Recently, Koreans were elated by the news that June Huh and Lim Yun-chan received the Fields Medal in math and the Gold Medal in the Van Cliburn Piano Competition, respectively. Another piece of good news that delighted Korean Americans was that Jina Kang was selected as the Distinguished Young Woman of California. Originally, Kang was chosen as the Distinguished Young Woman of LA last spring. Then through the state competition, she became the Distinguished Young Woman of California in July. Now

Indonesia embassy highlighted dynamics of bilateral ties with Korea celebrating its 77th independence day in Seoul on Sept. 28. Commemorating the independence day under the theme of ‘Recover Faster, Rise Stronger,’ the embassy invited Korean government officials, parliament members, diplomatic corps, businessmen, academics, and friends of Indonesia numbering more than 300 guests at the Floating Island Convention Center in Seoul. Dressed in traditional Javanese Jawi Jangkep, Indonesia

I received very sad news on Sept. 8. Queen Elizabeth II passed away at Balmoral. She was 96 years old. This year is the queen’s platinum jubilee, marking the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth becoming the British monarch. Not only the British people, but many people around the world mourned her death, including myself. As I was reading an article about Queen Elizabeth II, I suddenly remembered a woman. Her name was Jacqueline du Pre, who was an unfortunate cellist. When I heard her nam

The threat of climate change conjures certain scenes: Smoke billowing from a forest aflame. Smothering heat clinging to the distorted asphalt of a densely packed street. Glaciers breaking off into a rising sea. Another scenario should be equally terrifying but is harder to envision: A virus leaving the animal that has played blind host for an encroaching human being. For years, scientists have been warning us about an unsettling reality: that climate change will make pandemics more likely in our

President Joe Biden’s foreign policy deserves higher marks than most have given it. Biden boldly pulled the plug on the Afghanistan quagmire, so that Americans could stop hemorrhaging blood and treasure in an endless war. He has performed a delicate “Goldilocks routine” with respect to Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine: giving a vital assist to save Kyiv, while balancing that support with caution, asserting, “We’re trying to avoid World War III.” That

COVID-19 has disrupted labor markets virtually everywhere, pushing millions of migrant workers into poverty. In high-income Asian countries, the pandemic has highlighted these workers’ vulnerability to redundancy, pay cuts, and exclusion from vital social safety nets. The authorities in Singapore and Malaysia have deported some of those who spoke out against inadequate provisions or mistreatment in the workplace. But, as global supply chains are restored and economies reopen, employers are

Among all the 12 first ladies we have had since the founding of the Republic, Kim Keon-hee is certainly one of a kind. A few of her predecessors raised eyebrows for occasionally inappropriate activities but none of them faced the level of rumors that shroud Kim. Suspicion surfaced during the presidential campaign, when there were whispers of Kim’s involvement in Deutsch Motors stock price manipulation and plagiarism of her academic papers as well as illegal business activity by her mother.

Sometimes a news cycle constitutes more than just noise. It provides a loud, uncanny signal about what may lie beyond the horizon. That happened this month, when a more hopeful, dangerous, and radically different geopolitics came into view. Within literally a few days of each other, we have witnessed the near-collapse of the Russian army in Ukraine and the humiliation of a regime in the streets of Iranian cities. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s soldiers revealed themselves to be littl

What kind of country do we want to hand over to our children? We should ponder that question constantly and seriously because we have a solemn responsibility to bequeath a healthy, prosperous country to our descendants. If we end up bestowing a sick, unstable country to our children and thus make them live miserably, we should suffer regrets and immitigable guilt forever. We vote for politicians with the hope that they will run the country skillfully and ensure peace. Unfortunately, it seems the

There has been much hand-wringing about the crisis of the humanities, and recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence have added to the angst. It is not only truck drivers whose jobs are threatened by automation. Deep-learning algorithms are also entering the domain of creative work. And now, they are demonstrating proficiency in the tasks that occupy humanities professors when they are not giving lectures: namely, writing papers and submitting them for publication in academic journals. Coul

North Korea passed a law this month putting into effect Kim Jong-un’s decision that in case he is incapacitated by foreign hands, the country will “automatically and immediately” launch a nuclear retaliation. This arrangement makes it sound as though the North Korean nuclear arsenal is not only designed to be used by one man but exists to keep that one man in power. Is this arrangement an aberration of North Korea, or is it descriptive of the other eight nuclear states? As tens

“No.” That was President Joe Biden’s response earlier this month when a reporter asked whether the Russian Federation should be added to the Department of State’s “sponsors of terrorism” list. Biden’s terse reply was disappointing, particularly when there is bipartisan support in Congress for adding Russia to the rolls of repressive regimes that have previously been declared terrorist states. The executive branch despises being pressured on terrorist san

The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on Monday brought the largest gathering of world leaders in years, as 500 heads of state and foreign dignitaries gathered in London to honor the beloved queen. Immediately following her death, the new king, Charles III, began leading the nation in mourning and introduced himself to a public that knows no other monarch. In his speeches, King Charles has vowed to dedicate his life to service as his mother had done. His speeches have been marked by their respect fo

Teachings from ancestors, dead or alive, are worth taking seriously because they are absolutely unselfish pieces of advice for a successful life of posterity. In family gatherings on occasions like Chuseok that we celebrated earlier this month, teachings are passed down from the older to younger generations. Parents will want to deliver to their children the advice they have received from their own parents with some modifications they feel are necessary out of their lifelong experiences. Meanwhi

Russia's imperious president, Vladimir Putin, may have just endured his worst week since the collapse of the Soviet Union, which he says was the greatest tragedy of the 20th century. His vaunted army, including a tank force once considered one of Russia's best, collapsed in the face of a Ukrainian offensive in eastern Ukraine. Some Russian soldiers fled after ditching their uniforms and donning civilian clothes they stole from homes, according to local residents. In southern Ukraine, R