It was regrettable that Vice Defense Minister Lee Joo-suk had to represent the Korean government in the significant ceremony last week marking the opening of the new headquarters of the US Forces in Korea in Pyeongtaek because of domestic political complications. President Moon Jae-in had just returned home from attending the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, the day before, and newly appointed Defense Minister Song Young-moo had yet to receive his letter of appointment at the Blue House because

Viewpoints July 19, 2017

South Korea is at a crossroads in both the peaceful and military uses of nuclear power. The Moon Jae-in government shut down the oldest nuclear power plant in the nation and then announced a halt to two reactor construction projects, envisioning a total phasing out of nuclear energy in a few decades. In the area of military use, the new government says it remains committed to the international nonproliferation regime, but public opinion is turning heavily in favor of going nuclear. The governmen

Viewpoints July 5, 2017

What does it mean to have a change of power in the Republic of Korea?　Quite disturbingly, it means that the most prestigious medical facility in the nation rewrites the death certificate for a civic activist who died after being hit by police water cannon during a violent demonstration. It also means that the head of the National Police Agency publicly apologizes to the family of the dead more than 19 months after the incident and nine months after his death.　When the Seoul National University H

Viewpoints June 21, 2017

From my new home in Gimpo, I can see a lot of Republic of Korea Marines at checkpoints and coastal strips, in open trucks moving to and from exercise sites and even in “makguksu” noodle restaurants where they spend time with their families on weekend visits. Marines are a proud bunch of people. Their octagonal service caps, red-and-yellow name tags and beige suede boots look good and so do their sprightly movements with which they seem to distinguish themselves from other service members. I hear

Viewpoints June 7, 2017

Gallup Korea has assessed an 87 percent approval rate for President Moon Jae-in (saying he “will do well for the next 5 years”) in the second week after he took office on May 10. This high rate of endorsement for Moon, who was elected with 41.4 percent of votes cast in the May 9 election, is surprising. 　Pollsters and analysts attribute the figure to a number of image factors that portrayed a “real person” who breathes and works in the middle of the people, in contrast to his reclusive predecess

Viewpoints May 24, 2017

Moon Jae-in enters the Blue House with the heaviest presidential task ever: protecting the security of the nation’s 50 million people under the worst possible circumstances. He has to do this with 41 percent of popular support and only 119 seats in the 299-member legislature. 　The unsuccessful presidential candidates have done their best during the short two-month campaign and are poised to be possible strong contenders for the next presidency. Dispirited though they might be now, they might acc

Viewpoints May 10, 2017