The Korea Times

Asia's natural disasters must not become financial crises

SINGAPORE — The catastrophic flooding in Nepal has demonstrated, once again, the devastating human and economic toll of climate change. The immediate priority must be to save lives and support affected communities. But the devastation also highlights how physical hazards can quickly morph into macroeconomic shocks. These events have different causes, and no single disaster should be casually attributed to El Niño or climate change. Nonetheless, the World Meteorological Organization expects a strong El Niño to intensify from August through October, increasing the likelihood of above-normal temperatures in much of the world and major shifts in rainfall. In Southeast Asia, El Niño often brings drier conditions and raises the risk of drought, wildfires, and haze, although its effects vary across countries and seasons. For policymakers, the imperative is to prepare for the economic chain reactions triggered by extreme weather events. Droughts, floods, and heat waves damage crops and infrastructure. In countries with inadequate food stocks, weak logistics, and concentrated import source

1d agoBy Yasuto Watanabe

Asia's natural disasters must not become financial crises

James Laney: The man who saw the bridge built

James T. Laney, the U.S. ambassador to Korea during President Bill Clinton’s first term, is widely credited with helping prevent war during the 1994 North Korean nuclear crisis by giving strong advice to Washington and suggesting to former President Jimmy Carter that he go to Pyongyang and meet personally with Kim Il Sung. Laney died in August at the age of 98. Luckily for us, before he died, he told us exactly what he had learned in nearly eight decades of being a dedicated friend of Korea and gave his unvarnished advice for Korea going forward. In March, Laney accepted the “Building Bridges Award” from the Pacific Century Institute in Los Angeles. He recounted his views on the two-way bridge Koreans and Americans had built over the decades. His ambassadorship was Laney’s third long stint living in Korea. He came the first time as a young 19-year-old soldier in 1947 serving in counterintelligence with Korean comrades. He fell in love with the determination and intelligence he observed in a country emerging from the depredations of colonialism and competition with the communist N

Sep 15, 2026By Spencer H. Kim

James Laney: The man who saw the bridge built

What U.S.' tariff push means for Korea's semiconductor industry

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s recent comments on semiconductor tariffs were clear: Build in America, and you won’t pay. If not, expect to pay to enter what he called “the greatest market in the world.” He also pointed to the administration’s approach to pharmaceuticals as a model, with 100 percent tariffs on patented drugs, followed by 100 percent tariffs on generic drugs after two years and 200 percent after three. The strategy is straightforward: threaten tariffs at a level high enough to encourage companies to move production to the United States. For Korea’s semiconductor industry, the question is no longer whether Washington intends to use tariffs as leverage, but how far it is prepared to go. After four decades representing businesses in high-stakes commercial disputes, including trade and tariff litigation across multiple jurisdictions, I have seen how quickly a government commitment can evolve into a legal problem. The current situation facing Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Korea’s broader semiconductor industry now risks escalating in the same way.

Sep 15, 2026By John B. Quinn

What U.S.' tariff push means for Korea's semiconductor industry

Dangerous drug myths and what evidence actually shows

Korea’s drug landscape has changed dramatically over the last 10 years, driven largely by rapid advances in digital technology. The use of smartphones and online platforms has made illicit drugs far more accessible, and public perceptions are being shaped more by fear, stereotypes and media sensationalism than by scientific evidence. Social media often portrays drugs as tools for productivity, relaxation or creativity. Some risks are exaggerated and others are dangerously underestimated. Effective prevention depends not only on government policies and law enforcement, but also on an informed public. This column examines common myths about illicit drugs in light of the scientific evidence, beginning with a common misunderstanding about controlled drugs. Although controlled drugs are often assumed to be universally illegal, many have well-established clinical uses. Morphine relieves severe postsurgical pain, and pharmaceutical fentanyl is essential in anesthesia and pain management. Methylphenidate has become a mainstay of ADHD treatment, and benzodiazepines are commonly prescribed for

Sep 14, 2026By Ma Kyung-hee and Kim Ji-woon

Dangerous drug myths and what evidence actually shows

AI Is reviving Chinese Marxist economics

ATHENS — As China embraced capitalism, its leading universities adopted mainstream Western textbooks to mold their students’ thinking about the economy. “Most of my colleagues pay only lip service to Marxism,” an economics professor in one of China’s top economics departments confessed to me. “Only a tiny minority take Marx seriously.” That was two years ago. Today, the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution is giving Chinese Marxist economics a mighty boost. Chinese Marxists have long feared that the country’s capitalist turn would lead it into the “rent trap” familiar from the North Atlantic economies: a period of asset-price inflation, a rapid slowdown, stagnation, deindustrialization, and social discord. When competition in the productive sectors drives profit rates down, rent-yielding property becomes more attractive to investors seeking the greatest risk-weighted return. The more wealth chases rents, the higher asset prices rise, and the faster wealth moves from industry to the rentier sector. Rent traps hollow out industry and turn once-proud industrial power

Sep 13, 2026By Yanis Varoufakis

AI Is reviving Chinese Marxist economics

Are the walls closing in on Bessent?

PARIS — U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has a packed agenda. Alongside trying to crash Iran’s economy, he is concerned about the cost of servicing federal debt, which surpassed 100 percent of GDP earlier this year. Interest payments on America’s debt have shot up to more than $1 trillion this year, exceeding annual U.S. defense spending. To keep a lid on Treasury yields, Bessent — who spent most of his career in capital markets, notably at Soros Fund Management, where he helped “break” the British pound in September 1992 — is now seeking to move market sentiment from the other side of the fence. First came a joint intervention by the U.S. and Japan to prop up a weak yen. To raise the dollars required on its own, Japan would have had to sell U.S. Treasuries. Japan is the largest holder of U.S. debt and has long been a reliable buyer, putting around 25 cents of every surplus dollar into Treasuries for the past two decades. A forced sale would have been a very public break from precedent. The next step revealed Bessent’s real concern. He suggested that, instead of sel

Sep 10, 2026By Paola Subacchi

Funding crisis leaves UN nuclear watchdog begging for resources

The 180-plus members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are meeting this month in Vienna amidst an ongoing financial crisis. In June, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi reported that if significant payments were not received soon, the agency would not be able to meet its legal obligations. The cause? The failure of the wealthiest members to pay their assessed dues on time. The United States and China account for 45 percent of the IAEA’s annual budget — roughly $250 million. Both have increasingly failed to make timely payments. At risk are services vital to international peace and security. IAEA is best known for its nuclear safeguards system, underpinning the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The key is on-site verification inspections and assessments of some 180 countries to confirm they are keeping their commitments not to acquire nuclear weapons. Some 800 highly trained IAEA inspectors conduct almost 3000 in-field verification activities each year. A major focus of their attention has been Iran’s nuclear activities. The bombing of Iran’s facilities in June 2025

Sep 9, 2026By John Tilemann and John Carlson

Funding crisis leaves UN nuclear watchdog begging for resources

How South, Southeast Asia fuel global cyberscam crisis

The American response to Southeast Asia's industrial-scale scam compounds has been vigorous, even theatrical at times, yet it remains incomplete. A coordinated crackdown announced in May restrained $701 million in cryptocurrency, seized 503 domains built to impersonate trading platforms and closed a Telegram channel with 6,500 followers recruiting for Cambodian compounds. In June, the Treasury added 35 targets to its Prince Group sanctions and FinCEN moved to sever the payment platform H-Pay from the American financial system. The numbers show capacity and political will. They also reveal the limits of an approach that still treats the problem as an offshore enterprise operating on Burmese or Cambodian soil. Designations and seizures have focused on foreign operators and a few Cambodian financial nodes. That framing is convenient and partly accurate. It is also insufficient. The labor that staffs the compounds and the corridors that move the proceeds after they leave a victim's account both run through economies that export workers and fail to police domestic mule networks. India and

Sep 8, 2026By Imran Khalid

How South, Southeast Asia fuel global cyberscam crisis

Korea's science diplomacy in the age of technopolitics

The power of traditional geopolitics is being challenged in the 21st century. Territory, natural resources and military power have long constituted — and remain — the principal foundations of national influence. But technological capabilities are becoming just as important, and sometimes more so, in shaping the fate of nations as they amplify geopolitical advantages, compensate for traditional disadvantages or reshape the balance of power. Science historian Gabrielle Hecht developed the concept of “technopolitics” to describe how political objectives could be embedded in the design of nuclear technology. Today, it encompasses the broader convergence of geopolitics and technology: states increasingly develop, control and employ technology not simply as an industrial asset, but as an instrument of political, economic, diplomatic and security strategies. This shift has become increasingly explicit in national strategy. Last August, the United States released its National Security Science and Technology Strategy, elevating science and technology to a central pillar of national secu

Sep 8, 2026By Park Jin

Korea's science diplomacy in the age of technopolitics

Sea power is cornerstone of economic security

As military tensions between the United States and Iran have intensified, global attention has once again turned to the Strait of Hormuz. Conflict in the Middle East is nothing new. However, this latest confrontation carries particular significance for Korea because its survival is directly linked to this narrow maritime passage. The Strait of Hormuz, connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, stretches approximately 160 kilometers in length and narrows to only about 50 kilometers at its tightest point. However, nearly 20 percent of the world's seaborne crude oil passes through this strategic chokepoint. A substantial portion of Korea's imported crude oil also transits the strait. Any blockade or significant disruption to maritime traffic would immediately send shockwaves through the Korean economy. Korea ranks among the world's top economies, yet it remains a classic maritime trading nation that depends heavily on overseas sources of energy and raw materials. More than 99 percent of the country's trade volume moves by sea. Oil, liquefied natural gas, iron ore, coal, grain and cou

Sep 8, 2026By Moon Keun-sik

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