[Tania Navarro] Treating migration as investment

In a country with a broken pension system that struggles to pay benefits to retirees, an injection of young laborers became crucial to increase tax revenue and keep the program afloat. It’s not the first time this country has launched a program to legalize migrants; previous experiences have shown that subsidies and benefit programs are not overwhelmed with petitions when people are legalized. On the contrary, the nation gains new taxpayers and a more stable workforce. It’s also proving that ope

March 4, 2026

[Man-Ki Kim] Supporting resilient Ukraine with humility

Four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, live images of shattered cities, displaced families and exhausted civilians have filled global media. Yet alongside tragedy and destruction, the world has witnessed something profoundly powerful: the extraordinary resilience of the Ukrainian people. Before the invasion, Ukraine’s population stood at roughly 42 million. Today, millions have been displaced, communities uprooted and civilian infrastructure devastated, resulting in

March 3, 2026

[Grace Kao] YouTube breaks retirement taboo

The United States, like South Korea, has a rapidly aging population. While the US offers a national Social Security program, which most older Americans who have worked will receive, it is often not enough to fully fund one’s daily living expenses. According to the Social Security Administration, the formula for calculating the amount one will receive is based on the “average indexed monthly earnings,” which includes up to the 35 best years of earnings. In practical terms, this means that the min

March 3, 2026

[Helena Oh] Why stablecoins are moving toward public blockchains

In the late 1990s, Korea’s PC communication services operated on a simple premise: The network itself was the service. Platforms such as Chollian, NowNuri and Hitel each created their own enclosed digital worlds, where users read news, joined chat rooms and formed online communities. Yet the market did not ultimately reward the largest proprietary network. It shifted toward open standards. With the adoption of TCP/IP, HTTP and web browsers, anyone could connect using the same protocol, and anyon

Feb. 27, 2026

[Lee Byung-jong] New Zealand’s Waitangi Day

While the United States and many Western countries are trying to push away immigrants and alienate minorities, one country bucks the trend by embracing and cherishing them. New Zealand has long pursued a policy of respectful multiculturalism grounded in the peaceful coexistence of its indigenous Maori people and European and other settlers. This admirable tradition is most vividly displayed during celebrations of the country’s national day. Known as Waitangi Day, which commemorates a treaty sign

Feb. 27, 2026

Harry and Meghan meet Syrian refugees, Palestinian children in Jordan

AMMAN, Jordan (AFP) -- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrived on Wednesday in Jordan, where they met with Syrian refugees at the Zaatari camp and Palestinian children evacuated from the Gaza Strip. King Charles III's younger son and his wife "met young refugees ... and joined children in football, art and music," the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said in a post on X. Jordan opened the Zaatari camp located north of Amman in 2012, a year into the war in neighboring Syria, to host people flee

Feb. 26, 2026

On this day in Korea - Feb. 26: Kim Yu-na skates to Olympic gold

Figure skater Kim Yu-na captured South Korea’s first Olympic figure skating gold at the 2010 Vancouver Games, setting a world record with 228.56 points. A two-time world champion, she went on to win silver at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, before retiring later that year. Her success made her a national icon, inspiring a new generation of skaters and elevating the sport’s popularity nationwide.

Feb. 26, 2026

[Howard Davies] The global green financial divide is growing

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump’s administration drew a flurry of condemnations for its decision to repeal the Environmental Protection Agency’s “endangerment finding”: a formal, evidence-based acknowledgement that greenhouse-gas emissions pose a threat to public health. Although the change may seem minor, it is anything but. Since 2009, the endangerment finding has underpinned much of the climate-related policymaking at the EPA and other agencies. For the financial world, the impl

Feb. 26, 2026

[Wang Son-taek] Upgrading the liberal international order

The recent US Supreme Court ruling that invalidated President Donald Trump’s so-called “reciprocal tariffs” marks a significant turning point. The policy debate surrounding these tariffs has highlighted the growing tension between domestic economic priorities and the institutional foundations of the multilateral trading system that has underpinned global economic stability since the end of the Cold War. The controversy reflects sharp disagreements over the economic consequences of globalization

Feb. 26, 2026

[Kim Seong-kon] Mutual respect when we take sides

Recently, some American parents have complained on social media about dimly lit classrooms at public schools and the effects they may have on their children. According to them, teachers do not turn on any lights in their classrooms all day — no overhead lights, no side lamps. These days, it is also a trend among younger teachers to turn off the bright fluorescent lighting and install dim lighting instead. Thus, children must read and write under the faint light from windows even on cloudy days.

Feb. 25, 2026

[Ajaypal Banga] Creating jobs for 1.2 billion youth

The world moves on different wavelengths. Some are high-frequency shocks -- wars, emerging technologies, market panics -- that spike quickly and dominate our attention. Others are low-frequency forces that move slowly but relentlessly: demographics, globalization, water and food scarcity. The high-frequency waves feel urgent. The low-frequency waves reshape the system. We cannot become casualties of the slow burn simply because the immediate crisis burns hotter or dominates more headlines. Ignor

Feb. 25, 2026

'Flour war' erupts in Greek seaside town as revelers celebrate the start of Lent

GALAXIDI, Greece (AP) -- The Greek seaside town of Galaxidi exploded into a messy and colorful "flour war" on Monday for its annual end of carnival season festivities that mark the start of the Lent season. Galaxidi's main coastal road became a flour-strewn mess as revelers pelted each other with bags of dyed flour. Most of the town's residents, and many visitors, merrily took part, while the more prudent ones enjoyed the show from the safety of their balconies. Within a couple of hours, the cel

Feb. 24, 2026

[Lee Jae-min] Consular assistance a point of contention again

In 2025, a total of 20 million Koreans traveled overseas, the annual figure on record. When a flight touches down at a foreign airport, travelers from Seoul hurriedly turn on their mobile phones. The first text messages they receive are from the Korean Foreign Ministry. A series of messages convey travel advisories, disease and contraband information, and emergency contact numbers. This system was established more than 20 years ago — in 2005 — and connects overseas travelers to the authorities i

Feb. 24, 2026

[Lim Woong] A citizen’s plea to the judiciary

The recent verdict in the insurrection trial of former President Yoon Suk Yeol was life imprisonment. What has lingered in the days since is not only the sentence itself, but the emotional dissonance it has produced. Many citizens listened to the prosecution’s closing argument, heard “death,” and expected the bench to move in that direction. When the judgment instead returned a life sentence, people felt the court heard the same facts they did, yet responded from a different moral universe. In t

Feb. 24, 2026

[Lee Kyong-hee] Yi Sun-sin: The human behind the legend

"I fear, but I will not stand back. So long as I live, I will protect Joseon." So he did — faithfully and admirably. By the time Adm. Yi Sun-sin fell to a stray bullet while commanding his final battle in the southern seas, the vicious seven-year war launched by Japan's warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi was nearing its end. The invaders soon retreated, leaving the peninsula devastated. Joseon remained safe, and Japan's ambitions of conquering the Far East were checked for the next three centuries. "The

Feb. 23, 2026