The Future Response Fund, now under review by the National Assembly as part of next year’s budget, is showing signs of becoming the Lee Jae Myung administration’s personal piggy bank, just as critics feared. The government plans to launch the 162.3 trillion won ($121.5 billion) fund next year, using additional tax revenue generated by the semiconductor export boom. It is meant to prepare for “the future” through investment in four areas: advanced industries, young people, regional development an

For nearly a decade, I have watched the deterioration of democracy around the world with growing concern. Since around 2015, when I was a Washington correspondent, I have witnessed growing threats to democracy in many countries including the United States. Political leaders have exploited weaknesses in democratic institutions for personal or political gain. At times, I even wondered whether democracy was truly the best political system humanity had developed. However, three recent elections in t

A country can postpone a budget debate, but it cannot defer the arrival of a smaller generation. South Korea will see this change in its classrooms: First-grade enrollment for the 2027 academic year is expected to fall below 300,000 for the first time. The 2020 birth cohort numbered 272,337, roughly a quarter of the 1.05 million pupils who entered elementary school at the 1968 peak. The pace of the decline matters. Enrollment fell below 400,000 in 2024 and will drop below 300,000 three years lat

The world is an absurd place. For example, it is absurd that good people die early while villains enjoy long lifespans. It is absurd that honest, hardworking people remain poor, while sly, dishonest charlatans make a fortune easily. It is also paradoxical that some people live miserably in underdeveloped countries, while others lead happy lives in affluent, advanced nations. Indeed, such inequities feel deeply absurd because life is short, and we have only one life to live. For soldiers wounded

The geopolitical landscape surrounding the Korean Peninsula has been changing rapidly, with the possibility of renewed dialogue between the United States and North Korea emerging as a key focal point. This could do more than simply improve bilateral relations; it could serve as a catalyst for reshaping the Northeast Asian security architecture and the international economic order. Soon after US President Donald Trump on Oct. 19 triggered speculation of a possible meeting with Kim Jong-un by noti

The Special Counsel Act on Fabricated Indictments, which passed the National Assembly last week, is likely to generate considerable controversy over its findings because of its numerous flaws. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea, which commands a large parliamentary majority, initially sought to ram the bill through before the local elections in June but backed down amid public criticism. About six months later, after making only minor revisions, it pushed the legislation through the National A

President Lee Jae Myung recently used his X account to say out loud what a large share of the country has been muttering for years. Political correctness, he wrote, has collided with public fatigue. The problem, in Lee’s telling, is not the values that political correctness claims to serve, but the people who preach them. Their hypocrisy has worn the public down, as have their double standards, captured by the Korean expression “nae-ro-nam-bul”: An act is romance when I do it, but adultery when

Twenty years. Thirty years. Eighty years, and even 90. Some of the positions US Democratic candidates won in the 2026 midterm elections, from Senate seats to attorneys general, have not had a blue occupant in decades. The outcome of this election, even more than the 2018 midterms, could reshape American politics and policy for years to come. But if the Democrats are to make the most of their gains, they must be ambitious — even audacious. The coming weeks will bring countless hot takes, deep div

Imagine, for a moment, that the US midterm elections had not delivered Democratic wins at a generational scale, but merely a trickle of flipped seats — enough, perhaps, to change control of the House of Representatives but not enough for a Senate majority. Is there any doubt that President Donald Trump would embrace such results as a good-enough validation of his often lawless and brutal administration? American democracy skirted a disabling blow. Yet it would be a grave mistake to take a furthe

The World Island Fair closed last week after offering exhibitions, performances and various hands-on activities related to the oceans, islands and their ecosystems in and around Yeosu in Jeonnam-Gwangju for two months. Yeosu City said the fair differed from conventional expositions by adopting an experiential, travel-oriented format. The fair attracted attention as a major international event hosted outside the capital following the World Scout Jamboree in Saemangeum, North Jeolla Province, whic

Governments are quick to claim credit for a rising stock market, although they have far less control over its course than their rhetoric suggests. South Korea's market plunge on Friday illustrated the price of confusing an index milestone with an economic achievement. The immediate shock came from abroad. After Democrats made sweeping gains in the US midterm elections, investors feared tighter constraints on AI data center projects and slower infrastructure spending. Wall Street's technology sel