Every two years, we are privileged to witness the great human drama that is the Olympics. The 31st Summer Olympics underway at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil are no exception, as records are broken, an underdog rises to the top, champions continue their reign and the defeated shake hands with their rivals.The more than 11,000 athletes from 207 national teams competing in Rio de Janeiro, including the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team, have trained for years, dedicating the prime of their youth, sometimes

The US’ three major stock price indexes including the Dow Jones industrial average reached an all-time high last week in the wake of brisk operating performances of major US businesses.The noteworthy American rally is fueling expectations that the Korea’s benchmark Kospi -- which is also a bull market -- could break through the physiological barrier of 2,100 points in the coming weeks.The Kospi, which peaked at 2,104.41 on July 3, 2015, has ranged between 1,830 and 2,030 over the past year. But

South Korea regained its position as the world’s 11th-largest economy in 2015. Its gross domestic product ranking had peaked at 11th place in 2006 but dropped to 13th in 2007 and 15th in 2008. It was 14th from 2009 to 2013 and 13th in 2014. 　However, the higher ranking is not that meaningful as the country’s competitors face unusual economic situations.Russia (10th in 2014) and Australia (12th in 2014) suffered slowdowns in due to the big drop in raw materials prices, one of their main growth en

People who visit their hometown to spend time with their parents during the holidays in Korea are likely to experience one thing in common: your mother’s persistent attempt to feed you. Here is what usually happens. As soon as you arrive home, your mother approaches you with a dish or fruit and a direct order to eat it. You decline, saying, “Thanks, Mom. But I’m good.” But your mother never gives up. She tenaciously insists, “You should eat this. It’s delicious.” You decline it again, saying, “I

Thai tourism businesses are bracing for the economic fallout from the bomb attacks that killed four and injured dozens of people, including foreign visitors in the seaside resorts Hua Hin and Phuket, two of the country’s major tourist destinations.Eleven small bombs were detonated across seven southern provinces on Thursday night and Friday morning in unprecedented attacks that appeared to have required serious planning and some degree of professionalism.Authorities said the bombs were similar t

Donald Trump is perhaps the most widely condemned public figure to hit the spotlight in years. He has been indicted as unfit, unstable, crazy, immoral, narcissistic, greedy, cruel, racist and dangerous by all the best -- the president, ex-presidents, Republicans, politicians, generals, intellectuals, billionaires and the Pope.Yet Trump’s campaign to be president enjoys the support of something like 40 percent of all voters, according to the polls. One wonders what level or volume of public vilif

In the history of South Korean urbanism, the 2010s will most likely go down as the decade of city walks, or “dapsa.” Aided by social media in the early years of the decade, groups of citizens formed walking groups that explored old neighborhoods in Seoul. Local governments joined in and began to sponsor walks and train leaders for the groups. Most events are on Saturdays and many alternate between city walks and mountain climbing.What caused the boom in city walks and what does it mean? Several

Think Donald Trump has some grand scheme behind his outbursts? Think his rhetoric is carefully thought out to produce a certain reaction? Think he meticulously plans each call for his followers to take up arms?　Sorry, no. There is no strategy here, folks. 　Sadly, this is the part of Trump I get too well. I do a lot of public speaking, and when I do, I try to gauge the audience because I love a reaction. Like any entertainer -- and that’s what an author tries to be on book tour -- I like to hear

It would be very wrong to diminish the majesty and international scope of the Olympic Games by, as some are suggesting, anchoring them in Greece or on permanent sites on five continents.The seemingly endless problems with this year’s Rio Games have prompted calls to stop having nations compete to host the contests and hold them instead in permanent facilities in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.This would be a serious mistake. It would deprive nations of a chance to show national

“Without a border, we just don’t have a country,” Donald Trump says repeatedly. For him, the biggest threats to American sovereignty are three-dimensional items that cross our borders, such as unwanted imports and undocumented immigrants.He’s wrong. The biggest threats to American sovereignty are invisible digital dollars wired into U.S. election campaigns from abroad.Yet Trump seems to welcome foreign influence over our democracy.Sovereignty is mainly about a government’s capacity to govern. A

International financial institutions, including the World Bank Group, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and other regional development and investment banks, have increasingly emphasized the importance of participation, good governance, and accountability in the countries where they disburse funds. Added scrutiny from these institutions is welcome, because development finance can be a powerful tool for safeguarding human rights, so long as the communities it most affects have

We live in an age of science and technology, so strictly speaking science should be able to forecast the future and help us make decisions better.  But in this age of uncertainty, the best economic models did not predict the global financial crisis. How did the ancients attempt to make better decisions?   They relied on history, their own experience or oracles, astrology or mumbo jumbo.  In a situation of uncertainty, you make decisions on the basis of information that you have, and if don’t hav

Nobody said quitting the European Union would be easy. U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May has declared that “Brexit means Brexit,” but Britain still hasn’t decided what it wants. There’s not much clarity in the rest of the EU either. As a Bloomberg survey of officials across the union makes clear, its 27 other members have their own ideas about how they want Brexit to play out and where to draw red lines.This process is going to take time -- longer than the two years the Article 50 exit process pro

The Korea Communications Commission has imposed 180 million won ($163,000) in fines on Lotte Homeshopping for selling the personal information of its customers to other companies.But the fines were too small compared to the revenue Lotte earned through the sale of customer data. The home shopping channel earned 3.7 billion won between 2009 and 2014 by selling 3.24 million pieces of customer data to insurance companies.The fines were small because they were levied for a fraction of the personal i

Disputes are escalating between the central government and the Seoul Metropolitan Government over the provision of cash allowances to job seekers. The row was ignited by the city government’s scheme to provide 3,000 young job seekers with 500,000 won ($450) a month for up to six months.The central government opposed the plan, calling it a typical populist program. It argued that the scheme could not be seen as an employment promotion program as it allowed the recipients to use the allowances for

Dedicated analysts, casual observers and of course the politicians are struggling to decipher precisely the outcome of Sunday’s referendum in Thailand, in which a majority of voters backed the draft constitution and agreed that military-nominated senators should for at least five years be allowed to help elected MPs choose the prime minister.While the primary vote pertained to the content of the draft, the added question on empowering senators to select the head of government has been widely int

We live in an age where, by means of a single social media post, the reputations of innocent people can easily — and instantly — be destroyed or damaged. All it takes is a name, a face, and a caption. None of the three needs to be accurate; the only requirement is that the caption is inflammatory and provocative. By the time the people in question get the chance to explain their side, many have judged them to be guilty. Guilty as posted. Guilty as captioned. Guilty but not even charged.“Ipa-vira

It was indeed a big leap forward when the defense ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines reached an agreement on Aug. 2 to conduct coordinated patrols to combat piracy in their waters.The deal, which was made during the third trilateral defense ministers meeting in Bali, also includes a commitment by the three ASEAN neighbors to contain the spread of the Islamic State group’s movement in the region.The agreement is expected to immediately address the problem of abduction — mainly i

Judges retiring from public service -- like other civil servants -- are subject to restrictions when they seek reemployment in the private sector, including at law firms and commercial companies. The regulation is necessary to prevent a revolving door between the court and private sector, which breeds corrupt ties between judges and their former colleagues. Korea’s anti-revolving door rule under the Public Service Ethics Act stipulates that high-ranking public officials, including judges and pro

The election of Lee Jung-hyun as the new leader of the Saenuri Party has both positive and negative implications for politics within and beyond the conservative ruling party.  The first thing that should be noted is that Lee, a third-term lawmaker from Gokseong, South Jeolla Province, is the first politician from the southwestern region to take the helm of the Saenuri Party, which for decades has been deeply tied to the southeast. Lee said that his election would help ease antagonism between the