The Korea Times - Home

Site Map PDF Subscription Register LogIn
Site Map PDF Subscription Register LogIn

Sun, December 16, 2018 | 21:30

Opinion > Columnists > John Burton >

Trouble at Arirang TV

With the sudden resignation of the head of Arirang TV, President Park Geun-hye has the opportunity to reverse the decline of Korea's state-run international broadcaster that has happened under her watch.

John Burton | 2016-02-10 16:28

Chinese nightmare

What is interesting about the recent backlash against the videotaped apology of Chou Tzu-yu, the Taiwanese member of the K-pop girl group Twice, is how it has exposed the pitfalls of Korea’s economic dependence on China and the underlying unease this has created among Koreans.

John Burton | 2016-01-27 18:14

No good options

North Korea's latest nuclear test has underscored the challenges in stopping Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program. The North's biggest bargaining chip is not its military arsenal, but rather the fact that it occupies prime real estate in the center of one of the most dynamic regions in the world.

John Burton | 2016-01-13 16:33

Happy New Year?

Korea is entering the New Year with two key questions hanging over the economy. One is what will be the impact of the recent rise in U.S. interest rates? The other is what will be the impact of China's economic slowdown? The rise in U.S. interest rates poses a significant threat to countries, such as Turkey and Brazil, with large amounts of U.S. dollar-denominated government debt. They could experience a sovereign credit crisis similar to that Korea suffered in 1997.

John Burton | 2015-12-30 16:03

Finders keepers, losers weepers

Several Sundays ago, I returned from a business trip, laden with several bags, and immediately went to my office to do some work. After several hours, I left for home carrying the luggage, including a carry-on, a suit bag, a document bag and a computer bag.

John Burton | 2015-12-16 17:01

Indonesia's history lesson for Korea

As Korea continues to debate whether it should adopt state-authored history textbooks for middle and high school students and whether an "official" history is good history, perhaps it should study the example of how Indonesia has handled the most traumatic incident in its post-war history: the 1965 military coup that subsequently led to large-scale massacres.

John Burton | 2015-12-02 16:32

YS acted as'bridge' in transition

If one word summed up Kim Young-sam, it would be “bridge” in the sense that he served as a bridge between dictatorship and democracy, between Korea's status as a developing economy and an advanced one and as a bridge between the analog age and the digital age.

John Burton | 2015-11-25 16:48

As predicted, the campaign to select a new slogan to promote the capital city has turned into a debacle. A majority of Koreans and 70 percent of Seoulites have expressed displeasure about the selection of "I.SEOUL.U," according to an opinion survey. At least one major Korean newspaper has called for the campaign to be suspended. I understand that even some of those involved in the process are unhappy about the outcome.

John Burton | 2015-11-18 16:32

Park Chung-hee's place in history

One of the assumptions explaining why President Park Geun-hye and her conservative supporters are so intent on introducing a single government-authored history textbook for middle and high schools is that they want to correct distorted views of the president's father, Park Chung-hee. They claim that the current textbooks primarily portray Park Chung-hee as a pro-Japanese dictator who abused democratic and human rights while they largely ignore his contributions to making Korea an industrial powerhouse.

John Burton | 2015-11-04 16:14

Seoul's terrible new slogan

Seoul is becoming hip. A city that when I first arrived nearly 25 years ago had all the greyness and charisma of an East European Communist capital is now seen as cutting-edge. It is the epicenter of Asian pop culture with K-Pop bands, television soap operas, films and video game tournaments, while the city's citizens enjoy some of the fastest Internet speeds on earth. In short, Seoul has glamour and high-tech style.

John Burton | 2015-10-21 16:37

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Santa is everywhere