President Moon Jae-in, who just entered the fifth and final year in his tenure, has made one thing certain about his character. That is his candidness, the nature of being unable to hide own thoughts. When he boasted of Korea’s “success” in battling the COVID-19 pandemic, expressed satisfaction with “stabilizing apartment prices” and pronounced optimism in reviving the economy, he seemed to believe it. When he complained of the opposition lawmakers’ rigorous

Last month, the Journal of Controversial Ideas -- of which I am a co-editor -- published its first issue. The journal is a response to the shrinking boundary, even in liberal democracies, of acceptable discourse. It is specifically designed to provide a forum in which authors can, if they wish, use a pseudonym to avoid running the risk of receiving personal abuse, including death threats, or of irrevocably harming their careers. There was a time when the threat to academic freedom in democrati

When I joined the faculty of Seoul National University in the early 1980s, clashes between teargassing riot police and teargassed radical students were rampant on campus. To strengthen solidarity against the dictatorial regime, student leaders began to organize the so-called Daedongje, which means, “Togetherness Festivals” or “Accompaniment Ceremonies.” At Daedongje, there was no place for individual identity: Only the group mentality prevailed. At that time, I warned of

As US President Joe Biden contemplates course corrections after his first months in office, one change seems especially worthy of consideration: A shift to a more pragmatic, less ideological foreign policy. So far, Biden has centered his statecraft on the clash between democracy and autocracy. In his address to Congress late last month, he identified the country’s adversaries as “the autocrats of the world,” vowing that they “will not win the future. We will. America wi

The much-anticipated Conference on the Future of Europe has begun. Announced by the European Commission and the European Parliament at the end of 2019, the conference is billed as “a citizen-led series of debates and discussions that will enable people from across Europe to share their ideas and help shape our common future.” It is unlikely to deliver. I would like nothing more than for the conference to produce a shared vision of Europe’s future, strengthening the European U

One of the striking contrasts between the Trump and Biden administrations is the debate about whether the presidency has achieved more power than is consistent with the public good. Donald Trump’s term in office was accompanied by a drumbeat of commentaries arguing that the presidency had become too powerful, enabling a madman or despot to destroy Americans’ liberties. The critics urged Congress and the courts to reassert themselves before the country slid into authoritarianism. Sin

China’s slowest population growth in decades may be felt more acutely beyond its borders than within them. The economy will keep humming and incomes can continue to climb, albeit at a slower rate. The rest of us, however, will need to adjust to a persistently slacker pace of global expansion and the prospective ebbing of deflationary pressure. The caricature of China as an unlimited supplier of cheap labor holding down the cost of everything from dishwashers to dolls should be consigned

Responding to the climate emergency is a challenge for everyone, but particularly for countries that are economically reliant on petroleum extraction or production. Decarbonization has created an opportunity for many countries to pursue a green industrial revolution. But as more countries embrace this route to future prosperity, the value of fossil fuel assets, technologies and capabilities will diminish, threatening jobs, export revenues and industrial innovation in petroleum-dominated economie

“Yes, she was a little different from the rest of us. I think she was kind of magnanimous for a kid at our age, and was quite cheerful, positive and smart. I can see she hasn’t changed since.” That’s how my friend recalls Youn Yuh-jung, who won the Academy Award for best supporting actress. My friend, a retiree in the US state of Maryland, was one of Youn’s classmates toward the end of the 1950s. The scars of the Korean War at the onset of the decade were still de

The standard “Stories to Watch in the Year Ahead” feature typically arrives in early January, or even late December, but this year has been special. It was obvious that the first few months of 2021 would be dominated by COVID, the aftermath of the US presidential election and President Joe Biden’s first 100 days. With those issues now largely in the rearview mirror, if not completely gone, early May seems like a good time for my own version of which stories will matter most in

Recently, a few racially biased Americans reportedly yelled at people of Asian origin, “Go back to your country!” and “You don’t belong here,” while violently attacking them. Some of the assailants were homeless and others lived in their cars. Presumably, some of them were angry because they had lost their jobs due to the pandemic. Nonetheless, their ignorant and hateful acts cannot be excused. Beyond the physical violence, phrases like “Go back to your coun

Is democracy in decline, retreat or under siege? This is a soul-searching question by many who agonize over a lost golden age of democracy, freedom and rule-based world order. Notice that democracy was rarely granted by the British Empire, which never granted democracy to her colonies (other than white Canada or Australia) until forced to give independence after she became exhausted by two World Wars. Democracy was adopted as part of American tool-box to be pushed so that more people would be l

While many central banks are still investigating the possibility of issuing a digital currency, China has rolled out a digital currency via a series of pilot programs since last year. The eRMB (my term as opposed to the more awkward official DC/EP) by itself will not help the renminbi to challenge the US dollar’s global dominance. Its true significance instead lies in its potential to alter the balance between China’s technology giants and traditional majority state-owned banks, thus

As America beats back COVID-19 with vaccines, the catastrophe in India reminds us that much of the world’s population has yet to receive a shot. Coping with a virulent second wave of the virus, desperate Indians plead for oxygen tanks for their loved ones. Mass cremations of victims barely cope with more than 300,000 new cases daily, but less than 4 percent of nearly 1.4 billion people have gotten their first jab. India has rightly become a tragic reminder that the United States and the

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/ By any other name would smell as sweet.” So spoke Juliet Capulet to Romeo Montague in Shakespearean tragedy “Romeo and Juliet.” But, of course, there is a lot in a name. It is by which you are called your whole life, it is your identity. In Korea, where names take on a great significance, a lot of thought and care are taken in naming a new born. Often, one character of the two-character name is used by everyone in a