[Editorial] Recovery or illusion

A growth rate of 2 percent rarely sounds ambitious. For South Korea in 2026, however, it is being cast as a turning point. On Friday, the Lee Jae Myung administration framed this year as the first year of an economic reset, anchoring its case to a headline expansion target of 2 percent. After a bruising 2025 marked by weak domestic demand, political disruption and global uncertainty, the pivot is deliberate. Fiscal restraint has given way to an activist industrial posture, backed by looser budge

Jan. 12, 2026

[Robert J. Fouser] Does Trump equal permanent change?

Barely days into 2026, the US Delta Force seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas and took him to New York to face criminal charges related to narcotics trafficking. US President Donald Trump justified the mission in terms of law enforcement and stated, vaguely, that the US would “run” Venezuela with a focus on rebuilding the oil industry. Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world. The events in Caracas shocked the world and stirred worries of a new era of 19th-cen

Jan. 9, 2026

[Editorial] When AI walks

At CES 2026, the era of disembodied intelligence came to a decisive end. As AI stepped out of the cloud and into the physical world to walk factory floors, navigate city streets and manage households, the conversation shifted from what AI can say to what it can do. Nvidia’s “physical AI” is no longer a futuristic catchphrase; it is the blueprint for a world where silicon-based reasoning meets mechanical action. For the global economy, the implication is that the digital revolution has finally gr

Jan. 9, 2026

[Sung Soo Eric Kim] US-China War Behind Venezuela operation

The US military operation carried out overnight on Jan. 3 in Venezuela unfolded with striking speed. Within roughly three hours, it was effectively over. President Nicolas Maduro was secured, and the mission concluded without US casualties. More than 150 aircraft moved in coordinated waves. Intelligence from the ground, air and space anticipated Venezuelan military responses before they fully formed. Gen. Dan Caine, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, later described the mission as a well-oi

Jan. 8, 2026

[Man-Ki Kim] Korea’s EU market growth strategy

South Korea’s export strategy has long been shaped by two gravitational centers: the United States and China. Together, they still account for more than one-third of Korea’s total exports. This structure delivered remarkable growth over the past decades and underpinned Korea’s rise as a global manufacturing powerhouse. Yet as global trade becomes increasingly fragmented, politicized and regulation-driven, this concentration has shifted from a source of strength to a source of strategic vulnerabi

Jan. 8, 2026

[Wang Son-taek] Maduro case: the erosion of rule-based order

The United States’ decision to indict Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on narcoterrorism charges and to subject him to forcible trial procedures is not merely a question of criminal justice or bilateral diplomacy. It raises a far more consequential issue: how a hegemonic power treats international law, and what happens to global stability when that law is selectively ignored. At stake is not the character of one leader or the legitimacy of one regime, but the integrity of the international le

Jan. 8, 2026

[Kim Seong-kon] The true success of 'KPop Demon Hunters'

Recently, Koreans were greatly elated by two memorable events. One was that “KPop Demon Hunters” appeared on an alternate cover of Time magazine on Dec. 29, 2025, and was named as the breakthrough of the year. Just after that, Huntrix songs from "KPop Demon Hunters," sung by Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, were performed at Times Square in New York and Las Vegas to bid adieu to 2025 on New Year’s Eve. We know that it was not easy to be featured on a Time magazine cover or be invited to the New Ye

Jan. 7, 2026

[Vera Songwe, Bernice Lee] How the world can reboot 'America First'

“There’s no question about it,” US President Donald Trump said at last month’s FIFA World Cup Final Draw ceremony: The game that Americans call soccer “is football,” and the United States has to “come up with another name” for its National Football League. The cognitive dissonance was palpable. The high priest of “America First” had conceded that at least one example of American exceptionalism, however trivial, “really doesn’t make sense,” and suggested that the name of America’s most recognized

Jan. 7, 2026

[Editorial] Power without restraint

Before dawn on Saturday, Caracas went dark. By sunrise, Nicolas Maduro was no longer Venezuela’s sitting president, but a detainee en route to New York, seized by US Delta Force in what Washington insists was a law enforcement operation. The image was blunt and the message blunter. In a world that once prized restraint, force has returned as a primary language of statecraft. US President Donald Trump framed the operation as both a necessity and a warning, pledging that the US would “run” Venezue

Jan. 7, 2026

[Grace Kao] What BTS pets say about bandmates

For those of us who share our homes with our pets, we know the great joy they bring to our lives. Dogs, and even some cats, greet us when we come home. They play and sit with us. They keep us company when we’re lonely and they watch over us when we’re sick. During the pandemic, they even occasionally appeared in Zoom calls. What does it mean when celebrities, especially the members of BTS, own pets? During a live video on Dec. 28, 2025, BTS' Suga introduced his new cat, Tang or Tang-ie (from the

Jan. 6, 2026

[Ana Palacio] The post-2025 world order

US President Donald Trump’s designation by various publications as one of the most influential people of 2025 is not surprising. But it is nonetheless striking: Rather than being honored for his leadership — for, say, resolving crises or consolidating institutions — Trump is being recognized for shattering norms, upending alliances, spearheading economic fragmentation, and ushering in a transactional form of international politics. In past decades, the United States could harden its policies wit

Jan. 6, 2026

[Editorial] A line to defend

An Army division in Gangwon Province reportedly issued, and later hastily withdrew, a baffling guideline instructing guards at guardhouses to carry “three-tiered batons” from Monday instead of firearms while on sentry duty. Specifically, the directive went further, requiring batons to be affixed to body armor rather than held in the hand. However, as criticism mounted that three-tiered batons would leave guards ill-equipped to deal with enemy infiltration, the division moved to retract the guide

Jan. 6, 2026

[Yoo Choon-sik] Push for regional growth: Goals and risks

When governments design policies that will shape a country’s economic trajectory for decades, caution is not an option but a prerequisite. Such policies demand far more than clarity of intent; they require painstaking examination of their potential consequences — not only the outcomes policymakers hope for, but also the unintended effects that may emerge over time. The scale and interconnectedness of the South Korean economy mean that major policy missteps rarely remain isolated — they ripple ou

Jan. 5, 2026

[Parmy Olson] You’re in relationship with AI

Amelia Miller has an unusual business card. When I saw the title of “Human-AI Relationship Coach” at a recent technology event, I presumed she was capitalizing on the rise of chatbot romances to make those strange bonds stronger. It turned out the opposite was true. Artificial intelligence tools were subtly manipulating people and displacing their need to ask others for advice. That was having a detrimental impact on real relationships with humans. Miller’s work started in early 2025 when she wa

Jan. 5, 2026

[Editorial] The Beijing test

In diplomacy, timing is often the clearest form of symbolism. On Sunday, as President Lee Jae Myung boarded his plane for Beijing to end a nine-year freeze in presidential state visits to China, North Korea chose the moment to fire a volley of short-range ballistic missiles. Beijing rolled out the red carpet; Pyongyang fired a warning shot. Between those two signals lies the real question over Lee’s China trip: whether South Korea can forge a path of strategic autonomy in a region where every ge

Jan. 5, 2026