The June 24 incident should have never happened. This is the type of thing that wouldn’t happen in a country of law and order -- much less in a globalized metropolitan city like Seoul. Roughly 3,000 demonstrators “encircled” the US embassy in downtown Seoul marching with shouts and fist-raising, cutting off passage from the diplomatic compound to main streets. Demonstrations are part of daily life in Seoul, but such encircling (with the euphemism of “Human Belt”) has never happened in Seoul. Nor

Viewpoints Aug. 22, 2017

North Korea’s missile tests on July 4 and 28 were met with one of the most stringent sanctions adopted by the UN Security Council over the weekend. A new sanction of the Security Council, known as Resolution 2371, is now going to slash North Korea’s export of coal, iron and seafood by $1 billion, roughly one third of its total annual exports. Will the measure exert more pain on North Korea? Of course, it will. Losing one third of the export revenue should be a significant blow to any country. Un

Viewpoints Aug. 8, 2017

As heralded, the minimum wage is being increased substantially by the Minimum Wage Commission. The commission is raising the minimum wage from 6,470 won ($5.80) per hour this year to 7,530 won next year, a 16.4 percent increase and the largest increase since 2001. The rise will continue until the minimum payment reaches 10,000 won. As of now, Korea’s per hour minimum wage is roughly in the upper middle among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries, when per capita gross n

Viewpoints July 25, 2017

Two years ago, my son was applying to a high school in Seoul. The application procedure included an interview. In the waiting room for the interview, teachers of the high school handed out blue gowns and shoe covers. Applicants were requested to wear the gowns on top of their middle school uniforms or plain clothes, and put on overshoes. The purpose? They were intended to hide school uniforms that would indicate which middle schools they were attending and hence which districts they were from. E

Viewpoints July 11, 2017

Since the inauguration of the Trump Administration, South Korea has been holding its breath. The fate of the five-year-old Korea-United States Free Trade Agreement (once termed as “KORUS” FTA hinting at chorus) has suddenly become uncertain. The dreaded term “termination” finally surfaced during President Trump’s interview on April 28, where he described the trade pact as “a horrible deal that should’ve never been made,” vowing renegotiation and possible termination. This has set South Korea scr

Viewpoints June 13, 2017