Most Popular
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[Exclusive] Korean adoptee sisters meet for the first time in 39 years
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Signs point to N. Korean troops in Russia-Ukraine combat zone
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Yoon calls for measures to protect Koreans amid escalating Iran-Israel conflicts
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Rose's 'Apt.' redefines K-pop's global appeal
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Civil servant’s death linked to workplace bullying
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Two years on, thousands mourn Itaewon tragedy, calling for accountability
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[Weekender] Walk around Korea to really get to know the country
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N. Korea slams Seoul-Washington joint air exercise
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[Herald Interview] K-pop’s 'best years are ahead of us': Spotify’s general manager for Asia Pacific
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[Herald Interview] Love for K-drama, food defines 'Secret Ingredient'
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[Jeffrey D. Sachs] America, human rights and Israel’s war on Palestine
Israel’s attempt to justify its latest brutal assault on Gaza rings hollow to anybody familiar with events in Israel, where the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, backed by anti-Arab racists, has systematically, cruelly, and persistently violated the basic human rights of the Arab population. Human Rights Watch, a global NGO with many Jewish leaders, has recently condemned Israel for crimes against humanity. Israel’s behavior puts US President Joe Biden’s adminis
June 1, 2021
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[Tim Culpan] Dear Japan, the Olympics are a bureaucracy, not a democracy
Everybody loves the Olympic Games. Except when you’re the host nation in the middle of a pandemic. Unfortunately for Japan’s government, it’s not really up to them to decide whether the Games of the 32nd Olympiad get canceled. While Tokyo could theoretically pull the plug right now -- two months from the rescheduled start date -- the city is contractually obliged to go ahead. With COVID-19 cases once again surging, parts of the nation (including Tokyo) under a state of emergen
May 31, 2021
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[Chris Hughes] Enough lip service to racial equality
Investors have demanded that company bosses do more than just condemn racism, shaming them into releasing previously unseen data on workforce diversity. It’s a step forward, but it’s too soon to say this spells real progress toward equality. Companies need to lay out what they plan to do with the information -- or face more heat. In the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, investors dialed up pressure on the corporate sector to act. Among the most high-profile campaigns was N
May 28, 2021
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[Lee Kyong-hee] Welcoming the bequest of priceless treasures
The showpieces of art, antiques and artifacts amassed by the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee will fill museum rooms this year. Naturally, the trove donated to public museums will enrich art appreciation and perhaps lift standards. On the other hand, detractors say the motivation behind the historic act of munificence is dubious and the timing is curious. The donation, announced by the Lee family last month, is part of plans to pay its inheritance tax bills. The family owes more than $10
May 27, 2021
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[Kim Seong-kon] Teaching is not simply a profession
May 15 is Teachers’ Day in Korea. Unfortunately, our inconsiderate politicians have ruined this special day by prohibiting the beautiful custom of students’ giving a red carnation to their teachers as a token of gratitude. It is nothing but a symbolic gesture of expressing students’ appreciation of their teachers’ teaching and guidance. For some inscrutable reason, however, our hopelessly opinionated politicians think of it as a bribe. Last week, the US media reported a
May 26, 2021
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[Noah Smith] How to kill the Great American Highway
As President Joe Biden and the Republicans haggle over the definition of infrastructure, some in the latter camp have raised the possibility of using public-private partnerships to pay for new projects. The government would get new roads and bridges funded by private companies, which would then collect a share of the “user fees” charged to people who drive on them. But the proliferation of toll roads is already doing damage to the national freeway system. You can question whether it
May 26, 2021
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[Lee In-hyun] Liszt, you are my ‘oppa’
When I was a teenager, I really liked H.O.T, a boyband similar to BTS and the first ever successful K-pop idol group. I bought H.O.T’s products and mug-shot posters to be part of them and forever cheer on their spirit. When they had a concert, I got there early to see them up close because the seats back then were on a first-come, first-served basis. In order to watch the concert, I had to wait in line for many hours outside. However, waiting in line for a long time was not an issue for
May 26, 2021
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[Kevin Rudd] Our responsibility to COVID-afflicted South Asia
Almost one-quarter of humanity lives on the Indian subcontinent. That fact is easily forgotten elsewhere, as world leaders focus on combating outbreaks of COVID-19 and its new variants within their own countries. But when our descendants pass judgment on this moment in history, they won’t remember just the lockdowns, face masks, and vaccination programs. They will also remember India and its neighbors. They will remember how human remains have been found bloated and decomposing on the ban
May 25, 2021
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[Elizabeth Shackelford] World view of America matters
One of Joe Biden’s first messages to the world after the 2020 election was that America would lead “not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.” Yes, the American example is a powerful tool of influence. But how is that example viewed across the globe? The Eurasia Group Foundation set out to answer that question in its third annual international survey. It surveyed more than 5,000 people in 10 countries, including allies such as Japan and Germany and adve
May 25, 2021
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[Shang-Jin Wei] Sex and the Chinese economy
China’s recently released population census confirms the persistence of the country’s alarming excess of males relative to the global norm. This numerical imbalance from birth onward has several significant economic implications – and not only for China. Because women live longer than men on average, most countries’ populations have more females than males. In the United States, for example, there were 96 males per 100 females in 2020. China, by contrast, has 105 males f
May 24, 2021
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[Max Nisen] Get ready for the next wave of COVID vaccines
There are more than 10 effective COVID-19 vaccines in use around the world, so it‘s easy to forget those still in development. That’s a mistake. These candidates may be taking longer to arrive, but they‘re essential to the pandemic fight. Most of the world is still unvaccinated, keeping the virus threat alive, and wherever it is able to spread unchecked there’s a risk of variants cropping up that can evade the protection offered by the current crop of shots. Governments n
May 24, 2021
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[Digital Simplicity] A nation of portal journalism, ruled by the indomitable duopoly
South Korea is a nation of portal journalism -- for better or worse. The two biggest portals, Naver and Kakao, form an insurmountable duopoly, holding a firm grip on almost every digital sector, ranging from search to online shopping to digital news. Both are running massive news platforms, drawing most eyeballs away from individual media sites. Believe it or not, Naver and Kakao claim that they are not media outlets. However, it remains a fact that their influence as something close to media
May 22, 2021
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[Robert J. Fouser] Openness depends on vaccination
Over the last 10 days, COVID-19 cases have exploded in Taiwan, which has stood out as the world leader in controlling the disease. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Pacific, cases in the United States, which ranks number one in total cases and deaths, have seen a sharp drop in cases. Social distancing restrictions and mask mandates are being eased as Taiwan locks down. The sudden change in the two countries is because of one thing: Vaccination rates. After a slow start in the US, 47.6 perce
May 21, 2021
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[Elizabeth Drew] The big lie and its consequences
This period in US history could go down as the moment when America’s democratic system for electing a president -- the most consequential duty of US citizens -- was broken, perhaps for good. True, the US constitution’s promise and central premise -- that the people elect the president -- has never been totally fulfilled. America’s aristocratic Founding Fathers didn’t trust the rabble (or slaves or women) to choose the person to fill the nation’s most powerful offi
May 20, 2021
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[Kim Myong-sik] Farewell to souls sacrificed in two sunken ships
President Moon Jae-in, who just entered the fifth and final year in his tenure, has made one thing certain about his character. That is his candidness, the nature of being unable to hide own thoughts. When he boasted of Korea’s “success” in battling the COVID-19 pandemic, expressed satisfaction with “stabilizing apartment prices” and pronounced optimism in reviving the economy, he seemed to believe it. When he complained of the opposition lawmakers’ rigorous
May 20, 2021
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[Peter Singer] Keeping discussion free
Last month, the Journal of Controversial Ideas -- of which I am a co-editor -- published its first issue. The journal is a response to the shrinking boundary, even in liberal democracies, of acceptable discourse. It is specifically designed to provide a forum in which authors can, if they wish, use a pseudonym to avoid running the risk of receiving personal abuse, including death threats, or of irrevocably harming their careers. There was a time when the threat to academic freedom in democrati
May 19, 2021
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[Kim Seong-kon] A society of hive psychology and swarm intelligence
When I joined the faculty of Seoul National University in the early 1980s, clashes between teargassing riot police and teargassed radical students were rampant on campus. To strengthen solidarity against the dictatorial regime, student leaders began to organize the so-called Daedongje, which means, “Togetherness Festivals” or “Accompaniment Ceremonies.” At Daedongje, there was no place for individual identity: Only the group mentality prevailed. At that time, I warned of
May 19, 2021
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[Charles A. Kupchan] Biden’s foreign policy needs a course correction
As US President Joe Biden contemplates course corrections after his first months in office, one change seems especially worthy of consideration: A shift to a more pragmatic, less ideological foreign policy. So far, Biden has centered his statecraft on the clash between democracy and autocracy. In his address to Congress late last month, he identified the country’s adversaries as “the autocrats of the world,” vowing that they “will not win the future. We will. America wi
May 18, 2021
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[Ana Palacio] EU is still flying blind
The much-anticipated Conference on the Future of Europe has begun. Announced by the European Commission and the European Parliament at the end of 2019, the conference is billed as “a citizen-led series of debates and discussions that will enable people from across Europe to share their ideas and help shape our common future.” It is unlikely to deliver. I would like nothing more than for the conference to produce a shared vision of Europe’s future, strengthening the European U
May 18, 2021
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[Eric Posner] Long live the imperial presidency?
One of the striking contrasts between the Trump and Biden administrations is the debate about whether the presidency has achieved more power than is consistent with the public good. Donald Trump’s term in office was accompanied by a drumbeat of commentaries arguing that the presidency had become too powerful, enabling a madman or despot to destroy Americans’ liberties. The critics urged Congress and the courts to reassert themselves before the country slid into authoritarianism. Sin
May 17, 2021