[Robert J. Fouser] South Korea pulls through 2020

The year 2020 has been a very cruel one, as the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe. As of mid-December, 74 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported and 1.65 million people have died from the disease. The disease has affected all countries, though some have been hit harder than others. School closures have affected at least 1 billion children worldwide, and economies have been devastated. After a long decline, poverty in developing countries is increasing again, causing widespread sufferin

Dec. 18, 2020

[Kim Myong-sik] 21st National Assembly, Behemoth of the 21st century

South Korea’s 21st term of the National Assembly is the Behemoth of the 21st century -- it can do anything, bad things mostly. The Book of Job in the Old Testament describes it: “When the river rages, he is not alarmed; he is secure, though the Jordan should surge against his mouth ... “Can anyone capture him by the eyes, or trap him and pierce his nose?” (40:23-24)　 The new representative body elected in the general election on April 15 has acted in the fashion of a

Dec. 17, 2020

[Cass R. Sunstein] Undoing Trump‘s last-minute regulations

Donald Trump’s administration is doing an extraordinary amount of “midnight rule-making” -- issuing regulations at the very end of the president’s four-year term. This will cause real trouble for the Joe Biden administration, which will have to try to unwind a lot of it. As of now, Trump’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has a whopping 136 regulations under review, suggesting that there might well be a last-minute tsunami. Some of the last-minute re

Dec. 17, 2020

[Josef Joffe] Who will succeed Merkel?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union has ruled the 71-year-old Federal Republic for a total of 50 years. When she steps down next fall after 16 years in office, it is safe to assume that another Christian Democrat will succeed her. Who will it be? Within the next few weeks, the CDU will hold its 33rd party convention, and choose a new leader. Whoever it is will most likely be anointed as the CDU’s candidate for chancellor when Merkel steps down, and there is

Dec. 16, 2020

[Slawomir Sierakowski] Poland’s populist Catch-22

A half-billion people across the European Union have effectively been held hostage by United Poland, a tiny Polish political party that is largely unknown even among the country’s voters. At issue was a principle that 66 percent of Poles support: EU funding should be made conditional on a recipient country’s respect for the rule of law -- a key provision in the EU’s 2021-27 budget and COVID-19 recovery fund. Reports this week ahead of an EU summit to discuss the issue suggest

Dec. 15, 2020

[Andreas Kluth] Letter from US expats to Yellen

Dear Dr. Yellen: Congratulations! You’re probably the next treasury secretary of the US. That’ll throw you into daunting policy cauldrons -- from financing America’s massive deficits to managing China and taming the tax code. With so much in your inbox, we urge you not to forget about one large group of Americans: us. We’re US expats, and there are 9 million of us. If we were a state, we’d be the 11th largest. And we’re suffering from a problem that you can f

Dec. 14, 2020

[Andreas Kluth] Merkel’s deal with Hungary, Poland a compromise too far

Angela Merkel has done it again: She’s “merkeled.” In German, that neologism means to hedge, delay, dilute and fudge -- as the eponymous German chancellor is wont to do. There’s much to be said for this elastic style of politics, especially in the labyrinthine European Union. Merkel’s latest fudge, however, will weaken and undermine the bloc, and tarnish her legacy. The compromise was struck between her government, which currently holds the EU’s rotating pres

Dec. 14, 2020

[Contribution] What is more important: Sending anti-North Korea leaflets or providing food and medical supplies for hungry children?

About 48 years ago, in 1972, the July 4th South-North Joint Communiqué came to force between the two Koreas during the Park Chung-hee administration. Both parties agreed not to slander each other. However, neglecting the agreement, there were some groups of people that sent anti-North Korea leaflets—which is considered to be psychological warfare—to the North. The National Assembly has been pushing legislative efforts to regulate this activity since 2008. Now that a mature the

Dec. 13, 2020

[Serendipity] Got time? Keep records

Like many people living through this pandemic year, I suddenly found myself with time on my hands as events and meetings were scheduled, rescheduled and, in most cases, canceled altogether. Once the initial panic over the unknown illness dissipated, I became elated at the prospect of more unscheduled free time. I envisioned reading for pleasure, tackling overdue home projects and spending more time at the gym. Well, nearly a year into this prolonged state of limbo, I can report that most of t

Dec. 12, 2020

[Melvyn Krauss] Getting NATO back on track

US President-elect Joe Biden’s nomination of Lloyd Austin, a recently retired four-star general, as Secretary of Defense is a further welcome sign that America has come to its senses and will, after Jan. 20, no longer seek to punish its friends and reward its enemies. To demonstrate this shift to the world, Biden should, immediately on taking office, rescind President Donald Trump’s order last July to withdraw 12,000 US troops from Germany. Without costing the US a penny, Biden wou

Dec. 11, 2020

[Lee Kyong-hee] Lessons in crisis leadership from Jipyeong-ri

Jipyeong-ri is a small, quiet village embraced by low mountains. The placid atmosphere of the humble village makes it hard to conceive the hellish combat that occurred there 70 years ago, engraving its name in modern warfare.  The Battle of Jipyeong-ri (aka Chipyong-ni), along with the Incheon Landing and the Retreat from Chosin Reservoir, is among the most researched topics of military historians who study the Korean War. And anyone taking even a cursory look at the three-day battle aroun

Dec. 10, 2020

[Ivo Daalder] Biden should end Trump’s vaccine nationalism

Declaring “America is back,” President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to rejoin the world as an active and engaged nation, committed to working with our allies and partners to tackle the most pressing issues facing us today. He has nominated a seasoned foreign policy team to help overcome the damage done by four years of “America First” retrenchment. There are many challenges that will vie for the new team’s immediate attention. The mounting crisis with Iran following

Dec. 9, 2020

[Kim Seong-kon] Driving under the influence in Korea

Recently in Seoul, a Taiwanese student tragically died of a traffic accident caused by a drunk driver, while she was crossing the street during the “Walk” signal. It was heartbreaking to think about the young, promising student who died in a foreign country because of an insolent drunk driver. Some time ago, another drunk driver tragically killed an entire family in another car. A few weeks ago, a drunk police officer crashed his car in a rice field. The above incidents show us how c

Dec. 9, 2020

[David Fickling] Why Aussie is booming amid trade spat with China

Judging by the sounds emerging from embassies and trade ministries, you’d think one of China’s most important economic relationships was on the rocks. But currency markets are predicting it’s on the verge of another boom. The Australian dollar hit its highest level in more than two years Thursday, capping a 29 percent rally from its nadir in late March. The moves come after data showed the country emerging from recession in the September quarter. That’s a remarkable cont

Dec. 8, 2020

[Gareth Evans] Australia’s China problem gaining worldwide attention

Australia’s China problem -- official contacts frozen and many of our exports under siege -- is now gaining attention far beyond our shores. Much of the world, given stark evidence of the economic havoc that China’s displeasure can wreak, and of the ugly depths to which its “wolf warrior diplomacy” can descend, is trying to understand both how we fell into this hole, and whether we can climb out of it with our dignity intact. How have Australia’s relations with Chi

Dec. 7, 2020

[Joseph E. Stiglitz] What Yellen must do

US President-elect Joe Biden’s decision to appoint Janet Yellen as the next Secretary of the Treasury is good news for America and the world. The United States has survived four years under a mendacious president who has no understanding of, let alone respect for, the rule of law, the principles undergirding democracy and the market economy, or even basic human decency. Not only has Donald Trump spent the weeks since the presidential election spewing lies about non-existent voter fraud; he

Dec. 7, 2020

[Digital Simplicity] Why Korean gamers prefer biggest World of Warcraft server

Blizzard had prepared a lot for the Nov. 24 launch of Shadowlands, the eighth expansion pack for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft. But it didn’t see the strange mini boom coming in South Korea. Let’s lay out the basic facts before moving to the big question of why the expansion is now the talk of the town among middle-aged gamers here. Whenever Blizzard has put out a new episode for WoW, there has been a logjam in the company’s servers as m

Dec. 5, 2020

[Andreas Kluth] Merkel should call out Hungary, Poland

Angela Merkel, now in her 16th and final year as German chancellor, is surely tempted to compromise with Hungary and Poland for the sake of rescuing a historic fiscal deal for the European Union. She shouldn’t. That’s because so much more is at stake than that deal, however big it is. And despite appearances, the EU actually holds the stronger hand. At its next summit on Dec. 10, and in the remaining weeks until Germany passes the bloc’s rotating presidency to Portugal on Jan

Dec. 4, 2020

[Robert J. Fouser] Biden’s foreign policy and South Korea

In his first month as US president-elect, Joe Biden has made steady progress in preparing to take office in January. His first round of high-profile appointments focused on foreign policy and national security. The appointments are respected foreign-policy establishment figures, mostly from the Obama years, who support traditional alliances and US engagement in world affairs. To understand Biden’s interest in foreign policy, we need to go back to Biden‘s high school and college yea

Dec. 4, 2020