[Kim Myong-sik] Split society brews low public trust in mass media

Korea has many problems in politics, economy and national security. In addition, the media world of this country is in crisis under a new environment created by the emergence of the internet. It is a global phenomenon, but Korea perhaps suffers more greatly because it is better wired than other places. Besides, ideological divisions here into the left, right and cynical center have rapidly lowered public trust in the mass media, which have mostly chosen to pursue a specific direction amid the to

July 3, 2019

[Robert J. Fouser] After the surprise meeting in Panmunjom

The sight of a US president shaking hands with a North Korean leader at the border in Panmunjom and then briefly stepping into North Korea would have been unimaginable just one year ago. With this symbolic gesture, Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un made history Sunday. South Korean President Moon Jae-in joined the two leaders, making it the fourth time he has met Kim Jong-un. In a meeting that followed, Trump and Kim agreed to restart negotiations between the two countries.Reaction to the hastily arr

July 2, 2019

[Kim Seong-kon] Different flags on Korean Peninsula

Last week was the 69th anniversary of the Korean War. Although it was such a tragic war in which the Korean Peninsula suffered the annihilation of millions of lives, few people seem to remember it now. Many of those who experienced the war have long since died of old age and those who were babies or young children during the war are now in their 70s. When it comes to the Korean War, most Koreans do not know or care about it at all, except for the ambiguous descriptions in secondary school histor

July 2, 2019

[Jared Dillian] High tax states are practicing financial destruction

It is clearer than ever that the US Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 made high tax states less competitive with low tax states. But instead of using this moment to reflect on how taxes influence behavior, politicians in places such as Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Illinois are inexplicably doubling-down by threatening to raise taxes on their citizens even more. Until politicians start to understand the benefits of economic incentives and an equitable tax system, expect these high-tax states

July 1, 2019

[Daron Acemoglu, James A Robinson] Istanbul shows how democracy is won

 When the Turkish High Election Council, dominated by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s appointees, annulled Istanbul’s all-important municipal election on May 6, the world was right to be concerned. But now that another vote has been held, it is Erdogan who should be worried.This year’s local elections -- originally held March 31 -- have been widely regarded as a referendum on Erdogan’s authoritarian rule. With  the revote in Istanbul, the full results are now i

July 1, 2019

[David Ignatius] Trump’s showdown with Iran weak

Sometimes in foreign policy, the best course of action for a powerful country is the most limited, at least visibly. That may be the case now in America’s confrontation with a cornered but potentially venomous Iran. The US-Iran showdown is a classic test between a strong nation and a much weaker one. An embattled Tehran has seemingly tried to goad America, shooting down a US spy drone, allegedly mining ships near the Persian Gulf, and allowing proxies to fire missiles at civilian airports

June 30, 2019

[Jeffrey D. Sachs] America’s economic blockades and international law

US President Donald Trump has based his foreign policy on a series of harsh economic blockades, each designed to frighten, coerce and even starve the target country into submitting to American demands. While the practice is less violent than a military attack, and the blockade is through financial means rather than the navy, the consequences are often dire for civilian populations. As such, economic blockades by the United States should be scrutinized by the United Nations Security Council under

June 30, 2019

[Bobby Ghosh] G20 gives Trump a chance to clarify his Iran policy

When President Donald Trump arrives at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka on Friday, many of his peers will want to discuss bilateral crises with him: China’s Xi Jinping about their trade spat, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the purchase of Russian missile-defense systems and Japan’s Shinzo Abe about Trump’s bizarre notion about ending their bilateral defense pact. They will also want to hear from him about a crisis that affects them all: the confrontation with Iran.Tha

June 27, 2019

[Kim Ji-hyun] When everything comes full circle

At a startup conference held in Daejeon, home of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, last month, a member of the audience posed the following question to Moaffak Ahmed, an early stage investor and partner at Slush, one of the largest startup conferences in Europe. “How can you protect your ideas when you haven’t patented them?” The answer was that you can’t. And the more important part of the equation is how you can deploy your idea, and put it into pr

June 26, 2019

[Doyle McManus] ‘Trump Doctrine’: He’d rather talk than fight

No matter how the current crisis between the United States and Iran turns out, it should have one result: an end to the fear that President Donald Trump would be a warmonger in the Oval Office.Trump has been inconsistent about many things, but he’s been strikingly consistent about this: He would rather talk than fight. Time and again, he’s threatened other countries, sometimes in bloodcurdling terms, but then made clear that he’d prefer to negotiate.Take Iran. Last month, as te

June 26, 2019

[Kim Seong-kon] In the name of harmony and unity

Jealousy is a universal phenomenon. For example, a star player in a sports team can easily become an object of jealousy for other players. So, too, can a famous movie star whose popularity is sensational or one who has received an important award at an international film festival. Likewise, a celebrity writer whose book becomes a bestseller or a scholar who achieves international acclaim can evoke jealousy among colleagues, even when his fame makes his whole country glitter. Such a phenomenon ca

June 25, 2019

[Lee Jae-min] What went wrong? It’s time to look at the military’s security posture

The poor police officer who got the call may have scoffed, thinking it was a prank. Imagine the caller saying something like this: “I have just talked to four people claiming to have come from the North. They are standing on the quay.” Then imagine the startled police officers rushing to the scene. Recent media photos of South Korean police officers talking to the crew of a North Korean boat that apparently strayed into South Korean waters captured exactly this bizarre encounter. The

June 25, 2019

[Ana Palacio] American power without wisdom

In Greek mythology, it was prophesied that Zeus’s first wife Metis, the goddess of wisdom, would bear a son who, equipped with his mother’s cunning and his father’s power, would eventually overthrow the king of the gods. To protect his position, Zeus swallowed the pregnant Metis whole. The prophesied usurper-son was never born.The qualities of metis (cunning wisdom) and bie (raw power) fascinated the ancient Greeks. At some moments, they revered the former, embodied by Odysseus

June 24, 2019

[Andrew Sheng] Measures against Huawei signal digital ‘divorce’

It is a cliche to say that we live in a digital age, with many countries upgrading to become knowledge economies. There is supposedly a digital divide, between those who have access to digital knowledge and skills, and those who don’t. But what has emerged with recent action against Huawei Technologies suggests that the World Wide Web may be splintered into four or more digital networks that are firewalled against each other. This situation stems from geopolitical rivalry, mixed up with te

June 24, 2019

[Slawomir Sierakowski] Teflon populism

Populist rule is invariably associated with corruption, nepotism and incompetence. Why, then, do populists appear immune to scandal? Revelations that would have shocked electorates just a few years ago leave nary a mark on populist leaders and government ministers. And, sometimes, what doesn’t kill them even seems to make them stronger.Examples are legion. When Der Spiegel reported that the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland had misappropriated funds, the party’s supporters could

June 23, 2019

[David Ignatius] Iran is trying to fight its way out

The most important variable in the current Persian Gulf confrontation is time. The Trump administration wants to play a long game, to draw the sanctions tourniquet ever tighter. Iran needs to play a short game, to escape the American chokehold before it becomes fatal. This inner dynamic helps explain this past month’s events in the Gulf -- Iran’s steady escalation of deniable strikes and President Trump’s relatively restrained military response. Each side has a different playbo

June 23, 2019

[David Ignatius] Shanahan’s departure ill-timed

President Trump has a credibility problem at a time when his confrontation with Iran is moving toward a dangerous test. “There is no capital in the bank” in terms of trust with major European and Asian allies, said one former senior defense official. “We’ve managed to isolate ourselves, rather than Iran. This is a strategy-free zone.”Adding to the sense of vertigo surrounding US defense policy was the withdrawal Tuesday of Patrick Shanahan as Trump’s selection

June 20, 2019

[Kim Myong-sik] Nation at a crossroads

As we approach the midpoint in the Moon Jae-in presidency, let us make a brief rundown of the leftist administration’s major policies. First is the denuclearization of North Korea. Moon has chosen a basically reconciliatory stance toward Pyongyang, favoring a step-by-step approach to peace that involves bartering with the North. This approach accepts the phased elimination of the North’s nuclear and rocket programs, rather than President Trump’s instant disarmament deal.Second

June 19, 2019