The main opposition Liberty Korea Party is still struggling to rebuild itself after its fall that stemmed from the ouster of former President Park Geun-hye. Former Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn joining the Liberty Korea Party should provide it with the momentum to overcome Park’s legacy and regain public trust. Hwang’s entry into the Liberty Korea Party, which paves the way for him to run for the party’s leadership next month, is already stirring Korean politics because recent opinion polls showe

The wonderful thing about Donald Trump’s presidency -- I never thought I’d begin a column this way -- is that he brings us back to basics.The basic difference between a democracy and a dictatorship comes down to means and ends.Democracy is about means, not ends. If we all agreed on the ends, such as whether to build a wall along the Mexican border, there’d be no need for democracy.But of course we don’t agree, which is why the means by which we resolve our differences are so important. Those mea

Once again, President Moon Jae-in’s administration is facing louder calls to reconsider its plan to phase out nuclear power in the country.The impetus is the choking fine dust that blanketed most parts of the country for three consecutive days over the weekend.The Moon government adamantly adheres to its anti-nuclear stance, turning a deaf ear to a long list of costs critics say its misguided energy policy will incur. In a meeting with a group of corporate leaders Tuesday, Moon reiterated that n

Last November, Michael Bloomberg made what may well be the largest private donation to higher education in modern times: $1.8 billion to enable his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University, to provide scholarships for eligible students unable to afford the school’s tuition. Bloomberg is grateful to Johns Hopkins, he explains, because the opportunity to study there, on a scholarship, “opened up doors that otherwise would have been closed, and allowed me to live the American dream.” In the year after

Haruhiko Kuroda may rue the day he visited Nagoya.In a Nov. 5 speech to business leaders in the city, the Bank of Japan governor came close to declaring the end of deflation and the dawn of a new era. The implication was that interest rates may no longer be geared toward combating something that no longer exists. There was a whiff of normalization.Events have caught up with Kuroda and his upbeat comments look premature, at best, and like a misreading of the economic cycle. He’s likely to spend a

Cases of sexual abuse in Korean sports are surfacing. Former judo player Shin Yu-yong revealed Monday that she had filed a complaint with police in March last year accusing her high school coach of sexual assault. Six days earlier, Shim Suk-hee, a two-time Olympic short track speedskating champion, accused her former coach Cho Jae-beom of rape. These revelations may only be the tip of the iceberg, but we hope the #MeToo movement has arrived in the sports community in Korea. The Ministry of Cultu

The ongoing investigation concerning former Chief Justice Yang Sung-tae poses two challenges to the country -- restoring public trust in the judiciary and separating politics from the criminal justice system, especially the state prosecution. The complete truth in the case has yet to be proved, but the undeniable fact is that the prosecution’s investigation of Yang and other former top justices itself has reduced public trust in the judiciary.Indeed, some described the scene Friday of Yang walki

The single most important public health measure of 2019 is the replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. These three diseases, which currently kill around 2.5 million people per year, could be fully contained by 2030, with deaths reduced to nearly zero. The Global Fund is the primary instrument for success, and it needs to raise $10 billion per year to accomplish its mission.The Global Fund, established in 2001 by Kofi Annan, has been credited with saving 27 milli

Anywhere in the world, freelance journalism is an extreme career choice. The job requires withstanding pitch rejections, ignored queries, stolen story ideas, and delayed payments. It means reconciling oneself with the economic precarity that comes with having little or no leverage in pay negotiations. But for African freelance journalists, covering the continent presents its own set of unique challenges.In Nigeria, for example, most media companies need diligent editors, seldom publish incisive