhism and ways to strengthen S. Korea-Pakistan relations
Buddhism was introduced to Korea through two paths: the ancient Korean kingdoms of Goguryeo and Baekje. In 372, the emperor of Former Qin, a Chinese dynasty, sent an envoy and monk to Goguryeo’s King Sosurim, with Buddhist statues and scriptures. Twelve years later in 384, the monk Marananta, born in Chota Lahore in north Pakistan, crossed the ocean to Baekje via Eastern Jin, another Chinese dynasty, to bring Buddhism to King Chimnyu of Baekje. It is said that when Marananta decided to lea
Dec. 6, 2022
-
[Trudy Rubin] Xi Jinping is caught in his own COVID trap
The video of "Chongqing Superman" has gone viral amidst the explosion of protests across China against the government's "zero COVID" policy. A man in a grey T-shirt with a Superman backpack stands on a street corner in the southwest Chinese city of Chongqing, ranting against the soaring price of carrots -- and the government's failed strategy to totally eliminate COVID. He fiercely denounces the "lack of freedom and (the) poverty" that have resulted from
Dec. 5, 2022
-
[Antara Haldar] Killing Twitter
In April 2022, the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, asked, “Is Twitter dying?” Five days later, he launched an apparently whimsical bid to buy the social media platform. It took months of legal wrangling to complete the deal, but on Oct. 27, Musk honored his $44 billion offer, acquiring a new toy: free speech. Financially, Musk’s acquisition of Twitter was an odd move. Despite its user base of some 200 million -- including politicians, journalists and celebrities -- Tw
Dec. 5, 2022
-
[Jerome H. Kim] Pandemic day 1000: milestones, tombstones, millstones
Dec. 5 marks the 1,000th day since the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 pandemic. With social distancing, vaccines and other interventions as well as natural infection, the world may be seeing a glimmer of light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. But the pandemic is still not over. China has posted record numbers of cases lately and concern is growing that the COVID-19 in China will not respond to “Zero COVID” policies of the past. The question: Is China ready? Vacci
Dec. 5, 2022
-
[Robert J. Fouser] Language trends among young Koreans
A good way to predict future changes in a language is to listen to young people because they usually carry patterns in language use with them as they age. In the South Korea, the language of young people differs greatly from older generations, which suggests sweeping changes in language use in the years to come. Vocabulary changes most quickly as new words appear and spread in response to social trends. Trendy words also disappear as the trends that support them change or disappear. By contrast,
Dec. 2, 2022
-
[Hal Brands] Ukraine’s victories may distress US
Ukraine has notched another big victory in its war against Russian aggression: the liberation of the Kherson without a grueling urban battle. Yet that triumph was met with mixed messages from US President Joe Biden’s administration on a very sensitive subject: whether the Ukrainians should begin peace negotiations with Russia. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, argued that the Kyiv government should seek a settlement before the conflict becomes a stalemate like
Dec. 1, 2022
-
[Nicholas Goldberg] America needs to match foreign policy to morals
I once went to the village of Koreme in Iraqi Kurdistan and walked along a dirt road past a little brick school and a makeshift mosque to a dusty field of almond trees and high grass where all the males of the village -- age 13 to 43 -- had been taken in 1988 and told to squat, side by side. Iraqi soldiers then opened fire, and 27 Kurdish men and boys were killed. I spoke to one of the few survivors, who had hidden behind a tree with a bullet through his knee while his brother, nephew and neighb
Nov. 30, 2022
-
[Doyle McManus] Ron DeSantis and the culture war
If you've been yearning for a preview of the battle for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, the place to be last weekend was Las Vegas, where the Republican Jewish Coalition held what some attendees cheekily called a "kosher cattle call" for potential candidates. Former Vice President Mike Pence was there. So were former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo. Former President Donald Trump app
Nov. 30, 2022
-
[Kim Seong-kon] Renewing South Korea: nine issues to solve
Recently, the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington launched a project called “Renewing America.” The CFR came up with a compelling reason for it. According to their recent statement, “Some of the most important national security threats to the United States come not from without, but from within. With its Renewing America initiative, the Council for Foreign Relations is monitoring nine critical domestic issues that shape the ability of the United States to navigate the de
Nov. 30, 2022
-
[Martin Schram] The US needs political heroics
Our news screens were erupting with breaking news of yet another mass shooting. But this time the news that began with a barrage of bullets also became something special -- a tale of battlefield heroics on the homefront of a nightspot in Colorado Springs. A brave military veteran, Richard Fierro, had rushed toward the first flashes of light as he had been trained to do. He smashed the gunman to the ground and pummeled. Mercifully and miraculously, a horrific fatality count of five innocent sou
Nov. 29, 2022
-
[Daniel DePetris] Don't count out scenario of Ukraine negotiation
Ukraine’s capture of Kherson two weeks ago, coming after months of grueling combat, was perhaps the most humiliating setback for Russian forces since the war began nine months ago. The successful Ukrainian counteroffensive occurred five weeks after Putin declared Kherson, as well as Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia, a part of Russian territory. The Kremlin’s propaganda network has gone to work explaining to the Russian population that the pullback was a difficult but absolutely nece
Nov. 29, 2022
-
[Contribution] 'Innovation Procurement': Priming water for innovative growth
Interest rate hikes and supply chain disruptions caused by global inflation have been adding to concerns about the possibility of recession. The Russian-Ukrainian War and the growing rivalry between the US and China have divided the world into economic blocs and have fueled competition among countries to secure supply chains that serve their best interests. This artificial reshaping of the global economy has led to market rigidity and distorted resource distribution. The private sector alone can
Nov. 28, 2022
-
[Peter Singer] Has FTX debacle discredited effective altruism?
In the wake of the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, and amid reports that FTX’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, diverted billions of dollars of clients’ funds, some observers have linked the alleged financial malpractice to ideas widely held within the “effective altruism” movement, which Bankman-Fried says inspired him. More specifically, they point to the ethical view that the end justifies the means. Effective altruism holds that one of our aims should be to do
Nov. 28, 2022
-
[Eugene Finkel] Negotiations can’t end Ukraine war
In recent days we see an increase in calls for a negotiated solution of the war in Ukraine. From the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, from progressive members of Congress and from leading international relations scholars, a growing number of voices urge the US to invest in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and to give peace a chance. According to some reports, the Biden administration is also warming up to the thought. It’s a dangerous idea. Fears of nuclear escalation between Russia an
Nov. 25, 2022
-
[Lee Kyong-hee] Muffled voices haunt the ‘Alley of Wailing’
Kim Ji-hyeon and Kim Hyeon-su were probably headed for marriage – but they decided to celebrate Halloween in Itaewon. An envelope for a cash wedding gift beside a drying stalk of white chrysanthemum implies the couple’s unfulfilled dreams. Post-it notes surround the tragic mementos, conveying the wishes of their family members. “Live happily in heaven. From Your Daddy, Mommy and Little Brother.” “Dear Hyeon-su, please take good care of Ji-hyeon. My beloved daughter,
Nov. 24, 2022
-
[Martin Schram] Searching for a new age of leaders
Someday, history’s chroniclers will label this November as the month when America’s political elites and also America’s just plain people of the left, center and right suddenly began trying to see beyond the horizon -- urgently hoping to discover their next generation of leaders. Looking right, we are seeing the Trumpers looking beyond Trump. Looking a bit to the left of them, we are seeing the Never Trumpers, Republicans who are still sane and patriotic; but now they are wonde
Nov. 24, 2022
-
[Kim Seong-kon] Things we miss when we reminisce about the past
There are things we miss very much when we reminisce about the past. For example, old people miss the days when they were young and healthy with infinite possibilities. When they were young, they were confident they could do anything, even though they were reckless at times. At that time, they were still innocent and untainted. Now old and withered, they now realize that simply being young was a beauty in itself. What else would old people want now, except for perennial youth anyway? We also m
Nov. 23, 2022
-
[Matt Pearce] Money can't buy you respect
Twitter has always been a weird place, but things have gotten more feral the last couple of weeks thanks to the service’s off-putting new owner, Elon Musk. A role model in the worst way, his trolling and despotic workplace practices have set the tone for a grass-roots insurrection inside the internet’s so-called town square. Let’s start with the users defiling the site with parodies of Musk and prominent corporations. It’s an obvious effort to monkey-wrench Musk’s e
Nov. 23, 2022
-
ASEAN Korea Center promotes ASEAN game companies at G-Star
BUSAN — The ASEAN Korea Center (AKC) set up a pavilion for game companies from seven ASEAN countries to connect them with potential investors and customers who participated in G-Star, the largest gaming exhibition in Korea, which returned after a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic. At the pavilion, ASEAN companies presented business models, partnership possibilities, potential technologies and contact points for global operations. The venue also provided an opportunity for them to learn
Nov. 22, 2022
-
'Korea-Poland should take bilateral ties to next level'
South Korea and Poland have been building strong business ties, a high-ranking Polish official said, pointing to a recent massive defense equipment deal as an example. But the foundation of such cooperation should be political dialogue between the two governments, he said. Marcin Przydacz, deputy foreign minister of Poland, told The Korea Herald in a recent interview that it was strategic partnership between South Korea and Poland that has provided a base for defense, security and economic ties
Nov. 22, 2022