The Australian-born gunman who killed 50 people at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, last week cited US President Donald Trump as “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose” with his murderous white-supremacist cause.Trump condemned the massacre and said he was being unfairly blamed for it, setting off a familiar argument over the impact of his fondness for stoking existential fears among many white people around the world. He has indeed spoken, like the mass shooter, of immigra

March 20, 2019

Yes, words can hurt you. In fact, there are such things as fighting words. Then there are phrases and terms that possess the power to melt the hardest of hearts. Now, it’s true that some people refuse to be affected by words. Even when faced with a barrage of criticism, when their carefully laid plans are relentlessly berated and not a whisper of encouragement comes their way, they persevere. These are strong folks. But most of us seem to be vulnerable. Verbal attacks can reduce us to a sobbing

March 20, 2019

In Thomas Wolfe’s novel, “You Can’t Go Home Again,” the protagonist, George Weber, is a fledgling writer who has published a novel about his hometown in the US. The book turns out to be a huge success. When Weber returns to his hometown, however, he is greeted by hatred and fury from townspeople who think Weber has betrayed his hometown by delineating it wrongfully and critically. Amid death threats and menacing gazes, Weber is forced to leave his hometown. Now, he will never be able to go back

March 19, 2019

Usually, society changes first. Laws then follow. Which means a gap between the two. The norm-reality gap has become more evident these days: the speed of social changes is unprecedented, and laws are lagging behind, panting. The narrower the gap, the more likely society benefits from harmony and stability. A gap left unattended grows into a gulf, fostering social discord and instability. It all depends on the quality of the legislative institution. The legislature fails us either by over-regula

March 19, 2019

The US-led campaign against Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies has attracted much attention for the indictment of the company’s Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou. On Thursday, Huawei’s lawyers pleaded not guilty in a New York federal court to 13 counts of fraud involving an elaborate scheme to violate US sanctions against Iran.That case is no doubt important, not only because of the possibility that Meng, the daughter of Huawei’s founder, could face incarceration. It is also a major ir

March 18, 2019

At the fourth United Nations Environment Assembly in Kenya this past week, experts and officials from around the world debated how to come up with the investment and innovation needed for countries to grow without dooming the planet. National leaders, nongovernmental organizations and others discussed, among other things, how to create more “sustainable patterns of consumption and production.” What really struck me in Nairobi, though, was what was not discussed: the Green New Deal being pushed b

March 18, 2019

The world’s advanced economies are suffering from a number of deep-seated problems. In the United States, in particular, inequality is at its highest since 1928, and GDP growth remains woefully tepid compared to the decades after World War II.After promising annual growth of “4, 5, and even 6 percent,” US President Donald Trump and his congressional Republican enablers have delivered only unprecedented deficits. According to the Congressional Budget Office’s latest projections, the federal budge

March 17, 2019

Sen. Mark Warner is all for defense modernization. But just don’t touch those aircraft carriers, six of which are based in Norfolk. The Virginia democrat had said a year ago year that rather than investing in 20th-century military technology, he wanted to discuss “a reallocation of some of those resources” to deal with the 21st-century challenge of cyber threats. But when the Navy this week proposed to retire the carrier Harry S. Truman, to save money for modernization, Warner urged it to “reass

March 17, 2019

Dick Cheney, the former vice president, made just about the nastiest crack a Republican could offer about President Trump’s foreign policy when he said it “looks a lot more like Barack Obama than Ronald Reagan.” Obviously, the comparison is flawed. But say this much for Cheney: He’s the rare Republican who isn’t intimidated by Trump these days. Cheney made a string of similarly blistering comments at a supposedly off-the-record conversation with Vice President Pence at a gathering in Sea Island,

March 14, 2019

A team from the International Monetary Fund, which is here on a regular audit of the economy, expressed concerns on Monday over the pace of minimum wage hikes in South Korea.According to news reports, the delegation led by Tarhan Feyzioglu, Korea mission chief at the IMF, shared the concerns in a meeting with Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki as part of its annual meeting with Korean policymakers.In 2017, the minimum wage spiked 16.4 percent on-year to 7,530 won ($6.60) per hour in the biggest hike i

March 13, 2019

Ten years have passed since the late Cardinal Stephen Kim Soo-hwan sadly passed away, leaving a giant shadow on the Korean Peninsula. Marked by outstanding charity, generosity, and integrity, he was indeed a saint in every sense, who endured severe ordeals of socio-political turmoil in his time, but not without forgiving smiles and a cheerful sense of humor. In his memory, a remarkable book of reminiscence recently came out under the title “The Memoirs of a Cardinal.” The author of the memoirs i

March 12, 2019

It was in 1989 when the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Korea established dialogue relations. This was a historic achievement for Korean diplomacy, as the establishment of ties with ASEAN had an overarching impact on Korea’s foreign policy. In that year, the Berlin Wall also came down, triggering the collapse of the Communist bloc and the end of the Cold War. The fact that Korea expanded its diplomatic horizon to Southeast Asia has brought tremendous political, economic and sociocultu

March 11, 2019

It seems that every time I write about Donald Trump’s presidency, I pronounce it to be in more trouble than ever. This time is no different: He and his presidency are indeed in more trouble than ever. And yet that may not prevent him from winning again in 2020.I used to think Trump might not even finish his first term, much less get a second. Now I’m agnostic. For one thing, the US Justice Department’s questionable view that a sitting president cannot be indicted is an inducement to fight to sta

March 11, 2019

Trade talks between the US and China seem to be hurtling toward a predictable conclusion -- the signing of a shallow deal that doesn’t solve the real issues dividing the world’s two largest economies. The coup de grace will likely come later this month in another high-profile summit between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.It’s time to admit the “comprehensive” pact Trump promised never really had a chance to come to fruition, precisely because of the way he chose to pursue it. What’s wors

March 10, 2019

For a scary snapshot of what a “post-American” world looks like, consider the rupture that has been developing through three administrations in the US-Turkey relationship. Turkey has come to think it can call the shots, regardless of US interests.The prime mover has been President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Over the past decade, he has altered Turkey’s political geography -- undoing the Western-facing secular republic created by Kemal Ataturk and creating a neo-Ottoman Turkey that’s more aligned with

March 10, 2019

Donald Trump almost certainly doesn’t want to invade Venezuela. Despite ominous official statements about keeping all options on the table, a president who has repeatedly announced his intent to end America’s “endless wars” is presumably not itching to start another messy military conflict.　Instead, the administration is pursuing a strategy that blends coercive diplomacy with brinksmanship in an effort to break Nicolas Maduro’s hold on power. That strategy represents a fairly reasonable approach

March 7, 2019