German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized Japan’s perception of the past via the Asahi Shimbun and the voice of Okada Katsuya, the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, when she made a recent visit there. Merkel said Japan must face the comfort women issue without any delay if its bilateral rela
Violence against U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert has lead Koreans to discuss anti-terrorism legislation. The ruling party is calling for the swift passage of an anti-terrorism bill proposed by lawmaker Lee Byung-suk. Last month, he pressed for the necessity of a new legal approach against terrorists or
U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman recently made a controversial remark, appearing to take sides with Japan on historical issues stemming from its wartime atrocities and misdeeds. It stirred strong anti-American sentiment in Korea, inviting rallies near the U.S. Embassy in Seou
The so-called Kim Young-ran Act against illegal solicitations and bribery passed the plenary session of the National Assembly on Mar. 3. It is hoped that the passage of the bill, which covers all types of bribes regardless of the amount of money, will give Korean society an opportunity to eradicate
At Washington’s Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Feb. 27 (local time), Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman bluntly expressed her discontent with the conflict between Korea, China, and Japan surrounding the comfort women, history book, and East Sea issues. She al
The Korean Air scandal in which Heather Cho, a vice president of the airline and daughter of its chairman, lambasted a crew member for incorrectly serving macadamia nuts not according to manual, and then had the crew member removed from the flight has put the spotlight back on nepotism in corporate
On July 20, 2011, the Intellectual Property Framework Act (IPFA) became effective in Korea, focusing government support for the creation, protection, utilization, and infrastructure of intellectual property (IP) in relation to technology and industry development. This is currently one of the top eco
Korea has signed a free trade agreement with China, its largest trade partner. Although some criticize the agreement for its hastiness and lower-than-expected market opening, there is no doubt that the Korea-China FTA will pose both a challenge and an opportunity for the Korean economy as it goes th
The author F. Scott Fitzgerald once famously remarked that “there are no second acts in (American) life.” Korean investors are hoping that a second act is available for private equity (PE), the much-maligned and often misunderstood alternative investment class that has generated scorn, controversy a
As Korean and Chinese economic exchange becomes more extensive, it is essential that a broader range of cultural and educational programs for collaboration be established that assure a broad range of interaction between individuals and smaller organizations, creating a tightly-knit fabric of ties th
What do the following scenarios have in common?A Korean subsidiary of a foreign telecommunications company receives faulty equipment from a customer in Korea. It sends the faulty equipment to its repair facility in Japan to be repaired and then returned to the customer in Korea. The company fails to
Korea has failed over and over at globalizing its new technologies and leading the innovation of the international ICT market. Smartphones, 4G mobile telephony, MP3 players, social networks, and mobile payments are just a few examples. Nowadays, the U.S. and China, not Korea, are spearheading the gr
There are thousands of articles written on culture and almost an equal number of definitions: the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, and values; learned accumulated experience, which is socially transmitted; and the collective programming of the mind. These are just three such exa
Korea has failed over and over at globalizing its new technologies and leading the innovation of the international ICT market. Smartphones, 4G mobile telephony, MP3 players, social networks, and mobile payments are just a few examples. Nowadays, however, the U.S. and China, not Korea, are spearheadi
Two of the hottest issues in Korean society this summer were Pope Francis’ visit and the smash hit movie titled Myeongnyang. Stories about the two heroes - the Pope and Admiral Yi Sun-sin - are going beyond a mere craze to become a sort of nationwide syndrome for true leadership.Sociologists attribu
Educational institutions of all levels are facing unprecedented challenges in responding to disruptive innovation in the education sector. At this point, we’re still only at the very beginning of the innovation cycle, and there is already massive change occurring. From cheap ebooks to Massively Open
Recent revelations about the scope of Chinese hacking attacks on Korean small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as mentioned in a recent article in this magazine, may have been surprising to many, but to information security experts it is not particularly surprising news. Just like attacks in the physi
Imagine that you are a computer programmer or software engineer at a leading technology company who dreams of breaking free from your cubicle of solitude and inventing the next “killer app.” Or maybe you are a paid journalist or blogger, working on the next great American, or Korean, novel. If you a
The balance of power in Northeast Asia and the diplomatic interests of the surrounding powers are drawing increasing attention in the wake of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent state visit to South Korea.Around 70 years after Japan was defeated in the regional war, China came to be the world’s se
It is predicted that the recent Sewol ferry disaster will result in economic losses of over 1.5 trillion won (US$1.46 billion) with domestic consumer sentiment dampened to the point of cutting this year’s national economic growth rate by 0.1 percentage points. The direct costs associated with the ca