On June 13-15, Italy will host the 50th G7 summit in Fasano. Ahead of the meeting, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government announced an ambitious Africa-centered development plan and invited the leaders of several African countries and the African Union to attend -- the largest number of representatives from the continent at a G7 summit since 2017. Meloni unveiled her Africa initiative, known as the Mattei Plan, at the Italy-Africa Summit earlier this year. It aims to establish internat

“No kids zones” in South Korea have caught the attention of the foreign press lately. In Le Monde, for example, an article appeared with the title: “South Korea’s ‘no kids zones’ flourish in cafes and restaurants.” Some time ago, The Washington Post, too, reported on South Korea’s no kids zones in an article entitled, “Is it discrimination if you can’t bring your kids to a restaurant?” According to the Le Monde article, the low bi

With more than 23 years of experience, Dong Hyun (Ryan) Kim, senior director of Asia Pacific Regional Data and Analytics at the Coca-Cola Company, based in Singapore, is recognized as a global expert in his field. I met with him to hear about his career path. Q: You are a global expert in data and analytics. What is data and analytics? A: Simply put, it enables faster and better decision-making, which ultimately leads to better in-market execution. Companies typically have three core business

One of my favorite activities when I’m in South Korea is to watch the idols arrive at KBS’ “Music Bank” on Friday morning. While “Music Bank” is broadcast Friday evenings, there is a promenade of idols who arrive in the morning in preparation for prerecording and their live performance later in the day. Fans can line up near the entrance and watch them pose for the official photographers before entering the building. This may be the closest they will get to se

South Korea’s revised gross domestic product data, released late last week, showed its economy grew at the fastest rate in just over two years during the first quarter of this year. While the overall growth rate matched the earlier official estimates, details from the revised data raise a louder alarm about the magnitude of the slump in domestic demand. The country’s GDP grew by a seasonally adjusted 1.3 percent in the January-March period over the previous quarter, the same as the o

When European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took office in December 2019, she established a “new push for European democracy” as one of her six policy priorities. After the European Parliament elections on June 6-9, one of the biggest threats to democracy still needs to be adequately addressed: the risks confronting Europe’s media sector. To be sure, EU lawmakers have taken important steps that will help safeguard media. The Digital Markets Act, limiting the power o

Recently, there has been a surge in discussions about the Korean television industry, focusing particularly on the rising production costs of scripted dramas. A key area drawing media attention is the economics of talent compensation, especially for A-list talent at the very top of every casting list. In order to better understand the economics of talent compensation, let us turn to the Korean film industry. For the past two decades, the Korean film industry has thrived on the success of its dom

“History teaches us that the next pandemic is a matter of when, not if,” warned World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus earlier this year. He is right. That is why it is vital that the world’s governments successfully conclude their work of negotiating an accord on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. Negotiators were not able to meet the latest deadline for an agreement. They need more time, but they must also be mindful that time is r

North Korea sent over around a thousand balloons filled with trash, including excrement, to South Korea, scattering them across the country. The garbage itself is filthy, but the base nature of North Korea's actions is even more despicable. This incident is also a disgraceful and embarrassing display of the current state of inter-Korean relations. Why did this humiliating situation occur? How should we respond? A lot of angry South Koreans might think the answer should be to accuse North Ko