[Kim Seong-kon] Experiencing deja vu, standing at a cul-de-sac

When I returned to Seoul from New York City to join the faculty of Seoul National University in the early 1980s, South Korea was sharply divided into two mutually antagonizing factions: anti-government left-wing political activists and pro-government right-wing supporters, radicals and conservatives, socialists and. capitalists. In academia and the literary community, scholars and writers were also divided into two factions: national literature and world literature, socially engaged literature a

Sept. 24, 2019

[Robert J. Fouser] Democratizing development in Korean cities

Population density remains one of the most controversial topics when discussing cities. The problems of crowded and empty cities are well known, but the problems are different. Crowded cities face the challenge of providing basic services to residents, who live in cramped and often uncomfortable housing. Empty cities, in contrast, face declining economic fortunes and lack the energetic vibe that defines a city.Global hubs, such as New York, London, and Paris, remain highly dense cities with a ho

Sept. 24, 2019

[Leonid Bershidsky] Germany’s green new deal doesn’t do much for the climate

The German government’s 54 billion euro ($60 billion) climate deal, approved Friday after about 20 hours of overnight negotiations, is a typical product of the reluctant coalition run by Chancellor Angela Merkel: It achieves a balance of interests and little more. If German voters want a more ambitious plan, and there are indications that they do, they’ll have to wait until after the 2021 election.The package is an exercise in evenhandedness. It’s neutral from the budgetary poi

Sept. 23, 2019

[David Ignatius] Crisis of Trump’s own making

It’s a good rule never to start a fight you’re not eager to finish. But the Trump administration and its Arab allies now seem caught in a version of that dilemma with Iran, which is proving to be a tougher adversary than Washington expected. Iran’s alleged attack On Sept. 14 on Saudi oil facilities caught US analysts by surprise. It was a major strike, using a combined force of 25 Iranian ballistic missiles and drones, according to Saudi officials, against assets that were supp

Sept. 23, 2019

[Go, Munir, Vishwanath] Asia’s multilateral balancing act

After World War II, Asia emerged from years of conflict and centuries of colonialism. The United States quickly became the main guarantor of regional security, signing bilateral defense treaties and establishing preferential trade and investment relationships with its Asian allies -- in particular the Philippines, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Pakistan. In the decades since, Asia has reaped substantial development gains from open trade, investment, and multilateral cooperation, enabling the

Sept. 22, 2019

[Leonid Bershidsky] Europe’s last land frontier is opening up

Ukraine has almost as much agricultural land as France and Germany combined and will finally start allowing it to be bought and sold next year. This is Europe’s last farmland frontier, and the fight over it is going to be messy.About 17 percent of Ukraine’s gross domestic product comes from agriculture, the one sector where Ukraine punches above its weight on the global stage. It’s the world’s sixth-biggest wheat exporter, a top 10 supplier of corn and barley, the global

Sept. 22, 2019

[David Ignatius] What will come of HK's protests?

As tens of thousands of protesters marched down Hennessy Road toward government headquarters Sunday afternoon, chanting pro-democracy slogans and waving American flags, it was an exuberant celebration of this territory’s yearning for freedom.The protesters seemed mindless of the danger: Men and women, young and old, ninja-clad teenagers and moms with their kids, all joined in the 15th straight weekend of protest. A doctor at a local hospital, a 56-year-old schoolteacher and a 19-year-old g

Sept. 19, 2019

[Michael R. Strain] Populism will probably just go away soon, so relax

Populism has become a defining feature of public life. It embraces a narrative of victimhood and grievance, pitting “people” against “elites.” US President Donald Trump’s protectionism and hostility toward immigrants are fueled by populist frustration on the political right. On the left, populism appears as resentment of the wealthy, and the Democratic Party’s presidential primary field is marked by proposals to penalize the rich. Compromise has become a dirty

Sept. 19, 2019

[Timothy L. O’Brien] Trump is cornered by the Saudi drone attacks

A small squadron of drones -- and possibly cruise missiles -- penetrated Saudi Arabia’s air defenses on Saturday, laying waste to a significant, valuable portion of two of the world’s most essential oil processing facilities. Amid worries about the impact of the strikes on global oil markets and fears about broader military confrontations upending a region perennially vexed by crossed swords, ancient religious rifts, geopolitical maneuvering and greed, facts and conjecture began jock

Sept. 18, 2019

[Noah Smith] Too much rent control is asking for trouble

For years, thriving cities in coastal regions of the US have become increasingly expensive to live in. As cities such as San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles and Seattle became more attractive, thanks to booming knowledge industries and falling crime, rents soared.And for almost as long, people have been hotly debating what to do about the problem. Many have called for an increase in housing construction, especially by loosening zoning laws and reducing the ability of legal challenges to ha

Sept. 18, 2019

[Kim Seong-kon] Anti-virus software can be a virus, too

Many people enjoy the “Terminator” film series because the action-packed futuristic science fiction films are fun to watch, thanks to breathtaking action, time travel and enthralling cutting-edge technologies. But there is much more to the series than such visual pleasures. “The Terminator” and its sequels also provide valuable lessons and “post-humanist” hindsight in this era of nuclear weapons that can annihilate human civilization in a flash. The movie espe

Sept. 17, 2019

[David Ignatius] Dunford was a steady hand during Trump-era turmoil

Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who will retire this month, is that rare senior official in Donald Trumps Washington whose career and reputation don’t seem to have been tarnished by his dealings with the president. The explanation is simple: The low-key, Boston-Irish Marine maintained the distance and discipline of a professional military officer. He did not try to be Trump’s friend or confidant, and he stayed away from palace intrigue. The White House

Sept. 17, 2019

[Stuart Rothenberg] Why working-class whites aren’t giving up on Trump

“In some countries, working-class groups have proved to be the most nationalistic and jingoistic sector of the population,” wrote the highly esteemed sociologist and political scientist Seymour Martin Lipset -- 60 years ago last month.In his seminal article “Democracy and Working-Class Authoritarianism,” which appeared in the August 1959 issue of the American Sociological Review, Lipset observed that many in the working class were “in the forefront of the struggle a

Sept. 16, 2019

[Shuli Ren] What’s worse than corrupt billionaires? Socialism

What’s worse than billionaires who bribe government officials? The “Gangnam Left,” stock pickers may say.The term, and subject of a book by Chonbuk National University professor Kang Jun-man, is a dig at South Korea’s wealthy elite who advocate socialist policies, such as boosting the minimum wage and spending billions to create public-sector jobs. Some of these technocrats have found themselves in hot water recently: President Moon Jae-in’s recently appointed justi

Sept. 16, 2019

[Christopher R. Hill] Trump’s North Korean appeasement

Having met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un three times -- all to great fanfare -- US President Donald Trump may still believe denuclearization is underway in the Hermit Kingdom. If so, he is probably the only one who does, given North Korea’s frequent missile tests and upgrades to its weapons. It is anyone’s guess what the Trump administration’s North Korea policy will look like in a year, but for now, both sides seem to have what they want. Trump has wrangled a loose stal

Sept. 15, 2019

[Elizabeth Drew] Concern over 2020 election makes Trump increasingly unhinged

As the US Congress reconvenes this week after a six-week recess, the administration is mired in controversies, almost all of them set off by President Donald Trump. Trump’s behavior has been at its most peculiar since he took office, undoubtedly partly owing to panic over the 2020 election. He has more reason than most incumbent presidents to wish for reelection, as he is still facing several lawsuits. 　Perhaps the greatest political danger to Trump lies in the growing evidence that he has

Sept. 15, 2019

[Kim Myong-sik] Half century from Jeon Tae-il to Cho Kuk

The name of a social activist that I heard for the first time working as a journalist was Jeon Tae-il, a cutter employed by a small-time garment maker in Seoul’s Cheonggyecheon area. The 22-year-old man was little known even among workers in the corridors of the clothes factories, although he had led protests against extreme working conditions at his and other workplaces for some time. But he instantly became the symbol of labor movements in Korea when he set himself alight, waving the pri

Sept. 11, 2019

[Lee Joo-hee] Taking things out of context: The case of LG vs. SK

In our everyday drudgery of overwhelming duties and innate thirst for praise, it is easy to fall into the pit of spontaneous buck-passing when things go south.And such a defensive mode quickly transpires into aggressive offense against the point of threat, plastered with the rationale of self-righteousness, when the stakes get higher.In such a progression, it is easy to get lost in the tit-for-tat and all the emotions, with the direct parties and spectators losing grasp of what it was really all

Sept. 11, 2019

[Kim Seong-kon] Korea in the eyes of a lawyer/historian

Recently, I came across a book by Lee Seog-yeon, a famous Korean lawyer and civil rights activist, entitled “Sima Qian’s Korea Travelogue.” Sima Qian was a legendary Chinese historian of the Han Dynasty (206 BC to AD 220) who wrote the celebrated book “Records of the Grand Historian,” compiling Chinese history covering approximately 2,000 years. In his intriguing book, Lee, the Korean lawyer, perceives and interprets modern Korea through the eyes of Sima Qian, who e

Sept. 10, 2019

[Robert J. Fouser] Politics in age of hysteria

On my way to Seoul in late August, I was looking forward to a break from the Trump-induced hysteria of American politics. My hopes were dashed, however, as the hysteria over Cho Kuk, President Moon Jae-in’s nominee for minister of justice, spread. News about Cho and his family captivated the nation for weeks. In the end, the president decided to approve Cho’s nomination, Monday. The hysteria over Cho says as much about Korea as the hysteria over Donald Trump in the US. In both cases,

Sept. 10, 2019