[Kim Seong-kon] Living in a house of dynamite

APEC Korea 2025 drew to a close with a grand finale. The Korean press reported that the event turned out to be a success, especially for this country. For example, Korea and the US finally agreed on the details of their trade deal at the summit in Gyeongju. Korea also secured approval from US President Donald Trump to acquire nuclear-powered submarines. These two fruitful outcomes will undoubtedly stabilize our economy and national security, at least for now. In the long run, however, we are sti

Nov. 5, 2025

[Rummnan Chowdhury] A comparison of small and large language models.

For the past several years, artificial intelligence has been defined by its obsession with scale. The prevailing narrative has been: Bigger models, better intelligence. But the future of AI may not belong to the most massive models — it may belong to the most efficient. Small language models (SLMs) are quietly emerging as the smarter, more sustainable, and strategically superior alternative to their massive cousins, the large language models (LLMs) that currently dominate headlines and data cent

Nov. 5, 2025

[Editorial] Korea’s AI test

South Korea has grown used to leading consumer technology cycles, from handsets to displays. The Nvidia agreement announced in Gyeongju last week signals something different. By securing 260,000 Blackwell GPUs by 2030, South Korea is stepping into a race not defined by gadgets but by geopolitical capacity. For the first time, the country is positioned not merely to follow an innovation curve but to compete in infrastructure that powers the next industrial era. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperati

Nov. 5, 2025

[Bae Su-kyeong] What a snowflake knows: dignity in quiet presence

Some months ago in Seoul, I walked through streets that had fallen silent after midnight. The snow from the night before had hardened into ice, and on the frozen asphalt sat several dozen people. There was no chant, no fist, no act of violence. Only silence. In the deep shadows where no streetlight reached, I noticed a young man sitting cross-legged. On the frozen ground before him lay an open Bible. He seemed to have deliberately chosen the place where not even a trace of light could find him.

Nov. 4, 2025

[Richard Haass] Trump’s pivot from Asia

US President Donald Trump spent much of the last week of October in Asia. He managed to bring about ceasefires on several fronts of a trade war largely of his own making, after imposing tariffs on friends and foes alike. What he did not do, though, was create enduring structures in the economic sphere or put to rest increasing doubts about the United States’ strategic commitment to the region. To be sure, there were some valuable accomplishments. Trump’s meetings in Japan, arguably the most impo

Nov. 4, 2025

[Lee Kyong-hee] Gold crown, baseball bat and butterflies

A replica of a gold crown from the ancient Silla Kingdom was likely the most symbolic gift South Korean President Lee Jae Myung could offer visiting US President Donald Trump. The setting — Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, the historic capital of Silla — was steeped in heritage, and the gesture came amid tense negotiations over hefty US tariffs and investment. The hope was that the glittering headpiece might charm Trump and help unlock a breakthrough. Yet, despite South Korea’s earnest inten

Nov. 3, 2025

[Jenna Nicholas] The critical value of Indigenous climate stewardship

In August, I traveled by bus, small plane and canoe to the sacred headwaters of the Amazon, in Ecuador. It’s a place with very few roads, yet like many areas in the rainforest, foreign business interests have made contact with its peoples and in just the last decade have rapidly changed the landscape, scarring it with mines or clearcutting for cattle ranching. The Amazon rainforest is rightly called the “lungs of the planet.” It stores approximately 56.8 billion metric tons of carbon, equivalent

Nov. 3, 2025

[Robert J. Fouser] Anti-China protests hurt S. Korea

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit this week has turned South Korea into the center of global diplomatic activity, as the leaders of 21 nations gathered in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, the ancient capital of the Silla Kingdom. President Lee Jae Myung met US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi; it was his first meetings with the leaders of China and Japan. A trade-war weary world focused much of its attention on the mee

Oct. 31, 2025

[Wang Son-taek] The Asian grammar of power

US President Donald Trump is visiting Malaysia, Japan and South Korea this week and enjoying another batch of spotlights as he usually does. However, many in Asia feel uncomfortable, and it is unclear whether he is communicating effectively with Asians. He prides himself on being a smart realist, often invoking a tough, transactional style that he and his followers associate with Machiavelli. Yet political traditions in Asia are different. Many insist that power is most effective when it wins co

Oct. 30, 2025

[Anne O. Krueger] Case for a GTO without America

Since January, the world has watched in shock as US President Donald Trump’s administration has undermined every pillar of the economic order that the United States helped build and proudly championed for much of the past century. The principles of the postwar international economic order -- nondiscrimination among trading partners, fair treatment of foreign businesses in domestic courts, and adherence to the rule of law as enshrined in the World Trade Organization’s Articles of Agreement -- lai

Oct. 29, 2025

[Kim Seong-kon] Looking back upon the inquisitions and witch trials

We humans are afraid of the unknown. That is why we have feelings of wariness and vigilance when we see strangers or foreigners around us. Sometimes, we may even become hostile to those who are not one of us or who are different from us. This is especially so when we are obsessed with tribalism, ultra-nationalism or dogmatic ideologies, whether political or religious. Nazism, communism and religious dogmatism are good examples. These have one thing in common: They do not tolerate differences. Th

Oct. 29, 2025

[Man Ki Kim] RDP MOU: The missing link in the Korea-US defense alliance

The Korea-US alliance stands at a crucial juncture. As geopolitical tensions deepen across the Indo-Pacific, both nations must move quickly to finalize the Reciprocal Defense Procurement memorandum of understanding. This long-anticipated agreement would modernize alliance cooperation, expand defense industrial integration and enhance regional deterrence at a time when shared security interests are under growing pressure. In February 2024, Korea’s Ministry of National Defense announced its intent

Oct. 28, 2025

[Grace Kao] Le Sserafim’s ‘Spaghetti’ and K-pop’s obsession with food

I just watched the music video for Le Sserafim’s new single, “Spaghetti” (featuring BTS’s J-Hope), where you can see the members of the group selling spaghetti to a group of customers from a food truck. In a different scene, J-Hope is playing with the noodles in a bowl, but he never actually eats them. The promotional shorts focus on other food items with visual concept versions: (1) cheeky neon pepper; (2) knocking basil; and (3) weird garlic. The video reminded me of K-pop’s obsession with son

Oct. 28, 2025

[Song Jong-hwan] Private efforts renew Korea-Pakistan cooperation

It has been nine years since I completed my service as Korea's ambassador to Pakistan. The relationships I built during that time remain active. I continue quietly to contribute to deepening ties between the two countries, convinced that much potential still lies untapped. The Korean government has supported Pakistan’s economic development through the Economic Development Cooperation Fund and the Korea International Cooperation Agency. Many Korean companies, both large and small, have entered th

Oct. 28, 2025

[David M. Drucker] US politics reaches peak whataboutism

US President Donald Trump commuted the seven-year, federal prison sentence of acknowledged criminal George Santos because, as he explained in a Truth Social post late last week, the disgraced former New York congressman “had the Courage, Conviction and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!” Democrats are sticking by Jay Jones despite revelations that their nominee for Virginia attorney general once sent text messages fantasizing about murdering a Republican lawmaker. Jones also expressed hope

Oct. 27, 2025