As President Donald Trump continues to spew lies about “election fraud” and attack democratic institutions, he is handing China a huge Christmas gift. Trump touts his hardZ-line tack toward Beijing as a historic policy shift. He warned during the election campaign that if Joe Biden won, China “would own the United States.” On the contrary, President-elect Biden grasps something Trump never understood. The president’s chaotic China policy -- and his failed tr

A host of Google services including YouTube and Gmail were down for about an hour on Monday, leading to the trending hashtag “#YouTubeDOWN.” For those who rely heavily on Google’s productivity services, the outage is a sobering reminder that their digital life is essentially breakable at any moment. At a time when a growing number of people work from home with the help of a wide array of digital devices, sudden glitches of the internet network, core business-related services a

The year 2020 has been a very cruel one, as the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the globe. As of mid-December, 74 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported and 1.65 million people have died from the disease. The disease has affected all countries, though some have been hit harder than others. School closures have affected at least 1 billion children worldwide, and economies have been devastated. After a long decline, poverty in developing countries is increasing again, causing widespread sufferin

South Korea’s 21st term of the National Assembly is the Behemoth of the 21st century -- it can do anything, bad things mostly. The Book of Job in the Old Testament describes it: “When the river rages, he is not alarmed; he is secure, though the Jordan should surge against his mouth ... “Can anyone capture him by the eyes, or trap him and pierce his nose?” (40:23-24)　 The new representative body elected in the general election on April 15 has acted in the fashion of a

Donald Trump’s administration is doing an extraordinary amount of “midnight rule-making” -- issuing regulations at the very end of the president’s four-year term. This will cause real trouble for the Joe Biden administration, which will have to try to unwind a lot of it. As of now, Trump’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has a whopping 136 regulations under review, suggesting that there might well be a last-minute tsunami. Some of the last-minute re

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union has ruled the 71-year-old Federal Republic for a total of 50 years. When she steps down next fall after 16 years in office, it is safe to assume that another Christian Democrat will succeed her. Who will it be? Within the next few weeks, the CDU will hold its 33rd party convention, and choose a new leader. Whoever it is will most likely be anointed as the CDU’s candidate for chancellor when Merkel steps down, and there is

A half-billion people across the European Union have effectively been held hostage by United Poland, a tiny Polish political party that is largely unknown even among the country’s voters. At issue was a principle that 66 percent of Poles support: EU funding should be made conditional on a recipient country’s respect for the rule of law -- a key provision in the EU’s 2021-27 budget and COVID-19 recovery fund. Reports this week ahead of an EU summit to discuss the issue suggest

Dear Dr. Yellen: Congratulations! You’re probably the next treasury secretary of the US. That’ll throw you into daunting policy cauldrons -- from financing America’s massive deficits to managing China and taming the tax code. With so much in your inbox, we urge you not to forget about one large group of Americans: us. We’re US expats, and there are 9 million of us. If we were a state, we’d be the 11th largest. And we’re suffering from a problem that you can f

Angela Merkel has done it again: She’s “merkeled.” In German, that neologism means to hedge, delay, dilute and fudge -- as the eponymous German chancellor is wont to do. There’s much to be said for this elastic style of politics, especially in the labyrinthine European Union. Merkel’s latest fudge, however, will weaken and undermine the bloc, and tarnish her legacy. The compromise was struck between her government, which currently holds the EU’s rotating pres

About 48 years ago, in 1972, the July 4th South-North Joint Communiqué came to force between the two Koreas during the Park Chung-hee administration. Both parties agreed not to slander each other. However, neglecting the agreement, there were some groups of people that sent anti-North Korea leaflets—which is considered to be psychological warfare—to the North. The National Assembly has been pushing legislative efforts to regulate this activity since 2008. Now that a mature the

Like many people living through this pandemic year, I suddenly found myself with time on my hands as events and meetings were scheduled, rescheduled and, in most cases, canceled altogether. Once the initial panic over the unknown illness dissipated, I became elated at the prospect of more unscheduled free time. I envisioned reading for pleasure, tackling overdue home projects and spending more time at the gym. Well, nearly a year into this prolonged state of limbo, I can report that most of t

US President-elect Joe Biden’s nomination of Lloyd Austin, a recently retired four-star general, as Secretary of Defense is a further welcome sign that America has come to its senses and will, after Jan. 20, no longer seek to punish its friends and reward its enemies. To demonstrate this shift to the world, Biden should, immediately on taking office, rescind President Donald Trump’s order last July to withdraw 12,000 US troops from Germany. Without costing the US a penny, Biden wou

Jipyeong-ri is a small, quiet village embraced by low mountains. The placid atmosphere of the humble village makes it hard to conceive the hellish combat that occurred there 70 years ago, engraving its name in modern warfare.  The Battle of Jipyeong-ri (aka Chipyong-ni), along with the Incheon Landing and the Retreat from Chosin Reservoir, is among the most researched topics of military historians who study the Korean War. And anyone taking even a cursory look at the three-day battle aroun

Declaring “America is back,” President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to rejoin the world as an active and engaged nation, committed to working with our allies and partners to tackle the most pressing issues facing us today. He has nominated a seasoned foreign policy team to help overcome the damage done by four years of “America First” retrenchment. There are many challenges that will vie for the new team’s immediate attention. The mounting crisis with Iran following