In the 75 years that the United States and Russia have dominated global power politics, their underlying goal has remained remarkably constant: maintaining enough stability and predictability to prevent their differences from sparking a nuclear war. It was the mutual renewal of that concept that, if maintained, will be the most significant long-term result of the recent summit meeting between President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, especially after the unpredictable tenure of

The government recently launched a new round of publicity blitz to promote Korean culture abroad, this time involving the screening of a “fashion film” set in a Joseon period palace that is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. The aim is two-fold: Let the world know the beauty of Korea’s palaces and, perhaps more urgently, send a clear message that hanbok belongs to Korea. The latter aim has gained urgency as Chinese media have been claiming that hanbok originates from China.

“Would the perpetrator have been arrested if the victim was a young woman?” This is a question from Hyo-jeong, the 69-year-old protagonist in the 2019 movie “An Old Lady.” While hospitalized with an injured shoulder, she is sexually assaulted by a 29-year-old male nursing assistant, but the authorities do not believe her and repeatedly reject demands for an arrest warrant. Helpless, she chooses her own way of pursuing justice. Hyo-jeong may be right in considering her

The dam has broken. College athletes are going to be paid -- eventually. And it’s about time. The Supreme Court on Monday confirmed unanimously that the National Collegiate Athletic Association is a business that has to conform to the same antitrust rules as any other business. That means its days of operating a multibillion dollar industry on the backs of an unpaid labor force -- the players -- are dwindling rapidly. The issue in NCAA v. Alston, which was argued before the court in Marc

Rising real estate prices are stoking fears that homeownership, long considered a core component of the American dream, is slipping out of reach for low- and moderate-income Americans. That may be so -- but a nation of renters is not something to fear. In fact, it’s the opposite. The numbers paint a stark picture. After peaking at 69 percent in 2004, the homeownership rate fell every year until 2016, when it was 64.3 percent, its lowest level since the Census Bureau started keeping track

Situated between World War II and the Vietnam War, and overshadowed by the Cold War, the Korean War has inadvertently become the “Forgotten War.” Strangely, people have kept silent about the war and seem to have forgotten it completely. Whenever I see the epigraph “The Forgotten War” at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, I am as heartbroken as I can be because we should remember the Korean War forever. The Korean War was much more than a civil war. Rather, i

In South Korea, June is known as the month to commemorate patriots, veterans and service members. During the month, we have two very special national holidays: Memorial Day, honoring those who have fallen serving the country, and Korean War Memorial Day for those who sacrificed their lives fighting for democracy. My mind often feels solemn on this month as the country recognizes our service members, patriots and veterans. For more diverse and professional music studies, I decided to study in th

Rate the US-Russia summit in Geneva as a success for President Joe Biden. If you want to understand why, just look at what Vladimir Putin said back home the day after the summit ended. “I want to say that the image of President Biden, (as) portrayed by our and even the American press, has nothing to do with reality,” Putin told alumni of a Russian management program, by video. (He was referring to constant efforts by Russian state-controlled media, along with Trumpist media, to por

The latest G7 summit was a waste of resources. If it had to be held at all, it should have been conducted online, saving time, logistical costs, and airplane emissions. But, more fundamentally, G-7 summits are an anachronism. Political leaders need to stop devoting their energy to an exercise that is unrepresentative of today’s global economy and results in a near-complete disconnect between stated aims and the means adopted to achieve them. There was absolutely nothing at the G-7 summit

When will the world have vaccinated 80 percent of all adults, the level presumed by scientists to produce herd immunity against COVID-19? Most people’s answer is 2023 or 2024, which suggests deep pessimism about the progress of vaccinations outside the rich world. That is also why pledges at the recent G-7 summit to donate 1 billion doses to poor countries during this year and in 2022 look to some like generous game changers. But despair is the wrong sentiment and self-congratulation by t

For decades, education has sat at the center of political discourse in South Korea. As the country developed, the center of discourse moved from educating the masses for the needs of a growing industrial economy to preparing for university admission and the high social status that it bestowed. Since the 2010s, however, interest in education has cooled somewhat as other issues have come to the fore. Why is this? And what does it mean? During Park Chung-hee’s long dictatorship from 1961 to

The world is gearing up for a titanic battle over semiconductors. To secure its position in this most strategic of all industries, the US will have to weigh its strategy carefully and learn the lessons of the past. The right balance of support for both production and innovation will distinguish the winners. Of all modern industries, semiconductors -- i.e., computer chips -- are the most jealously guarded and sought-after by national governments, for many reasons. First of all, they‘re mil

During an open debate before he was elected chairman of the main opposition People Power Party last week, Lee Jun-seok said he made “several hundred million won (several hundred thousand dollars)” through cryptocurrency trading. Later he reported spending just 30 million won ($27,000), seemingly from these earnings, for his intraparty leadership campaign. It is no surprise that the 36-year-old prodigy in Korean politics who majored in computer science and economics at Harvard Unive

The internet has been a great unifier, enabling people to join others around the globe in pursuit of common interests. And now, the internet’s largest platform operators -- Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google -- are uniting Democrats and Republicans on the House antitrust subcommittee in pursuit of their common interest: reining in Big Tech’s power. Members of the subcommittee on Friday introduced five bills, each with bipartisan co-sponsors, that aim to bar platform operators from u