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May 24, 2019 Columnists

[David Ignatius] Trump confronts China's tech threat

Huawei’s name is often translated in English as “Chinese excellence.” The Trump administration last week embarked on a campaign to rebrand the tech giant, in effect, as a “Chinese threat” and check its expansion in the West. The Huawei assault may be the Trump administration’s most important long-term strategic decision, because it confronts China’s technological challenge to America head on. The goal is to prevent Huawei from dominating 5G wireless communications, the next phase of the digital

[Kim Myong-sik] Insatiable ‘historians,’ enough is enough

Korea today has an abundant supply of photo artists, poets and historians. New smartphones are equipped with high-definition cameras of 12 to 16 megapixels, which can produce great pictures. But our amateur photographers, many of whom are old, need something different. They go about on city streets, mountains and seashores carrying branded cameras -- the digital version -- with long lenses and even tripods to take thousands of shots of anything within their sight. Poets, of course self-styled, m

May 23, 2019
Columnists
[Carl P. Leubsdorf] One constant to Trump’s foreign policy: failure

As a presidential candidate in 2016, Donald Trump promised to pursue an “unpredictable” foreign policy to keep the nation’s enemies off balance. But in recent weeks, his unpredictability seems to be keeping his own administration off balance.　Whether the issue is Venezuela, Korea or Iran, his administration has displayed contradictory positions that have created doubt about its true intent, both abroad and at home. They’ve been marked by barely concealed public dissension between Trump and his t

May 23, 2019
Columnists
[Kwon Deok-cheol] A health care win-win for S. Korea, Kuwait

This year marks the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between South Korea and Kuwait. In celebration of the occasion, I visited Kuwait along with Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon to further strengthen bilateral relations in early May. I serve as the vice minister in charge of national medical and health system and public health in Korea. In that regard, I believe the visit led to specifying cooperative measures with Kuwait whose health care demand is on the rise.Kuwait, located in the northeast part

May 22, 2019
Columnists
[Robert J. Fouser] Changes in “street economy”

When I visited South Korea in the spring of 2018, everybody was talking about the breakthrough with North Korea. A year later, everybody is talking about the economy. Small business owners, in particular, are worried about sluggish consumption and rising costs. People in large firms worry about job security and retirement. Most people believe that South Korea has fallen into a Japanese-style slump that will be difficult to overcome. Since the Korean economy began to grow in 1960s, citizens have

May 22, 2019
Columnists
[Kim Seong-kon] Korea and karaoke rooms

Traditionally, Koreans are known to enjoy singing and dancing tremendously. Perhaps singing and dancing was our ancestors’ daily ritual and thus runs in our blood.Watching K-pop singers dazzle on the stage, it seems Koreans’ superb performance skills are part of our DNA. Indeed, when it comes to singing and dancing, Koreans seem invincible. It is no wonder that the K-pop vocal group BTS is enchanting the world with their charming voices and stunning choreography. Foreigners say that drinking is

May 22, 2019
Columnists
[Adam Minter] China’s trade warriors can’t hit Hollywood

China may want to stand tough against Donald Trump’s trade threats. It’s going to have a hard time retaliating, though, and not only because it doesn’t import enough goods to match the US president tariff-for-tariff.One obvious target would be the $58.9 billion in services the US exports to China. These include everything from Hollywood blockbusters to tourism and education. In theory, Beijing could easily enough cut off the flow of American entertainment into China and Chinese students and tour

May 21, 2019
Columnists
[Doyle McManus] Strategy? It’s foreign to Trump

Donald Trump once thought foreign policy would be easy.“We would win if we would just sit down and negotiate -- but using our best people,” he wrote as a private citizen in 2008. “We have all the cards.”So as president he named himself negotiator-in-chief and tried to cajole North Korea’s Kim Jong-un to abandon nuclear weapons. He re-imposed tough economic sanctions on Iran, betting he could force the ayatollahs to change their ways. He vowed to force China, Canada, Mexico and the European Union

May 21, 2019
Columnists
[David Ignatius] What’s Trump’s plan for Iran?

In any tense military confrontation, diplomats start looking for an “off ramp” that could de-escalate tensions. But in the current standoff between the United States and Iran, it’s hard to find any such exit route. The US-Iran faceoff is one of those odd situations where both players appear eager to set off sparks, although neither seems to want a raging fire. They seem comfortable in a halfway zone of conflict, where nations use force in deniable ways across different domains, hoping they don’t

May 20, 2019
Columnists
[Slawomir Sierakowski] Can Donald Tusk go home again?

Donald Tusk’s term as president of the European Council will end Nov. 30, which is perfect timing for the Polish opposition. After the parliamentary election in late October, Poland will hold its presidential election in April 2020, and opposition voters already see Tusk as the only viable candidate.For the past year, Tusk has been dropping hints that he intends to return to Polish politics. “No one expects that after the conclusion of my term I will just be watching politics on television,” he

May 20, 2019
Columnists
[David Ignatius] Trump’s style has diminishing returns

President Trump has styled himself in foreign policy as the Great Disrupter. And for a time, this unpredictable approach served him reasonably well. Leaders from China, North Korea and Iran found themselves off balance, and they sometimes made what looked like concessions. Trump’s problem is that, after two years, foreign nations seem to have figured him out. Rather than crafting quick deals that Trump could tout as wins, these adversaries have played a waiting game. They appear to sense in Trum

May 17, 2019
Columnists
[Jose Graziano Da Silva] Leveraging Korean know-how and partnerships for ‘Zero Hunger’ world

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is highly focused on supporting countries to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achieve the goals, particularly the SDG 2 -- eradicating hunger and all forms of malnutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture (the “Zero Hunger” goal).For that, FAO and partners (other UN agencies, civil society, the private sector, farmers’ associations, academia and research institutions) are working closely with governments in

May 13, 2019
Columnists
[James Stavridis] National security risks are rising with sea levels

I spent much of my life in the US Navy, including nearly 11 years on the deep ocean day-to-day, out of sight of land. This really drove home the fact that oceans cover 70 percent of the earth’s surface -- all the world’s land would fit comfortably within the Pacific. Oceans produce much of the oxygen we breathe and a great deal of the protein we consume. They enable more than 90 percent of international trade and provide increasing amounts of oil and natural gas. Yet now, because of climate chan

May 16, 2019
Columnists
[Chun Sung-woo] A play never imagined before

Two years ago, the curtain rose on a new play. It was billed as a show never imagined before. The director said his play would depict a society without privileges and misconduct. He put up a sign that read, “Opportunities will be equal, the process fair and results righteous.”The title of the first act was “Elimination of Evils.”Only misconduct by conservatives and rightists was uncovered. Over 100 people who worked for the previous government were indicted, and more than half of them were put b

May 16, 2019
Columnists
[Keenan Fagan] Limited student opportunities to participate in the humanities

Professor Kim Seong-kon wrote another excellent editorial for this paper on May 8, in which he lamented that societal and student interest in the humanities was being “squeezed out by pop culture.” Professor Kim noted that until recently, South Korea had great respect for intellectuals and their contributions to the humanities. I was reminded of reading Richard Rutt tell of regular poetry reading festivals in the countryside just south of Seoul when he was a priest in the 1950s and ’60s. But now

May 16, 2019
Columnists

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