[Editorial] The won’s warning

On Thursday, the Bank of Korea stood its ground, though the space to maneuver is narrowing. For a fifth consecutive meeting, the base rate was held at 2.5 percent. In most cycles, a pause is an interlude. This reads less as a pause than an admission. What made the decision striking was not the freeze itself, but the central bank’s fixation. BOK Gov. Rhee Chang-yong mentioned the exchange rate 64 times at his press conference. Inflation, housing and household debt all mattered, he said, but the w

Jan. 19, 2026

[Yoo Choon-sik] Sovereign AI and the limits of autonomy

South Korea’s government-led project to develop sovereign foundation artificial intelligence models capable of competing with — or even surpassing — global leaders such as ChatGPT, Gemini and DeepSeek has cleared its first major hurdle with the completion of its initial evaluation round. Out of five competing consortia, three — led by LG AI Research, SK Telecom and Upstage AI — advanced to the second round, which ultimately aims to designate two teams as national champions with full-scale govern

Jan. 19, 2026

[Lee Byung-jong] Anti-China sentiment in Korea

When President Lee Jae Myung was asked at a press conference last week about rising anti-China sentiment in South Korea in connection with a recent data-theft case involving a Chinese national, his response was terse but firm. “So what?” he retorted sternly. “Should we hate Japan if the person were Japanese? Should we hate the US if they were an American?” The answer was logically sound, but it failed to address the deeper and more troubling reality of growing anti-China feelings among many Kore

Jan. 16, 2026

[Editorial] Democracy on trial

There are moments when a democracy learns most about itself not through elections, but through trials. On Jan. 13, in a packed courtroom at the Seoul Central District Court, special counsel Cho Eun-suk asked judges to impose the death penalty on former President Yoon Suk Yeol. This is not a literal call for execution, but a symbolic defense of a constitutional order that recognizes no higher crime than its own subversion. This is the first time a president chosen by popular vote has faced a capi

Jan. 16, 2026

[Editorial] Summit momentum

Tuesday's summit between President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Nara, Japan, was their second since her inauguration in October. Their first summit took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, in late October. It is notable that South Korea and Japan have held two summits within three months through reciprocal leader-level visits under what they call "shuttle diplomacy." For South Korea, relation

Jan. 15, 2026

[Wang Son-taek] How can Korea ease polarization?

During a lunch meeting with religious leaders at Cheong Wa Dae recently, President Lee Jae Myung stressed that social harmony had become an urgent priority for South Korea. He noted that conflict, resentment and hatred have grown sharply in recent years, pledging to work toward a situation where people can live together through reconciliation, forgiveness and inclusion. His remarks deserve close attention because they identify one of the most critical challenges facing the country and point to a

Jan. 15, 2026

[Matteo Maggiori] China and US geoeconomic competition: The relevance for Korea

The year 2026 has just started, and we are already witnessing great powers such as the United States and China exerting their influence on the rest of the world. The remainder of the year is likely to bring more of the same. Countries around the world, including Korea, are watching with apprehension the return of overt geoeconomic and military actions by these superpowers. To understand this great power competition, it is helpful to think of three critical areas. First, the global financial syst

Jan. 14, 2026

[Kim Seong-kon] Calling for peace between polar opposites

It is well known that our world is composed of opposites: fire and water, land and sea, east and west, black and white, animals and plants, man and women, to name just a few. Our bodies, too, are made of opposites, such as the left side and right side. The important thing is that the two opposites are equally important and valuable because they are reciprocal and function interdependently. They need each other to accomplish something meaningful. It is difficult to walk if we have only one leg or

Jan. 14, 2026

[Editorial] Per-capita reversal

For much of this century, South Korea treated its income lead over Taiwan as quiet confirmation that its economic model worked better. The margin was never dramatic, but it endured. In 2025, it disappeared. After 22 years, Korea’s per capita GDP slipped below Taiwan’s, turning an assumed hierarchy into a revealing inflection point. The figures are unambiguous. Korea’s per capita GDP in 2025 is estimated at about $36,107, down roughly 0.3 percent from the year before. Taiwan’s rose to around $38,

Jan. 14, 2026

[Dante Disparte] Stablecoins: Build, buy, or partner?

Every company in the world needs a stablecoin strategy. But not every company in the world needs to launch a stablecoin. At their core, stablecoins are open digital money, and the openness is the most important feature — one that enables organizations to conceive of and offer always-on internet-scale payments and economic activity. However, because of a wave of regulatory clarity in the US and around the world, triggered by landmark new laws for stablecoins such as the US GENIUS Act, and Europe’

Jan. 13, 2026

[Lim Woong] On growing up as a boy

I recently finished watching the Netflix series "Adolescence." It was not an easy watch — a visceral piece of television that leaves you not with the satisfaction of a mystery solved, but with the hollow ache of a tragedy that raises more questions than it answers. The plot opens with a dawn raid on the home of a plumber, his wife and their two kids. The son, Jamie, is arrested for the murder of a female classmate, but he looks like a naive teen: He wets himself in terror as the police burst in.

Jan. 13, 2026

[Gary Gensler] Will the Fed be allowed to do its job?

As candidates vie to become the next chair of the US Federal Reserve, they should heed the hockey legend Wayne Gretzky’s advice to “skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.” With many economic pucks in play — from sticky inflation, mounting deficits, and an AI investment boom to potential financial fragility and concerns about the dollar’s global primacy — a big question for the global economy is whether the Fed will be allowed to do what it needs to do. Will it maintain enough a

Jan. 13, 2026

[Editorial] Case for restraint

North Korea claimed Saturday that it brought down drones it said South Korea sent into its airspace in September last year and again on Jan. 4. South Korea's Ministry of National Defense said the drones shown in photos released by the North do not match any models used by its military, adding that it has no intention of provoking or escalating tensions with North Korea. President Lee Jae Myung said that if the drones were indeed civilian, sending them into the North would constitute a serious cr

Jan. 13, 2026

[Jackie Calmes] What's Trump's real agenda?

In 2025, President Donald Trump ordered 626 missile strikes worldwide, 71 more than President Biden did in his entire four-year term. Targets, so far, have included Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Nigeria, Iran and the waters off Venezuela and Colombia. Lately he's threatened to hit Iran again if it kills demonstrators who have been marching in Tehran's streets to protest the country's woeful economic conditions. ("We are locked and loaded and ready to go," Trump posted Friday.) The president doesn

Jan. 12, 2026

[Lee Kyong-hee] Americans who fell in love with minhwa

In 1973, Kay E. Black, a housewife living in Denver, joined a group of local art enthusiasts on a tour of museums in Seoul. One of the stops was the Emille Museum, founded by Zo Za-yong, a pioneer of Korea’s 20th-century folk art movement, who brought to light the currently sensational image of a tiger and magpie. Black could not have known that this single visit would change the course of her life. She was immediately captivated by Zo’s introduction to brightly colored Joseon-era (1392-1910) fo

Jan. 12, 2026