[Kim Seong-kon] The world according to Trump

Once again, Americans have elected Donald Trump as the leader of their country for the next four years. As the New York Times headline said, “his comeback victory signals a different kind of country” and it seems that Americans still want change. The world is now watching the deja vu while pondering the future of America and its allies. Supporters of Trump must be joyous because they believe that Trump will "make America great again” by banning undocumented immigrants,

Nov. 13, 2024

[Lim Woong] AI and keeping humans in the loop

I teach graduate courses about AI and mathematics education, and my students -- mostly working professionals -- often express concerns about their future, not the distant future but the next two or three years: "Is AI going to take over my job?" Especially when some AI tools already seem to outperform their best work, it is quite a valid worry. My response is that while AI might make some jobs obsolete, it will also create new opportunities, such as AI device designers, AI ethics speci

Nov. 12, 2024

[Grace Kao] Approved songs for the CSAT

On Nov. 14, 2024, the Korean College Scholastic Ability Test will be administered in Korea. Approximately 522,000 Korean high school students will take the day-long exam, and their results will determine their college placement and career paths. It’s a national event where additional police are sent to test sites to direct traffic, and air traffic control limits aircraft takeoff and landing around 1 p.m., so as to not distract students during the English listening comprehension part of the

Nov. 12, 2024

[Yoo Choon-sik] Would you buy South Korea?

It is always heartwarming to meet a close friend after a long time. I experienced such a joyful moment last week when I reunited with a former colleague I had worked with at the same company, in the same area of macroeconomic reporting, after many years, during his visit to Seoul for a holiday. We discussed many topics, ranging from our daily lives since leaving the company several years ago to our thoughts on the outcome of the US presidential election -- which had been decided just hours befor

Nov. 11, 2024

[Contribution] APEC, passing the baton to Korea

On Nov. 16, President Yoon Suk Yeol will participate in the APEC Leaders' Summit in Lima, coinciding with his official visit to Peru. This is a significant occasion as Korea will assume the presidency of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation for 2025, a forum which serves as the primary platform for economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Over the past 35 years, APEC has effectively promoted trade and investment integration in the world's most dynamic economic region, which curren

Nov. 8, 2024

[Lee Byung-jong] US presidential election and Korea

Now that the US presidential election is over, with former President Trump’s victory, it may be time to review the heated and divisive campaigns of the election, along with its close resemblance to South Korea’s polarized politics. Perhaps because Korea borrowed its political system from the US at the time of its inception, there are alarming similarities between the two countries’ politics, notably during elections. It is alarming because the bitter and destructive nature of t

Nov. 8, 2024

[Wang Son-taek] Ten moments in the 2024 US election

The US presidential election is crucial for American voters and also significant for global citizens, influencing worldwide security, economic order and diplomatic trends. This election, however, stands out as one of the most dynamic and consequential in US history. Here, we recount 10 pivotal moments that shaped the election and underscored the importance of women's role in politics. 1. Debate between Biden and Trump (June) The election's first decisive moment was the early TV debat

Nov. 7, 2024

[Antara Haldar] Why do countries prosper?

Each fall, a telephone call from Stockholm launches one or a few scholars to international fame with the bestowal of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences -- a process that Irving Wallace dramatized in his 1962 potboiler The Prize. This year, the call went to three figures who are already well-known, the economists Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the political scientist James A. Robinson of the University of Chicago. The three were recog

Nov. 7, 2024

[Daniel DePetris] Is there really an ‘axis of evil’?

If we didn’t know any better, we might flip through the newspaper and conclude that the international order the United States helped construct after World War II was coming apart. We might also be led to believe that four countries, China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, are not only contributing to its demise but also forming an alliance to destroy the so-called rules-based order that senior US officials crow about. Since the war in Ukraine erupted in February 2022, US foreign policy expert

Nov. 6, 2024

[Kim Seong-kon] Traveling on the Silk Road for the Golden Fleece

The worst tragedies of human history tend to arise from our too-rigid notions of binary oppositions and our hatred of the other. The antagonisms between the East and the West, Christianity and Islam, or capitalism and communism are good examples. History shows us that the atrocities of wars, massacres and genocides are done in the name of God, the righteousness of pure ideology or delusions of racial supremacy. Recently, I came across a riveting book of poems by the renowned Korean poet Oh Sae-y

Nov. 6, 2024

[Catherine Thorbecke] Indonesia’s iPhone 16 ban

Even the world’s fourth most-populous country, which has more active cellphones than people, seems to be no match for Apple. Indonesia’s ban on the sale of iPhone 16s after the company failed to meet local investment requirements didn’t faze investors. Shares of the world’s most-valuable company were largely unchanged by the news, which makes sense given the smaller footprint it has in the emerging market. And the deck was already unevenly stacked: Indonesia’s entir

Nov. 5, 2024

[John Mark Hansen] Why is the US presidential race even close?

I teach a course at the University of Chicago on presidential elections, and I hear the same kind of question from friends on both the right and the left. The Republicans I grew up with in western Kansas cannot understand why Donald Trump is not far ahead in the polls, whereas the Democrats who surround me in Chicago wonder how it can possibly be that Kamala Harris is not running away with the race. These are the right questions for understanding contemporary US politics. For all its unusual asp

Nov. 5, 2024

[Tyler Cowen] AI's uneven effect on economy

One of the only things growing faster than progress in AI applications is speculation about AI’s effect on the economy. I don’t have all the answers, not by a long shot, but I do think we should expect great unevenness in adaptation, and that itself will alter our world. To see how this is likely to play out, start with a distinction between sectors in which it is relatively easy to go out of business, and sectors in which it is not. Most firms selling computer programming services,

Nov. 4, 2024

[Lee Kyong-hee] True blessing from Han Kang’s Nobel Prize

The news of Han Kang being awarded the Nobel Prize in literature carried me to the winter of 1970, when I started my journalism career at The Korea Times. My tasks included assisting the managing editor, who was creating the Modern Korean Literature Translation Awards, the first of its kind. In considering the more than 50 years that have transpired for Korean literature -- and Korean culture at that -- it may be said that the Nobel Prize is a crowning achievement for one Korean and a watershed

Nov. 4, 2024

[Room Tone] Go the distance

An acquaintance recently asked me, "Hey, why do you love running?" My response was, "I don’t. I love having run." It might sound like a flippant remark, but it’s the honest truth; the act of running itself still feels like a form of legalized torture. For the past 20 years, I've had a love-hate relationship with running. There are moments when I bathe in the euphoric haze of a post-run high, contrasted with times when my frail ankles scream in agony fro

Nov. 1, 2024

[Robert Fouser] Accepting migrants in South Korea

Last week, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety reported that 2,459,542 foreign residents were living in South Korea as of November 2023. In the ministry's case, the term “foreign residents” includes foreign nationals living in the country for three months or more as well as most naturalized citizens. The number of foreign residents, which is close to reaching almost 5 percent of the population, is the highest in South Korean history. The continued increase in the number of f

Nov. 1, 2024

[Wang Son-taek] Diplomatic composure in tumultuous times

The world is undergoing significant shifts, and the pace of these changes can often provoke anxiety and uncertainty. Across continents, events are unfolding with potentially profound impacts on global stability. Former US President Donald Trump is positioning himself for another term that could potentially reshape the liberal order. North Korea is sending troops to Russia to fight Ukraine, creating new geopolitical complexities. In Japan, a new prime minister faces political instability, increas

Oct. 31, 2024

[Kim Seong-kon] Living in the animal kingdom

These days, intellectuals lament that humans behave as if they were living in the animal kingdom. It means that we have lost our humanity and act like animals. An animal’s primary concern is to eat and survive. In addition to searching or hunting for food, some animals flock together and others fight for dominance over territorial disputes. Of course, animals also have some admirable traits, such as caring and sharing, but these behaviors tend to be limited to family or individuals within

Oct. 30, 2024

[Grace Kao] Taking gratitude into our own hands

I received a handwritten thank-you card from my childhood friend’s daughter this week. I sent a birthday check a little while ago. I very much appreciated it, and it shows that my friend has taught her daughter well, and that her daughter has good manners. I constantly remind my students to write thank-you notes (even a simple email message). I dare not ask them to handwrite thank-you cards. However, every so often, a handwritten thank-you card will appear. It is an exceedingly rare event.

Oct. 29, 2024

[Yoo Choon-sik] Monetary policy confined by apartment prices

South Korea’s economy posted surprisingly weak growth in the third quarter, as exports declined due to cooling demand from major markets like China, while construction investment plummeted amid a persistent slump in the domestic real estate market, according to official estimates from the central bank. Disappointing growth and slowing inflation typically point to a need for loosening in monetary policy to support the economy. However, most analysts predict the Bank of Korea will not lower

Oct. 28, 2024