[Kim Seong-kon] Coined English words are for domestic use only

These days, the Korean people have invented a few new English words, such as “untact” or “with corona,” which means, respectively “no contact” and “living with the coronavirus.” When Koreans say a “notebook,” they refer to a “laptop.” When they say, a “hand phone,” they mean a “cellphone.” Other examples include “po-doc” for “post-doc,” and “oil” for “gasoline

Nov. 17, 2021

[Mihir Sharma] COVAX needed for climate

When he stunned the Glasgow climate conference by committing India to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a crucial caveat. Without the “transfer of climate finance and low-cost climate technologies,” he said, developing nations such as India would never be able to achieve their ambitious targets. That’s not an idle worry. If we have learned anything during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s that the developing world cannot count on

Nov. 17, 2021

[Josep Borrell] A strategic compass for Europe

A compass helps one find one’s way, and the “Strategic Compass” that I have drafted at the behest of the European Council will serve as an operational guide for the European Union’s development and decision-making on security and defense. It is now heading to EU foreign affairs and defense ministers for discussions next week. The compass is designed to answer three questions: Which challenges and threats do we face? How can we better pool our assets and manage them eff

Nov. 16, 2021

[Michael R. Strain] Big business can’t rely on Republicans anymore

The marriage between big business and the Republican Party has long been one of the strongest in American politics. But that relationship is on the rocks, and the rift is growing wider and wider. The conflict puts business leaders in the agonizing position of being caught between newly hostile Republicans and traditionally antagonistic Democrats. The correct response is not to commit to either party, but to find allies in both. Importantly, executives need to engage in a campaign of persuasion

Nov. 16, 2021

[Lynn Schmidt] Pop goes the progressive bubble

Time to pop some bubbles. Sorry progressives, there are some pins coming your way. Recently I wrote a column with the headline “Just tell them no, Joe,” in which I suggested that progressive Democrats were pushing President Joe Biden too far to the left with his domestic agenda and that Americans elected Biden to restore a sense of normalcy to the presidency, not to launch a spending spree. I received quite a bit of email from those on the progressive left. Most suggested that I wa

Nov. 15, 2021

[Kent Harrington] NK should see changes affecting Korean Peninsula

Nearly three years after his failed bromance with Donald Trump, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is once again angling for US attention. North Korea has tested a new, high-tech missile and hinted that it may agree to restart talks with South Korea, where President Moon Jae-in desperately wants to resuscitate his moribund outreach to the North. But if Kim is expecting a positive reaction from US President Joe Biden, he shouldn’t hold his breath. With issues like China and the rebuilding o

Nov. 15, 2021

[Conor Sen] Investor pressure speeding EV arrival

As the automobile industry evolves toward an electric future, incentives will be a big driver of the transition -- not just potential tax credits to accelerate demand, but investor behavior that helps shift automakers’ priorities. Manufacturers are going to try to ramp up spending on future electric models while maintaining profit at a level acceptable to their shareholders. That will inevitably lead to fewer dollars spent on their gasoline-powered models, and eventually product stagnati

Nov. 11, 2021

[Lee Kyong-hee] ’Squid Game’: A binge-watcher’s view

I finished “Squid Game” in one sitting. The binge-watch was borne out of necessity. Anxious to see why the Korean series was soaring to No. 1 on Netflix’s global list, my overloaded schedule was unrelenting. But then an eight-hour gap cobbled into place. Honestly, I got trapped, willingly. Past the noisy opening scenes of betting on horse racing, it was easy to remain glued to all nine episodes. Thus, I joined the estimated 142 million households worldwide who watched &ldquo

Nov. 11, 2021

[Melvyn B. Krauss] Germany’s Chinese kowtow

The Greens and the Free Democratic Party, the kingmakers of Germany’s prospective three-party coalition government, favor confronting China over its human rights abuses in Xinjiang and its crackdown in Hong Kong. Despite this, Germany’s authoritarian-friendly China policies are unlikely to change when Olaf Scholz, the Social Democratic Party leader who is expected to succeed outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel, takes office. This is because Germany is simply too hooked on exports to C

Nov. 10, 2021

[Kim Seong-kon] Living with the coronavirus

Experts have been issuing dire warnings that we may not be able to overcome the coronavirus pandemic completely and may thus have to live with it forever. An article from the European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences, titled “Living with coronavirus (COVID-19): A brief report,” begins with the following proclamation: “The world will never be the same after the current COVID-19 pandemic. We may have to live with the coronavirus for a long time.” Another re

Nov. 10, 2021

[Trudy Rubin] ‘We are witnessing a large shift in geopolitical power’

The world is changing faster than our sluggish political leaders -- let alone the public -- can manage. The COVID-19 virus and climate change move far more quickly than the international community, as we saw last week at the G-20 in Rome and the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. Back home, rapid social shifts push many Americans to embrace fraudsters who promise to save them. The urgent need to upgrade our fraying democracy is blocked by Republican Party naysayers and Democratic Party

Nov. 9, 2021

[Tim Culpan] Next big hack could come from the stars

For decades, IT administrators have waged an endless war to protect their systems from hackers. That struggle started half a century ago with audio tapes and floppy discs the primary weapon, before faster wired and mobile communications allowed an adversary to breach a target’s network to steal credit card information or shut down oil pipelines. Take that battle 20,000 kilometers into space where satellites roam and you have the final frontier of cybersecurity. And with it come the same v

Nov. 8, 2021

[Andreas Kluth] Climate change and national sovereignty

As we collectively hurtle into the era of climate change, international relations as we’ve known them for almost four centuries will change beyond recognition. This shift is probably inevitable, and possibly even necessary. But it will also cause new conflicts, and therefore war and suffering. Since the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, diplomats have -- in peacetime and war alike -- for the most part subscribed to the principle of national sovereignty. This is the idea, enshrined in the Chart

Nov. 8, 2021

[Digital Simplicity] How much can we pay for subscription-based apps?

When I was watching the dispute unfold this week over a popular note-taking app for Apple’s mobile operating system iOS, I could not help but think about what mobile apps really mean for my digital life beleaguered by a steady rise in total cost. App developer Ginger Labs on Monday announced that it would introduce a subscription pricing model for its popular note-taking mobile app Notability. The announcement itself is not surprising, since app developers often switch from a one-time pur

Nov. 6, 2021

[Robert J. Fouser] The dangers of ‘Peak Korea’ complacency

As I watched the results of the Japanese election on Sunday, I was reminded again of how Japan has shrunk in influence in recent years. Japanese elections rarely commanded international attention, but Japan was in the news much more than it is today. What happened and why? And what does it mean for South Korea? After its defeat in World War II, Japan worked with US-dominated occupation authorities to implement political and economic reforms that laid the groundwork for recovery and sustained ec

Nov. 5, 2021

[Doyle McManus] A Frankenbill just might work

Say what you like about Congress‘ squabbling and eternally disarrayed Democrats; they’ve showed in the last few weeks that they deserve to be recognized as the party of ideas. And not just a few ideas; many, many ideas -- maybe too many for one piece of legislation: universal prekindergarten, federally subsidized child care, clean-energy tax credits, even a Civilian Climate Corps, paid for by a newly invented surtax on millionaires. It‘s a good thing they had so many ideas av

Nov. 4, 2021

[Kim Myong-sik] Roh Tae-woo missed for embracing leadership role

Since gaining independence after World War II, the nation has had 12 presidents. The world admires the postwar history of South Korea as a rare success story, but the fates of our former presidents only remind us what a rugged path we have had to arrive here now. We hate to recount that the first president, Syngman Rhee, died during exile in Hawaii and Park Chung-hee, who took power in a military coup, was assassinated by his close aide. Among their successors, two were jailed for treason, two

Nov. 4, 2021

[Kim Seong-kon] Two roads diverged: Which road should we choose?

Sometimes we wonder: “What if I took the other path? What would happen, then?” You cannot know the outcome of such a choice, and yet what is certain is that your life would turn out very different. For example, what would happen if you married another person, majored in a different field, or chose another occupation? Your life would be completely different from now. In our lives, we encounter numerous occasions in which we find ourselves at “two roads diverged.” The roa

Nov. 3, 2021

[Tyler Cowen] Stablecoins won‘t be so stable

Stablecoins have gone from an obscure corner of crypto to near the center of it. Major institutions, such as Mastercard, are now trying to create alternate payment networks based on stablecoin and crypto. I am rooting for such efforts to succeed, but in the meantime I have news for you: Stablecoins aren’t always stable. Unlike a lot of critics, however, I view fluctuating prices for stablecoins as not only acceptable but also desirable. The potential for stablecoins is obvious. Imagine i

Nov. 3, 2021

Is Asia and the Pacific ready for the global climate stage?

As the leaders of Asia and the Pacific prepare to head to Glasgow for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), they can be sure that our region will be in the spotlight: Many of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change are located here; the seven G20 members from this region are responsible for over half of global GHG emissions; and five of the 10 top countries with the greatest historic responsibility for emissions since the beginning of

Nov. 2, 2021