The deservedly big news splashing us all in the face lately has been about the children being ripped away from their illegal-immigrant parents at the US-Mexico border. Many Americans are horrified, which is far from what seems the mostly lackadaisical, yawning reaction to a similar, far more terrifying issue, one in which tens of millions of children live without their father. There are horrible consequences, one of which is too often suicide.　Killing ourselves has been another big news story la

Let’s play a game by pretending we are North Koreans. Let’s pretend that we are really serious about complete denuclearization. I know no one believes the idea but let’s give it a run anyway. Who knows? We might learn something from the exercise.Let’s say our ultimate goal as North Koreans is to be relieved of crippling sanctions that prevent us from developing our country economically. The bulk of these sanctions are, of course, imposed or led by the United States. Former President Barack Obama

Household debt rose to an all-time high of 1,468 trillion won ($1.317 trillion) as of the end of the first quarter of this year. The household debt service ratio, which indicates the proportion of principal and interest payments to household income, hit a five-year high last year. Many households are now deep in debt.In this situation, banks reportedly have increased their incomes by raising interest rates on loans unfairly. They have undermined consumers’ trust in them by themselves. Banks have

Kim Jong-pil, or “JP” as he was also called, was at the center of Korean politics from the early 1960s to early 2000s. But it would be too much to say he was a statesman or a hero. It also would be not exactly right to describe him disparagingly only as a professional politician. Maybe it lies somewhere between the two extremes. What’s obvious is Kim -- a two-time prime minister and nine-term lawmaker who headed ruling and opposition parties -- was one of the most influential politicians in the

South and North Korea fixed the schedule and scale of a reunion event for families who were separated during the Korean War. The agreement came in their Red Cross talks at the Mount Geumgang resort in North Korea on Friday. Each side will choose 100 people to meet at the resort from Aug. 20-26. It will be the first family reunion since October 2015. Among various reconciliation measures sought after recent dialogues between South and North Korea and between the US and North Korea, resuming famil

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon on Thursday announced reform plans aimed at better coordination of the investigative powers of the prosecution and police. Police will be empowered to close investigations based on their own judgment without sending related cases to the prosecution after investigation. They are required to forward cases to the prosecution if they deem that suspects need to be charged. Prosecutors will not be able to command police investigations before police send related cases to them