After a roller coaster year on the trade front, we are now well-versed in other countries’ trade barriers restraining Korean products and businesses. We, however, tend to forget how we are viewed in the eyes of other nations. The latest observation came from the Nov. 30 joint statement by five chambers of commerce operating in Seoul: the American, European, British, French and German Chambers of Commerce. The joint statement was the first of its kind.What was mentioned in the statement is their

History tells us that ever since the Crusades, Christianity and Islam have been archenemies. The clash between these two civilizations and religions seems to be reaching its breaking point today, as Muslim extremists frequently attack Christian countries and the US government seeks to prevent people from certain countries associated with radical Islamic beliefs from entering US soil. Under the circumstances, many people wonder if peaceful coexistence will ever be possible at all. But perhaps suc

When Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, he didn’t know he was walking into a killing zone. He had become the prime target in a 21st century information war -- one that involved hacking, kidnapping and ultimately murder -- waged by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his courtiers against dissenters.How did a battle of ideas, triggered by Khashoggi’s outspoken journalism for the Washington Post, become so deadly? That’s the riddle at the center of the column

No one likes dealing with a difficult situation. But now is the time to get things done for Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party, which will hold a by-election on Jan. 6 to replace its chairperson, President Tsai Ing-wen, following the party’s crushing defeat in the Nov. 24 local government elections. The date was decided on Wednesday at a meeting of the party’s Central Executive Committee, but the question of whether Taiwan should maintain its policy toward China before the next presidential e

If a diplomat truly is, as the old saying goes, “an honest man sent abroad to lie for his country,” then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has earned his pay. His speech in Brussels on “Restoring the Role of the Nation-State in the Liberal International Order” deserves a State Department Distinguished Honor Award for Intellectual Dishonesty.“Multilateralism has too often become viewed as an end unto itself,” said Pompeo. “The more treaties we sign, the safer we supposedly are. The more bureaucrats

For many allies of the United States, the flaws in President Donald Trump’s trade war with China -- which is on hold for 90 days following the Xi-Trump meeting in Argentina -- lay in the approach, not the motivation. Indeed, Europe and Japan share many of Trump’s grievances. What they fail to acknowledge is that there is also plenty they can do to make the global trading system -- and their relationships with China -- fairer and more efficient.To be sure, China needs to take steps to reform its