[Wang Son-taek] As NATO falters, the SCO advances

When the Cold War ended in 1991, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization inevitably faced serious concerns over its continued existence. NATO had been a multilateral alliance ensuring peace and stability against potential invasion by the Soviet-led socialist bloc. But with the collapse of the Soviet Union and other socialist forces, the justification for NATO’s existence disappeared. After much deliberation and debate, NATO has sought to redefine its role by emphasizing its function as a supporte

July 24, 2025

[Lee Jae-min] Calm thinking on quiet quitting

Korea still works hard. The country is known for its long working hours. A recent OECD survey in April 2025 puts Korea at No. 5 out of 38 countries surveyed with 1,900 hours per year per person. On top of that, Korea has long championed a strong work ethic with which people are educated and told to "do their best" on the job. The "do-your-best" mentality arguably underpins the economic success story of the resource-scarce country. Korean workplaces are now seeing seismic changes in this "hard wo

July 24, 2025

[Kim Seong-kon] South Korea: 'Humpty Dumpty' sitting on a wall

The famous English nursery rhyme “Humpty Dumpty” is about an egg sitting on a wall that falls to the ground and is broken irreparably. There are a variety of Humpty Dumpty animation videos on YouTube for children to watch. The main lyrics go like this: “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again.” An egg is protected by an eggshell, and yet it is fragile. It is unstable even on a flat surface and th

July 23, 2025

[Lim Woong] A reform idea for math education

In the age of artificial intelligence, reforming math education in Korea isn’t just a good idea — it’s long overdue. AI runs on mathematics. Not just any math, but the kind that quietly powers how machines “think,” recognize patterns, and make decisions. One of AI’s core ideas is similarity — figuring out how close or far apart things are. To quantify this, early machine learning models leaned on fundamental mathematical concepts: spatial relationships, distances, and proximity. Optimization lie

July 22, 2025

[Yoo Choon-sik] Factories of the future: Lee’s vision beyond AI

South Korea has long prided itself on being one of the few nations capable of fully leveraging the potential of artificial intelligence innovation. This national confidence is rooted in the country’s remarkable transformation from economic crisis to technological leadership ― a journey that began in earnest during the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s. That legacy, however, now faces a new test. Recent independent studies have raised alarms that South Korea may be slippin

July 21, 2025

[Lee Byung-jong] Time for Korea’s brain gain

There was a time when South Korean scientists and engineers left their country in droves, seeking better research environments and more rewarding careers abroad —especially in the United States. For decades, this outflow of talent, often referred to as brain drain, was seen as a symptom of Korea’s limited scientific infrastructure and rigid institutional culture. But today, the situation is changing. South Korea has emerged as a serious player in research and development, and its universities an

July 18, 2025

[Wang Son-taek] Making the liberal international order 2.0

The World Congress of the International Political Science Association in Seoul, often dubbed the “Olympics of Politics,” could not have been more timely. With over 3,500 scholars from around 80 countries in attendance, the congress revolved around the theme “Resisting Autocratization in Polarized Societies.” This theme captured the world’s most pressing concern: the global erosion of democracy. South Korea — regarded as a democratic success story — experienced a severe political crisis from late

July 17, 2025

Winter has come

As we head into the second half of 2025, I wanted to share some scattered thoughts on the chilly state of the industry. A favorite parlor game these days is asking at every social gathering, “What are you watching?” Quickly followed by, “When was the last time you went to the theater?” The results, while more empirical than scientific, are alarming. Of the twenty non-industry folks I’ve asked over the past few weeks, exactly zero have stepped into a movie theater in 2025. Some haven’t gone in ov

July 16, 2025

[Hal Brands] A new chapter in US foreign policy

Nearly six months into Donald Trump’s presidency, a Trump Doctrine is coming into view. Contrary to the fears of his critics, and the hopes of some admirers, Trump is no isolationist. And contrary to those who claim Trump is simply a marvel of ac hoc-ery and inconsistency, there is a distinctive pattern to the policies he has pursued. This Trump Doctrine emphasizes using American power aggressively — more aggressively than Trump’s immediate predecessors — to reshape key relationships and accrue

July 16, 2025

[Kim Seong-kon] Standing before the sign, “not a through street”

When I lived in New York a long time ago, I frequently saw street signs marked “dead end” here and there. While I stayed in Provo, Utah, for one year, I saw “cul-de-sac” road signs before dead-end alleys. Now I am living in Hanover, New Hampshire, where I frequently see another sign: “not a through street.” “Dead end” sounds intimidating because it implies that there is no way out and you are stuck there. Naturally, you are likely to be frustrated, dismayed and may even despair when you reach a

July 16, 2025

[Alex Hinton] Trump’s America Is a tinderbox

“Bomb threat! You need to exit — now,” a security officer shouted at me as I observed the Principles First conference, a gathering of moderate Republicans in Washington, on Feb. 22. Moments later, we learned that the threat had come from an untraceable email claiming that four pipe bombs had been planted “to honor the J6 hostages recently released by Emperor Trump.” Sadly, I wasn’t surprised. Just days earlier, former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and other insurrectionists pardoned by Presid

July 15, 2025

[Grace Kao] Andrew Choi as Jinu in 'KPop Demon Hunters'

BTS, Stray Kids, Ateez and now Saja Boys. These are the only K-pop boy bands that have made it to the US Billboard Hot 100. However, Saja Boys is a fictional K-pop boy band composed of Korean demons ("joseung saja" or Korean grim reapers) from the animated Netflix film, “KPop Demon Hunters.” It is currently No. 1 on Netflix in the US, and has been in the Top 10 Netflix films in 93 countries. In addition, seven of its songs are on the July 12 US Billboard Hot 100 Chart. The fictional girl group i

July 15, 2025

[Lee Kyong-hee] Dr. Oh’s surgical tool bags in Pyongyang

As the Lee Jae Myung administration’s North Korea policy stirred expectations of detente and potential geopolitical tremors, an obituary in a newspaper caught my eye last month. Dr. Oh Indong, a well-known Korean American orthopedic surgeon and unification activist, passed away on June 19 at his Pasadena, California, home at age 86. Oh enjoyed international acclaim for his expertise in artificial hip joint replacement. A former Harvard Medical School faculty member, he invented major improvement

July 14, 2025

[Koichi Hamada] How to negotiate with Trump

Since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, it has been virtually impossible to keep up with all the extreme measures, incendiary rhetoric, personnel changes, policy reversals, and breaches of rules and norms. That is by design: Like European fascists in the 20th century, Trump knows that it is far easier to manipulate and suppress an overwhelmed, divided, and disoriented public than an informed, engaged and assured one. The relentless stream of declarations, policy U-turns, and l

July 14, 2025

[Robert J. Fouser] Misguided university reform plan

Over the past several weeks, talk of a promise from President Lee Jae Myung to “create 10 universities on par with Seoul National University” has stirred debate. The plan has its origins in a book by Kim Jong-young, a professor at Kyung Hee University, published in 2021. The plan aims at investing heavily in nine regional national universities to raise their “level” to close to Seoul National University. The impetus for the plan comes from a broader push to promote balanced regional development.

July 11, 2025