[Lim Woong] Vietnam’s booming Korean classes

Vietnam’s classrooms have been taking on a new energy in recent years, one that extends far beyond the infectious beats of K-pop. It reflects a growing, ground-level movement to integrate the Korean language into regular school curricula across the country. While the global Korean Wave, driven by icons like BTS, the steady appeal of K-dramas, and newer hits like “KPop Demon Hunters,” lit the spark, the current momentum is fueled by something deeper: cultural exchange and economic opportunity. Vi

Dec. 23, 2025

[Yoo Choon-sik] Is Korea betting too much on AI?

The Lee Jae Myung administration came to power with little time to prepare, yet it moved quickly to outline the broad direction of state affairs. Among its earliest and most visible initiatives was a sweeping reset of the country’s artificial intelligence policy. The government did not treat AI as just another industrial sector but elevated it to the status of a national transformation project. Alongside this, it announced the framework for economic policy over the next five years and concluded

Dec. 22, 2025

[Rachel Greszler] Helping US seniors stay engaged

The fact that Dick Van Dyke turned 100 on Dec. 13 is remarkable enough. But the entertainment icon hasn’t simply made it to the century mark; he’s remained purposefully engaged in life and with those around him: acting, dancing, mentoring younger performers and spreading joy to millions. Van Dyke is a reminder that aging does not diminish our capacity to contribute. In fact, it often enhances it. Aging with purpose and the positive contribution of seniors in today’s economy, in fact, was the top

Dec. 22, 2025

[Lee Byung-jong] World Bank and Korea

For decades, South Korea has stood as the poster child of the World Bank Group’s development success story. World Bank loans played a meaningful role in Korea’s transformation from one of the world’s poorest countries into an industrial powerhouse within a single generation. As the now 81-year-old institution faces mounting challenges in a rapidly changing global development finance market, it continues to invoke Korea as proof of its legitimacy and enduring relevance. The latest example came ea

Dec. 19, 2025

[Wang Son-taek] Six takeaways from failed self-coup investigation

Earlier in the week, special counsel Cho Eun-suk released the results of a six-month investigation into the insurrection case involving former President Yoon Suk Yeol. With this announcement, key standards have now been established regarding the circumstances, background, responsible actors and possible directions for punishment surrounding the attempted self-coup by a sitting president, which stunned the Korean public just over a year ago. While the findings themselves did not diverge significa

Dec. 18, 2025

[Man-Ki Kim] Korea's US security strategy test

The Donald Trump administration’s newly released National Security Strategy marks a fundamental redefinition of how the United States understands national power. Unlike previous strategies that emphasized military posture and alliance diplomacy, the revised NSS places economic security at the core of American national security. Supply chain resilience, industrial capacity, energy independence and technological leadership are no longer supporting instruments; they are now strategic objectives in

Dec. 18, 2025

[Abby McCloskey] Why giving matters, even for federal accounts

Generosity is shocking. Especially when it’s to strangers. That was my first thought upon hearing of the Dell family donation of $6.25 billion to fund Trump Accounts. I had other thoughts too. We’ll get to those. But let’s start with generosity, because we don’t see enough of it anymore. The person who slips a five-dollar bill to the cashier to pay for the coffee for the person behind her. The person who remembers that the parking garage assistant could use an anonymous tip. A home-cooked meal o

Dec. 17, 2025

[Kim Seong-kon] The clash of generations in 'Sword Snow Stride'

Recently, I watched the 2021 Chinese historical TV series “Sword Snow Stride” on Netflix. The show features many interesting themes, such as the responsibility and magnanimity of a leader, questions of loyalty, and the ever-relevant problem of political conspiracies. But by far the most compelling aspect of the show is its portrayal of the conflict between a father and a son. Season 1’s 38 episodes revolve around Xu Feng Nian, who is the oldest son and heir to Xu Xiao, the fearsome Lord of North

Dec. 17, 2025

[Emmanuel Macron] 10 years after Paris Agreement

It has been 10 years since the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, known as COP21, where 195 states made a historic commitment to work together to keep the long-term rise in global temperatures well below 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. France played its full part in making this great moment of cooperation and universal solidarity a success. A decade later, we can be proud of

Dec. 16, 2025

[Peter Singer] Legalize psychedelic pain relief

John Stuart Mill wrote “On Liberty” to defend the principle that the only justification for restricting liberty is to prevent harm to others. Were Mill alive today, he would have been pleased to see how many jurisdictions have repealed laws criminalizing acts widely thought immoral despite harming no one directly: suicide — including medically assisted dying — is one prominent example. Same-sex relations between consenting adults are another. In contrast, laws that criminalize potentially self-h

Dec. 16, 2025

[Lee Kyong-hee] 2025: Recalling its bright and dark moments

“Order: The respondent, President Yoon Suk Yeol, is removed from office.” At 11:22 a.m. sharp on April 4, acting Constitutional Court Chief Justice Moon Hyung-bae delivered the historic verdict that sealed not only Yoon’s fate, but also that of the nation. Outside the courthouse, tens of thousands of people erupted — cheering, crying and embracing in jubilation at the triumph of Korean democracy; others collapsed in disbelief and anger. The unanimous ruling by the court’s eight justices, present

Dec. 15, 2025

[Ivis Garcia] Moving to a climate-disaster zone

Picture this: You’re looking to buy a place to live, and you have two options. Option A is a beautiful home in California near good schools and job opportunities. But it goes for nearly a million dollars — the median California home sells for $906,500 — and you’d be paying a mortgage that’s risen 82 percent since January 2020. Option B is a similar home in Texas, where the median home costs less than half as much: just $353,700. The catch? Option B sits in an area with significant hurricane and

Dec. 15, 2025

[Robert J. Fouser] Shifting fate of Korea’s Chinatowns

As 2025 winds down, I’ve been reviewing the year, and my monthlong stay in Seoul's Daerim-dong Chinatown this past May was one of the highlights. It got me thinking about the history and future of Chinatowns in South Korea. After diplomatic relations were established between South Korea and China in 1992, Joseonjok, or ethnic Koreans with Chinese citizenship, began arriving as migrant laborers and settled in Garibong-dong near the Guro Industrial Complex. In the early 2000s, redevelopment forced

Dec. 12, 2025

[Wang Son-taek] Diplomatic options for China and Japan

Tensions between China and Japan have escalated rapidly in recent weeks, raising serious concerns about the stability of Northeast Asia. As both sides harden their positions and display military force, the scenario of an accidental conflict can no longer be dismissed as purely a remote possibility. The region once again stands at a dangerous crossroads. The current crisis began in early November, when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi stated that a potential conflict over Taiwan could const

Dec. 11, 2025

[Mark Gongloff] Warming means less economic growth

It’s hard enough for most of us to predict what we’re having for dinner tonight, much less how the world will look in 2100. By that time we might have cured cancer and started building giant space brains. Or maybe we’ll be nothing but batteries for our robot overlords. Or spraying crops with a sports drink. And yet without such predictions, we can’t envision alternative futures, which motivate us to make better ones possible. Consider climate change. People’s eyes glaze over when you tell them,

Dec. 11, 2025