[Kim Young-sun] Slow but steady, ASEAN turns 50

About 100 kilometers southeast of Bangkok, in a remote coastal town called Bang Saen, the five foreign ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand got together in early August 1967 to negotiate an agreement that has now become an exemplary case of regional integration. In the background, the Vietnam War was in its 12th year, with the first half of the 1960s experiencing many of the war’s biggest battles. Also, the countries in this region had ideological differences

Aug. 3, 2017

[Kim Ji-hyun] Do we all need daughters?

This could be on a bit of a personal level, but I also believe many Koreans face similar factors of stress on a daily basis, so here goes.One question, or rather, one suggestion I get quite frequently is, “Why don’t you have a girl?” I have a son, my only child, and apparently to many it looks like a long and lonely road stretches ahead for me. I admit, for a while -- at least six months in my life -- I did seriously contemplate having another child, and also lamented my lack of a daughter. One

Aug. 2, 2017

[Kim Myong-sik] Please do not make haste, Mr. President

Thousands of workers are on forced vacation since the construction of two nuclear reactors at the Shin Kori site stopped late in June. They must feel deeply frustrated because the fates of what would be Korea’s 26th and 27th reactors, and their own, are being put on trial by a “citizens’ jury,” a novel process proposed by the Moon Jae-in administration. 　This particular body of unique power has no statutory basis yet and no manual has been made of its operation, except that it will consist of 35

Aug. 2, 2017

[Kim Seong-kon] A colorless man is a colorful man

Generally speaking, Koreans like to belong somewhere and tend to flock together. Perhaps that is why there are so many groups, societies and associations in Korean society. Koreans seem to feel comfortable and gain strength when they belong to a group. There seems no place for lone wolves in Korean society. Unless you belong to a group, you will be a social pariah like a stray dog or an alley cat. Of course, not everybody is the same. There are black sheep even in the Korean community. I, for ex

Aug. 1, 2017

[Douglas W. Kmiec] How to stop Russia investigation

President Donald Trump wants to put an end to the US Department of Justice’s Russia inquiry. He has questioned whether he can pardon himself and whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions should have recused himself from the investigation.The president is a fighter, but he’ll need to pick his fight. Expressing annoyance with his attorney general and daydreaming about pardoning himself won’t do. Sessions’ recusal merely reflects that no one can investigate himself, and the embarrassing idea that a pr

July 31, 2017

[Tyler Cowen] In a robot economy, all humans will be marketers

The fear that robots, or more generally smart software, will put us all out of work is one of the dominant economic memes of our time. But that fear is misplaced. We’re unlikely to see mass unemployment; rather, workers will shift into new economic sectors -- albeit with transition pains -- as has always been the case. The real risk is that the robots will push too many of us into less socially productive jobs, especially those in marketing.Let’s consider the ATM. Contrary to what many people th

July 30, 2017

[David Ignatius] Pompeo's job as CIA director

If the ghosts who inhabit the walls of the CIA could talk, they would tell Director Mike Pompeo to be careful. The agency is entering a danger zone where a White House in turmoil wants the CIA to take aggressive action overseas, but hasn’t developed the clear strategy or political support needed to sustain it.Pompeo is an activist, an exuberant politician with a flair for delivering one-liners. He’s a risk-taker, who wants the agency to be more aggressive both in collecting information and using

July 28, 2017

[Paul W. Kahn] The president’s dangerous endgame

President Donald Trump is besieged. He is reportedly looking for ways to close down the Russia investigation by the Justice Department. He already tried at least once, when he fired FBI Director James Comey. He still has the power to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller.President Nixon fired a special prosecutor, Archibald Cox. It did not go well for him, but he did it anyway. To fire Mueller, Trump probably first would have to fire Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general. And to do that, he

July 27, 2017

[Yang Sung-chul] Whither Kim’s nuclear endgame?

On July 4th, America’s Independence Day, North Korea claimed that it had successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile. What is self-evident now is that its weapons of mass destruction programs pose a clear and present danger to the world community. Mutual blame games aside, North Korea’s WMD threats are no longer local, but global. At this juncture, North Korean observers are roughly divided into two groups. At one end are those who advocate that Kim Jong-un and his cohorts will n

July 26, 2017

[Lee Jae-min] Will minimum wage hike step up automation?

As heralded, the minimum wage is being increased substantially by the Minimum Wage Commission. The commission is raising the minimum wage from 6,470 won ($5.80) per hour this year to 7,530 won next year, a 16.4 percent increase and the largest increase since 2001. The rise will continue until the minimum payment reaches 10,000 won. As of now, Korea’s per hour minimum wage is roughly in the upper middle among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, when per capita gross n

July 25, 2017

[Kim Seong-kon] SJWs rampant in South Korea

Haruki Murakami lamented the lack of decency and common sense among the extreme right wing in Japan, in a recent email interview with his Korean publisher, Munhakdongne. He mentioned this while referring to a group of extremely conservative Japanese who had vehemently criticized his recent novel “Killing Commendatore,” which deals with the dark side of modern Japanese history, including the 1937 Nanjing Massacre. “In this age of the internet,” said Murakami, “people still tend to see things only

July 25, 2017

[Li Junheng] China’s overextended consumers can’t stop adding debt

Macau has long been regarded as a barometer of China’s economic activities. This makes sense as long as much of China’s economy continues to be driven by construction and manufacturing. That’s because few “internet bosses” frequent casinos to entertain business associates. It’s the “coal bosses,” “steel bosses” and “real estate bosses” who readily throw down large sums of money in the VIP rooms with their guests to lubricate business deals. Keep in mind that Macau is not -- and likely will never

July 24, 2017

[David Ignatius] Is quiet persuasion more effective than shouting?

The Chinese government, subtle masters of propaganda, seem to have discovered a Sun Tzu formula for taming dissent on the internet: The best strategy may not be to confront critics directly, but to lull or distract them with a tide of good news.This intriguing argument is suggested by a recent article in the American Political Science Review titled “How the Chinese Government Fabricates Social Media Posts for Strategic Distraction, Not Engaged Argument.” With complex data, it supports a simple t

July 23, 2017