Koreans work long hours. In the eyes of foreigners, Korea is a country of hard-working people, and an epitome of work ethic. A recent OECD survey says that Koreans work 2,193 hours a year, while the OECD average is only 1,749 hours. As “dynamic” as the country is in many different ways, there is simply too much work to be done with a streamlined workforce. On top of that, the general unwritten rule of the office is that people stay in the office at least until the boss of the section calls it a

As machines increasingly become an indispensable part of human lives, we often wonder: “What is the relationship between men and machines? Are they mutually exclusive or reciprocally supplementary?” We also wonder, “What would the differences between humans and robots be if the latter was made of human blood and flesh?” In fact, machines are things we cannot live without, and yet can be harmful and dangerous if misused. Thus we can neither simply dismiss machines, nor be too fascinated by their

It’s been a month since President Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage and was declared, on the cover of Newsweek, “the first gay president.” That’s an eternity in politics, but Obama’s recent swing through California , which included a Beverly Hills fundraiser sponsored by the LGBT Leadership Council and a $25,000-per-plate dinner hosted by “Glee” creator Ryan Murphy, got me thinking about his gayness all over again.Make that his ungayness. It’s not just that the president was clue

Rarely in history has the cause of a major economic problem been so clear yet have so few been willing to see it.The major reason this recovery has been so anemic is not Europe’s debt crisis. It’s not, as right-wing economists tell us, because taxes are too high on corporations and the rich, safety nets are too generous to the needy, and regulations on business are too onerous. It’s not even, as some liberals contend, because the Obama administration hasn’t spent enough on a temporary Keynesian

OSLO ― Any solution to the eurozone crisis must meet a short-run objective and a long-run goal. Unfortunately, the two tend to conflict.The short-run objective is to return Greece, Portugal, and other troubled countries to a sustainable debt path (that is, a declining debt/GDP ratio). Austerity has raised debt/GDP ratios, but a debt write-down or bigger bailouts would undermine the long-term goal of minimizing the risk of similar debt crises in the future.Long-run fiscal rectitude is the only wa

MUNICH ― In blatant violation of the Maastricht Treaty, the European Commission has come forward with one bailout plan after another for Europe’s distressed economies. Now it wants to socialize not only government debt by introducing Eurobonds, but also banking debt by proclaiming a “banking union.”Socializing bank debt is both unjust and will result in a future misallocation of resources. Socialization of bank debt across borders implies that a country’s private borrowing costs are artificially

NEW YORK ― Dark, lowering financial and economic clouds are, it seems, rolling in from every direction: the eurozone, the United States, China, and elsewhere. Indeed, the global economy in 2013 could be a very difficult environment in which to find shelter.For starters, the eurozone crisis is worsening, as the euro remains too strong, front-loaded fiscal austerity deepens recession in many member countries, and a credit crunch in the periphery and high oil prices undermine prospects of recovery.