Is Julian Assange a journalist? The US Justice Department sidestepped that question in its indictment of Assange. But his case is still certain to stir a debate about whether the WikiLeaks founder deserves protection under the First Amendment. Assange was arrested in London on Thursday, as US prosecutors unsealed an indictment accusing him of conspiring with Chelsea Manning to hack a Pentagon computer in 2010 to obtain secret documents that WikiLeaks hoped to publish. The indictment focuses on A

April 14, 2019

In Spanish, the word confianza has a double meaning. On one hand, it describes a firm trust in something or someone -- the kind of trust that people around the world, from Brazil to the United States to North Africa, increasingly lack in their leaders and even governance systems. On the other hand, confianza refers to confidence in oneself -- something that is in particularly short supply in Europe.In fact, the European Union is suffering from a deficit of confianza in both senses. This is a uni

April 14, 2019

Kirstjen Nielsen’s forced resignation as US Secretary of Homeland Security is no reason to celebrate. Yes, she presided over the forced separation of families at the US border, notoriously housing young children in wire cages. But Nielsen’s departure is not likely to bring any improvement, as President Donald Trump wants to replace her with someone who will carry out his anti-immigrant policies even more ruthlessly.Trump’s immigration policies are appalling in almost every aspect. And yet they m

April 11, 2019

The Trump administration’s “maximum pressure campaign” against Iran assumes that economic sanctions are weakening the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps -- and that more sanctions will make the IRGC weaker still. The problem is that US and European intelligence analysts don’t think this forecast is accurate. “Re-imposition of sanctions in 2018 has played into the hands of the IRGC,” warns one recent Western intelligence assessment. Rather than turning Iranians against the corrupt IRGC leadership,

April 11, 2019

There is a strange sound of relief coming out of the International Monetary Fund.The IMF has slashed its global growth forecasts to the lowest level since the financial crisis, but it also believes policymakers may have stepped in just in time to avoid a turn for the worse.Central bankers deserve credit for pausing on their long road back to a more normal monetary policy. This has helped to bring some calm to financial markets and may help to lift growth in the second half of this year. But it’s

April 10, 2019

Whether in published narratives or private talks, South Korean and Japanese journalists deplore the present status of relations between their two governments, which remain in an abyss of mutual distrust. They call for greater efforts to increase understanding in official as well as civil sectors across the Korea Strait. However, the mainstream media in both countries have little respect for each other, and that poses an additional stumbling block. Korean media people generally regard their Japan

April 10, 2019

A few weeks ago, somebody asked me the secret to South Korea’s success. Not being an economist, I couldn’t give an authoritative answer, so I replied by saying simply that Korea invests in its people. An increasingly skilled and talented workforce has allowed Korea to become a leading nation in a range of economic endeavors.Continued growth, however, is not guaranteed. Nations throughout history have risen and fallen in response to economic and technological paradigm shifts. The same holds true

April 9, 2019

I have always thought that I spent the best years of my life in the United States. Living in the States as a young man was truly an inspiration to me because I was exposed to the great American heritage: cultural and ethnic diversity. From American culture, I also learned the promise of social mobility, generosity, and the capacity for embracing differences. Indeed, my youthful years in America significantly expanded the scope of my mind and broadened my perspective. Recently, I spent the best y

April 9, 2019

China and the US last week signaled substantial progress in their trade negotiations, as President Xi Jinping welcomed a “new consensus.” One question remains, however: Why has the US opted to deal bilaterally with China rather than lead a coalition of Western nations that share the same concerns about some of the Asian giant’s trade practices?The answer to this question will be one of the leading issues in assessing whether a China-US agreement is a decisive resolution to a conflict that has ha

April 8, 2019

Europeans can’t agree on how to handle a rising China. While European Union leaders were gathering in Brussels recently to discuss a more assertive common approach, Chinese President Xi Jinping was visiting Rome. Xi was there to mark Italy’s independent endorsement of the Belt and Road Initiative, his $1 trillion pan-Eurasian infrastructure investment plan that aims to bolster China’s economic and political influence. So much for a unified EU stance.How, then, should the EU engage with China? As

April 8, 2019

On March 16 this year, Harrison Tarrant, a white Australian, killed 49 Muslims at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. He issued a manifesto titled “The Great Replacement.” He claimed that “Even if we were to deport all Non-Europeans from our lands tomorrow, the European people would still be spiraling into decay and eventually death.” He emphasized that “our lands will never be the invaders’ (foreign immigrants’) lands.” However, he did not say that white people from the UK had invaded New

April 7, 2019

It’s not Bollywood yet, but Indonesia could be germinating Asia’s next big film scene. After years of stifled growth and censorship, new cinemas are opening across the vast Southeast Asian archipelago at a rapid clip thanks to large cash investments. Meanwhile, international filmmakers are setting up operations. With local production houses and cinema owners taking their companies public, investors might want to pay attention.While movies have been produced in Indonesia since the 1920s, early ef

April 7, 2019

We criticize intuitively every day. That slow driver in the fast lane, the waiter who obviously does not want to be here, the comedian who is just not funny anymore.Even the nicest person criticizes subliminally. When an important message suddenly lags on KakaoTalk, the blame quickly heads to those faceless technicians at Kakao (although they probably already prepared a fix, an apology and a debugging upgrade within five minutes).People criticize for several reasons: usually because we feel unde

April 3, 2019

The next-generation wireless network technology 5G is in the limelight as South Korea is poised to beat the United States as the first to cross the finish line. Tech giant Samsung Electronics has said it will launch its Galaxy S10 5G device in collaboration with the nation’s largest telecom operator SK Telecom on Friday, beating US telco Verizon, which is scheduled to launch its fifth-generation services across the country on April 11.But how exactly will 5G telecom services benefit consumers? W

April 3, 2019

Dear young Koreans, you deride old people these days by calling us “teultakchung” or “denture-chattering bugs.” We are appalled at such a derogatory nickname because we think we are still young -- at least on the inside -- even though our bodily functions may be deteriorating. We are also mortally offended because that kind of disrespect for older people cannot be tolerated in a supposedly Confucian society. Sadly, we realize that we are no longer young, and Korea is no longer a Confucian societ

April 2, 2019

After all, it hurt to watch. It really did. Confirmation hearings for some of the seven ministerial post nominees last week stirred public anger. Questions posed, responses given and facts found were just so embarrassing, to say the least. Over the weekend, the nomination for one minister was withdrawn, and one nominee voluntarily stepped down. Frankly, I blushed at the thought of the reaction of our foreign friends: What would they think? Again, not all, but some of the seven candidates raised

April 2, 2019