Critics have argued that Korean presidents all have one serious flaw in common: They fill government posts with people from their own political faction or election camp only, regardless of their abilities. As a result, amateurs have run the country, making numerous, sometimes fatal mistakes. Of course, there have been some outstanding, competent ministers. However, they often could not extend their abilities to their full capacity, blocked by a bunch of amateurs who wielded political power sur

The bargain bonanza that is Black Friday has begun. Only there are fewer special offers this year, and those that are being advertised aren’t quite so eye-catching. You can blame the global supply chain meltdown for the dearth of doorbusters. Even when toys and TVs start flowing through trade arteries again, retailers should maintain a more disciplined approach to discounting. This won’t be easy, but stores stand to gain a lot if they bin the bargains in Black Fridays to come. This

By Manuela V. Ferro 　 By Akihiko Nishio ----------------------------------------------------------------- A document in the World Bank’s archives tells a story of modest beginnings: In 1962, representatives of South Korea and the International Development Association, the World Bank’s fund for the world’s poorest countries, signed a Development Credit Agreement for a railroad project “to meet growing traffic needs, to improve its operating efficiency and to decreas

Every news media outlet around the world has been focusing on COVID-19. Some may wonder if there is any other news besides the virus. As you may have heard, electing the next president of South Korea is less than 150 days away. The election is the most important event in the country politically and socially. Those who are not usually interested in politics start paying attention to election-related news. I think they have a tendency to pay more attention this time around because they want to c

Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party knew well what to expect from Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko before he started funneling refugees from the Middle East to the Polish border. Belarusian authorities had already done it to Lithuania and Latvia. And in a clear sign of what was to come, Belarus terminated its readmission agreement with the EU in October. Poland had time to pursue preventive measures in the refugees’ countries of origin. It didn’t, and now thous

In early 2021, the consensus forecast for Chinese GDP growth this year among 25 major global banks and other professional forecasters was 8.3 percent. In contrast, the Chinese government’s own growth target was around 6 percent, lower than the best guesses of 24 out of the 25 institutional forecasters. Did the government know something that outsiders had missed? Did it plan to do something that it regards as desirable even though it might compromise growth? More recently, international b

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida survived the general election on Oct. 31, which came just weeks after his arrival in office as the new leader of the nation. Losing only 15 seats, the Liberal Democratic Party performed better than expected and will maintain a comfortable majority in the House of Representatives, with 261 of 465 seats. The relative loser was the largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party, which lost 13 seats, leaving it with 96. It performed worse than p

The recent 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties in Glasgow, Scotland ended to mixed reviews. The purpose of the conference was to develop detailed plans to implement the goal of limiting global warming to within 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels by 2050. This goal agreed to in the Paris Agreement in 2015. The scientific community is in broad agreement that warming beyond this level will have grave implications for people and ecosystems. Scientists and climate activists

On March 23, 1775, American Founding Father Patrick Henry (1736-1799) famously declared, “Give me liberty, or give me death!” When this declaration spread to the world, it ceased belonging to just one person, and became truth. The liberty he claimed is an innate human right to think and act autonomously without external oppression or interference, and no political authority can deprive one of it. The Liberty International Movie Festival which highlights liberty as its motif, exists

London is one of the most watched cities in the world: Its inhabitants are caught on camera about 300 times a day on average and the British capital has become a test bed for police use of live facial recognition. But the technology, which powers a multibillion-dollar market for security firms and building management, has troubling limitations. To show it up even more, a special team of human officers have, anecdotally, been doing a better job than the cameras. London’s Metropolitan Polic

“An instrument called Cheugugi was made in Seoul from iron for measuring rainfall. It measured one cheok and five chon (about 32 cm) deep and seven chon (about 15 cm) in diameter.”  - May 8, 1441, 23rd year of King Sejong’s reign This is the first record of humanity’s first step in the scientific measurement of rainfall, as written in the Veritable Records of King Sejong on May 8, 1441. The cheugugi was similar to modern rain gauges except for the ways of communica

These days, the Korean people have invented a few new English words, such as “untact” or “with corona,” which means, respectively “no contact” and “living with the coronavirus.” When Koreans say a “notebook,” they refer to a “laptop.” When they say, a “hand phone,” they mean a “cellphone.” Other examples include “po-doc” for “post-doc,” and “oil” for “gasoline

When he stunned the Glasgow climate conference by committing India to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a crucial caveat. Without the “transfer of climate finance and low-cost climate technologies,” he said, developing nations such as India would never be able to achieve their ambitious targets. That’s not an idle worry. If we have learned anything during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s that the developing world cannot count on

A compass helps one find one’s way, and the “Strategic Compass” that I have drafted at the behest of the European Council will serve as an operational guide for the European Union’s development and decision-making on security and defense. It is now heading to EU foreign affairs and defense ministers for discussions next week. The compass is designed to answer three questions: Which challenges and threats do we face? How can we better pool our assets and manage them eff