The peace process aimed at resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis is gaining momentum. On the surface, the latest developments offer optimism, but there are causes for concern as well. The brightest prospects come from inter-Korean relations, as the two Koreas are quickly following up on the agreements made by President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at their two meetings. On Monday, the two sides held a meeting at the truce village of Panmunjeom to discuss inter-Korean sport

Satellite data and images are provocative, even disturbing. They confront us with a global view that can be at once breathtaking, like a piece of art, and yet, in this era of rapidly changing climate, they paint a picture of the demise of the environment. How and if we will respond to what we see is uncertain. That uncertainty lies at the root of our perilous future.　Last month, my colleagues and I published a report the centerpiece of which is a global map, derived from satellite data, that sho

Job growth decreased sharply to 72,000 jobs in May after staying a little over 100,000 for three straight months.It is the first time since the 1998 financial crisis that employment growth has remained below 200,000 jobs for four successive months. The unemployment rate was 4 percent last month.The youth unemployment rate rose to 10.5 percent, an 18-year high for May after related data was compiled in May 2000.Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon called the May job figures “s

Korean students memorize everything to study for exams. Almost no teachers in school teach students how to write creative answers on exam papers. Thus, students feel lost when they are asked to submit papers in university. Nonetheless, university students are expected to write essays and papers in the majority of the classes, with a huge gap of students’ abilities in writing. However, there are not many professors in universities who teach the students how to think critically and write down thei

The outcome of the Donald Trump-Kim Jong-un summit in Singapore brings to mind the old Army quip: “Hurry up and wait.”　The urgency of holding a meeting between the top leaders of North Korea and the United States, rather than diplomatic professionals, is perhaps best explained by the personality and mind-set of our first reality TV star president. The freshly signed joint statement of this “epochal event” — not merely historic, mind you, but epochal — is roughly what could be expected to emerge

Korean party politics is in bad shape. The June 13 local elections and the 12 parliamentary by-elections simply showed how bad it is. The biggest concern is that the uneven playing field caused by the lopsided victory of the ruling party will continue to remain at least until the 2020 parliamentary election. That means Korean politics will be largely devoid of checks and balances, the quintessential element of a healthy democracy. The biggest blame should be placed on the dismal performance of t

It is an undeniable fact that the recent US-North Korea summit provided a turnaround in the nuclear standoff between the two sides. But the dramatic shift from threats of war to handshakes for peace did not come without defects. US President Donald Trump’s rash move that could weaken the South Korea-US alliance is one of them. What Trump said -- he gave the same words to Kim Jong-un during their talks in Singapore earlier this week -- is already seeing repercussions, as his pledge to cease the S

Once upon a time it was fire and fury and loads of sanctions like nobody ever saw before, and look, it was said, President Donald Trump is going to get us into a nuclear war. But then North Korea came around, saying it wanted to talk. So Trump met with Kim Jung-un who promised to denuclearize, and now it’s said Trump has elevated a murderous dictator to hero status and set us up as dupes.　What I want to say is wait and see and quit trying to make Trump out to have handled this so badly when ther