[Lee Kyong-hee] Gold crown, baseball bat and butterflies

A replica of a gold crown from the ancient Silla Kingdom was likely the most symbolic gift South Korean President Lee Jae Myung could offer visiting US President Donald Trump. The setting — Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, the historic capital of Silla — was steeped in heritage, and the gesture came amid tense negotiations over hefty US tariffs and investment. The hope was that the glittering headpiece might charm Trump and help unlock a breakthrough. Yet, despite South Korea’s earnest inten

Nov. 3, 2025

[Jenna Nicholas] The critical value of Indigenous climate stewardship

In August, I traveled by bus, small plane and canoe to the sacred headwaters of the Amazon, in Ecuador. It’s a place with very few roads, yet like many areas in the rainforest, foreign business interests have made contact with its peoples and in just the last decade have rapidly changed the landscape, scarring it with mines or clearcutting for cattle ranching. The Amazon rainforest is rightly called the “lungs of the planet.” It stores approximately 56.8 billion metric tons of carbon, equivalent

Nov. 3, 2025

[Robert J. Fouser] Anti-China protests hurt S. Korea

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit this week has turned South Korea into the center of global diplomatic activity, as the leaders of 21 nations gathered in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, the ancient capital of the Silla Kingdom. President Lee Jae Myung met US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi; it was his first meetings with the leaders of China and Japan. A trade-war weary world focused much of its attention on the mee

Oct. 31, 2025

[Wang Son-taek] The Asian grammar of power

US President Donald Trump is visiting Malaysia, Japan and South Korea this week and enjoying another batch of spotlights as he usually does. However, many in Asia feel uncomfortable, and it is unclear whether he is communicating effectively with Asians. He prides himself on being a smart realist, often invoking a tough, transactional style that he and his followers associate with Machiavelli. Yet political traditions in Asia are different. Many insist that power is most effective when it wins co

Oct. 30, 2025

[Kim Seong-kon] Looking back upon the inquisitions and witch trials

We humans are afraid of the unknown. That is why we have feelings of wariness and vigilance when we see strangers or foreigners around us. Sometimes, we may even become hostile to those who are not one of us or who are different from us. This is especially so when we are obsessed with tribalism, ultra-nationalism or dogmatic ideologies, whether political or religious. Nazism, communism and religious dogmatism are good examples. These have one thing in common: They do not tolerate differences. Th

Oct. 29, 2025

[Anne O. Krueger] Case for a GTO without America

Since January, the world has watched in shock as US President Donald Trump’s administration has undermined every pillar of the economic order that the United States helped build and proudly championed for much of the past century. The principles of the postwar international economic order -- nondiscrimination among trading partners, fair treatment of foreign businesses in domestic courts, and adherence to the rule of law as enshrined in the World Trade Organization’s Articles of Agreement -- lai

Oct. 29, 2025

[Song Jong-hwan] Private efforts renew Korea-Pakistan cooperation

It has been nine years since I completed my service as Korea's ambassador to Pakistan. The relationships I built during that time remain active. I continue quietly to contribute to deepening ties between the two countries, convinced that much potential still lies untapped. The Korean government has supported Pakistan’s economic development through the Economic Development Cooperation Fund and the Korea International Cooperation Agency. Many Korean companies, both large and small, have entered th

Oct. 28, 2025

[Man Ki Kim] RDP MOU: The missing link in the Korea-US defense alliance

The Korea-US alliance stands at a crucial juncture. As geopolitical tensions deepen across the Indo-Pacific, both nations must move quickly to finalize the Reciprocal Defense Procurement memorandum of understanding. This long-anticipated agreement would modernize alliance cooperation, expand defense industrial integration and enhance regional deterrence at a time when shared security interests are under growing pressure. In February 2024, Korea’s Ministry of National Defense announced its intent

Oct. 28, 2025

[Grace Kao] Le Sserafim’s ‘Spaghetti’ and K-pop’s obsession with food

I just watched the music video for Le Sserafim’s new single, “Spaghetti” (featuring BTS’s J-Hope), where you can see the members of the group selling spaghetti to a group of customers from a food truck. In a different scene, J-Hope is playing with the noodles in a bowl, but he never actually eats them. The promotional shorts focus on other food items with visual concept versions: (1) cheeky neon pepper; (2) knocking basil; and (3) weird garlic. The video reminded me of K-pop’s obsession with son

Oct. 28, 2025

[David M. Drucker] US politics reaches peak whataboutism

US President Donald Trump commuted the seven-year, federal prison sentence of acknowledged criminal George Santos because, as he explained in a Truth Social post late last week, the disgraced former New York congressman “had the Courage, Conviction and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!” Democrats are sticking by Jay Jones despite revelations that their nominee for Virginia attorney general once sent text messages fantasizing about murdering a Republican lawmaker. Jones also expressed hope

Oct. 27, 2025

[Yoo Choon-sik] National housing policy, searching for a map

Imposing irrational and impromptu changes in tax policy is among the worst choices any government can make when dealing with the housing market — not simply because such measures indiscriminately affect millions of citizens, but because they have consistently failed wherever they have been tried. When the government abruptly tightens regulations or introduces surprise taxes, people interpret these actions not as solutions but as signals that prices will rise further. The result is panic buying o

Oct. 27, 2025

[Lee Byung-jong] Japan’s first female prime minister

After a series of twists and turns, Japan's National Diet has finally elected its first female prime minister. Takaichi Sanae, 64, secured the premiership this week after forming a ruling coalition with a minority party, following the recent breakup of her Liberal Democratic Party’s decadeslong alliance. Her political ascent in highly patriarchal Japan is remarkable, but observers now wonder whether a female leader in such a male-dominated society can truly deliver on her promises. Her political

Oct. 24, 2025

[Wang Son-taek] The promise of connectivity from Gyeongju APEC summit

The upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju offers a rare opportunity to rethink the meaning of connectivity in a world increasingly divided by rising self-interest, protectionism and great-power rivalry. Since its elevation from a ministerial gathering to a leaders’ summit in 1993, APEC has served as a cornerstone for promoting free trade and economic cooperation across the Asia-Pacific region. Yet, in recent years, it has attracted less global attention. This relative dec

Oct. 23, 2025

[Kim Seong-kon] Welcoming Amitav Ghosh to 'Lamp of the East'

Amitav Ghosh, the renowned Indian writer, is visiting Korea this week to receive the 2025 Pak Kyongni Prize, sponsored by the Toji Cultural Foundation. Ghosh is an internationally known, critically acclaimed writer who was “widely discussed and considered a top contender” for the 2025 Nobel Prize in literature. What is especially crucial to Amitav Ghosh’s work is his examination of the various negative aftereffects and remnants of colonialism that are still persistent in former colonies, even th

Oct. 22, 2025

[Elizabeth Shackelford] Donald Trump applies his strongman approach to Latin America

Other than frustration at surging migration, Latin America has not merited the same level of attention in Washington as the Middle East, Europe or Asia in recent history. That indifference has ended with the second Trump administration, but the nature of our renewed attention is not exactly what many of our neighbors might have hoped for. Rather than a shared interest in prosperity and stability across the hemisphere, President Donald Trump seems intent on showcasing America’s power to promote h

Oct. 22, 2025