OPINION
[Ashoka Mody] Let’s choose the best person to lead the IMF
Now that Christine Lagarde has announced her resignation as managing director of the International Monetary Fund, German chancellor Angela Merkel says Europeans “again” have a “claim” to fill what is...
Jul 23, 2019
[Kim Seong-kon] Ultra-nationalism in the era of globalism
We are now living in the era of globalism when the whole world has become a global village. The boundaries between nations are rapidly collapsing and people are experiencing crossovers everywhere. Ta...
[Trudy Rubin] A free press can never be taken for granted
Earlier this month, President Trump addressed a group of so-called “digital leaders” invited to a social media summit at the White House. The guests included far right social media activists linked ...
Jul 22, 2019
[Andrew Sheng] Bastille Day and global populist uprising
July 14 is celebrated in France as Bastille Day, on which day 230 years ago, French peasants stormed the Bastille prison in Paris and sparked off the French Revolution. Thus began the populist moveme...
[Noah Smith] South Korea foreshadows gray, slow-growth future
In 1960, South Korea had a total fertility rate of more than six children per woman, high enough to cause a population explosion. But as the country developed, this number dropped decade by decade: ...
Jul 21, 2019
[Ann McFeatters] What is the definition of a racist in 2019?
It is astounding that 159 years after the end of the Civil War we are having a full-throated debate about whether the US president is a racist. Or is that surprising? Donald Trump’s tweet that four ...
[David Ignatius] America’s immediate challenge in Persian Gulf is maritime security
Here’s the most intriguing fact about Iran’s apparent seizure Saturday of a small oil tanker about 385 kilometers northwest of here: Thus far, it has brought only a muted response from the United Ara...
Jul 18, 2019
[Kim Myong-sik] South Korean military lowers guards against North prematurely
South Korea currently ranks 12th in terms of economic power of nations. It ranks a little higher in international researchers’ comparison of military strength. The oft-quoted Global Fire Power websi...
Jul 17, 2019
[Timothy L. O’Brien] Trump’s ‘go back’ tweets leave no room for doubt
As he has so many times since bursting onto the presidential stage in 2015, Donald Trump played the race card Sunday. He launched nearly three dozen broadsides on Twitter throughout the day, but a tr...
[Robert J. Fouser] Improving relations between South Korea and Japan
South Korea and Japan are at it again. On July 1, the Japanese government decided to restrict exports to South Korea of three products used in semiconductor and smartphone manufacturing. It argued th...
Jul 16, 2019
[Kim Seong-kon] Five things we should do to overcome crisis
Watching Korea helplessly caught in the vortex of international crises and domestic turbulence these days, one cannot but ponder how Korea can survive in these difficult times. Of course, it will not...
[David Fickling] Tall fences make bad neighbors out of Japan and Korea
To outsiders, it may seem like the deepening rift between Japan and South Korea has blown up out of a clear blue sky. For all the wrangling over the legacy of Japan’s 35-year colonization of the Kor...
Jul 15, 2019
[James Stavridis] The path forward with North Korea: ‘Denuclearization lite’
Over the past couple of weeks, there have been increasing signs that the Trump administration -- and particularly the president himself -- is moderating its position on North Korea’s stockpile of nuc...
[Markos Kounalakis] As British envoy just learned, loose lips sink diplomats
If the truth can set you free, then the British ambassador to Washington is now free as a bird. Unfortunately for him, he will no longer be soaring over America’s capital or hovering anywhere near th...
Jul 14, 2019
[David Ignatius] Democrats, Trump is on a roll
The agonizing fact for Democrats this summer is that US President Donald Trump appears to be gaining ground on domestic and foreign policy, while his potential challengers are quarreling and mostly s...