[Editorial] Stop divisive protests

Ahead of verdict on Yoon’s impeachment, Korea’s political tensions hit fever pitch Since Dec. 3 of last year when President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law, South Korea has suffered an extended period of political confrontation and economic uncertainties. Regrettably, the chaotic situation shows no sign of abating amid concerns about deepening fractures within Korean society. All eyes are now on the Constitutional Court’s imminent verdict on Yoon’s fate, as more than two weeks have passed sin

March 14, 2025

[Lee Byung-jong] Is public diplomacy still needed?

Since Harvard professor Joseph Nye introduced the concept of soft power in the early 1990s, public diplomacy has become a key tool in global diplomacy. Governments — both democratic and autocratic — have embraced it to win the hearts and minds of foreign publics through direct communication and engagement. Soft power, bolstered by public diplomacy, was once considered as crucial as, if not more than, traditional hard power like military strength and economic influence. However, this idealistic n

March 14, 2025

[Sheldon H. Jacobson] Focus on increasing buying power

The recent Consumer Price Index report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that prices have risen by three percent from one year ago. This is one percent above the Federal Reserve’s two percent inflation target, which they base on the Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index. No matter what these indexes say, people are paying more today for what they purchase. Egg prices have been in the news, as one dozen eggs now costs over $5. Some restaurants have even added an egg surcharge. Man

March 13, 2025

[Editorial] Recession fears

Trump's tariffs cloud US economy, while Korea is mired in political turmoil Recession fears escalated as US President Donald Trump declined to explicitly rule out a recession in the US economy this year. "I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition, because what we're doing is very big," he said, responding to question about whether he was expecting a recession in the US this year in a Fox News interview Sunday, "And there are always periods of, it takes a little time." T

March 13, 2025

[Wang Son-taek] Impending eighth challenge to democracy

Political tensions are rising in Seoul, as the Constitutional Court will soon announce its decision on whether to fire the current president of South Korea or not. The court has finished deliberations and is discussing the final judgment. Considering previous cases, the court is seen as likely to make its announcement this week or the next. Around 60 percent of Korean people strongly want to see the president fired, while another 40 percent oppose such a move. While awaiting the announcement, we

March 13, 2025

[Editorial] Red-hot real estate

Seoul’s property market heats up, raising fears of a debt-fueled bubble At a time when South Korea’s economy faces downside risks on multiple fronts, policymakers are now required to deal with two, interrelated challenges — a spike in property prices in Seoul and the ballooning of household debt. The resurgence of Seoul’s housing market is prompting renewed concerns over financial stability. Since the Seoul Metropolitan Government eased land transaction restrictions in key districts last month,

March 12, 2025

[Kim Seong-kon] Where is South Korea headed?

These days, the world is concerned about the dubious future of South Korea. People anxiously look on at the unprecedented sociopolitical upheaval since the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol. Depending on the decision of the Constitutional Court, Yoon may return to office or fade away. Either way, conflict seems inevitable in Korea because the country is sharply divided by two mutually antagonizing groups that either support or denounce Yoon, or subscribe to the right-wing doctrine or the le

March 12, 2025

[Daniel Moss] Adapt to declining birthrates

After years of grinding lower, a widely watched measure of fertility in a country battling significant demographic headwinds notched a small increase. While welcome, there’s little chance South Korea’s popular narrative of a nation blighted by empty schools and a deserted countryside will be put aside. Smaller families are here to stay. Nobody is popping the champagne. Few experts consider that a trickle of decent numbers represents a change in the long-term trend of slowing population growth. N

March 12, 2025

[Editorial] Back to school

Government not to increase medical admissions, yet reform should go on The government will reduce the number of new students entering medical schools next year back to 3,058, which is the same as the admission quota for the 2024 academic year. Last year, as part of its medical reform agenda, the government increased the medical school admission quota for the 2025 school year by about 1,500 despite strong opposition from the medical community. The 3,058-student admission quota had been frozen for

March 11, 2025

[Grace Kao] BTS J-Hope’s ‘Sweet Dreams’ an update to ‘Daydream’

J-Hope of BTS released the new single “Sweet Dreams,” featuring Miguel, on Friday. Like an increasing number of K-pop songs, it was released at midnight in the eastern US to match the start of the week for the US Billboard Hot 100 Charts. The song is R&B and pop, with a memorable chorus and hook. It is also a love song. And unlike most of BTS’ discography, the love is directed at one person and not to the BTS fandom Army. However, what was most notable for me were the parallels to his 2018 solo

March 11, 2025

[Lim Woong] From programming to AI agents: The next frontier

Every day, it seems there’s fresh news about artificial intelligence: self-driving cars, cloud-based services, generative AI that can produce art and text, and even robots with synthetic muscles. The pace of change is dizzying, filling us with hope for a better future as well as worries about deepfakes, misinformation and ethical lapses. It can feel like we’re driving on a foggy highway or drifting on a vast, uncharted ocean. In this column, I hope to clear some of that haze by looking at how ou

March 11, 2025

[Editorial] Impact of Yoon’s release

Court ruling underscores importance of due process for Yoon’s impeachment case President Yoon Suk Yeol was released from jail Saturday after a court accepted his request to overturn his arrest over his short-lived imposition of martial law in early December. Yoon had been held in detention since Jan. 15 on insurrection charges related to his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law that plunged South Korea into political turmoil, national division and economic uncertainty. On Saturday, a special invest

March 10, 2025

[Elizabeth Shackelford] How to spot autocracy’s rise

Global freedom and democracy have been declining for two decades, reaching historic lows, according to two reports just released from the Economist Intelligence Unit and Freedom House. To those of us who witnessed the end of the Cold War, it’s hard to accept that the trend toward a freer and more democratic world has reversed. But that’s just because we haven’t been looking for the right signs. Autocracy is on the rise, but it’s not happening with tanks in the streets or generals in uniform anno

March 10, 2025

[Lee Kyong-hee] Struggle of the ‘beasts’ far from over

Seeing tens of thousands of demonstrators engulfing the capital’s downtown streets on Saturday, March 1 harkened back to a massive rally on the very same byways exactly 106 years ago. It is extremely disheartening to fathom the difference. On March 1, 1919, our forebears were firmly united in confronting the brutal Japanese gendarmes under the sole objective of regaining independent sovereignty. Their rally in Seoul sparked a nationwide movement that laid the spiritual and legal cornerstone of o

March 10, 2025

[Editorial] Negative economic indicators

South Korea suffers ‘triple minus’ in January amid negative export outlook due to US tariffs South Korea’s economy faces pressure on multiple fronts ranging from industrial output and facility investment to the outlook for exports and consumer prices amid growing concerns about a global trade war. The country’s industrial output, retail sales and facility investment all fell in January from a month earlier, data showed Tuesday. The figures marked the first “triple minus” since October, a signal

March 7, 2025