On October 10, the day after Hangeul Day, the Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Han Kang. The press stated that the award was given “for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.” As word of the award spread, South Koreans jumped for joy and having won a second Nobel Prize. Fans of Han Kang around the world were thrilled at her receiving the most prestigious literary award in the world. The announcement dominated the n

ViewpointsOct. 18, 2024

By Sara A. Solis-Castaneda Ambassador of Guatemala to Korea On the occasion of the 62nd anniversary of diplomatic relations between Guatemala and the Republic of Korea (1962-2024), it is essential to highlight a lesser-known aspect: Guatemala's early contribution to the dissemination of Korean literature in Latin America, even before the establishment of the Republic of Korea. This endeavor was spearheaded by the Guatemalan writer and diplomat Enrique Gomez Carrillo, who, in 1906, transla

ViewpointsOct. 17, 2024

The possibility of a war on the Korean Peninsula is once again in the spotlight. Robert Manning, a distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center, recently argued that the risk of conflict is the highest it has been since the 1950-53 Korean War. While the timeliness of this assessment is understandable, it is necessary to approach such claims with caution. The argument that the risk of war has escalated sharply is accurate in some respects and exaggerated in others. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula

ViewpointsOct. 17, 2024

In the year since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack, Israeli forces have killed an estimated 41,200 Palestinians, including 16,700 children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. But a recent letter in The Lancet puts the true death toll in Gaza much higher, at more than 186,000, when counting those killed as an indirect result of the conflict. Severe food shortages are certainly a contributing factor. Israel’s blockade and devastating bombing campaign have prevented the entry

ViewpointsOct. 17, 2024

The insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was aimed at preventing the peaceful transfer of power after Donald Trump lost the US presidential election. This was clearly illegal, and the Justice Department has prosecuted hundreds for their crimes that day. Had they been successful, the plan for Jan. 7 and beyond was to legalize such attacks on democracy. While many Americans were shocked and chastened by the riot, one faction was energized by the events, which they saw as the first fruits

ViewpointsOct. 16, 2024

The news that novelist Han Kang has won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature came as a wonderful surprise to the Korean people. We feel it's been a long time coming: Whereas Japan already has three Nobel laureates in literature and China has two, Korea had none until last week. At last, Korea has become a country with a Nobel Prize winner in literature. These days, Korea is well known to the world, thanks to the immense popularity of Hallyu. In a sign of this recognition, McDonald's sold

ViewpointsOct. 16, 2024

What do poet Seo Jeong-Ju and Buddhism have to do with Hallyu and BTS? A lot, according to a lecture by the President of Dongguk University, Yun Jae-woong. His lecture this month at Yale University was titled “Love and Comfort in Korean Cultural Content: The Poetry of Seo Jeong-ju and the Music of BTS.” Professor Yun argues that Hallyu has roots in the earliest ideas from Korea and Buddhism. Notably, the poems are about the attentiveness to small things in life that offer comfort thr

ViewpointsOct. 15, 2024

On Oct. 19, 1987, following three days of decline in the New York stock market, the Hong Kong market dropped 10.5 percent after a rise of 89 percent in the last 12 months. Oct. 19 was Black Monday for New York, which triggered a worldwide stock crash. In US dollar terms, eight global stock markets declined by 20 to 29 percent, three by 30 to 39 percent, and three (Hong Kong, Australia and Singapore) by more than 40 percent. The total losses were estimated at $1.7 trillion or just under 10 percen

ViewpointsOct. 15, 2024

Multibillionaires are eccentric. It's common knowledge, like water is wet, fire is hot, "Joker: Folie a Deux" is a terrible film. From Jeff Bezos to Peter Thiel to Richard Branson to Howard Hughes (adjusting for inflation), they do weird things: shoot themselves into space, invest in treatments to "cure" aging, buy islands and wash their hands a lot. It's rare that the other 99.9 percent of us are directly exposed to their world-ownership whims, though we indirect

ViewpointsOct. 14, 2024

There were two major events this week that surprised many people watching South Korea, myself included. First, a South Korean novelist won the Nobel Prize in Literature for the first time in the country's history, marking only the second time the country has won a Nobel Prize in any field. Her fans, fellow citizens and the whole world joined together in congratulating the novelist, Han Kang, on being awarded the world’s most prestigious literary prize. Of course, I was among them, but

ViewpointsOct. 14, 2024

It is time to really accelerate the greening of the finance sector for our climate, people and our planet. Seoul has experienced its hottest September ever. It was sweltering. Farmers here and in other parts of the world are changing the crops they plant because the weather is now unfavorable for some crops to grow well. For people in poor countries extreme weather events often mean that families are pushed deeper into poverty. I trained as an environmental economist and what we do at the Global

ViewpointsOct. 12, 2024

For many young South Korean tourists, Japan is no doubt their favorite travel destination. It's close, cheap and familiar. They can indulge in shopping or enjoy tonkatsu (fried pork chops) or ramen. Yet until recently, they didn’t publicize or brag about their trips to Japan on social media. A strong anti-Japan sentiment caused by diplomatic rows between Seoul and Tokyo kept them from doing so. But all that has changed since their leaders began to mend bilateral relations early last

ViewpointsOct. 11, 2024

When Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba took office, he raised both expectations and concerns in Korea. On the one hand, his recognition of Japan's historical wrongdoing during its colonial period, including 35 years of occupation, offers hope for improving Korea-Japan relations. On the other hand, his foreign policy vision, particularly the proposal for an "Asian NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)," presents significant challenges. While his intentions may be grounded

ViewpointsOct. 10, 2024