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Jason Lim

Jason Lim is a Washington, D.C.-based expert on innovation, leadership and organizational culture. He has been writing for The Korea Times since 2006.

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Jason Lim

How dare coffee?!

"How dare coffee?!" Those were the words uttered by a TV news anchor in a clip that went viral in Korea. He was condemning the perfidy of Starbucks in making light of the May 18, 1980 Gwangju Massacre by the military forces of Chun Doo-hwan. Despite the ubiquity of Starbucks in the most coffee-crazed country in the world, an insensitive “Tank Day” promotion accompanied by a slogan that reminded people of an infamous torturer’s callous remarks about a student democracy demonstrator he had murdered in the 1980s — saying, “I tapped the table and he died” — was enough to bring down the collective wrath of the Korean people. Starbucks Korea apologized, the CEO was fired and the controversy reignited a broader discussion about collective memory, historical trauma and the boundaries of humor. This controversy offers a reminder that history does not fade at the same pace for everyone. What may have appeared to marketers as a clever promotional theme involving military tanks was interpreted by many South Koreans as an unforgivable reference to a painful chapter of modern Korean hi

2d agoBy Jason Lim
How dare coffee?!
Jason Lim

Is it Claude or Claudia?

I recently read the fascinating account of how Richard Dawkins, the famous author of the "God Delusion" and highly respected skeptic, spent several days speaking with an artificial intelligence (AI) bot named Claudia and “left with the overwhelming feeling that they are human … These intelligent beings are at least as competent as any evolved organism.” Consciousness in AI bots is too hazardous a topic for me to wade in. I know the shallow nature of my intellectual power too well to want to engage in that type of discussion. However, I did come away with a lingering question: Why did Dawkins call his AI Bot, Claudia? Why did he think it was a girl? This naturally led to the question of what human form comes to my own mind when I engage with large language models (LLMs) like Chat GPT and Claude. I was shocked to realize that I have been visualizing a white male in his 30s, clean cut, highly educated, looking fairly preppy, with little or no facial hair, a full head of light colored hair, maybe horn-rimmed glasses but no sunglasses … and so on. I was literally picturing an idealiz

May 7, 2026By Jason Lim
Is it Claude or Claudia?
Jason Lim

Evolution of the quiet mind: Why meditation matters in the age of AI

The 2nd World Meditation Day Forum, held in Seoul on March 20 to 21, marked an important moment in the global evolution of meditation from a primarily spiritual discipline into a field shaped by science, public policy and cross-cultural collaboration. Convened under the theme, “The Unified Mind: Bridging Science and Tradition for the Future of Meditation,” the forum brought together religious leaders, neuroscientists, clinicians and policymakers from around the world. More than a conventional gathering, it reflected a clear shift in how meditation is understood and applied in the 21st century, emphasizing both personal transformation as well as collective well-being and global relevance. At first glance, the keynote featuring the Most Ven. Hyeguk, the leading meditation practitioner in Korea as the keeper of the Ganhwa Seon tradition of Korean Zen meditation, might have seemed like an oxymoron for an event in which the central outcome was about the further evolution of meditation as it transitions from dialogue to integration. Or, perhaps, the intent was to precisely show that the

Apr 2, 2026By Jason Lim
Evolution of the quiet mind: Why meditation matters in the age of AI
Jason Lim

Growth is really easy; it’s the distribution that’s hard

Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, offered a deceptively simple line in a recent interview, saying that “growth and economic value will come very easily” with powerful artificial intelligence (AI), but “distribution of benefits, distribution of wealth, political freedom” will not. That sentence captures the core risks of the AI era. There are very convincing arguments that claim the root of societal collapse is the inequality of wealth and power among its citizens. AI supercharges that inequality to a level that we have never known. It’s not whether AI will be transformative. It will. The problem is whether the incentives governing AI will pull society toward cohesion or fracture. Three forces are converging: AI monetization via advertising, AI-driven disruption of current economic and sociopolitical infrastructure, and the rise of agentic systems that act autonomously in domains where human governance moves too slowly. Frontier AI is expensive. We’ve all seen investment numbers that defy understanding. Training, serving and scaling models requires capital and compute at a

Feb 23, 2026By Jason Lim
Growth is really easy; it’s the distribution that’s hard
Jason Lim

K-ritual: How Korea rewrote Valentine’s Day

Last weekend, my wife and I went shopping at Costco, a timeless weekend ritual. There, we saw rows of vases with flowers and realized that another ritual, Valentine’s Day, was imminently upon us. Every Feb. 14, people around the world participate in a ritual that feels timeless. Roses are purchased by the millions. Chocolates are carefully selected. Restaurants fill. In Korea, women give chocolates on Valentine’s Day, and one month later men reciprocate on White Day. To many, this feels natural, inevitable — as if romance itself demands such gestures. But Valentine’s Day (much like Christmas) is an evolving story — a tapestry woven from pagan rites, religious adaptation, medieval poetry, industrial marketing and modern consumer culture. Its evolution and endurance tell us something profound about human beings: We are the only animals whose belief in shared stories can shape reality that often transcends even our biology. A quick search will tell you that the origins of Valentine's Day lie far from heart-shaped boxes. In ancient Rome, mid-February was marked by Lupercalia, a fe

Feb 12, 2026By Jason Lim
K-ritual: How Korea rewrote Valentine’s Day
Jason Lim

Happy anniversary but let’s not do this again!

We recently noted our 15th wedding anniversary. I said, “noted” and not “celebrated” since we actually didn’t even notice that it was our 15th anniversary. Having said that, we are still happily married, churning together in a life that keeps us constantly occupied and harried with the business of just living. So, I had to chuckle when I came across a Washington Post article that introduced a concept both amusing and revealing: the “airport divorce.” Some couples, the article explains, have learned to preserve peace while traveling by separating at the airport. One partner arrives early, savoring quiet coffee and control. The other arrives late, energized by spontaneity. They reunite at the gate or on the plane, having avoided unnecessary conflict. It is an ingenious solution, and perhaps even a healthy one in moderation. But beneath the humor lies a deeper truth about modern relationships — one that resonates strongly in South Korea today. The airport divorce is not really about travel. It is about how contemporary couples struggle to remain emotionally resilient and p

Jan 19, 2026By Jason Lim
Happy anniversary but let’s not do this again!
Jason Lim

Did AI cause Connecticut murder-suicide?

I recently read something on social media that lingered with me. A young mother posted the following: “What’s the one thing that makes your husband into a hero in your eyes? When he resolutely tells his parents who came to visit us that we are going away for a few days on R&R while they take care of our baby.” I get it. This was an opportunity for tired young parents to get away for a few days to pamper themselves and potentially rekindle their marriage. I wouldn’t begrudge them such joy. However, I couldn’t help noticing that the underlying sentiment that made this post so popular was that the elderly parents should pay for the privilege of social contact with their son’s family by serving as their child care provider. There was a certain spiteful and miserly tone to allowing family time with loves ones, which has become a privilege to be earned by being productive. A value add. No wonder we are living in a world of increasing loneliness. God save you if you are old, poor, mentally ill or otherwise disabled or vulnerable by the vagaries of life. Industrialized societies ha

Dec 30, 2025By Jason Lim
Did AI cause Connecticut murder-suicide?
Jason Lim

Colorless sense of possibility

As is our family’s routine for Thanksgiving, we drove to New York city where I grew up, and my parents and brother still live. It was a routine drive from Northern Virginia to the city along the I-95, something that I’ve done hundreds of times. This time, however, it struck me how the cars on the road formed a monochrome sea of white, black, gray and silver. The occasional navy or muted green appeared, but vibrant reds, sunny yellows, pastel blues and warm earth tones were nowhere to be found. This quiet palette stands in stark contrast to the colorful automotive landscape of the 1970s, 1980s and even 1990s when New York's streets showcased a wider spectrum of hues. Back then, bright oranges and greens were not uncommon, and a first car often came in a cheerful color that felt like a small celebration of upward mobility. For example, mine was a flashing space blue Subaru XT. This isn’t just an American phenomenon. I noticed the same lack of color in Seoul as well when I visited last summer. The dramatic contraction in automobile color diversity is not simply an aesthetic trend.

Dec 4, 2025By Jason Lim
Colorless sense of possibility
Jason Lim

Meritocracy fellowship for Korea?

Recently, the American software company Palantir made headlines by announcing a program that recruits recent high school graduates rather than requiring college degrees. The company not only hires these students but pays them competitive salaries while placing them directly into real project teams after a short training seminar. They call this the “Meritocracy Fellowship.” More striking than the program itself is the reasoning behind it. Palantir argues that traditional college education often does not provide the skills or preparation that young people actually need for today’s fast-changing world. In the company’s words, a degree is not the same thing as capability. Hard to argue with that, especially if you’re someone who actually hired a recent college grad. More often than not, they need extensive retraining to turn them into productive contributors to the bottom line. In that sense, Palantir’s experiment should make Korea pause and reflect. From the moment you are born to the time you take the college entrance exam, society instills the assumption that admission to a

Nov 9, 2025By Jason Lim
Meritocracy fellowship for Korea?
Jason Lim

Tilly Norwood: When the actor is not human

Tilly Norwood is radiantly beautiful with an expressive face that feels ready to deliver a nuanced performance and carry the emotional depth of an actress who’s been honing her craft for years. Mainstream media reports that several Hollywood talent agencies have expressed an interest in signing her as a client. Except that Tilly Norwood is not a rising star from a London drama school or a Hollywood casting call. She is an artificial intelligence creation — an actor born entirely from code, data, and generative design. Tilly’s emergence raises profound questions about what it means to perform, to connect, and to create. The arrival of AI-generated actors is not simply a new special effect. It represents a potential shift in how we think about art, labor, and even humanity itself. The excitement, the worry, and the uncertainty are all real, and like any technological leap, the phenomenon demands both curiosity and caution. It is not hard to see why filmmakers and studios might be drawn to actors like Tilly Norwood. For one thing, she never ages, never tires, and never calls in sick.

Oct 13, 2025By Jason Lim
Tilly Norwood: When the actor is not human
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