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Thoughts of the Times

Thoughts of the Times

Leveraging smart power in age of AI

Diplomacy has long been an essential instrument for conducting negotiations and managing relations, both among states and among private actors, even back in the Middle Ages. Today, diplomacy has evolved into the fundamental art of communication and negotiation among states, as well as among public and private groups. In times of peace, it contributes to the consolidation of stability and cooperation; in times of war, it plays a crucial role in preventing escalation and facilitating the restoration of peace. Diplomacy can be broadly categorized into several forms. State diplomacy manages a country's official foreign affairs; public diplomacy advances the interests and values of public and private groups through engagement with foreign publics; and personal diplomacy serves the interests of individual rulers, monarchs or authoritarian leaders. In the age of artificial intelligence (AI), however, the role of diplomacy is undergoing profound change. Traditional diplomatic practices are no longer sufficient in a world that has rapidly moved beyond the digital age into the AI era. The unpre

1h agoBy Heo Mane
Leveraging smart power in age of AI
Thoughts of the Times

A beautiful, rich life

We met in a theater class in college and became friends. Thanks to the friend who was a vegetarian, I became interested in veganism and began to read related books. I came to know how animals are raised and killed in the factory farming system, one of the major causes of ecosystem destruction. I gradually went vegan. Some people may think that going vegan will limit their lives. Nonetheless, it can be a way to live a beautiful, rich life. Two years ago, I stayed in Sinwol-ri in Inje, Gangwon Province. In the rural village, there was a sanctuary for five cows who were rescued from an unlicensed dog farm. Villagers and young vegan people were building a vegan community together. That autumn, I had an opportunity to experience rural life in the village with other vegans. Our mentor in the village said, “You can harvest any vegetables in my field freely.” We sometimes cooked and ate the fresh vegetables together. All the participants and our mentor were good chefs. They made sprout bibimbap with lettuce and pancakes with yellow squash flowers. The dishes they made included but were not

1d ago
A beautiful, rich life
Thoughts of the Times

The secrets of living well and dying happy

When I first came across a book titled "The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die," I brushed it aside. Are there really secrets to living well? The title struck me as another attempt to package ancient wisdom into a self-help formula. After all, people have wrestled with this question for a long time. Aristotle pondered what constitutes a good life. He argued that true happiness comes from fulfilling one's potential and living with purpose and virtue. A meaningful life, he suggested, is not measured by wealth or status but by becoming the best version of oneself through work, creativity, service and meaningful relationships. The question has accompanied me throughout my adult life. What was my life meant to fulfill? What was I uniquely supposed to accomplish in this world? Later, I encountered the writings of Viktor Frankl, a student of Freud and a survivor of Nazi concentration camps. Frankl believed that the search for meaning is the ultimate human drive. His insight resonated deeply with me. As I grow older, I find myself returning to these questions. How do we discover the

2d agoBy Shin Freedman
The secrets of living well and dying happy
Thoughts of the Times

Why did Jensen Huang refuse to see the future?

On the June 10 episode of tvN's "You Quiz on the Block," host Yoo Jae-suk asked Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to choose between perfect foresight and unbreakable resilience. Huang answered without hesitation: resilience. His reasoning was arithmetic. One option is impossible for any human to hold. The other anyone can be built. There was nothing to weigh. Set that beside the second question Yoo posed. Speak with your past self or your future self? Huang chose the future. He declined the chance to correct past mistakes and instead walked toward his future self. Two answers, one worldview. He does not try to reach back and control time. He bets on enduring whatever arrives and standing up again. Nvidia is the proof. In 2006, when the market was focused on graphics cards and nothing more, Huang poured a fortune into CUDA. For nearly a decade, investors looked away, and the company's value once fell below $10 billion. He has spoken often about the mid-1990s, when Nvidia came within weeks of collapse. He did not survive by predicting the artificial intelligence wave. He survived by surviving the

Jun 25, 2026By Choi Hee-jin
Why did Jensen Huang refuse to see the future?
Thoughts of the Times

Nostalgia on the rails

In the early 1960s, few families in Korea could afford a watch, television or even a radio. My parents, like many of their generation, relied on the distant whistle of a passing train to know when to begin their day. In those years, the railway was far more than a means of transportation; it was a dependable marker of daily life and a powerful symbol of modernity in a rapidly changing society. Yet Korea's rail story extends beyond the locomotives of older generations. Long before today's high-speed trains, trams introduced a new vision of urban mobility, bringing modern transportation directly into city streets. On the Korean Peninsula, this innovation arrived early. Seoul's first tram line began operations in 1899 during the 1897-1910 Korean Empire, connecting Seodaemun and Cheongnyangni along an 8-kilometer route. At the turn of the 20th century, the tram became a visible symbol of modernization and international engagement. For residents and foreign visitors alike, it reflected a city embracing new technologies while opening itself to the wider world. There is something romantic abou

Jun 24, 2026By Choe Chong-dae
Nostalgia on the rails
Thoughts of the Times

SpaceX public listing makes history

Way back on July 20, 1969, the United States made history when astronaut Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the moon and, with great drama, verbally confirmed the historic event back to earth. Now Elon Musk and SpaceX have achieved a somewhat comparable milestone. On June 12, the much-anticipated and highly-hyped initial public offering of SpaceX proved a success of stratospheric proportions. The stock quickly rose 19 percent. Musk has become the first trillionaire in history. Make that the first trillionaire on earth. Musk is anxious not only to explore other planets but also populate them. There is no doubt that he is a visionary, in multiple meanings of that term. When he talks, we should pay attention – though not necessarily agree. SpaceX quickly became the sixth most valuable publicly listed company, boasting a capitalization of $2.1 trillion. Shares began trading at $150, 11 percent above the initial public offering price of $135, The share price at the end of the first trading day was $160.95. Significantly, the five companies with greater initial value than SpaceX are all c

Jun 23, 2026By Arthur I. Cyr
SpaceX public listing makes history
Thoughts of the Times

Why travel matters

Since my youth, I have been curious about the world beyond the Korean Peninsula. Over time, that curiosity deepened into a longing to travel the world. In pursuit of that longing, I embarked on a career as an international banker, a path that eventually led me to become an avid traveler. To be more specific, my working life spanning 30-odd years was a succession of transfers. I relocated 11 times mostly crossing international borders to work successively in seven cities across four different countries. I also traveled to many parts of the world on business or for pleasure. In retirement, I go places, as I please. So far, I have set foot on all continents except Africa. Based on my own experience, I would like to illustrate why travel matters. Above all, travel deepens our understanding of life. We can learn about many countries of the world through diligent reading. Yet what we learn from books remains merely intellectual. Travel brings our knowledge vividly to life. When we walk through the streets of unfamiliar cities and observe how people live in different countries, the world that

Jun 22, 2026By Lee Hyon-soo
Why travel matters
Thoughts of the Times

Being in nature

Looking at flowers lets me be happy and peaceful. It is always a cheerful sight to see our neighbors taking care of flowers and plants here and there. When I take a walk in the mountains, what a joy to see a good man planting various flowers and taking care of them along the walking paths. In another nearby mountain ridge, there is a man who constantly tidies up the winding walking path by pulling weeds with an iron rake. One day, I asked him if he is a volunteer for an environmental protection group. He replied simply, “I am just exercising by pulling weeds.” While walking the trails, I observe farmers reclaiming a field at the foot of the mountains. Sometimes, I appreciate wild flowers blooming in their fields. Being surrounded by flowers and being friendly with nature always bring us much joy, hope and consolation. I think the spirit of being in nature and with nature has been inherited from Toegye Yi Hwang (1501-70). To him, nature was not a simple background, but an object of realizing human nature and cultivating the self sincerely. He believed that nature and humans are mirror

Jun 21, 2026By Kim Ae-ran
Being in nature
Thoughts of the Times

How should we live in an age of anxiety and exhaustion?

Alexis de Tocqueville once observed a peculiar melancholy lingering amid abundance. Nearly two centuries later, his insight feels relevant to contemporary Korea. Recently, I came across a social media post titled, “I love Korea, but I also dislike Korea.” It captured a familiar tension — affection for the warmth of "jeong" and the efficiency of everyday life, alongside discomfort with a culture marked by sharp competition, status-consciousness and the quiet normalization of social indifference. Beneath Korea’s success lies a question many are asking: What kind of society have we become? For generations, Koreans pursued self-improvement with determination, seeing hard work and discipline as pathways to dignity and social mobility. Yet beneath this achievement lies a persistent anxiety about inequality, insecurity and the future. These pressures shape institutions but also what sociologist Robert Bellah described as the moral and cultural dispositions that quietly guide how people think, value and relate to one another. In the Korean context, cultural critic Jin Joong-kwon identif

Jun 17, 2026By Chang Se-myeong
How should we live in an age of anxiety and exhaustion?
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