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Thu, June 21, 2018 | 07:25

Opinion > Columnists >

How to beat summer heat

We'll soon be on the three dog days of the Korean summer, known by the words “sambok” or “boknal.” They are 18 July, 28 July and 7 August. Chobok, joongbok, and malbok recall the cycle of Korean agriculture and respect for the seasons. These days, I read that many find ice cream, swimming, staying in the air-conditioning and other “cool approaches” to their liking. However, my seniors told me that to beat the heat in Korea (and elsewhere), we must pair heat with heat. An alternative idiom is “fight fire with fire.” This thinking may strike foreigners as strange, but try it. It doesn't work i...

Bernard Rowan | 2018-06-19 17:07

Crucial 30 months

Now that the postmortem on the summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un is almost over, it is time to talk about what should come next.

Choi Sung-jin | 2018-06-19 15:52

Is South Korea's only ally heading home?

Oh, irony of ironies. The United States Forces Korea _ USFK, which oversees 28,500 U.S. troops in South Korea _ is not under threat from a leftist South Korea government, nor from North Korean action, anger or hostility.

Andrew Salmon | 2018-06-18 18:36

Did you learn something today?

Walter Isaacson's remarkable 2017 biography of Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) concludes with a list of the key characteristics of the genius. Three of Leonardo's traits that particularly stood out for me were being constantly curious, observing everything in detail, and retaining a childlike sense of wonder.

Hyon O'Brien | 2018-06-17 17:31

Beginning of denuclearization process

The outcome of the historic U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore was met by an outpouring of comments _ mostly negative for the lack of specificity in the signed joint statement, doubting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's “firm and unswerving” commitment to “the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

Tong Kim | 2018-06-15 17:04

Showing off at the summit

SINGAPORE _ Style triumphed over substance in a summit of imagery and optics that left you wondering, why did they bother?

Donald Kirk | 2018-06-14 16:41

How to enjoy World Cup

Where has the World Cup (in Russia) gone? Many people asked this of each other ahead of the opening of the FIFA World Cup Russia, somewhat surprised by the unexpected lackluster atmosphere in a country which hosted the global football festival for tremendous success 16 years ago in 2002 together with Japan.

Park Moo-jong | 2018-06-14 16:33

Kim Jong-un: May we dare to hope?

Reaction in South Korea, and indeed across the world, to the first summit between the leaders of the United States and North Korea has, as you would expect in this age of social media, been loud and mixed. But if you cut away opinion, which is set alight by reluctance to credit the players - North Korea's Kim Jong-un, U.S. President Donald Trump and, here in South Korea, President Moon Jae-in - and if you discount the impatient expectation of some kind of Versailles-peace-treaty-in-a-day - there is a common thread to the reaction.

Michael Breen | 2018-06-13 13:46

Can Trump 'pass up' Xi to work with Kim?

This week marks 25 years since former U.S. President Jimmy Carter negotiated a deal with North Korea in which Pyongyang committed to freezing its burgeoning nuclear weapons program and engage in high-level negotiations with Washington. The deal didn't last because then North Korean leader Kim Il-sung met an abrupt death only a month later.

Lee Seong-hyon | 2018-06-12 16:31

Will US get out of the way?

The unlikely spectacle unfolding in Singapore this month, with the leaders of North Korea and the U.S. meeting in an attempt to bridge differences that have persisted for over 60 years, provokes great confusion.

Stephen Costello | 2018-06-12 09:42

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