Most Popular
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[AtoZ into Korean mind] Humor in Korea: Navigating the line between what's funny and not
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Yoon seeks rebound, taps 5-term lawmaker as chief of staff
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Medical standoff deepens as doctors reject new med school plan, talks
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[Exclusive] Korean military set to ban iPhones over 'security' concerns
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[Herald Interview] Why Toss invited hackers to penetrate its system
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[Graphic News] 77% of young Koreans still financially dependent
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S. Korean envoys convene to navigate strategy amid Middle East tensions
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Korean, Romanian leaders discuss defense tech, nuclear energy
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North Korea fires several short-range ballistic missiles into sea: JCS
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Samsung, SK hynix investors dump shares on Nvidia crash
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[Grace Kao] The appeal of K-pop to Americans
What is the appeal of K-pop to audiences in the United States? I am a fan and researcher of K-pop, so I think and talk to college students and fans of all ages regularly about it. If you do not live in the US, it might be difficult to imagine the level of visibility of K-pop here in the United States. It is not everywhere: We don’t see idols in advertisements and we do not hear K-pop songs in public settings, except perhaps at a Korean restaurant. Still, most Americans have heard of K-pop.
ViewpointsJan. 30, 2024
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[Yvette Wohn] The need to protect intellectual property in K-pop
All able-bodied South Korean men are obliged by law to serve in the military for a minimum of 18 months. The Camp is a commercial Web and mobile application sanctioned by the country’s Ministry of Defense to enable communication between service members and their families, friends, and loved ones. The app provides photos and updates of the soldiers and allows those “waiting on the outside” to send letters to the soldiers and create online communities. Active duty soldiers have l
ViewpointsJan. 30, 2024
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[Editorial] Slow growth concerns
When the Bank of Korea announced last week that the country’s real gross domestic product inched up just 1.4 percent in 2023, the reaction from policymakers and the media remained largely the same: dismay and concern. Although the figure is technically in line with earlier projections from the government and the central bank, it is disappointing that Korea’s economic growth hit the lowest level in three years -- even though there was no profound crisis like the pandemic. The key econ
EditorialJan. 30, 2024
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[Editorial] Politics of hatred
It is certainly one of the most harrowing beginnings to a year. Just 23 days after main opposition Democratic Party of Korea leader Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck by a man who approached him asking for an autograph, Rep. Bae Hyun-jin of the ruling People Power Party was struck on the head multiple times by a 14-year-old boy on Thursday. The boy, born in 2009, reportedly said he was a criminal minor, but he is not, as the Criminal Act exempts only those under 14 years of age from punishmen
EditorialJan. 29, 2024
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[Yoo Choon-sik] More money to boost child births? Ask babies, not politicians
The phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” is generally recognized for emphasizing the significant effort required to ensure a child’s upbringing in a safe environment, but the proverb holds particular relevance for South Korea as it grapples with a desperate battle to halt or, at the very least, slow the decline in birth rates. In a race against time, the South Korean government and provincial administrations are rolling out a range of financial incentives and benefits t
ViewpointsJan. 29, 2024
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[Jieun Kiaer] AI natives: How children should read in our time
The term digital native was coined in 2001 by Marc Prensky. In his article "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants," Prensky applied the term to young people who grew up surrounded by computers, mobile phones and other tools of the digital age. The devices and technologies that Prensky was referring to were greatly different to those we use now. We no longer have dial-up internet connections or clunky computers. Our digital experience has undergone dramatic changes. ChatGPT was released t
ViewpointsJan. 29, 2024
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[Editorial] Scrapping outdated rules
The Yoon Suk Yeol administration on Monday announced it would push for a set of reform measures designed to lift regulations that hinder people’s livelihoods or cause inconvenience. Among the measures, two plans stand out: scrapping a handset subsidy ban and doing away with big retailers’ mandatory Sunday closures. These regulations have long been criticized for their questionable effects while placing extra burden on the public. Behind the government's attempt to abolish the Mo
EditorialJan. 26, 2024
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[Robert J. Fouser] The 'local' bookstore boom
For much of January, I had the privilege of being invited to give talks on two books that I wrote in Korean. “Why Do Cities Preserve History” is a new book, while “How to Read Cities” is a revised edition of a 2019 book. As I met readers and signed books, I thought about the meaning of bookstores in South Korea in 2024. Bookstores have a prominent place in the history of South Korea. For decades after the Korean War, bookstores, both new and used, were an important center
ViewpointsJan. 26, 2024
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[Editorial] The handbag quandary
First lady Kim Keon Hee’s alleged acceptance of a designer handbag from a Korean American pastor in September 2022, caught on spy cam, has become something the presidential office must address. The pastor, Choi Jae-young, conspired with a YouTube channel called Voice of Seoul to film his meeting with Kim using a camera on his watch, without informing Kim that she was being filmed. Choi said in a press conference at the National Assembly on Monday that he decided to “collect evidence&
EditorialJan. 25, 2024
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[Michael Bröning] Should Germany’s AfD be banned?
The recent revelation that politicians from Germany’s far-right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) met with right-wing activists last November to discuss an extremist “re-migration” plot has brought the debate over banning the party to a fever pitch. The clandestine meeting, held at a lakeside hotel near Potsdam, reportedly centered on the possibility of mass deportations of non-ethnic Germans if the far-right were to come to power. Alarmed by this horrifying vision, leaders fro
ViewpointsJan. 25, 2024
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[Wang Son-taek] Is war coming on the Korean Peninsula?
These days, Seoul is very confused about the possibility of war breaking out. There is a hard, cold warning that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has decided to go to war, and that the Korean Peninsula is seriously in danger. On the other side, there is fierce opposition that the threats from Kim are only psychological warfare. The two voices contain different assumptions and premises, leading to different responses. If the former "war decision" argument is correct, half a million regul
ViewpointsJan. 25, 2024
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[John M. Crisp] Our dangerous failure of imagination
Generally, comparisons between Donald Trump and Adolph Hitler aren’t particularly persuasive. They often reflect an over-the-top, sky-is-falling semi-hysteria. Trump and Hitler? Let’s not get carried away. On the other hand, do we have something to fear from a too-casual complacency engendered by a failure of imagination? I was thinking about this last week as I read an op-ed entitled “American democratic system will endure,” by Jonathan Turley, a commentator and law prof
ViewpointsJan. 24, 2024
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[Kim Seong-kon] “The Batman”: from an avenger to a healer
The 2022 American film, “The Batman,” is different from previous versions of the Batman series. Throughout the film, the screen is dark and gloomy, and the story revolves around vengeance. Bruce Wayne, who is the Batman, is preoccupied by a personal vendetta for the murder of his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne, by a street mugger when he was a child. That is why he has been fighting crimes in Gotham City as “Batman.” It is only natural that his nickname is “Vengea
ViewpointsJan. 24, 2024
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[Editorial] Workplace safety matters
Concerns are mounting as the two-year grace period for small firms on a workplace safety law is set to expire this week, after major parties failed to agree on granting an additional grace period. The Yoon Suk Yeol administration and the ruling People Power Party sought an additional two-year grace period for the enforcement of the Serious Disasters Punishment Act for firms with fewer than 50 employees. The ruling party held a series of negotiations with the main opposition Democratic Party of K
EditorialJan. 24, 2024
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[Editorial] K-drama in reality
President Yoon Suk Yeol threads through the packed indoor venue for a ceremony, shaking hands and greeting participants. One of them, a lawmaker, holds the president’s hand for a few seconds like many Koreans do when greeting each other, and tells him that he must change the way he runs state affairs. The president moves on to others, but Rep. Kang Sung-hee of the minor opposition progressive Jinbo Party keeps repeating something at him, video footage from Thursday shows. Members of the Pr
EditorialJan. 23, 2024
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[Ashoka Mody] The slow death of India’s brief secular democracy
On Jan. 22, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will preside over the consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. Executive power will symbolically fuse with the Hindu religion -- harking back to myths of Indian rulers as incarnations of Supreme Lord Vishnu -- at the former site of the Babri Mosque, demolished by self-styled “angry Hindus” in 1992. Indian children will celebrate the mythological Lord Ram. State-owned railways have promised to transport more than a thous
ViewpointsJan. 23, 2024
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[Antoinette Burton] The AI irony around Claudine Gay
When the history of Claudine Gay’s six-month tenure as Harvard’s president is written, there will be a lot of copy devoted to the short time between her appearance before Congress and her resignation from the highest office at one of the most prestigious and powerful institutions of higher education. Two narratives will likely dominate. One will be the highly orchestrated campaign -- outlined in clinical, triumphant detail by conservative activist Chris Rufo -- by the right to mobili
ViewpointsJan. 23, 2024
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[Ashwini Deshpande] Main cause of low female employment
In China, the painful custom of binding young girls’ feet to alter their shape began in the 10th century and continued for a millennium, until it was outlawed in 1911. Although the practice did not truly end until the establishment of the People’s Republic in 1949, by 1990 China’s female labor-force participation rate had climbed to 73 percent – well above the OECD average. In fifteenth-century Europe, women started wearing corsets, often reinforced with wood, bone or eve
ViewpointsJan. 22, 2024
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[Editorial] More signs of risks
Last week, South Korea’s policymakers noted their alarm at the risks of military clashes in the Middle East that spin out of control, dragging more nations in the region into complex conflicts and hurting weakened supply chains further. On Tuesday night, Iran carried out a missile and drone attack on what it called “terrorist” targets in Pakistan. In response, Pakistan struck militant targets inside Iran on Thursday. The tit-for-tat attacks, the biggest cross-border intrusions
EditorialJan. 22, 2024
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[Editorial] Upgrade intelligence capabilities
South Korea, the US and Japan staged their largest-ever joint naval exercise in international waters south of Jeju Island for three days through Wednesday, following North Korea’s launch of a hypersonic missile. Nine warships including the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson with F-35C stealth fighters and F-18 Super Hornets on board, South Korean Aegis combat system-equipped destroyers and Japanese Kongo-class destroyers took part in the drill. The maritime exercise began a d
EditorialJan. 19, 2024