![[Lee Byung-jong] BTS and K-pop concerts](jpg/news-p.v1.20260312.e315fd7167fe4c68bff8ecb0cac1ca38_t119b4.jpg)
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![[Sara Albrecht] Refund tariffs the right way](jpg/news-p.v1.20260311.e651f3bd62dd42b0826c913d354b87aa_t13496.jpg)
[Sara Albrecht] Refund tariffs the right way
When the US Supreme Court ruled that the administration’s tariffs were unlawful, it resolved a constitutional question. What it did not resolve is how to unwind the economic damage. Gov. JB Pritzker has called for roughly $1,700 per Illinois household — about $8.7 billion total — arguing that families effectively paid an illegal tax through higher prices and deserve direct reimbursement. It may be appealing math. But it is not how tariffs work — and it is not how refunds should work. Tariffs are
March 12, 2026 -
![[Wang Son-taek] The hidden cost of war: Public diplomacy](jpg/news-p.v1.20260311.929efa03846b4bb2b5cbda2a4133aa61_t13496.jpg)
[Wang Son-taek] The hidden cost of war: Public diplomacy
Military power often produces a moment of triumph. Precision strikes dominate headlines, targets are destroyed and political leaders present the operation as evidence of resolve and strength. In the short term, such actions can create the appearance of decisive leadership. Yet the longer-term perspective often tells a very different story. History repeatedly shows that military success does not necessarily translate into strategic success. When a war is launched without plausible cause or clear
March 12, 2026 -
![[Moon Yewon] Delays at Incheon Airport immigration](jpg/news-p.v1.20260311.b0048fb3b288496a80bbd6973c866234_t13496.jpg)
[Moon Yewon] Delays at Incheon Airport immigration
If you visited Incheon Airport after Jan. 14, you may have noticed that the airport feels noticeably more crowded than before. While the steady growth of international travel naturally fills terminals, the most visible congestion now appears at immigration checkpoints. In the past, it typically took less than 30 minutes to process about 100 arriving passengers. Recently, however, the same number of passengers can take close to an hour to clear immigration — sometimes even longer during peak peri
March 12, 2026 -
![[Kim Seong-kon] Living in 'Jurassic World' in 2026](jpg/news-p.v1.20260310.efcff13762254d6e8522981d078da62b_t13496.jpg)
[Kim Seong-kon] Living in 'Jurassic World' in 2026
Recently, Netflix added the Jurassic World collection to its film repository. We all remember the worldwide excitement when the epoch-making film “Jurassic Park” was released in 1993. Directed by legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg and based on Michael Crichton’s bestselling novel, the movie led to two sequels: “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” and “Jurassic Park III.” In 2015, “Jurassic World,” directed by Colin Trevorrow, reignited nostalgic feelings of "Jurassic Park" fans. “Jurassic World” ha
March 11, 2026 -
![[Allison Schrager] US human capital is eroding](jpg/news-p.v1.20260310.25b20e743842455fa9a5873493c18834_t13496.jpg)
[Allison Schrager] US human capital is eroding
America is having a collective freakout about jobs — specifically, that soon AI will do everything and leave everyone unemployable. This concern is not necessarily misplaced, but it is better understood as part of a larger worry: that one of the country’s most critical resources, human capital, is eroding. A large, diverse and highly skilled labor force is what made the US an economic powerhouse. Now, both the stock and value of its human capital are degrading, and almost no one is doing anythin
March 11, 2026 -
[Editorial] Oil price ceiling
Oil markets have become a theater of nerves. Within little more than a day, Brent crude fell from nearly $119 a barrel to below $90 after US President Donald Trump suggested the war with Iran could end “very soon.” Traders cheered, Asian equities bounced and currencies steadied. Yet even as prices retreated Tuesday, Seoul took steps to revive a tool unused since 1997: a ceiling on domestic fuel prices. For South Korea, oil shocks rarely arrive alone. Rising crude feeds inflation, weakens the cur
March 10, 2026 -
![[Mariana Mazzucato] Reimagining the economics of culture](jpg/news-p.v1.20260309.3b0ef66bd5b349848686d15842ef1ce4_t13496.jpg)
[Mariana Mazzucato] Reimagining the economics of culture
Brazil’s Carnival, the greatest party on earth, ended last month. For those who have never been, no description does it justice. The blocos playing in the streets, the samba schools parading through Rio de Janeiro’s Sambadrome, the drumlines, the costumes, and the collective joy of millions of people constitute a spectacle unto itself. In dark and divided times, Carnival reminds us that participation, creativity and shared celebration are not peripheral to economic life. They are part of what ec
March 10, 2026 -
![[Lim Woong] Becoming ‘New Lee Jae Myung’](jpg/news-p.v1.20260309.56e77d8466df44418975293853e3e294_t13496.jpg)
[Lim Woong] Becoming ‘New Lee Jae Myung’
Modern Korean presidential history often reads like a long-running case study in leadership types. Over the decades, the office has been occupied by a variety of figures in style and ambition, yet many shared an implicit premise: The president stands apart from the public, legitimized not so much by higher statesmanship as by extreme ideology, elite credentials, regional identity and ties to wealth and status. President Lee Jae Myung appears, at least so far, to break with that pattern. He proje
March 10, 2026 -
[Editorial] Tilted playing field
The revised Trade Union and Labor Relations Act, more commonly known as the “Yellow Envelope Act,” has just gone into effect. Labor groups hail it as a step forward for workers’ rights, but critics warn it could destabilize the country’s labor-management relations. Earlier, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions warned it would call a general strike in July against prime contractors that refuse to bargain with subcontractors' unions. The business community, meanwhile, is on edge. The law takes
March 10, 2026 -
[Editorial] Managing energy turmoil
Inflation, much like a storm at sea, typically makes landfall well after the winds have shifted. South Korea’s consumer prices rose 2 percent in February, hitting the central bank’s target with deceptive precision. Yet the stability suggested by that data belongs to a geopolitical landscape that has already vanished. The US-Israeli war with Iran has jolted global energy markets and placed the Strait of Hormuz under strain. The implications are serious. This narrow waterway carries a substantial
March 9, 2026 -
![[Javier Blas] Iran war's strategic commodity](jpg/news-p.v1.20260308.4bbd991f386d400b85f36da340c1a91f_t13496.jpg)
[Javier Blas] Iran war's strategic commodity
The CIA calls it the “strategic commodity” of the Middle East. But it’s not referring to oil or natural gas. What the American spy agency has in mind is far more prosaic: drinking water. Don’t underestimate it, though, because if military hostilities continue to escalate, water could become the geopolitical commodity that decides the war between the US and Iran. The Persian Gulf is gifted with a fabulous hydrocarbon endowment, worth trillions of dollars. What its desertic countries don’t have is
March 9, 2026