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Time to rein in youth social media use

Smartphones and social media have become inseparable from young people's daily lives, serving as primary gateways to learning, entertainment and social interaction. But their benefits come with growing costs: addiction, anxiety, declining academic performance, cyberbullying and exposure to harmful content. Korea can no longer afford to ignore these risks. It is time to begin a serious discussion about introducing reasonable safeguards for minors' use of social media. Recent developments in the education sector underscore the growing urgency of the issue. Newly elected superintendents across the country have embraced "smartphone-free schools" as a key policy. Gyeonggi Province plans to restrict mobile phone use not only during classes but also throughout breaks and lunchtime, while Gangwon and North Jeolla provinces are rolling out smartphone-free school initiatives and digital detox programs. These are more than educational experiments. Schools have increasingly reported that excessive smartphone use disrupts learning, fuels conflicts among students and facilitates cyberbullying. Altho

3 MIN READBy Kang Seung-woo

Korea's long wait for equality law

June is Pride Month and in much of the developed world, the rainbow flag is hard to miss — draped across public buildings as well as corporate storefronts. In Korea, it is harder to find. Beyond the Seoul Queer Culture Festival and its parade, the rainbows symbolizing the LGBTQ+ community are largely absent. Even Korean companies that create Pride campaigns for their overseas markets tend to stay quiet at home, wary of the backlash that such public support can invite. That reticence reflects a deeper gap. Korea remains one of only two OECD members, alongside Japan, without a comprehensive anti-discrimination law. Rep. Son Sol of the Progressive Party introduced a bill in January, followed by Rep. Chung Choon-saeng of the Rebuilding Korea Party in February. Gender Equality Minister Won Min-kyong also pledged her support. Yet the law remains unrealized, deferred once again on the familiar grounds that society has not reached a consensus. The comparison with Korea's neighbors makes the lag sharper. Japan, the other OECD holdout, has no national equality statute either, but municipal par

3 MIN READBy Kwon Mee-yoo

ON FAKE NEWS The fine line between policing facts and silencing critics

New revisions to the Information and Communications Network Act, which will take effect in July, will hand Korea one of the most decisive legal tools yet devised against online falsehoods. For a country that has watched deepfakes and manipulated clips spread faster than fact-checkers can debunk them, this is surely a step worth welcoming. But it also deserves to be implemented with care, so that a sound principle does not curdle into overreach. The revision targets influential online information producers, such as YouTubers with more than 100,000 subscribers or creators averaging over 100,000 monthly views. If such creators knowingly spread false or fabricated information and cause harm, they now face punitive financial damages of up to five times the loss incurred. Large platforms, defined as those with over a million daily users on average, must also establish formal reporting and response systems for disinformation. The case for action is persuasive. The Hyundai Research Institute has estimated that fake news costs the Korean economy roughly 30 trillion won annually, about 1.9 perce

4 MIN READBy Park Jin-wan

Olympic Park rallies: Peace is more powerful than violence

Korea’s younger generations have demonstrated how collective action can unite a community rather than divide it. Their creative, caring rallies offer a glimpse of hope in an increasingly fragmented world. While protesting what they view as violations of citizens’ voting rights in the June 3 local elections, they have organized rallies that are interactive and engaging. At Olympic Park in Seoul’s southern Songpa District, tens of thousands of citizens — many in their 20s and 30s — have gathered daily since June 4, the day after local elections were held nationwide. They chant slogans urging politicians to overhaul the National Election Commission (NEC) and demanding that local elections be redone. Instead of carrying professionally printed banners, many participants hold handwritten signs. When the rallies conclude, volunteers collect trash and clean the venue, helping to keep the area safe and welcoming. Olympic Park has evolved into a caring community. A man who introduced himself as having a science Ph.D. offers free math tutoring to school-age children accompanying their par

4 MIN READBy Kang Hyun-kyung

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7 lessons to escape a world in disorder

Our international environment today is as chaotic, disorderly and bleak as any of us can remember. The last decade or more has been a far cry from the cooperation and optimism that generally prevailed in the first two decades after the end of the Cold War. The litany of what has gone wrong is long. We have seen an erosion of respect, especially by the biggest powers, for international law, multilateral institutions and processes. We have witnessed the waging of aggressive war in Ukraine and Iran, the militarization of the South China Sea, paralysis in the U.N. Security Council and a collapse of development assistance funding. The United States has withdrawn from multiple international agencies, and retreated from the World Trade Organization while adopting trade coercion. There has been a failure of response to mass atrocity crimes, assaults on the International Criminal Court and weakness in collective responses to the great existential threats of climate change, pandemics and nuclear war. Nuclear arms control agreements are either dead, dying or on life support, and no solutions hav

9h agoBy Gareth Evans
7 lessons to escape a world in disorder
Desk Columns

Time to rein in youth social media use

Smartphones and social media have become inseparable from young people's daily lives, serving as primary gateways to learning, entertainment and social interaction. But their benefits come with growing costs: addiction, anxiety, declining academic performance, cyberbullying and exposure to harmful content. Korea can no longer afford to ignore these risks. It is time to begin a serious discussion about introducing reasonable safeguards for minors' use of social media. Recent developments in the education sector underscore the growing urgency of the issue. Newly elected superintendents across the country have embraced "smartphone-free schools" as a key policy. Gyeonggi Province plans to restrict mobile phone use not only during classes but also throughout breaks and lunchtime, while Gangwon and North Jeolla provinces are rolling out smartphone-free school initiatives and digital detox programs. These are more than educational experiments. Schools have increasingly reported that excessive smartphone use disrupts learning, fuels conflicts among students and facilitates cyberbullying. Altho

11h agoBy Kang Seung-woo
Time to rein in youth social media use
Park Jung-won

Lee Jae Myung faces his moment of truth

Politics can be remarkably unforgiving. Just a few months ago, President Lee Jae Myung appeared to be governing with extraordinary confidence. He televised live Cabinet meetings, openly reprimanded ministers and insisted that his administration would be guided by pragmatism rather than ideology. He spoke confidently about revitalizing the stock market so that ordinary citizens could receive regular dividend income from their investments. He accused the previous administration of undermining democracy and the constitutional order, presenting his own election as the beginning of a new political era. His consistently strong approval ratings seemed to validate that image. However, public expectations have a way of colliding with political reality. The political atmosphere changed rapidly after the local elections. Lee’s ruling party failed to achieve the results it had anticipated, and the outcome of the Seoul mayoral election sent unmistakable signals that public sentiment was beginning to shift. Matters became even more complicated when controversy erupted over failures in election adm

1d agoBy Park Jung-won
Lee Jae Myung faces his moment of truth
Guest Columns

The evolving Europe-Korea strategic partnership: A view from Brussels and Berlin

I have recently been conducting research and holding meetings with senior officials in Brussels and Berlin. I arrived shortly after the summit between Lee Jae Myung and European Union leaders, which began a swing through Europe for the Korean president. Lee had a packed agenda: an EU-Korea summit, bilateral summits with the Belgian and Italian prime ministers, an audience with Pope Leo XIV and attendance at the G7 leaders’ meeting in France. As former EU ambassador to Korea Michael Reiterer put it, “a Korean president spending 10 consecutive days in Europe sticks out.” Indeed, after 18 months of relative torpor in Europe-Korea relations, Lee’s visit marked a step forward. Above all, it was a moment for strategic partners to take stock of a mature relationship that had suffered deprioritization due to recent distractions — notably Europe’s focus on Russia and Seoul’s reestablishing of political normalcy following former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law folly. My time in Brussels and Berlin thus came at the right moment, and provided a timely opportunity to hold disc

1d ago
The evolving Europe-Korea strategic partnership: A view from Brussels and Berlin
Tribune Service

America is not ‘one nation under God’

On July 4, America will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a document that throws off the yoke of a divinely appointed ruler. But President Donald Trump is exploiting this occasion to promote a revisionist history of America as “one nation under God.” These words, importantly, appear nowhere in the declaration. It wasn’t until 1954, during the height of the Cold War, that the words “under God” were added to the Pledge of Allegiance after heavy lobbying of Congress by religious groups and clergy. Similarly, “In God We Trust” was adopted as the nation’s motto in 1956. Those who insist America is “one nation under God” or even a “Christian nation” look to the Declaration of Independence as proof. Presumably, this is because it contains four passing references to deity: “Nature’s God,” “Creator,” “Providence” and “Supreme Judge of the world.” Thomas Jefferson’s original draft of this document, archived at the Library of Congress, has only one deistic reference, to “the laws of nature & nature’s g

1d agoBy Annie Laurie Gaylor
Guest Columns

The promise and peril of AGI

NEW DELHI — The prospect of artificial general intelligence (AGI) — systems capable of performing any human cognitive task — has inspired both hope and anxiety. While AGI could usher in an unprecedented increase in global living standards, it could also sharply reduce demand for human labor, fueling unemployment, social unrest, and conflict. Much of the AI debate in recent years has swung between these two extremes. Strikingly, one of the most insightful analyses of the promise and peril of AGI came from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. In a blog post originally published in 2023 and updated in 2025, Altman displayed a measure of philosophical skepticism uncommon among tech optimists. “We want AGI to empower humanity to maximally flourish in the universe,” he wrote, while recognizing that doing so would require “successfully navigating massive risks.” To be sure, some skepticism is warranted when assessing the potential benefits of technological advances. Since the Enlightenment, humanity has increasingly rejected superstition and dogma in favor of the skeptical spirit of scientifi

1d agoBy Kaushik Basu
The promise and peril of AGI
Guest Columns

New risks lurk for Korea-US shipbuilding partnership

On June 5, U.S.Rep. Jared Golden's amendment passed the House Armed Services Committee as part of the FY 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), now heading to a House vote. Intended to promote the U.S. domestic shipbuilding industry, the amendment prohibits any FY 2027 NDAA funds from being used to obtain battle force ships and parts built in foreign shipyards. Historically, the U.S. Navy has never purchased a battle force ship from a foreign country. This practice is also codified in existing law: Under 10 U.S.C. 8679, the military is generally prohibited from procuring major components of the hull or superstructure of any such vessel from foreign shipyards. The Golden amendment would close off any remaining flexibility, prohibiting foreign procurement of battle force ships and parts entirely. The problem is that the ban the amendment proposes directly goes against where U.S. defense strategy has been heading. Facing workforce shortages, the U.S. ability to sustain sea operations through battle force and commercial ships is a known vulnerability across the Pacific. According

1d agoBy Daniel Choi
New risks lurk for Korea-US shipbuilding partnership
Eugene Lee

Community vs. 'Epstein class'

Over the course of a week, I speak with many people from different walks of life. Our discussions about social changes have become heated, especially after the last elections — or rather failures tied to them and whether public institutions still understand responsibility. From my observations, a new trend is emerging to describe this change in the society. I would like to borrow one phrase now circulating in American political language to explain the mood: “Epstein class.” The concept can be used in two ways. The first way refers to the super-rich, who act as if ordinary rules do not apply to them. The second one, I use as a description of elite impunity. This class penetrates state bureaucracy, public agencies, party structures, an invisible nepotistic elite with connections extending to media and universities. The second type is quieter and therefore harder to confront. It is insulated and less visible, and the extent of it is much deeper. It reproduces itself across generations, not always through open corruption, but through access, protection and silence. It has become more

2d agoBy Eugene Lee
Community vs. 'Epstein class'
Chun In-bum

As threats converge, Seoul must turn to like-minded partners

The long-awaited return of a joint Search and Rescue Exercise (SAREX) between the Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force in the East China Sea was confirmed earlier this month. After nine years, the exercise on June 7 represented an important change in the security framework in the region and a sign of improved relations between two of its leading powers. Since taking office in June 2025, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has been re-evaluating the country’s foreign policy and approach to defense cooperation. He has advocated for a pragmatic approach to foreign policy, with decision-making informed by a rigorous assessment of the strategic environment. That assessment reflects the reality of a security environment that continues to deteriorate. The persistent threat posed by North Korea continues to shape South Korea’s strategic calculations, particularly as Pyongyang advances its nuclear capabilities. North Korea has already conducted six nuclear tests and is developing a diverse range of weapons of mass destruction, from intercontinental balli

2d agoBy Chun In-bum
Tribune Service

Graduates cheered Steve Wozniak’s affirmation of humans over AI. Leaders, pay attention

I was seated onstage at Grand Valley State University’s commencement when Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak leaned into the microphone and reframed the entire conversation about artificial intelligence in six words. “You all have AI — actual intelligence.” The arena erupted. Not polite applause — genuine, full-throated cheering from thousands of graduates who had spent years being told AI was coming for their futures. What Wozniak gave them was something conspicuously missing from most public conversation about AI and work: a direct affirmation that human intelligence isn’t a liability to be managed. It’s the point. That moment didn’t happen in isolation. This spring’s commencement season produced a striking pattern. At the University of Central Florida, a speaker promoting AI was booed so overwhelmingly she stopped mid-speech. A CEO who told Middle Tennessee State University students to “deal with” AI was jeered, then he taunted them — which made it worse. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was interrupted by roars of displeasure at the University of Arizona after invo

2d agoBy Philomena V. Mantella
Graduates cheered Steve Wozniak’s affirmation of humans over AI. Leaders, pay attention
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