Recently two incidents caught my eye. One is the publication of “The Story of Hong Gildong” by Penguin, adding a Korean title to the celebrated Penguin Classics. The other is the Go match between a human and a machine, which turned out to be a victory of artificial intelligence over the human mind at first, and then human victory over the computer. 　The two memorable events incidentally made me brood over the question: “What is justice?” 　Hong Gildong resembles Robin Hood in the sense that as th

The debate on trade in the U.S. presidential election should concern Korea because trade has come under fire from the left and right. 　On the left, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders blames the North American Free Trade Agreement and other bad trade policies for the loss of manufacturing jobs and stagnant wages that have weakened the middle class. Sanders has emerged as a strong challenger to frontrunner Hillary Clinton. On the right, businessman Donald Trump has attacked the same agreement and policie

The word “trump,” according to the dictionary, is an alteration of the word triumph. And because Donald Trump, the U.S. presidential candidate, appears likely to become the nominee of the Grand Old Party of Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan, we owe it to ourselves to ask in what sense and for whom he represents a triumph.One thinks of a segment of the American population angered by the eight years of Barack Obama’s presidency, a group that is now feeling vengeful. And one also thinks of the whit

The head of the Syrian opposition says he’s going to Geneva for the next round of U.S.-Russian-sponsored peace talks Monday, even though the opposition rejects any future role for President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime will be the other party in the talks.The Syria diplomacy might be described as “the art of the impossible,” borrowing the title of a collection of speeches by former Czech president Vaclav Havel, who helped negotiate the transition from communism to democracy in Eastern Europe. S

Put away your worries about how all the major presidential contenders have abandoned a bipartisan consensus on trade, or whether any serious financial instrument will ever again earn serious interest. In Seoul, a genuine tragedy for the human race is taking place.AlphaGo is winning. The computer, developed by artificial intelligence researchers at Google, has won the first two games in its five-game match with Lee Se-dol, one of the world’s best players of the game Go. The chances of a comeback

As China’s economy slows and growth in the developed world remains anemic, governments across Asia are working to keep their economies on an upward trajectory. In Sri Lanka, where I am prime minister, the challenge is to find a way to accelerate our already steady economic growth.One thing is clear: We cannot expect the rest of the world to welcome our economic ambitions the way it once opened its arms to China’s rapid rise as an economic power or -- in earlier decades -- cheered on the growth o

General elections used to produce stars, like the youngest successful candidate, underdogs who defeated big-name politicians or figures who won on enemy turf. We will have to wait until April 13 to find out who will become the stars of the 20th National Assembly. But in terms of public and media attention, there are already two star players: Kim Jong-in, the stopgap leader of The Minjoo Party of Korea, and Lee Hahn-koo, the nomination chief of the Saenuri Party. Since taking over at their respec