[Robert J. Fouser] By-elections reveal huge gender gap

The by-elections for mayors in Seoul and Busan ended in landslide defeats for President Moon Jae-in’s Democratic Party. Winning 57.5 percent of the vote, former Mayor Oh Se-hoon returned to City Hall 10 years after resigning over opposition to free school lunches. In Busan, that Democratic Party candidate won only 34.4 percent of the vote, a huge drop from the 55.2 percent it won in June 2018. Two main currents running against the Democratic Party came together to produce the storm. The f

April 23, 2021

[Noah Smith] Trump blazed trade trail for Biden

President Joe Biden‘s bid to retool the US economy has me thinking about the parallels with earlier transformational presidents: FDR and Reagan. One of the most interesting aspects of these previous administrations was that the big changes they implemented actually began under their predecessors of the opposite party. Just as Ronald Reagan expanded on Jimmy Carter’s accomplishments, and Franklin D. Roosevelt got a running start from Herbert Hoover, Biden is benefiting from a change i

April 23, 2021

[Kim Myong-sik] President Moon must see the writing on the wall

For the reshuffle of Cabinet ministers and Blue House staff announced last week, President Moon Jae-in made more reasonable choices than at any other time in his entire tenure. Notable was the appointment of Lee Chul-hee as the senior presidential secretary for political affairs, a post responsible for taking care of the administration’s relations with the opposition. Lee, 56, had given up running for the National Assembly after serving one term on a proportional representation ticket, e

April 22, 2021

[David Fickling] The real vaccine crisis

To judge by the headlines, you’d think the most critical immunization issue facing the world is the safety and hesitancy concerns over the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. That debate is genuinely important. Still, it shouldn’t distract from the biggest challenge the world will face over the coming months: the grossly unequal distribution of vaccines between rich and poor countries. The development and ramp-up of preventive medicine for the coronavirus are a testamen

April 22, 2021

[Kim Seong-kon] In search of ‘What My Mom Left Behind’

When we are born, we cannot choose our home and our country. Since these two things determine our destiny, they could be either the best gifts or the worst nightmares to us, depending on the situation. If your parents were destitute, you will know what it is to suffer poverty and will learn not to expect any financial support from them. Likewise, if you were born in a country plagued by war, you may end up being a refugee or a migrant worker wandering foreign lands. Unfortunately, we have no

April 21, 2021

[Trudy Rubin] Afghan pullout risks humanitarian disaster

When President Joe Biden announced he was ending “the forever war” in Afghanistan by pulling out the last 3,500 or so US troops based there by Sept. 11, my mind flashed to Afghans I know for whom that speech could spell prison or death. I thought of Fawzia Koofi, a female member of the Afghan team negotiating with the Taliban, who was shot several months ago in an attempted assassination and fears for her daughters. And Suraya Pakzad, who runs shelters for battered women. And the fe

April 21, 2021

[Andreas Kluth] Berlin’s rent controls unconstitutional

As the late Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck memorably put it, “In many cases rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city -- except for bombing.” And yet that’s never kept economic populists from passing new rent curbs. One of the most radical such attempts, watched by cities all over the world, was enacted last year in Berlin. This week, however, Germany’s constitutional court ruled that the law is null and void. In the shor

April 20, 2021

[Slawomir Sierakowski] Biden’s diplomacy of benign neglect

US President Joe Biden is very familiar with both Poland and Ukraine. His decades of service as a United States senator and his eight years as vice president under Barack Obama taught him that the two countries are among America’s most devoted friends and allies. Yet he waited until April 2 -- just as Russian troops were once again massing on Ukraine’s eastern border -- to call Ukraine’s president, and he still has not spoken to his Polish counterpart. Biden’s relative s

April 20, 2021

[Clara Ferreira Marques] Vladimir Putin is tempting fate

In politics, as in sport, some miscues can be corrected or overcome. But not all of them, even for the world‘s most iron-fisted rulers. Whether borne of hubris or misreading the situation, slip-ups tend to increase as regimes age and the consequences can be unpredictable. Could this be the moment Vladimir Putin opens himself up to unforced errors of the authority-threatening kind? After more than two decades under his watch, Russia has entered a darker, more repressive phase. A bounce in

April 19, 2021

[Lee In-hyun] Beethoven’s unfailing passion for music

A month ago, I read an article about Lee Bong-ju, one of the legendary marathoners in South Korea. He has been suffering from unknown pain since last year. Many doctors examined him to find a cure for his disease but have failed. Although his current situation is hopeless, he is eager to run again once he is fully recovered. After reading the article, I thought of the similarities between Lee Bong-ju, Lance Armstrong, and Ludwig van Beethoven. Lance Armstrong is also an athlete like Lee Bong-j

April 19, 2021

[Digital Simplicity] Why web novels draw eyeballs and investors

Munpia, one of the biggest web novel platforms in South Korea, is reportedly in talks with major portals Naver and Kakao to sell a controlling stake. There is no doubt that storytelling matters in the era of digital content and the category of web novels deserves attention, considering its potential as a source for other multimedia content. Munpia, which started as an online community in 2002, now boasts over 100 million page views on the strength of some 400,000 visitors per month. With 47,0

April 17, 2021

[Lionel Laurent] It really is back to the office this time

People lucky enough to have the option are looking forward to working from home more after the pandemic, polls suggest -- provided they’re not schooling from home at the same time. And polls also suggest employers are looking forward to offering that flexibility. Momentum is building for a “hybrid” workplace, according to experts, which would most likely allow for two to three days per week at home. Still, as vaccine rollouts gather pace and economies reopen, there doesn&rsquo

April 16, 2021

[Lee Kyong-hee] Tracking the dreams of modern writers and artists

Abject poverty shrouded Korea in the 1930s and ’40s, but writers and artists persevered. Their dreams never succumbed to colonial oppression and destitution. In fact, they thrived, assisted by friends and colleagues. Vibrant communication and creation overcame manifold obstacles. This is the core message of “Encounters between Korean Art and Literature in the Modern Age,” currently underway at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Deoksu Palace. The message obv

April 15, 2021

[Bobby Ghosh] Klaxons should be sounding in US after hit on Natanz

Beware the fog of propaganda around the Natanz attack. But beware, too, what the attack portends: a real escalation in the confrontation between Iran and Israel. And finally, beware any claims that the Biden administration is pivoting away from the Middle East. At the time of writing, it is not clear whether the damage to Iran’s largest uranium-enrichment facility over the weekend was the result of a cyberattack or sabotage by human hand. The regime in Tehran says Israel was responsible,

April 15, 2021

[Timothy L. O’Brien] Biden needs to respond to Russian hacking

President Joe Biden is a famously nice guy. Maybe he should stop being nice, just for a while. His administration is reportedly close to punishing Russia for a series of glaring transgressions and abuses, including the epic SolarWinds computer hack that has left governments and businesses worldwide exposed to a mammoth data breach. As Bloomberg News reported Wednesday, the White House may soon announce economic sanctions against individuals close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and expel Ru

April 14, 2021

[Kim Seong-kon] The vain dream of eternal power

Anyone who has seized political power wants to remain in power for good. Some have illusions that they can wield power forever, and others do whatever it takes not to lose power. Eventually, however, that dream of eternal power will be shattered and rulers will realize that power is evanescent in essence, after all. Indeed, no power on earth lasts forever. Not realizing this basic fact, our arrogant political leaders frequently harangue that they could and would remain in power for at least tw

April 14, 2021

[Lee Hyuk] ASEAN and Korea amid mounting US-China rivalry

The bitter war of words at the US-China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in Alaska last March portended the rough waves of the new Cold War between the US and China with profound implications for this region and the world. Geopolitically, ASEAN and Korea lie on the frontlines of US-China competition. Southeast Asia is particularly important to China because the region is a crucial gateway for China to access major sea routes to the rest of Asia and the world. And to gain greater leverage,

April 13, 2021

[Achim Steiner] Myanmar’s young demand their future

Half of Myanmar’s population is under the age of 30, and many of these young people have benefited from their country’s fragile, imperfect democratic transition over the past decade. They know the military’s return to power could reverse hard-won gains in human development and fundamental freedoms. Their future is at stake. So are their lives. On March 27, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing used the occasion of Armed Forces Day to claim that the military would protect the people and promote

April 13, 2021

[Elizabeth Drew] Why would anyone want to be president?

More often than anyone might think, ample grounds exist for wondering why anyone would want to be president of the United States. Yes, there’s the glory of being elected to occupy the country’s most powerful office, hearing “Hail to the Chief,” receiving military salutes, and being called “Mr. President.” One presides over elegant state dinners. One never has to wait in line for a tee time. Still, time and again, we see presidential hair turn white (Joe Biden&

April 12, 2021

[Peter Singer] Extending the right to die

The right to assistance in dying continues to gain ground. Last month, the Spanish parliament passed legislation, expected to come into effect in June, permitting doctors to assist adult patients to die if they have a “serious and incurable” disease that causes “unbearable suffering.” The doctor may either prescribe a lethal dose of a drug that patients can take themselves -- a mode known by various terms, including medical aid in dying, voluntary assisted dying, and phys

April 12, 2021