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Sat, September 23, 2023 | 06:22

Note found in a bottle in the age of COVID-19

Note found in a bottle in the age of COVID-19

I found this message scrawled on a single sheet of paper and crammed in a bottle that washed up on the coast. I present it to you for your reference exactly as I found it. “Thanks for nothing, you citizens of that country formally known as the United States. Have a good life because now you are totally on your own.

2020-03-24 15:11

The coronavirus scare in Seoul: How viral hysteria kills science and policy

The coronavirus scare in Seoul: How viral hysteria kills science and policy

I thought for a moment that I had entered an operating room when I stepped aboard a Korean Air flight bound for Seoul this week. The entire crew wore spanking-new white masks on their clean faces. They did their best to be welcoming despite the impression of catastrophe that their appearance gave us. The passengers around me spent the flight taking about the coronavirus in Ko...

2020-02-23 14:13

Korea's solution to the Middle East crisis: Go for zero

Korea's solution to the Middle East crisis: Go for zero

The request from the Trump administration that South Korea join a new naval mission to the Strait of Hormuz, at precisely the moment the entire region is on fire, places Seoul in a difficult position. Not only is the push for military conflict with Iran, which is making Secretary of State Mike Pompeo immensely unpopular with many Americans (including many in the military), th...

2020-01-18 09:38

A more global Korea for the 2020s

A more global Korea for the 2020s

The startling chasm between the positions taken by the U.S. and South Korea concerning sharing the costs of U.S. troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula in the negotiations on the SMA (Special Measures Agreement) reflect, along with the idiosyncratic and counterproductive approach of the Trump administration, a deeper and potentially more fundamental divergence in perspectiv...

2020-01-12 09:46

Climate change must be the alpha and omega of security for United States

Climate change must be the alpha and omega of security for United States

As I pen these words, I am tempted to double my dose of anti-psychotic medication. After all, I wake up every morning to what seems to be a normal world. I have a cup of coffee with friends at Peet's Coffee, I attend thoughtful seminars near K Street and then I read newspapers and books that describe what appears to be a normal and functional world. But when I go home at nigh...

2019-12-21 11:16

Time to move beyond GSOMIA

Time to move beyond GSOMIA

Many security experts are celebrating the South Korean government's last-minute decision not to terminate the GSOMIA (General Security of Military Information Agreement) with Japan. No one should be so foolish as to take them seriously.

2019-11-24 15:09

Does “capitalism” fully explain the ruthless extraction and consumption we witness?

Does “capitalism” fully explain the ruthless extraction and consumption we witness?

Capitalism has become the most popular term on the internet, serving as a catch-all concept that explains all aspects of an insane political and economic system wherein the entire Earth is consumed without a concern for the future in the pursuit of short-term profits. But does “capitalism” explain what we are witnessing, and could there be some fundamental difference between ...

2019-11-17 13:14

Don't solve the crisis in Northeast Asia - transform it

Don't solve the crisis in Northeast Asia - transform it

The United States faces an unmitigated catastrophe in Northeast Asia today that is the result of a thoughtless trade war with China, companion tariff battles with Japan and South Korea, and an effort to promote China as a military threat that have undercut a broad range of cooperative efforts. We are watching in silence the metastasis of benign neglect into malignant neglect....

2019-10-07 10:51

How to establish a smart strategy for South Korea in Washington

How to establish a smart strategy for South Korea in Washington

The arrival of the new Korean Ambassador Lee Soo-hycuk in Washington D.C. will be an invaluable opportunity for Seoul to upgrade its game in diplomacy and in lobbying and to sharpen its message so that lawmakers understand the vital importance of South Korea. The stakes are high, not only because of the confusion among lawmakers about where Seoul is going regarding North Kore...

2019-10-06 16:58

Watching smartphones and their children in Seoul

Watching smartphones and their children in Seoul

The young people walking in the streets in Seoul retain their vitality in the midst of an increasingly gloomy economy. I see them smiling as they talk excitedly at cafes, and I am impressed by the aesthetic sensibility they show in their dress. They have their unique expressions (many of which are incomprehensible to me) they employ when talking about recent films, or songs, ...

2019-09-08 17:03

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5	Saudi Arabia celebrates 93rd National Day

6	Russia lodges protest to S.Korean envoy over Yoon's UN speech

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10	Gov't reviews changing description of Fukushima wastewater

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