The Korea Herald

[Editorial] Extreme weather

The scorching summer heat wave persisted until the end of Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) holidays Sept. 16-18, usually a time when the weather stars to cool. Just two days after the holidays ended, record heavy rains began to batter the nation, particularly its southern regions. Daily precipitation records for September were broken in many sites. Hourly rainfall rose to a high of 112.2 millimeters in Jindo, South Jeolla Province. Precipitation at the Yeosu Industrial Complex in the province Sept.

EditorialSept. 24, 2024

[Wang Son-taek] The enemies of liberal democracy

Recently, a headline captured global attention: another assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for the US presidency. Fortunately, the attempt failed, and Trump remains unharmed. However, the incident raises serious concerns about the state of democracy today. Why is Trump a target again, and who benefits from this chaos? More critically, what does this say about the health of American democracy and its liberal traditions? This event is not an isolated act of violence;

ViewpointsSept. 23, 2024

[Wang Son-taek] The enemies of liberal democracy

[Editorial] Aging workforce

The number of South Korean workers aged 65 and older has overtaken that of those aged 15 to 29 for the first time, pointing to a host of troubling issues for the country where the fast-aging population confronts a lack of post-retirement support. According to Statistics Korea, the average number of employed elderly workers reached 3.94 million in the second quarter of this year, surpassing the 3.8 million employed young adults during the same period. Those aged 65 and older secured 231,000 jobs

EditorialSept. 23, 2024

[Lee Kyong-hee] New Right distorts 'comfort women'

Song Sin-do was 16 and had yet to have her first menstrual period when she was tricked into working for a Japanese military “comfort station.” Over seven hellish years, she was impregnated many times and had to give away two babies. When the troops moved to the frontline, she was ordered to accompany them. Amid the echoes of gunfire, she had sex with dozens of soldiers every day. Song was born in 1922 under Japanese rule, in the present-day Daejeon area in South Chungcheong Province.

ViewpointsSept. 23, 2024

[Lee Kyong-hee] New Right distorts 'comfort women'

[Robert J. Fouser] The soundscape of Korean cities

One of the most interesting things about visiting a new city is its soundscape. For many people, language defines the way a city sounds, particularly if they do not understand the language or languages spoken around them. The soundscape also includes announcements, digital notifications, music, traffic noise and various sounds of nature. What, then, is the soundscape of major cities in South Korea? The easiest city to start with is Seoul, the largest and most dominant city in the country by far.

ViewpointsSept. 23, 2024

[Robert J. Fouser] The soundscape of Korean cities

[Editorial] ER crisis averted

South Korea’s government officials will have been duly relieved to see the result of the five-day Chuseok holiday. Defying dire predictions, the country’s emergency care services continued without massive and paralyzing disruptions. The Health Ministry said the average number of patients who visited emergency rooms across the nation stood at 27,505 per day, down 31 percent from 39,911 last year. In addition, the latest figure is 25 percent down from the lunar New Year holiday period.

EditorialSept. 20, 2024

[Andrei Hagiu] Why and how all businesses should consider turning their products into platforms

In the current digital era, businesses are constantly seeking ways to innovate, grow, and maintain a competitive edge. One increasingly popular strategy is transforming products into platforms. This approach involves expanding existing products and services to also enable interactions among customers or between customers and external third-parties. With some creative thinking and careful implementation, this strategy can generate new revenue streams and enhance competitive advantage via network

ViewpointsSept. 20, 2024

[Andrei Hagiu] Why and how all businesses should consider turning their products into platforms

[Editorial] Nuclear comeback

The Yoon Suk Yeol administration has ushered in a nuclear energy renaissance as it permitted the long-suspended construction of two nuclear reactors last week. The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission approved the building of Shin Hanul reactors No. 3 and 4 in Uljin, North Gyeongsang Province, Thursday. They are the first new nuclear power plants to be authorized in the country since the Saeul (formerly Shin Kori) Units 5 and 6 in June 2016, even though Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., the

EditorialSept. 19, 2024

[Frank Pasquale] Industrial policy for the real world:

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has characterized AI as “the most profound technology humanity is working on. More profound than fire, electricity, or anything that we have done in the past." The hype around “existential risk” in AI follows a similar narrative, analogizing it to Oppenheimer’s atomic bomb. Such grand pronouncements have stirred many a corporate board and government agency to develop AI deployment plans. The problem, though, is that it’s not yet clear i

ViewpointsSept. 19, 2024

[Frank Pasquale] Industrial policy for the real world:

[Lee Byung-jong] ‘Out of the Box’ Universities

As the new fall semester begins, I face my new students with both excitement and dread. Excitement because I can find vibrant youth energy and unquenchable academic zeal from their glowing faces. Dread because the world outside our campus is dark and grim, filled with uncertainties. Once they graduate, students will have to grapple with not only the world’s woes, such as wars and climate crisis, but also their personal perils, notably job scarcity. With these mixed feelings, I happened to

ViewpointsSept. 13, 2024

[Lee Byung-jong] ‘Out of the Box’ Universities

[Editorial] Prepare against threats

North Korea has been ratcheting up its threatening moves in recent weeks, a development that should alarm South Korea’s officials in charge of security, defense and inter-Korean relations. On Thursday, the North fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The missiles were launched from the Pyongyang area at 7:10 a.m., but other details were not disclosed. South Korea’s military condemned the latest launch, which tested m

EditorialSept. 13, 2024

[Stephanie Pincetl] A summer of extreme heat, wildfire

As Greece attempts to recover from the recent destructive wildfires around Athens, Southern Californians facing our own heat wave should take note of the pattern that enabled them. It should be well-known by now: sprawl into the urban-wildland interface where development collides with nature, the corresponding replacement of grass, shrubs and other plants native to the area with many more trees for shade, then strain on the land thanks to drought, record high heat and wind, intensified by climat

ViewpointsSept. 12, 2024

[Stephanie Pincetl] A summer of extreme heat, wildfire

[Wang Son-taek] Arrogance is poison

Traditionally, Koreans have respected polite and considerate speech, but recently, we have seen many people speaking arrogantly and presumptuously. A recent case involves Kim Tae-hyo, the first deputy director of the National Security Office, whose remarks have ignited controversy. He made unusually frank comments on US elections and foreign policy during a seminar at a private research institute in Seoul. Here are a few of his statements: “If former President Trump wins the US election in

ViewpointsSept. 12, 2024

[Editorial] Outdated custom

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced Tuesday the interim results of its ongoing investigation into the operation of the Badminton Korea Association. The probe was prompted by a severe criticism by An Se-young in an interview with reporters after winning a gold medal in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Some management practices and regulations of the association are found to be outdated or opaque. Many regulation violations were also uncovered. A regulation bans players from partici

EditorialSept. 12, 2024

[Christophe Andre] Will AI hit employment, raise productivity, and increase inequality?

The release of ChatGPT in November 2022 has raised great hopes that artificial intelligence (AI) can contribute to solving problems in many fields and lift productivity, but also fears that many jobs may disappear, and that income inequality could rise further. AI is commonly seen as a general-purpose technology, like the internal combustion engine, early electricity-based technologies, and computers. Such technologies have the potential to disrupt large parts of the economy, displacing many w

ViewpointsSept. 11, 2024

[Christophe Andre] Will AI hit employment, raise productivity, and increase inequality?

[Kim Seong-kon] 'Total Recall': Three questions we should ask

The 2012 Hollywood science fiction film “Total Recall” is a remake of the 1990 film of the same title, based on Philip K. Dick’s 1966 short story, “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale.” Set on a dystopian Earth devastated by chemical warfare at the end of the 21st century, this movie depicts a grim future that we might very well have to encounter soon. In the movie, the only habitable places on Earth are the United Federation of Britain, or UFB, and the Colony. The

ViewpointsSept. 11, 2024

[Kim Seong-kon] 'Total Recall': Three questions we should ask

[Editorial] Dispute-laden tax scheme

The “Korea discount” generally refers to the idea that South Korean stocks remain undervalued. This perception is universally shared among both policymakers and investors, but identifying the reasons behind the lower-than-expected stock performances is tricky largely because individuals point to different factors. In recent weeks, however, there seems to be a consensus about one of the factors that strongly resonate among government officials, ruling party members and some members of

EditorialSept. 11, 2024

[Grace Kao] American redemption vs. Korean punishment for BTS’ Suga

I am a fan of BTS and know many American fans in the BTS Army, as the fan group calls itself. I am also in contact with many K-pop professionals and Korean fans of K-pop. I was in Korea a couple of weeks ago, and it really struck me how different American and Korean perceptions of Suga’s recent drunk-driving controversy were. The bottom line comes down to American beliefs about redemption for past personal transgressions versus Korean beliefs about equity in punishment for celebrities, at

ViewpointsSept. 10, 2024

[Grace Kao] American redemption vs. Korean punishment for BTS’ Suga

[Robert Burgess] Trump goes revisionist on economy

Listening to former US President Donald Trump speak to the Economic Club of New York, you could be forgiven for thinking that the economy has been such a disaster since he left office that the stock market is in a perpetual free fall. And yet, the benchmark S&P 500 Index is up 64 percent since the 2020 election through Wednesday, topping the 60 percent gain at the same point in the Trump administration. There’s an old saying that the stock market is not the economy, and that’s true

ViewpointsSept. 10, 2024

[Editorial] Sustain friendly ties

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is set to retire at the end of this month, returned to Japan Saturday after wrapping up a two-day trip to South Korea for a summit with President Yoon Suk Yeol. The summit was significant in that the leaders affirmed the possibility of sustaining "shuttle diplomacy" between Korea and Japan. The bilateral ties of the two countries were tense under former President Moon Jae-in, then Yoon restored them considerably by resolving a historical issue

EditorialSept. 10, 2024