[Lee Kyong-hee] Truth behind the 1923 massacre

Tomorrow is the 100th anniversary of one of the worst natural disasters in history, the Great Kanto Earthquake, which leveled swaths of Japan’s main island. The tremor and subsequent fires destroyed 40 percent of Tokyo and left 60 percent of the population homeless. Yokohama, the second-largest city, suffered a similar fate. Nationwide, the estimated death toll was 140,000. Today, the cities’ neighborhoods leave no trace of the ruins or lives lost. They also bear little trace of a

Aug. 31, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] What led to the fall of Roman Empire?

In his celebrated book, “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” Edward Gibson clarified the reasons why the Roman Empire perished. He wrote that the political and military leaders of Rome “first oppressed the freedom of the republic, and afterwards violated the majesty of the purple.” Then he continued, “The emperors, anxious for their personal safety and the public peace, were reduced to the base expedient of corrupting the discipline which ren

Aug. 30, 2023

[Andrew Sheng] Who will drive Asia’s animal spirits?

Throughout history, humanity’s creativity, innovation and daring have come from “animal spirits,” leading it out of adversity. In his 1936 “General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money,” English economist John Maynard Keynes famously saw that psychology played a great role in economic behavior. “Most, probably, of our decisions to do something positive, the full consequences of which will be drawn out over many days to come, can only be taken as a result

Aug. 29, 2023

[Takatoshi Ito] Is Japan-style deflation coming to China?

Recent economic news from China has triggered the same helpless, sinking feeling that gripped me when Japan’s property bubble collapsed in 1991-92. Will this sense of déjà vu continue, with China apparently heading down the same path of deflation and stagnation on which Japan embarked three decades ago? Earlier this month, Evergrande -- the massive Chinese real-estate developer that defaulted on its debt in 2021 -- filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in the United Stat

Aug. 25, 2023

[Wang Son-taek] From Camp Bonifas to Camp David

In the Republic of Korea, Aug. 18 has long been a day to remember. On that day in 1976, US soldiers were attacked at the Joint Security Area of Panmunjom by North Korean soldiers with axes, and two US officers were brutally killed. The US military unit in charge of Panmunjom at the time was Camp Kitty Hawk, which was changed to Camp Bonifas in remembrance of Capt. Bonifas, who was killed horribly in that incident. Forty-seven years later, in Camp David, Maryland, the leaders of South Korea, the

Aug. 24, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] How can South Korea become a big country?

South Korea is a small country in size, yet it has always aspired to be “big.” From slogans that hope for a “greater Republic of Korea” to obsession over a grandiose national image, South Korea has been striving to become and be considered as a country that is larger than life. In order to achieve this, politicians focused on building fancy facilities or hosting international events that could potentially impress the global audience. Yet it is important to note that what

Aug. 23, 2023

[Daniel Davis] Maintain the status quo of Taiwan

Taiwan recently conducted the first-ever “anti-takeover drill” at the island’s main Taoyuan International Airport, reflecting the growing fears that China will soon launch an all-out war to seize Taiwan. Unsurprisingly, China responded by sending 29 ships and planes on missions near Taiwan. Because the risks to the US of getting drawn into such a conflict are high, President Joe Biden’s administration should begin immediately to reassess its regional policies to ensure Am

Aug. 22, 2023

[Daniel DePetris] Why negotiating with Iran to free prisoners matters

Negotiating with Iran is never easy or uncontroversial. But it’s often necessary to solve problems -- or in one case last week, to free Americans who were imprisoned unjustly by the Iranian authorities. On Thursday, the Biden administration announced the beginning of a highly synchronized process that, ideally, will end with the release of five Americans to their families after years of detention. In exchange, the US agreed to release five imprisoned Iranians and unfreeze $6 billion of Ira

Aug. 22, 2023

[Gordon Brown] British Conservatives’ contempt for human rights

For centuries, Britain has prided itself on being a bastion of liberty and the rule of law. British leaders have talked in glowing terms of the “golden thread” that connects the Magna Carta of 1215 and the Bill of Rights of 1689 to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) of 1950 and the Human Rights Act of 1998. Thus, the United Kingdom’s human-rights record has been central to successive governments’ efforts to exercise soft power globally. No one has boasted more

Aug. 21, 2023

[Benn Steil] The real cost of 'de-dollarization'

At the end of World War II, the United States accounted for more than half the world’s economic output and gold reserves. The United Kingdom was effectively bankrupt, with the remnants of the sterling area bound together by capital and trade controls. Once the British pound became convertible in July 1947, owing to US insistence, it succumbed to overwhelming selling pressure. The dollar, which was pegged to gold at $35 an ounce, was buoyed by America’s privileged position within the

Aug. 21, 2023

[Robert Fouser] Young people reject partisan bickering

The 25th World Scout Jamboree, which began in a sweltering campground atop the reclaimed land of Saemangeum on the coast of North Jeolla Province and ended with a K-pop concert at Seoul World Cup Stadium, leaves much controversy in its wake. Shortly after the opening on Aug. 1, news of extreme heat and unsanitary conditions began to spread on social media. As more Scouts began to suffer from exhaustion and heat stroke, the British and American Scouts left the camp, raising fears that the event w

Aug. 18, 2023

[Lee Kyong-hee] Radical, mistimed ministry shakeup

The Ministry of Unification is reportedly being overhauled and its focus will shift to human rights in North Korea and intelligence analysis. Organizations for inter-Korean dialogue, exchange and cooperation are set to be shut down or downsized and merged. Given the prolonged stalemate in South-North relations and the grim prospects for a breakthrough anytime soon, an extensive revamping of operations can be justified. However, a broad-brush restructuring clearly departs from the ministry’

Aug. 17, 2023

[Jason Furman] Why Is US inflation falling?

In just one year, inflation in the United States has fallen from a peak of about 9 percent to just 3 percent. Standard economic models suggest that such rapid disinflation would be possible only with a large increase in unemployment. But the unemployment rate has remained steady, at around its 50-year low, for the entire period. Do economists need to throw out our models and start over? While no macroeconomic theory is perfect, and humility is always in order, a closer look at the data suggests

Aug. 17, 2023

[Patricia Murphy] Donald Trump and the eleven dwarfs

You all already know Donald Trump, the favorite for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. But have you met the supporting characters in his story? There’s Grumpy, the Florida governor, and Friendly, the senator from South Carolina. You know Smarty, the former UN ambassador, and Screamy, the New Jersey governor who helped Trump get elected the first time around, but had a change of heart after Trump was in the White House. There’s Talky, the young businessman who is full of new

Aug. 16, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] World Scout Jamboree and Korean society’s ageism

Recently, two incidents left us gloomy and depressed. One was the World Scout Jamboree debacle and the other was a Korean politician’s biased remark on senior citizens. The jamboree disaster seriously damaged the image of South Korea in the international community, and the politician’s suggestion that senior citizens’ voting rights should be restricted according to their longevity irrevocably ruined the image of the Democratic Party of Korea to which she belongs. The two incide

Aug. 16, 2023

[Jeffrey Frankel] The end of zero interest rates

What a difference two years make. In 2021, when interest rates were near zero in the United States and the United Kingdom and slightly negative in the eurozone and Japan, the consensus was that they would remain low indefinitely. Astonishingly, as recently as January 2022, investors put the probability of rates in the US, eurozone, and the UK rising above 4 percent within five years at only 12 percent, 4 percent, and 7 percent, respectively. After adjusting for expected inflation, real interest

Aug. 15, 2023

[Ward Hayes Wilson] ‘Oppenheimer’ overhypes nuclear weapons

The movie “Oppenheimer” hypes a serious issue of national survival, and in the process makes matters much, much worse. By mythologizing J. Robert Oppenheimer (and in the process ascribing godlike powers to nuclear weapons), the movie sets back efforts to control these dangerous devices. True, people who watch the movie will emerge frightened about nuclear war. But decades of terrifying pictures of ash, rubble and burned bodies have not, apparently, stifled governments’ desire f

Aug. 14, 2023

[David Redman] American education and the great white lies

Recent battles over how to teach history in American schools have focused on views of America’s domestic racism, but that’s only one piece of the problem of how we view history. Our pre-college curriculums and popular histories are filled with stories of great white men who single-handedly changed the world. This heroification, however, is often as much a made-up history as the stories of Marvel heroes in the movies. Many of these supposed ground-breakers were in fact preceded by gen

Aug. 14, 2023

[Peter Singer] Feed people, not factory farms

After Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, ships used to export grain from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports stopped traveling there because they were liable to be attacked by Russian forces, which suspected them of carrying military supplies. That caused grain prices to soar to record levels and sparked fears of famine in countries in the Middle East and Africa that had previously imported Ukrainian grain, especially wheat. Eventually, in July 2022, Russia agreed to give ships tra

Aug. 11, 2023

[Kim Seong-kon] Watching 'Barbie,' 'Top Gun Maverick' ＆ 'Mission: Impossible'

Three recent blockbuster movies, “Barbie,” “Top Gun Maverick” and “Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning” have one thing in common. They invariably deal with the compelling issues we are now facing in this challenging era. “Barbie” delves into the core issues of feminism. “Top Gun Maverick” portrays the virtues of the maverick spirit that we need to cope with the international crisis caused by countries that are threatening to use nucle

Aug. 9, 2023