[Lee Kyong-hee] Kim Koo’s wishes for a unified fatherland

UNESCO’s designation of 2026 to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Kim Koo evokes both joy and regret. The intent behind the designation is clear, given the organization’s mandate and Kim’s enduring advocacy of culture as a force that brings happiness and fosters love and peace for humanity. It is also timely: Korean popular culture today enjoys unprecedented global attention. Regret arises from a sobering realization. Nearly eight decades after Kim fell to four gunshots fired by an alle

Feb. 10, 2026

[Lim Woong] Don’t automate the apprenticeship

Lately, in the quiet corridors of academia, I’ve sensed a small but telling drift: a mix of fatigue and a diminishing sense of duty when it comes to training graduate students. Why spend long hours walking a doctoral student through rough drafts and ham-handed analysis when an AI tool can clean data and produce analyses with unnerving speed — no hassle to arrange meetings or bruised student egos to mend? That mood in universities is a microcosm of a much larger shift. Outside the ivory tower, co

Feb. 10, 2026

[Editorial] 'Ghost coins'

An unprecedented financial mishap unfolded at Bithumb, South Korea’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, where bitcoins valued at around 60 trillion won ($40.98 billion) were mistakenly distributed. It is alarming that a digital currency exchange was able to electronically manufacture and circulate bitcoins far in excess of the assets it actually held. On Friday, a clerical error at Bithumb turned a modest promotional payout into a staggering mistake. An employee entered the wrong payment un

Feb. 10, 2026

[Tsutomu Watanabe] Japan’s fifth year of inflation: Why wage growth matters more than prices

After nearly three decades of what may be described as “chronic deflation,” Japan finally entered an inflationary phase in the spring of 2022. Prices and wages, which had remained virtually unchanged since the mid-1990s, began to rise. This year marks the fifth year of that transition. While the shift is historically significant, the more important question is whether Japan can complete the move toward a genuinely normal economic environment. At first glance, this shift might appear to be the lo

Feb. 9, 2026

[Editorial] Uneven competition

South Korea’s debate over retail regulation has finally caught up with reality. After more than a decade of treating large discount stores as a threat to be contained rather than a sector to be governed, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and the government are considering relaxing overnight delivery restrictions on big-box retailers. The shift is overdue. It exposes how rules designed to protect small merchants reshaped the distribution market in ways lawmakers never intended. Under the Distr

Feb. 9, 2026

[Robert J. Fouser] Globalization’s quiet resilience

Historians may look back at the winter of 2026 as a period of burgeoning new trade agreements after a year of US President Donald Trump’s tariff tantrums. On Jan. 17, the European Union and Mercosur, South America’s largest free-trade zone, signed a free-trade agreement, creating a market of 735 million people. On January 27, the EU and India signed an FTA, creating another market of 2 billion people. The EU also has existing FTAs with Canada, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and the UK, among others.

Feb. 6, 2026

[Editorial] Euphoria on borrowed time

A stock market milestone is meant to reassure. When South Korea’s Kospi index pushed past 5,000 and total market capitalization exceeded 5,000 trillion won ($3.42 trillion), the figures seemed to confirm the arrival of technological relevance, global capital and a place in the AI century. Yet milestones can mislead. Within days, celebration gave way to whiplash. On Monday, the Kospi fell 5.26 percent in a single session, triggering a brief halt in trading and breaking below the 5,000 line. A day

Feb. 6, 2026

[Peter Singer] When misinformation kills

Three people, including two children, died of measles in the United States in 2025. Their deaths were preventable. There were 2,267 confirmed measles cases in the US last year — more than seven times the 285 cases in 2024, and the highest number in more than 30 years. All these cases were preventable, too. So, why weren’t they? For two decades, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was confirmed as the Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services last February, has promoted baseless theories

Feb. 5, 2026

[Helena Oh] KRW stablecoins, beyond crypto and into everyday payments

To date, stablecoins have functioned mostly inside an exchange-centered crypto ecosystem. Steps like signing up for an exchange, creating a wallet, copying an address, choosing a network, and checking gas fees may be second nature to digital-asset traders — but they are nowhere near an ordinary payment experience. As long as these steps remain prerequisites, stablecoins will struggle to become part of everyday life. A stablecoin is not simply another word for cryptocurrency. It is digital money

Feb. 5, 2026

[Wang Son-taek] How to make Carney’s appeal work

Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney’s recent speech in Davos, Switzerland, has attracted remarkable global attention. It has become a focal point for discussion among diplomats, policymakers and scholars alike. In an era defined by geopolitical uncertainty, such engagement itself is meaningful. Carney’s message, a forceful critique of America’s disruptive behavior, a principled defense of the liberal international order, and a call for greater responsibility from middle powers, speaks directly

Feb. 5, 2026

[Stephen Holmes] Trump kills US deterrence

The Trump administration’s new National Defense Strategy places “deterrence” at the center of America’s grand strategy. Deter China from dominating the Indo-Pacific. Deter threats to American access to Asian markets. (Taiwan, strangely, goes unmentioned.) The document rebrands alliance-shedding as “burden-sharing.” And by demanding that China stay out of the Western Hemisphere while insisting on total US access to the Indo-Pacific, it explodes the very concept of spheres of influence. The docume

Feb. 4, 2026

[Kim Seong-kon] 'Three unpardonable sins' in Korea

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s seminal novel “The Scarlet Letter,” Hester Prynne commits adultery with a Puritan minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. Prynne’s husband, Roger Chillingworth, is presumed to be lost at sea while crossing the Atlantic Ocean. When she gives birth to a baby of unknown paternity, Prynne is sentenced by the Puritan community to stand on the scaffold for three hours in public humiliation and to wear a scarlet letter “A” for the rest of her life. “A” stands for “Adulteress,” but Hawthor

Feb. 4, 2026

[Editorial] Beyond political rhetoric

When markets falter, governments often reach first for language. South Korea’s housing market is now being steered largely by words rather than instruments. Over one weekend, President Lee Jae Myung transformed social media into a policy arena, warning that real estate speculation was driving the country toward “national ruin.” The housing market was cast not as a system to be managed, but as a foe to be confronted. The display was forceful; it was also fraught. The administration’s chosen deadl

Feb. 4, 2026

[Editorial] Keep classrooms neutral

The Ministry of Education on Friday unveiled its “2026 Democratic Citizenship Education Promotion Plan,” aimed at significantly expanding voter education for elementary, middle and high school students. The ministry, in cooperation with the National Election Commission, will provide voter education to about 400,000 12th grade students voting for the first time in the June local elections. The program will begin with the new school term in March and cover election procedures and how to counter fa

Feb. 3, 2026

[Grace Kao] What it’s like to buy BTS tickets in US

Last weekend, I hurt my wrists. I had trouble picking up a mug with my left hand, and my right wrist hurt a bit too. Believe it or not, BTS is to blame. I was part of the mad rush to buy BTS tickets for their upcoming world tour “Arirang.” For me, it caused disruption to my sleep, an elevated heart rate during the day of the presale, and tenseness in my arms and wrist from clicking and typing while trying to buy tickets. Some describe it as akin to the Hunger Games, and they would not be wrong.

Feb. 3, 2026