More Koreans are traveling abroad despite the economic slowdown and a spate of terrorist attacks worldwide. The number of Koreans who went overseas in the first half of the year reached 10.6 million, up 16.2 percent from a year ago, according to the Korean Tourism Organization. Travel agencies expect a much steeper increase in outbound tourists during the summer holiday season, which is expected to last until the Sept. 14-16 Chuseok holiday this year.On July 24, Incheon International Airport set

WASHINGTON -- In a bizarre turn of fate, the diehard supporters of Fidel Castro’s left-wing ideology seem to be fighting their last battle in Venezuela, as the frustrated, hungry population there pushes for democracy and change.The political stalemate in Venezuela continued this week as the National Election Council, under pressure from the leftist government, failed to meet a Tuesday deadline to act on an opposition demand for a recall referendum this year that could replace President Nicolas M

Since Spain conquered the Philippines 495 years ago, this country’s destiny has too often been determined by great foreign powers.  However, former President Benigno Aquino III’s suit at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2013 concerning the South China Sea has set the stage for President Rodrigo Duterte to develop a long-term peaceful solution to the claims of not just the Philippines and China but also of others.Many in the United States, recognizing China’s precarious legal po

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon is a strong potential presidential candidate for the liberal camp, but he has neither confirmed nor denied his presidential ambitions. The mayor maintained this position during a meeting with senior journalists Thursday. He skillfully dodged questions about when he would throw his hat into the ring and whether he will serve out his term that is set to last more than two more years. At one point, he quipped that he had been the mayor of Seoul for nearly five years and th

Nexon founder Kim Jung-ju belongs to a new breed of entrepreneurs who have engineered Korea’s information technology boom and built their own business empires. In many respects, Kim and his fellow IT gurus like Naver’s Lee Hae-jin, Kakao founder Kim Beom-soo and NCSoft founder Kim Taek-jin can be called Korea’s Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg. All in their late 40s, they went to schools that draw the nation’s brightest -- Seoul National University and the Korea Advanced Institute of Sc

China, like many other countries, has many faces. It boasts the world’s second-largest economy, military power and advanced technologies in some sectors like aerospace. At the same time, China has yet to overcome backwardness in its political and economic system and various social norms which lag behind international standards.  The country also needs to overcome the skepticism about its vision to become a global superpower equaling the U.S. The skepticism is based on Chinese leaders’ failure to

This week, Hillary Clinton will address the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia to accept her party’s presidential nomination and present its platform. When she does, she will define her vision of, among other things, the social contract in America.It will be a crucial moment. The relationship between Americans and their government is a burning issue today, and two of Clinton’s fellow candidates -- Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, and Bernie Sanders -- have, each in his own way,

China suffered a significant setback this month in its bid for dominance in the South China Sea, and its leaders are following a familiar script after such reversals: They’re making angry statements but taking little action while they assess the situation. The U.S. is playing a characteristic role in such a flare-up, too. Rather than crowing about victory, it’s trying to talk the Chinese leadership off the ledge before it does something rash. The chief hand-holder in this case has been national

The prosecution has been exercising exclusive authority to indict and control police investigations.The late President Roh Moo-hyun had tried to set up an independent entity in an apparent bid to check the power of prosecutors, but failed due to tough resistance from the prosecution and conservative lawmakers.The independent entity refers to a new state agency, which would be specialized in investigating corruption cases involving high-ranking government officials as well as prosecutors.The urge

Recent government data sounded the alarm on the need for South Korea to urgently brace itself for a rapidly aging society.  Statistics Korea said that the number of citizens aged 100 or older had surged 72 percent from 2010. The figure showed that 3,159 centenarians were living in the country as of November 2015, up from the 1,835 five years earlier.As life expectancy gets longer steadily, 13.1 percent of South Korea’s 50.6 million population were 65 or older in 2015, said the state statistical

It is so hot and humid these days that the weather forecast says, “Earth is like a furnace.” In fact, Earth seems to be gradually turning into an inhabitable place.While watching a Hollywood movie on TV recently, I heard a persuasive, even enlightening, line of dialogue. A character in the movie humorously quipped, “When a virus enters our body, our body temperature goes up in order to eliminate the harmful foreign entity. Likewise, global warming occurs in order to eradicate human species that

Self-driving cars are destined to be the first seismic change for automobiles since Ford introduced affordable cars in 1908. Granted, automation is already part of driving. Think about all the cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, collision warning and the like. But what companies are attempting to put on the market in the near future are driverless vehicles, with Volvo estimating that the first fully self-driving cars will be on the road by 2020.Good for us, basically. Computer-driven or robot

Amid the rising tide of protectionism, a growing number of Korean companies are becoming the targets of protectionist measures in their major overseas markets, including the United States and China.Last week, the U.S. government took a series of harsh measures against Korean exporters. Notably, the Department of Commerce introduced high anti-dumping and countervailing duties on cold-rolled steel plates produced by POSCO and Hyundai Steel on Wednesday.The duties amounted to 64.7 percent for POSCO

The National Assembly is set to begin deliberations on the government’s 11 trillion-won ($9.64 billion) supplementary budget bill.The extra budget is part of the government’s 28 trillion-won fiscal spending package aimed at propping up the faltering economy and easing the fallout from the ongoing restructuring of ailing industries, including shipbuilding.The government hopes that the parliament passes the bill by Aug. 12 so that it can begin spending the funds before September.Yet the deliberati

Donald Trump last night offered a funhouse mirror version of one of the greatest speeches in American history: Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s first inaugural address, in 1933. In the midst of a genuine crisis, the Great Depression, FDR began by emphasizing his “firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror.”Trump sought to foster exactly that. For Trump, “America is a more dangerous environment for everyone than frankly I have ever seen

Economic slowdowns can often be characterized as periods of hesitation. Consumers hesitate to buy a new house or car, thinking that the old house or car will do just fine for a while longer. Managers hesitate to expand their workforces, buy a new office building, or build a new factory, waiting for news that will make them stop worrying about committing to new ideas. Viewed from this perspective, how worried should we be about the effects of hesitation today?Hesitation is often like procrastinat

The aftermath of Turkey’s failed military coup raises a fundamental question: Will President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continue to pursue his authoritarian path, perhaps with a vengeance, or will he reach out to his opponents and attempt to bridge the deep fissures in Turkish society?The jury is still out, but judging from previous historical examples, serious challenges to authoritarian or semi-authoritarian leaders usually lead to a hardening of the regime, not greater moderation. And Erdogan’s mov

Obesity has become a social concern that needs the attention of government officials, politicians, as well as individuals. One does not need the authorities to explain why being overweight is becoming a global phenomenon: People are consuming more calories, sugar and fat. They live in an increasingly stressful society and engage in little physical activity. Koreans are no exception. Figures back up the trend. A research center affiliated with the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation said

It is obvious that President Park Geun-hye is under siege. She faces hostility on many fronts -- the media, opposition parties and even ruling party members as well as residents from a region that had previously been loyal to her. First, the controversy over one of her most trusted Blue House aides is threatening to erode public trust in the presidential office and the civil service as a whole. It is ironic that a conservative newspaper -- which usually supports Park -- started the increasingly

Beyond the obvious risks of being hit by a car, falling into a ravine, being shot at for trespassing or the wholesale detachment from the real, physical world, there’s a clear and present danger that comes from playing the wildly popular new augmented-reality game, “Pokemon Go.” Your kids, or anyone who plays the game, may not be aware that once they have signed up for the game, before they can prowl around the city looking for virtual monsters, catch them with Pokeballs and train them at so-cal