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Hybe-Ador dispute shines light on pervasive issues behind K-pop’s tidy facadeAs the feud between Hybe and Ador CEO Min Hee-jin intensifies, many are taking the conflict as an opportunity to shed light on K-pop’s underbelly. One such endeavor was organized by activist group Cultural Action, which hosted a panel discussion on the Hybe-Ador feud at the St. Franciscan Education Center in Seoul on Thursday.
Bills for Itaewon crush inquiry, special counsel probe into Marine’s death pass National AssemblyAfter a bipartisan compromise on revisions earlier this week, South Korea’s National Assembly passed a bill on Thursday that mandates a new investigation into the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush disaster. In a plenary session on Thursday with 259 lawmakers present, the special act passed with 259 votes in favor, no opposition, and three invalid votes.![[Editorial] Penalties for airing allegations against Korea’s first lady endanger free press](https://flexible.img.hani.co.kr/flexible/normal/500/300/imgdb/original/2024/0502/1817146398095106.jpg "[Editorial] Penalties for airing allegations against Korea’s first lady endanger free press")
[Editorial] Penalties for airing allegations against Korea’s first lady endanger free pressSouth Korea’s Election Broadcast Deliberation Commission (EBDC), which has been reviewing questions of reporting fairness in connection with last month’s general elections, voted on Monday to issue the highest level of legally prescribed punishment — “disciplinary action for those involved” — on the MBC current affairs program “Straight,” which reported on allegations concerning first lady Kim Keon-hee’s acceptance of a luxury handbag and alleged involvement in manipulation of Deutsch Motors stock prices.
S. Korea discusses participation in defense development with AUKUS allianceThe foreign ministers and defense ministers of South Korea and Australia have discussed the possibility of Korea taking part in “Pillar 2” of a program for the joint development of military technology under AUKUS, a defense pact between the US, the UK and Australia.![[Reporter’s notebook] In Min’s world, she’s the artist — and NewJeans is her art](https://flexible.img.hani.co.kr/flexible/normal/500/300/imgdb/original/2024/0502/8717146395244057.jpg "[Reporter’s notebook] In Min’s world, she’s the artist — and NewJeans is her art")
[Reporter’s notebook] In Min’s world, she’s the artist — and NewJeans is her artThe very public and extremely enthralling spat between Hybe and Ador has revealed something about Korea’s No. 1 cultural output: The real protagonists behind K-pop are not the artists but the producers and entertainment companies. The industry’s top three agencies are each named after their founding producers: SM (Lee Soo-man), YG (Yang Hyun-suk), and JYP (Park Jin-young). That pretty much says it all.
Korean firms cut costs, work overtime amid global economic uncertaintiesAn increasing number of Korean companies have been taking proactive measures to increase working hours, cut costs and restructure. There’s a growing sense of alarm in the corporate sector over rising economic uncertainty that’s being driven by high interest rates, exchange rates and inflation.
60% of young Koreans see no need to have kids after marriageThe percentage of young Koreans who see marriage as necessary has fallen by 12.5 points over the past six years, a new survey finds. Six out of 10 people aged 13 to 24 surveyed said that even assuming they get married, they would not need to have children.
At heart of West’s handwringing over Chinese ‘overcapacity,’ a battle to lead key future industriesChina’s rapid growth in the green tech sector, which includes industries such as electric vehicles, batteries and solar, is ushering in criticism of “overcapacity” from the US and Europe. Following sanctions on high-tech industries such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and so-called derisking policies, the confrontation between the US and Europe versus China seems to be expanding to include competition over green industries, key industries for the future.
Fruitless Yoon-Lee summit inflames partisan tensions in KoreaSouth Korea’s ruling and opposition camps have begun exchanging barbs after President Yoon Suk-yeol’s first meeting with the opposition leader earlier this week concluded without any tangible agreements or outcomes. Instead of paving the way to bipartisan governance, Yoon’s first sit-down with Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party since taking office appears to have put both sides on the offensive.![[Editorial] Yoon must halt procurement of SM-3 interceptor missiles](https://flexible.img.hani.co.kr/flexible/normal/500/300/imgdb/child/2024/0501/17145495551605_1717145495195344.jpg "[Editorial] Yoon must halt procurement of SM-3 interceptor missiles")
[Editorial] Yoon must halt procurement of SM-3 interceptor missilesRecently, the South Korean government made the decision to include the SM-3 — an interception missile ill-suited to defend against North Korean nuclear and missile threats — on its next-generation Aegis-equipped warships. This amounts to a declaration that it intends to acquire the capability to intercept missiles launched by North Korea or China toward Guam or Okinawa — islands with US military bases on them — based on its “right of collective self-defense” powers.
Trump asks why US would defend Korea, hints at hiking Seoul’s defense cost burdenDonald Trump reiterated his dim view of maintaining US troop presence in South Korea in a new interview where he asked, “Why would we defend somebody?” The former US president also underscored that Seoul should be made to shoulder a much larger portion of the defense costs for maintaining US forces in Korea.
1 in 3 S. Korean security experts support nuclear armament, CSIS findsA US think tank survey has shown that only 1 in 3 South Korean national security experts favor autonomous nuclearization, a percentage significantly lower than that of the general public. According to the results revealed on Monday of an opinion poll distributed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) to over 1,000 “strategic elites” — academics, think tank experts, business elites, legislators, and officials (current and former) — between January 15 and March 17, 2024, 34% favored nuclearization.
First meeting between Yoon, Lee in 2 years ends without compromise or agreementSouth Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol sat down with leader Lee Jae-myung of the top opposition Democratic Party for the first time to date on Monday — 720 days after Yoon’s administration took office — but the two failed to reach any concrete agreement.![[Column] Can Yoon steer diplomacy with Russia, China back on track?](https://flexible.img.hani.co.kr/flexible/normal/500/300/imgdb/original/2024/0430/1617144616798244.jpg "[Column] Can Yoon steer diplomacy with Russia, China back on track?")
[Column] Can Yoon steer diplomacy with Russia, China back on track?The Yoon administration has been pushing full steam ahead with a foreign policy strategy of alignment with the US and Japan while taking a hostile stance toward China and Russia. Recently, however, some in the administration seem baffled about what exactly South Korea’s strategic position is.
Under conservative chief, Korea’s TRC brands teenage wartime massacre victims as traitorsThese so-called assassins were only 13 and 14 years old. The Hankyoreh has confirmed that many of those executed in civilian massacres in the Jindo area during the Korean War, whose recognition as victims of state violence was postponed by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission due to being classified as “collaborators with enemy forces” — that is, North Korea — were actually preteens and young teens.
Months and months of overdue wages are pushing migrant workers in Korea into debtMei (pseudonym), a 21-year-old from Cambodia, began working on a strawberry farm in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province, in December 2022. Her employer started skipping payments last September. She worked 9.5-hour days, 6.5 days a week. Her monthly salary amounted to around 1.8 million won (US$1,306), as her employer regularly subtracted the cost of renovating a storage garage to build her accommodation. But she hasn’t even gotten that.![[Guest essay] Maybe Korea’s rapid population decline is an opportunity, not a crisis](https://flexible.img.hani.co.kr/flexible/normal/500/300/imgdb/child/2024/0430/53_17144638011865_9417144634983596.jpg "[Guest essay] Maybe Korea’s rapid population decline is an opportunity, not a crisis")
[Guest essay] Maybe Korea’s rapid population decline is an opportunity, not a crisisIn a column entitled “Is South Korea disappearing?” published in the New York Times late last year, Ross Douthat warned that a country that sustained a birth rate at South Korea’s level of 0.72 as of 2023 would have “a depopulation exceeding what the Black Death delivered to Europe in the 14th century.”
Dermatology, plastic surgery drove record medical tourism to Korea in 2023The number of foreign medical tourists visiting South Korea exceeded 600,000 for the first time last year. By nationality, Japanese tourists made up the largest cohort among them. Over half of the medical tourists came to South Korea to receive plastic surgery or dermatological treatments.
After election rout, Yoon’s left with 3 choices for dealing with the oppositionOn the afternoon of April 19, just over a week after the general elections, President Yoon Suk-yeol called Lee Jae-myung, the leader of Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party, to propose that they meet for talks. In an announcement that day, Yoon’s senior presidential secretary for public relations, Lee Do-woon, stated, “The president called Lee at 3:30 pm today. Before anything else, the president congratulated Lee on his win in the election and applauded various other Democratic Party candidates for winning seats in the National Assembly. President Yoon also suggested that if Lee’s schedule permits, the two should meet in Yongsan.”
Two factors that’ll decide if Korea’s economy keeps on its upward trendThe announcement that South Korea’s GDP grew by 1.3% in the first quarter has sparked debate concerning whether this expectation-exceeding trend toward economic recovery will continue. Some within the government are betting on growth in the mid-2% range for the year. Some experts, on the other hand, are cautious, citing domestic and foreign uncertainties. In particular, they note that the unexpectedly weak growth in the US economy, South Korea’s largest export market, should be a cause for alarm.
Why Kim Jong-un is scrapping the term ‘Day of the Sun’ and toning down fanfare for predecessorsThe anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, the founder of North Korea and grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un, has historically been North Korea’s most important public holiday. However, this year’s celebration on April 15 seems to have taken place without referring to the holiday by its traditional name, the “Day of the Sun.” Reports have since surfaced that Pyongyang has scrapped the name.
Noting shared ‘values,’ Korea hints at passport-free travel with JapanA senior official at South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told reporters Friday that the government is considering measures for passport-free travel between South Korea and Japan. Failing that, the official said, there are considerations of a system that would simplify the entry process so that Japanese citizens can travel to Korea almost as easily as Korean citizens.
AI is catching up with humans at a ‘shocking’ rateArtificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT have been shown to outperform humans in some basic tasks, including English comprehension, image categorization, and visual reasoning.![[Column] Season 2 of special prosecutor probe may be coming to Korea soon](https://flexible.img.hani.co.kr/flexible/normal/500/300/imgdb/original/2024/0426/3317141030699447.jpg "[Column] Season 2 of special prosecutor probe may be coming to Korea soon")
[Column] Season 2 of special prosecutor probe may be coming to Korea soonThere’s something quite uncanny lying at the heart of this case — in fact, there’s something almost eerie about it. There’s no clear explanation, no shameless excuses, no plausible hypothesis, even though it’s almost been half a year since it happened.
Korea’s 1.3% growth in Q1 signals ‘textbook’ return to growth, says governmentPreliminary data released by the Bank of Korea on Thursday indicates that the country’s real economic growth in the first quarter was 1.3%, which was higher than expected. The presidential office and the Ministry of Economy and Finance immediately offered hopeful predictions that Korea has fully entered an economic recovery path led by the private sector.![[Editorial] Korea’s surprise Q1 growth requires objective assessment, not blind fanfare](https://flexible.img.hani.co.kr/flexible/normal/500/300/imgdb/original/2024/0426/2717141169770104.jpg "[Editorial] Korea’s surprise Q1 growth requires objective assessment, not blind fanfare")
[Editorial] Korea’s surprise Q1 growth requires objective assessment, not blind fanfareGovernment figures show that the Korean economy grew by more than expected in the first quarter of the year. Semiconductors drove a recovery in exports, and sluggish domestic demand also seems to be improving in private consumption and construction investment, among other areas. But it’s unclear whether this will lead to the kind of economic recovery that will make a difference for ordinary people.
Division commander ordered troops to enter raging flood waters before Marine died, survivor saysA Korean Marine who survived being caught up in the same raging waters that killed a fellow Marine while searching for flood victims in July 2023 has submitted a written opinion to investigators refuting the claim by the 1st Marine Division commander that he never ordered the search party to enter the waters.
Is N. Korea threatening to test nukes in response to possible new US-led sanctions body?North Korea’s vice foreign minister for US affairs announced on Thursday that new US-led sanctions against North Korea would be met with an “upper readjustment of force which the US is most afraid of.” In a press statement published by North Korea’s state-owned Korean Central News Agency, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Un-chol wrote, “The US is busy filling up a breach of tattered sanctions and pressure mechanism as its illegal existence, engaged in the supervision over implementation of the anti-DPRK sanctions resolutions for the past decade, has been put at stake in the UN.”
Is Japan about to snatch control of Line messenger from Korea’s Naver?Under pressure from the Japanese government, Japanese multinational investment holding firm SoftBank Group Corp. is in talks to purchase additional shares of A Holdings, a joint venture between SoftBank and Naver. A Holdings oversees operations of the Line messenger service and Yahoo Japan. If SoftBank purchases those shares, Naver will lose control over Line after contributing to its development for 13 years.
No good, very bad game for Korea puts it out of Olympics for first time since 1988Giving away the first goal of the game, the star player and coach getting ejected from the pitch, poor decision-making, and bad luck to boot. An agonizing defeat in the penalty shootout ended South Korea’s dreams of qualifying for their 10th consecutive Olympics, meaning Korea’s men’s team will not be at the games for the first time in 40 years.
N. Korean delegation’s trip to Iran shows how Pyongyang is leveraging ties with MoscowNorth Korea announced that a delegation headed by its minister of external economic relations had recently left on a visit to Iran. Both North Korea and Iran have close ties to Russia. Pyongyang now appears to be using its closeness with Moscow as leverage to expand its network of diplomatic pressure against Seoul.
‘We must say no’: Seoul defense chief on Korean, USFK involvement in hypothetical Taiwan crisisThe naval forces of South Korea, the US and Japan carried out a maritime exercise on April 11 and 12. A comparison of the press releases the three sides issued on April 12 shows subtle differences in terms of the objective and location they gave for the drills.
Amnesty notes ‘erosion’ of freedom of expression in Korea in annual human rights reportAmnesty International noted the continuous “erosion of rights to freedom of expression” in South Korea in its annual human rights report, released Wednesday. This week, Amnesty International released its “State of the World’s Human Rights” report, which examines the human rights situation in 155 countries. In the report, the group expressed concern over the state of human rights in general in South Korea. Each year, the group issues this comprehensive report that examines and analyzes the state of human rights at global, regional and national levels.![[Reportage] On US campuses, student risk arrest as they call for divestment from Israel](https://flexible.img.hani.co.kr/flexible/normal/500/300/imgdb/original/2024/0425/321714032189078.jpg "[Reportage] On US campuses, student risk arrest as they call for divestment from Israel")
[Reportage] On US campuses, student risk arrest as they call for divestment from Israel“Antisemitic? I’m Jewish, and my friend here is Jewish, too,” the protester objected, his eyes wide. I’d just noted that some critics say the encampment on the lawn of Columbia University, in Manhattan, New York, is antisemitic. “There are about 200 Jewish people who come and go from the encampment,” said the protester, who only identified himself as Ari.
Korea sees more deaths than births for 52nd consecutive month in FebruaryThe number of live births in Korea fell below 20,000 in February, a record low for the month. According to a report on population trends for February published by Statistics Korea on Wednesday, there were 19,362 live births that month, representing a 3.3% decrease from February of last year. That was the fewest live births in the month of February since the Korean government began tracking the figure in 1981, as well as the first time the February live births figure has dropped below 20,000.
‘Weddingflation’ breaks the bank for Korean couples-to-beA 36-year-old prospective groom surnamed Lee who is planning for a wedding next spring was shocked recently at the price of wedding hall rentals. In the space of just two years, the quotes for renowned halls in Seoul’s Seocho District had risen from the range of 30 million–40 million won to 50 million–60 million won.
Thursday to mark start of resignations by senior doctors amid standoff with governmentProfessors at medical colleges throughout Korea are ratcheting up the pressure on the government in protest of the state’s plan to increase the admissions quota for medical schools by warning that they will stop seeing patients one day a week or resign from their posts at the end of the month.![[Column] Park Geun-hye déjà vu in Yoon Suk-yeol](https://flexible.img.hani.co.kr/flexible/normal/500/300/imgdb/original/2024/0424/651713945113788.jpg "[Column] Park Geun-hye déjà vu in Yoon Suk-yeol")
[Column] Park Geun-hye déjà vu in Yoon Suk-yeolThe general elections in April ended in defeat for the ruling party. Appeals for the public to punish the opposition party went unheard. Pundits clamored that the president was responsible for the election loss. After a pause, the president seemed to reckon with the consequences. “Going forward, I will respect the will of the people with humility, while making the public livelihood the greatest priority of my administration,” the president said in a meeting of advisers.
Kim Jong-un expressed ‘satisfaction’ with nuclear counterstrike drill directed at SouthAccording to the Tuesday edition of North Korea’s state-run Rodong Sinmun, leader Kim Jong-un guided tactical training exercises that simulated a nuclear counterattack. The exercise reportedly included units assigned to Pyongyang’s 600 mm multiple launch rocket system (MLRS).![[Editorial] New weight of N. Korea’s nuclear threats makes dialogue all the more urgent](https://flexible.img.hani.co.kr/flexible/normal/500/300/imgdb/original/2024/0424/7317139454662664.jpg "[Editorial] New weight of N. Korea’s nuclear threats makes dialogue all the more urgent")
[Editorial] New weight of N. Korea’s nuclear threats makes dialogue all the more urgentNorth Korea conducted its first-ever counterattack drill with simulated nuclear warheads on 600 mm super-large multiple rocket launchers as part of its “Nuclear Trigger” system for comprehensive nuclear weapon management, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported. Coming in response to a joint South Korea-US aerial infiltration exercise reminiscent of a “decapitation drill,” the exercise amounted to the North answering with an overt nuclear threat.
N. Korean hackers breached 10 defense contractors in South for months, police saySouth Korean police found evidence pointing to a concerted attack against defense industry companies by North Korean hacking organizations including the Lazarus Group in order to obtain defense technology. The police also said the methods of attack had been varied, with numerous hacking organizations mobilized to target not only defense companies but also other businesses in partnership and outsourcing relationships with them.
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![[Column] Life on our Trisolaris](https://flexible.img.hani.co.kr/flexible/normal/500/300/imgdb/original/2024/0505/4817148682278544.jpg "[Column] Life on our Trisolaris")
[Column] Life on our Trisolaris- [Editorial] Penalties for airing allegations against Korea’s first lady endanger free press
- [Editorial] Yoon must halt procurement of SM-3 interceptor missiles
- [Guest essay] Maybe Korea’s rapid population decline is an opportunity, not a crisis
- [Column] Can Yoon steer diplomacy with Russia, China back on track?
- [Column] Season 2 of special prosecutor probe may be coming to Korea soon
- [Column] Park Geun-hye déjà vu in Yoon Suk-yeol
- [Editorial] New weight of N. Korea’s nuclear threats makes dialogue all the more urgent
- [Guest essay] The real reason Korea’s new right wants to dub Rhee a founding father
- [Column] ‘Choson’: Is it time we start referring to N. Korea in its own terms?
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