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Korea's new figure skating sensation

Kudos to Choi Ha-bin! The 16-year-old figure skater achieved a stunning upset victory in the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Riga, Latvia, last week. He finished fifth in the short program after making a mistake on his second jump combination. However, his spellbinding performance in the free program propelled him to a come-from-behind victory. He earned a personal-best score of 170.20 points, nearly eight points shy of the score earned by last year’s World Championship winner, Rio Nakata. Videos showcasing his performances have since gone viral. His victory has also brought encouraging news. Overseas experts have begun comparing Choi to reigning world champion Ilia Malinin. Known among Korean figure skating fans as the “Quad God” for his mastery of highly difficult jumps, Malinin, a 2026 Olympic Games team event gold medalist and three-time world champion, is a living legend in figure skating. Ted Barton, a commentator featured on the ISU’s Skating YouTube channel, praised Choi for his marvelous free skate. “Sometimes it’s difficult to find the words in any languag

15h agoBy Kang Hyun-kyung
Korea's new figure skating sensation
Desk Columns

COLUMN Good housing needs back-to-basics approach

There is renewed and intense focus on increasing the housing supply in Seoul. Officials in the Lee Jae Myung administration describe its housing policy as "dakgong," which in Korean both literally and figuratively means "shut up and supply." In early August, the government announced that it has plan to supply some 230,000 units, about 100,000 of which will come from designated public housing districts in the greater Seoul area. Just how the administration will do that has prompted questions about what makes for good housing. Seoul, the capital city replete with jobs, a strong public transportation system and other infrastructure, is crowded. Finding the right housing — rental or owned — that both fits within your budget and satisfies your needs is a tall order. On the house hunt for more than three decades, this writer was fortunate to have lived in a "guchuk," or apartment built in old style, block concrete with outdoor corridors. The structure of the apartment allowed for natural ventilation when windows on the veranda and the back corridor were opened simultaneously. Trees plante

Aug 21, 2026By Kim Ji-soo
[COLUMN] Good housing needs back-to-basics approach
Desk Columns

OPINION Trump's Korea gamble: Putting politics ahead of vital alliance

U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest moves on the Korean Peninsula should alarm Seoul — not because Washington is considering renewed dialogue with Pyongyang, but because the president appears increasingly willing to subordinate a longstanding alliance to short-term political calculations. On the eve of the annual South Korea-U.S. military exercise, Trump ordered the Pentagon to “substantially” scale back the drills, citing their cost and allegedly provocative nature. More revealingly, he invoked his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. He also complained that President Lee Jae Myung had declined his request for South Korean support for U.S.' military campaign against Iran. A day later, Trump said Kim had responded to his latest outreach for dialogue. The timing is difficult to dismiss as coincidence. Trump appears to be reviving the playbook of his first term: reduce military pressure on North Korea, emphasize his personal rapport with Kim and seek a dramatic leader-to-leader bargain. But the circumstances have changed profoundly. North Korea is mo

Aug 19, 2026By Shim Jae-yun
[OPINION] Trump's Korea gamble: Putting politics ahead of vital alliance
Desk Columns

Hallyu meets heritage

The world's biggest pop group could have chosen virtually any backdrop for its latest teaser. Instead, BTS stood beneath the graceful eaves of Seonhyewon, a centuries-old hanok, a traditional wooden courtyard house, in Seoul, where polished floors, paper doors and quiet open space carried as much visual weight as the seven members themselves. It was a setting built not for spectacle but for reflection — an unlikely stage for one of the world's most recognizable entertainment acts. Built for reflection, contemplation and the slow rhythm of daily life, these traditional structures are increasingly serving as stages for global pop culture — broadcasting carefully crafted performances to millions around the world. That evolution hints at the next chapter of hallyu, the Korean wave that has propelled Korea's popular culture onto the global stage. For more than two decades, Korea's cultural success was measured largely by export metrics — streaming figures, overseas box-office receipts and positions on global music charts. Traditional culture often appeared as visual decoration, featured

Jul 22, 2026By Samuel Len
Hallyu meets heritage
Desk Columns

A century of loving silence

Manhae Han Yong-un (1879-1944) was a remarkable man. He was a Buddhist monk, a thinker, a radical reformer of Korean Buddhism, a poet, a novelist and a major figure in the struggle for Korean independence. He cared passionately about younger generations growing up in a rapidly changing land, deprived of its true identity. He was born on Aug. 29, 1879. On Aug. 29, 1910, Korea was officially annexed by Japan. On Aug. 29, 1926, Manhae published the collection of poems for which he is best remembered, "Nimui Chinmuk." His birth name was Han Yu-cheon. In 1905, when he became a Buddhist monk, his meditation master gave him the name Yong-un (Dragon Cloud). Manhae (Ten thousand seas) was his pen-name. "Nimui Chinmuk" was published just 100 ago this year. Celebrations have been organized, but we might wonder how many Koreans today spend much time reading its 88 poems, written in a language which is far removed from the Korean spoken or written today. But those who grew up reading it in Korean language textbooks in school never quite forget the resonance the poem of same title evoked. On the cen

Jul 15, 2026By Brother Anthony
A century of loving silence
Desk Columns

Learning for the love of it

There is something striking about how learning is approached in Korea. Whether it’s sports, art or even casual reading, the question is not “do you enjoy it” but rather “how good are you at it?” Take tennis for example. When my daughter was looking for tennis lessons, it was surprisingly difficult to find a “normal” instructor. For someone picking up a racket for the very first time, the idea was to try it out, experiment and improve gradually. Yet in Korea, there is often immediate expectation to learn “properly” — from a certified coach, a former national-level player or someone with formal credentials. The idea of casual, imperfect learning can feel almost insufficient. At first glance, this emphasis on quality and expertise seems admirable. After all, Korea is known globally for its high standards and discipline. Yet, somewhere along the way, something important got lost: the joy of learning itself. Learning is inherently a process. It’s messy, inefficient and deeply personal. But in environments that prioritize “elite” standards from the very beginning, le

Jul 9, 2026
Learning for the love of it
Desk Columns

Stock market gains will ultimately flow into housing

President Lee Jae Myung’s high-profile pledge to divert liquidity from Seoul’s overheated housing market to the stock market seems to have worked as the main benchmark KOSPI has soared past 9,000 points in recent weeks, driven largely by massive retail buying. On top of several policy changes over the past year aimed at mitigating the “Korea discount,” the local equity market has received a much-needed boost from the semiconductor boom, fueled by the unprecedented memory chip demand from global tech firms for artificial intelligence. Shares of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, which now account for nearly 60 percent of the country’s market capitalization, have soared to all-time highs since the beginning of the year. But some investors have become increasingly uneasy as to whether the semiconductor cycle may have peaked despite the rosy market outlook, while others have become nervous due to sharp market swings following the debut of single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds tied to the two memory chip giants on May 27. Against such growing market volatility, many investors

Jul 8, 2026By Lee Hyo-sik
Stock market gains will ultimately flow into housing
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

Jul 1, 2026By Kang Seung-woo
Time to rein in youth social media use
Desk Columns

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

Jun 24, 2026By Kwon Mee-yoo
Korea's long wait for equality law
Desk Columns

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

Jun 22, 2026By Park Jin-wan
[ON FAKE NEWS] The fine line between policing facts and silencing critics
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