There is no doubt that the nation needs a new Constitution that reflects the many changes of the past decades. The latest public opinion survey shows that nearly 80 percent of the general public and close to 90 percent of lawmakers support amending the basic law. Most of all, the current Constitution, last revised in 1987 in the wake of a pro-democracy movement, is outdated in many aspects. The recent corruption scandal involving ousted President Park Geun-hye also bolstered the call for a new C

South Korea and China renewed their currency swap deal. The contract was set at $56 billion and will mature in three years.The extension of the deal is welcome news amid chilling ties in the wake of China’s economic retaliations against South Korea’s deployment of US anti-missile assets. As the previous scheme expired on Tuesday with a renewal unannounced, pessimism that negotiations would break down had prevailed.　The renewal carries significant meaning in that South Korea has secured more fore

One of the catchphrases in Korean education these last few years has been “creativity.” A number of government initiatives have been specifically designed to boost the creativity of students, both in primary and secondary education. A number of universities, including my own, have even built new buildings with names like “creativity center” or “institution for creative education.” Not that the name of a building can deliver results on its own, but it does show how important the issue is.Korea’s

History of US military miscalculationThe hacking of the US-South Korea Military Operations Plan 5015 -- and US President Donald Trump’s recent comments on war as the only apparent solution for the current tensions with North Korea -- brings to mind US military strategy during the Vietnam War. In December 1972, in what was anticipated to be a simple and successful operation, the Nixon administration sent dozens of B-52 bombers to obliterate Hanoi and decapitate the North Vietnamese leadership. Th

The impartiality of public deliberation on whether to continue or terminate the construction of Shin-Kori nuclear reactors 5 and 6 has been called into question. Some of the data provided to citizen jurors who will decide the fate of the reactors is suspected of having been distorted. The citizen jurors are scheduled to hold a yes or no vote on the issue after deliberating for three days from Friday. Groups for and against the construction submitted their respective data to the public deliberati