The Korea Times close
National
  • Politics
  • Diplomacy
  • Defense
  • Labor & Environment
  • Law & Crime
  • Health & Welfare
  • Embassy
  • Seoul & Provinces
  • Education
  • Foreign Communities
  • Obituaries
  • Multicultural Youth Award
Biz & Tech
  • Auto
  • IT
  • Game
  • Manufacturing
  • Retail & Food
  • Energy
  • Construction
  • Airlines
Finance
  • Policies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Banks
  • Non-banks
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
Lifestyle
  • Arts
  • Books
  • Travel & Cuisine
  • Trend
  • Fashion
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
  • Translation Award
Entertainment
  • K-pop
  • K-dramas & Shows
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Performances
  • Asia Model Festival
Sports
  • Football
  • Golf
  • Baseball
  • Other Sports
World
  • Asia Pacific
  • Americas
  • Europe & Africa
  • SCMP
Video
  • On the Spot
  • Feature
  • News
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
Community
  • The Korea Times
  • all menu
  • search
  • facebookfacebook
  • twittertwitter
  • youtubeyoutube
  • Site Map
  • E-paper
  • Subscribe
  • Register
  • LogIn
search close
  • The Korea Times
  • all menu
  • search
  • facebookfacebook
  • twittertwitter
  • youtubeyoutube
  • Site Map
  • E-paper
  • Subscribe
  • Register
  • LogIn
search close
Opinion
Columnists
  • Park Moo-jong
  • Choi Sung-jin
  • Mark Peterson
  • Troy Stangarone
  • Tong Kim
  • Lee Seong-hyon
  • John Burton
  • Jason Lim
  • Donald Kirk
  • Kim Ji-myung
  • Hyon O'Brien
  • Deauwand Myers
  • Bernard Rowan
  • Casey Lartigue, Jr.
  • Stephen Costello
  • Semoon Chang
Thu, December 12, 2019 | 18:00
Kim Ji-myung
On diplomatic protocol
By Kim Ji-myung Neither the President of Korea nor of the United States seem to care much about diplomatic protocol, by what we have witnessed during their summit in Washington D.C.Before leaving Seoul, Wednesday, President Moon Jae-in asked his staff to reduce the level of protocol required in the seeing-off and welcoming-back processes. The size of the entourage from the Cabinet accompanying him was reportedly kept to a minimum.U.S. President Donald Trump, on his part, also seems to be the last person to pay attention to formalities. Upon their first encounter the two leaders may have...
2017-06-30 16:56
Thoughts on adult guardianship
“Check the family history of would-be in-laws before letting your child get married. Avoid families with members who frequent police stations and courtrooms.” This was a sort of common wisdom told by our elders. Maybe because of such indoctrination, I usually avoid stressful confrontations when they begin, rather than fighting for my rights. In Confucian teachings, ethics and virtue should guide human relations. A seemingly immediate loss in material or physical conflicts may turn out to be a victory in the long run. Settlement by law was always the second-best choice. However, the rustic ag...
2017-06-02 17:23
Talks on Korea behind Korea
It is not clear if Chinese leader Xi said that the Korean Peninsula “actually used to be a part of China.” What’s clear is that it was quoted by President Trump in an interview, and not a verbatim account of Xi’s explanation about Korea. And that the two spoke through interpreters. The White House did not make a clarification after this story belatedly went viral in Korea. Often Western media find the cause of widespread outrage among Koreans either in the undiplomatic expression of statements or in the Koreans themselves, who are particularly sensitive to external conditions amid heightened...
2017-05-05 17:21
Alexa and robot journalism
Alexa came to my house today. I have to wonder, how many of my Korea Times readers know her or not? Alexa is a “smart-machine servant,” programmed with artificial intelligence (AI), residing inside a simple wireless stand-alone speaker-like cylinder. She answers almost any question you can ask, after you simply call her name “Alexa.” I was impressed by her answers that extended beyond the usual simple retrieval of embedded information. When I asked “Alexa, who is the wife of the President of the United States?” she said “The first lady of the United States is Melania Trump.”
2017-04-07 17:36
Ontology for daily life
There are two kinds of people on this earth -- those who know about ontology and those who don't. Meanwhile, world history will soon be remembered as “before the internet” and “after the internet.” The two statements, presented in totally different vocabularies, describe the same world; however, it is no longer the same one we used to know. Machines have begun to understand what people speak or instruct, thanks to the many years of steady tutoring by humans. Terms like semantic web, digital data, autonomous learning, artificial intelligence (AI), and knowledge-sharing have been developed to ...
2017-03-10 17:58
Post-crisis prophecy of unification
“As for the future, your task is not to foresee, but to enable it,” said French novelist Saint-Exupery in his 1948 book The Wisdom of the Sands. But human beings want to know the future by nature, especially when that future seems quite uncertain. At present, the global community seems to be threatened by many new risks. Not only in Korea but in the United States, Europe, China and North Korea, the future is by no means clear.
2017-02-10 17:38
A Korean horse-story
“Do you ride horses?” I asked the man next to me, to break the ice. A group of Olympic leaders were on a tour of European cities to promote the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, about a year before the games, and an after-dinner performance of dressage was just about to start for the guests of honor from Korea. The performer sitting on horseback just then was the daughter of the host, a German businessman, and the Olympic-standard riding ground could be viewed through a glass wall from the audience seats inside the dining hall. The young woman was a dressage athlete hoping to compete in the coming...
2017-01-13 16:07
As first conference interpreter
"You have to learn English to learn Western without going through Japan." This was the advice Kim Ok-gyun gave Yoon Chi-ho in 1881 when they met in Tokyo.
2016-12-16 17:04
President problem or woman problem?
The ancient Chinese believed, according to feng-shui (pungsu in Korean, geomancy) philosophy, that the world changes in three sexagesimal cycles, every 180 years; Koreans also accepted this system. They termed these cycles in temporal order, as the upper cycle, followed by the middle cycle and then the lower cycle.
2016-11-18 17:09
Recording history in paintings
A professor at the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS) suddenly realized one day that twelve mural-sized oil paintings had always been hanging on the walls of the auditorium, library and other school buildings in AKS, but were totally ignored by people.
2016-10-21 17:19
123 4 5678910
WooriBank
Top 10 Stories
  • numberVoluntary departure: Re-entry to be allowed for illegal aliens who leave Korea by June
  • numberAir pollution chokes South Korea [PHOTOS]
  • numberBiegun may visit Panmungak for 'undisclosed meeting' with NK
  • number'Seoul becoming darling of city diplomacy'
  • numberJapanese Foreign Minister allegedly describes Korean counterpart Kang as 'decoration'
  • numberRobots set to replace bank clerks
  • numberMigrant workers paid in paper coupons by farm employer
  • numberE-mart in downsizing mode amid worsening profits
  • numberChina to grant subsidies on LG, SK's EV batteries
  • numberAmid defense cost talks impasse, US returns 4 military bases
DARKROOM
  • Children deserve better

    Children deserve better

  • Global climate change: time is running out

    Global climate change: time is running out

  • CA cave fire burns more than 4,300 acres

    CA cave fire burns more than 4,300 acres

  • No money, no hope: South Korea's 'Dirt Spoons'

    No money, no hope: South Korea's 'Dirt Spoons'

  • Hong Kong democrats score historic victory

    Hong Kong democrats score historic victory

  • About Korea Times
  • CEO Message
  • Times History
  • Content Sales
  • Media Kit
  • Contact Us
  • Location
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Mobile Service
  • RSS Service
  • Ombudsman
  • hankookilbo
  • Dongwha Group
  • Code of Ethics
Copyright