OPINION: $10 Trillion "Trump Effect" Boomerang - a turning point for US-led trade order “Wherever law ends, tyranny begins.” — John Locke The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on February 20, 2026, will be remembered less as a trade ruling than as a constitutional moment. In a 6–3 judgment, the Court struck down President Donald J. Trump’s sweeping global tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), concluding that the statute did not authorize the president to levy what were, in substance, taxes. The legal reasoning was straightforward. While IEEPA allows the executive to “regulate” imports during national emergencies, it does not explicitly delegate the power to impose tariffs. Under the Constitution, the authority to tax and to regulate foreign commerce rests primarily with Congress. For measures of vast economic and political consequence, the Court held, clear congressional authorization is required. This was not a ruling about the merits of protectionism or free trade. It was a ruling about the architecture of power. Since returning to office, Mr. Trump has elevated tariffs from a policy instrument into a governing philosophy. Trade deficits, fentanyl trafficking, national security and industrial revival were all invoked to justify rapid and expansive tariff actions. Tariffs became less a technical tool of trade policy than a lever of negotiation, pressure and political messaging. But when emergency authority becomes a standing method of economic governance, the line between regulation and unilateral taxation begins to blur. That line, the Court has now insisted, still matters. From Judicial Defeat to Regulatory Retaliation Within hours of the ruling, the administration pivoted. Mr. Trump announced a new 10 percent global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 — a provision that allows temporary duties, capped at 15 percent and limited to 150 days, in response to balance-of-payments concerns. Other statutory pathways — Sections 232 and 301 among them — remain available. At the same time, the White House moved aggressively to sustain and expand the suspension of duty-free “de minimis” treatment for small imports, especially postal shipments. Millions of low-value parcels that once entered the United States with minimal friction are now being subjected to new duties and administrative controls. The response was telling. When courts narrowed the main channel of authority, pressure was redirected to secondary routes. If sweeping emergency tariffs were legally vulnerable, granular regulations and temporary statutes would carry the burden. It was not a retreat. It was a rerouting. In effect, legal frustration in Washington was being translated into regulatory pressure on global trade flows. Leverage With a Deadline The Section 122 tariff is economically blunt but strategically precise. It establishes a baseline cost of market access and compresses negotiations into a single metric. Yet it is inherently temporary. With a statutory time limit of 150 days, the measure functions as leverage with an expiration date. It forces either congressional engagement, further legal maneuvering or negotiated outcomes. Markets understand the difference between temporary pressure and durable architecture. The former generates volatility. The latter sustains confidence. The new framework delivers the first, not the second. Predictability Under Strain For decades, the United States anchored the global trade system not only through market size and military power, but through predictability. Rules, procedures and institutional continuity functioned as a form of geopolitical capital. Even when policies shifted, the system retained coherence. When tariffs are perceived as instruments of executive discretion rather than products of statutory process, that predictability erodes. Trading partners and multinational firms begin to treat U.S. trade policy not as a rules-based framework, but as a variable contingent on political cycles. Negotiations tilt toward short-term transactions rather than durable arrangements. Order gives way, gradually, to bargaining. The growing use of small-parcel regulation and temporary tariffs reflects this transformation. Trade governance is becoming more reactive, more tactical and more closely tied to domestic political dynamics. The $10 Trillion Narrative The White House has celebrated what it calls “The Trump Effect.” Officials cite $9.6 trillion in announced domestic and foreign investments since Mr. Trump’s return to office — a sweeping list of sovereign pledges, corporate expansions and industrial commitments. The number is politically potent. But its composition invites scrutiny. Some announcements reflect projects conceived under previous administrations. Others are conditional, long-term or partially overlapping with existing commitments. Many depend on regulatory stability and legal continuity. More fundamentally, investment totals alone do not settle the institutional question. If capital inflows are secured through tariff leverage or implicit pressure tied to market access, then the mechanism by which investment is obtained matters as much as the headline figure. When trade governance shifts from rule-based multilateralism to leader-centered dealmaking, the character of American economic leadership changes with it. Investment attracted by leverage is inherently more fragile than investment secured by institutional trust. Vulnerability Through Scale Scale, paradoxically, heightens vulnerability. The larger the fiscal and economic stakes — whether measured in projected tariff revenue or in trillions of dollars of investment — the more essential the legal foundation becomes. The Court’s ruling also leaves open complex questions about the disposition of already-collected tariff revenues, raising the prospect of prolonged litigation and further uncertainty. The risk is not that tariffs will disappear. They will not. The risk is that executive power, unmoored from clear legislative boundaries, introduces structural volatility into the system — volatility that markets eventually price in through higher risk premiums, shifting supply chains and cautious capital allocation. When authority is continuously rerouted rather than consolidated through legislation, uncertainty becomes embedded. From Policy to Power Struggle From the vantage point of international order, the expansion of tariff politics does not necessarily signal the collapse of multilateralism. It signals something subtler: the gradual erosion of institutional trust. When statutory limits are repeatedly stretched, U.S. trade policy begins to resemble a sequence of tactical maneuvers rather than a stable framework of rules. Allies notice. So do adversaries. Trade partners are now compelled to factor not only geopolitics and economics into their decisions, but also the evolving relationship between the White House and the judiciary. Domestic institutional conflict is becoming a global economic variable. A Turning Point, Not an End The Supreme Court’s ruling marks a turning point not because it ends tariff activism, but because it reasserts the boundary between power and law. Trade policy will continue to evolve. But whether it evolves within constitutional guardrails will determine the durability of American leadership. The administration’s rapid shift to temporary tariffs and expanded parcel controls suggests that legal limits will be met less with accommodation than with circumvention. The world is watching how the United States responds. It can treat the overreach as the excess of a single presidency — an episodic disruption in an otherwise stable system. Or it can use this moment to restore the constitutional discipline that has long underwritten its economic credibility. *The author is the managing editor of AJP 2026-02-21 09:59:06

South Korea's presidential office to hold emergency meetings after US court tariff ruling SEOUL, February 21 (AJP) - South Korea's presidential office announced Saturday it will convene a high-level meeting of relevant ministries this afternoon to discuss the fallout from a United States Supreme Court decision that struck down President Donald Trump's centerpiece tariff policy. The meeting, scheduled for 2 p.m. (0500 GMT), will be co-chaired by National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac and Kim Yong-beom, the presidential chief of staff for policy. It follows a separate emergency session scheduled for 10 a.m. by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to assess the consequences for domestic exporters. The US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Friday that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize the president to unilaterally impose tariffs. The decision in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump effectively halts a significant portion of the duties announced by the Trump administration last year under emergency declarations. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion that while the law allows for the regulation of commerce, the power to levy duties remains a core responsibility of the US Congress. The ruling creates immediate uncertainty for the reciprocal trade agreement reached between Seoul and Washington last year. Under that deal, South Korean exports were subject to a 15 percent duty rate in exchange for large-scale investment pledges. With the legal basis for the IEEPA-based duties removed, trade deals struck by the administration with countries worldwide are now being reassessed. Trump responded to the ruling by signing a new proclamation from the Oval Office that introduces a 10 percent global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. He also issued an executive order to continue the suspension of duty-free treatment for small-value postal shipments, a move known as ending de minimis exemptions, which is set to take effect on February 24. "Those members of the Supreme Court who voted against our very acceptable and proper method of TARIFFS should be ashamed of themselves," Trump wrote on social media, Truth Social, following the decision. He described the ruling as "ridiculous" and promised that his administration would take steps to collect more revenue than under the previous system. An official at the South Korean presidential office stated that the government will review the court decision and the response of the US administration to determine a course of action that best serves national interests. The official added that relevant agencies will share information to discuss potential response measures. Economic analysts suggest the ruling could lead to a complex legal process for companies seeking refunds for an estimated 175 billion dollars in duties already collected under the invalidated framework. While the additional duties imposed under IEEPA are being terminated, the US administration has maintained the underlying national emergency declarations and continues to enforce separate tariffs on steel and aluminum under different legal authorities. 2026-02-21 09:56:11

Kim Gil-li wins women’s 1,500m short track gold; Choi Min-jeong takes silver for record seventh Olympic medal South Korea’s Kim Gil-li and Choi Min-jeong won gold and silver in the women’s 1,500 meters in short track speedskating at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics. Kim finished first in 2:32.076 in the final at Milan’s Ice Skating Arena. Choi followed in 2:32.450 for silver. Corinne Stoddard took bronze in 2:32.578. The medal made Kim a two-time gold medalist at her first Olympics. She opened her Games with bronze in the women’s 1,000 meters and helped South Korea win the women’s 3,000-meter relay. She closed the short track program by winning the 1,500. Choi was seeking a third straight Olympic gold in the 1,500 after winning in Pyeongchang in 2018 and Beijing in 2022, but finished second. The silver was her seventh Olympic medal overall — four golds and three silvers — making her South Korea’s most decorated athlete across the Summer and Winter Games. She had been tied at six medals with Jin Jong-oh (shooting), Kim Soo-nyung (archery) and Lee Seung-hoon (speedskating). In the final, Kim and Choi started near the back. With seven laps remaining, Choi moved to the outside and advanced to second behind Stoddard. Kim accelerated with two laps left to move into third as Stoddard began to fade. With three laps remaining, Choi led and Kim was second. Kim passed Choi on the straightaway with two laps to go and held the lead to the finish. South Korea’s short track team ended the Games with two golds, three silvers and two bronzes, finishing second to the Netherlands (five golds, one silver and one bronze). 2026-02-21 07:03:00

South Korea wins silver in men’s 5,000-meter relay in Milan-Cortina short track South Korea’s men’s short track team won silver in the 5,000-meter relay at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics, matching its result from the Beijing 2022 Games. In the final at the Milan Ice Skating Arena on Saturday morning in Korea, South Korea finished in 6:52.239. The Netherlands won in 6:51.847, and host Italy took bronze in 6:52.355. South Korea was seeking its first Olympic title in the event since winning gold at the 2006 Turin Games, but settled for second place again. South Korea skated in the order of Lee Jun-seo (Seongnam City Hall), Hwang Dae-heon (Gangwon Provincial Office), Lee Jeong-min (Seongnam City Hall) and Lim Jong-eon (Goyang City Hall). In the early laps of the 45-lap race, the team stayed near the back and waited for an opening. With 30 laps remaining, Italy increased the pace. With 24 laps to go, Hwang pushed and Lee Jeong-min passed to move South Korea into third. The team closed the gap, and with 18 laps left Lee Jeong-min drove inside to take second. Lim then helped keep the position steady. South Korea briefly moved into the lead when Lee Jeong-min passed the Netherlands on the inside with 13 laps remaining, and Lim and Lee Jun-seo extended the advantage. But with seven laps left, Hwang lost the lead to the Netherlands. With three laps to go, Lee Jun-seo dropped to third after Italy moved into second. South Korea kept attacking, and with two laps remaining Hwang surged on the outside to pass Italy and held on for silver. The relay silver was South Korea’s fifth short track medal of the Games and the team’s eighth overall. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-21 06:24:00

New Books: A Child Therapist on Healing, a Monk Talks Buddhism With ChatGPT, and a Debut Poetry Collection What Heals Young People’s Wounds?=By Stacey Schaefer, translated by Moon Garam, Dusiui Namu. The author, a child and adolescent psychotherapist with 20 years of experience, distills lessons from her work with young clients. Her core rule is simple: when a child finally opens up, adults should not lead with their own stories — the “I went through that, too” approach. She writes that today’s problems can be different and more complicated: being left on “read” by a friend can feel like a crisis, targeted exclusion can play out on social media, and threats from strangers are not uncommon. If adults do not understand kids’ culture, she urges them to replace judgment with an open question such as, “Will you help me understand?” When adults become safe enough for children to ask for help, she argues, kids can share thoughts and feelings without fear of being judged. "Social media influencers exploit this, constantly sending subtle messages: ‘I know you. I understand you. If you buy this, you’ll be like us.’ Surprisingly, kids fall for it. No one wants to live without a sense of presence in the world. Kids especially want to belong somewhere. The more we tell them, ‘I know the real you,’ the less likely they are to define themselves through other people’s eyes." (pp. 252-253) Sakyamuni Smiles=By Jeonggyeong, Jihyeui Namu. Jeonggyeong, a Buddhist monk, uses conversations with the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT to pose a question to readers: “Is what I have believed until now really what Sakyamuni taught?” The exchange began after he was intrigued by ChatGPT’s ability to discuss Buddhism and opened an account, continuing the dialogue for several days. In a question-and-answer format, the book suggests that much of what people today call “Buddhism” reflects interpretations and devotional practices added after Sakyamuni, rather than his original teachings. When the monk asks a question, ChatGPT offers answers based on various sources; he then presses for evidence or points out errors, narrowing the issues. Readers are invited to revisit Sakyamuni’s teachings through the back-and-forth between the monk and the AI. “This foreword could be written because Venerable Jeonggyeong presented to me — in the form of questions — a lifetime of thought, doubt, practice, criticism, verification and rigorous reflection. I merely shed light on those questions. Therefore, if I am credited in the foreword, it should state: ‘This foreword was formed from a conversation between Venerable Jeonggyeong and ChatGPT,’ and ‘The author is human, and AI assisted with language alignment.’ This text is thus a trace of thinking done together by Venerable Jeonggyeong and the AI ChatGPT, and it makes clear that the origin of all thought lies with the human who asked the questions.” (p. 14, from “ChatGPT’s Foreword”) Take a Small Bite and Secretly Throw It Away=By Yeon Jeongmo, Achimdal. This is poet Yeon Jeongmo’s first collection. Yeon began publishing after winning the inaugural newcomer award in the poetry category from the biannual “Munhak Suchup.” At the time, judges said Yeon freely varied imagination and imagery within poetic space, “leaping and playing as if dancing,” and pushed poetic thinking to the end in a language uniquely their own. The new collection seeks a distinctive aesthetic distance on the taut line between the self and the world, and addresses birth and death in a style described as bright yet firmly grounded. Wipe clean even the burst fruit flesh/ gather it all together/ a cast-iron pot that was once Grandma’s treasure/ she used to put me and my sibling inside it/ and wash us together — it remains as one close-knit page of history (from “Jampot,” p. 50) * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-21 06:06:27

Kim Gil-li, Choi Min-jeong and Noh Do-hee reach women’s 1,500 semifinals in Milan Choi Min-jeong (Seongnam City Hall), Kim Gil-li (Seongnam City Hall) and Noh Do-hee (Hwaseong City Hall) all advanced from the women’s 1,500-meter short track quarterfinals to the semifinals.  The three skaters earned their semifinal spots in races held at the Milan Ice Skating Arena in Italy on Feb. 21 (Korea time).  Kim was the first South Korean to skate, winning Heat 1 in 2:32.080. She stayed with Zhang Chutong of China near the front early, then moved up on the inside to take the lead and finish first. Zhang and Canada’s Kim Boutin also advanced from the heat.  In Heat 3, Choi placed second in 2:29.010 after a steady race. Belgium’s Dune Dulk opened a gap early, and Hungary’s Diana Laura Bégi briefly pushed Choi back to third with four laps left. Choi regained second with two laps remaining by passing Bégi, then nearly caught Dulk as the Belgian faded. Choi, Dulk and Italy’s Arianna Sighel advanced.  Noh advanced by finishing third in 2:25.17, though she expended extra energy after a restart. With five laps remaining, three skaters fell at the same time and officials ordered a rerun. During the incident, a skate blade from Kristen Santos-Griswold of the United States appeared to brush the face of Poland’s Kamila Selier. Both were later disqualified for an illegal pass.  In the four-skater rerun, Noh held third and briefly took the lead before dropping back. She finished third behind Belgium’s Hanne Desmet and Italy’s Arianna Fontana to secure a semifinal berth.  2026-02-21 05:18:00

South Korea’s Lee Seung-hoon Withdraws From Olympic Ski Halfpipe Final After Injury Lee Seung-hoon of Korea National Sport University, the first South Korean to reach an Olympic freestyle ski halfpipe final, withdrew after injuring his knee in practice. Lee scored 76 points in men’s halfpipe qualifying on Feb. 20 (local time) at Livigno Snow Park in Italy at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics. He placed 10th to advance to the final, where only 12 of 25 skiers qualified, but he was unable to compete because of the injury. Lee hurt his right knee when he struck the pipe wall while practicing an 1,800-degree spin he had prepared for the Olympics. He skipped the first final run and waited to see if the injury would improve, hoping to start in the second or third run, but ultimately withdrew and ended his competition. Halfpipe is judged on aerial tricks performed on a semicylindrical slope. Choi Ga-on won gold in snowboard halfpipe at these Games, South Korea’s first gold medal in a snow event. Lee competes in the ski halfpipe event and had drawn attention with strong recent results. He won South Korea’s first World Cup bronze medal in freestyle skiing in February 2024 in Calgary, Canada, and took gold in men’s halfpipe at the Harbin Asian Winter Games last February. At the Beijing Winter Olympics four years ago, he finished 16th in qualifying and did not reach the final. * This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-21 04:57:00

Cha Jun-hwan and Lee Hae-in invited to 2026 Milan Olympic figure skating gala Cha Jun-hwan (Seoul City Hall) and Lee Hae-in (Korea University) will skate in the figure skating gala at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics. The International Skating Union said it announced on Feb. 21 the seven women’s singles skaters selected for the gala, which will be held at 4 a.m. Feb. 22 (Korea time) at the Milan Ice Skating Arena in Italy. The gala features medalists in men’s and women’s singles, pairs and ice dance, along with “special invitation” skaters chosen based on competition results and fan requests. Lee was named as a special invitee after placing eighth in women’s singles with 210.56 points. Her gala music selection is the theme song from the Netflix animated series “K-Pop Demon Hunters.” Cha, who finished fourth in men’s singles, had already been confirmed for the gala. His program is “Not a Dream,” performed by musician Song So-hee. With Lee added, two South Korean skaters will take part in the figure skating gala.* This article has been translated by AI. 2026-02-21 04:33:00

Park Ji-woo, Lim Ri-won Finish 21st and 28th in Women’s 1,500 at Milan-Cortina Olympics South Korea’s Park Ji-woo (Gangwon Provincial Government) and Lim Ri-won (set to enroll at Korea National Sport University) finished in the lower half of the field in the women’s 1,500 meters. They skated in the final on Feb. 21 at the Milan speedskating stadium at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Park placed 21st in 1:58.26, and Lim was 28th in 1:59.73. Lim, skating in the third pair, went through the first 300 meters in 26.49 seconds, starting faster than Erura Groenewoud, but was passed after the midway point. It was Lim’s first Olympic race. She had originally qualified only for the mass start, but was added to the 1,500 after an opening in the field and was notified three days earlier that she could compete. Park raced Austria’s Shanin Rosner in the fifth pair and opened in 26.26 seconds for the first 300 meters. She held a slight edge early, but the gap grew in the closing laps as she finished 21st. Both skaters were preparing for the mass start later Feb. 21. The gold medal went to the Netherlands’ Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong in 1:54.09. Rijpma-de Jong, who won silver in the women’s team pursuit, earned her first gold of the Games to become a multiple medalist. Norway’s Ragne Wiklund took silver in 1:54.15, and Canada’s Valerie Maltais won bronze in 1:54.40. Japan’s Miho Takagi, the women’s 1,500 world record holder, finished sixth in 1:54.86. 2026-02-21 02:33:00

Korea’s Won Yoon-jong Elected IOC Athletes’ Commission Member, Vows to Speak Up for Athletes Won Yoon-jong, the first Korean winter-sport athlete elected to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes’ Commission, pledged to “speak up when needed to protect the rights and interests of all athletes.” Speaking at a news conference Feb. 20 (local time) at Korea House for the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics, held at Villa Necchi Campiglio in Milan, Won said, “As an Athletes’ Commission member representing winter sports, I think I can do a good job speaking for them.” On Feb. 19, Won won the IOC Athletes’ Commission election held during the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics, finishing first with 1,176 votes. The vote selected the top two finishers out of 11 candidates. He will serve an eight-year term with the same authority as regular IOC members. Won became South Korea’s third IOC Athletes’ Commission member, following Moon Dae-sung, a taekwondo gold medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and Yoo Seung-min, president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee and a men’s singles table tennis gold medalist. Won is the first from a Korean winter sport. Won described the tension as he awaited the result. “Every minute and second felt incredibly long,” he said. “Because the announcement came in a quiet setting, the tension peaked and I was anxious.” He credited his win to sincerity. “The one thing I kept in mind while preparing was sincerity,” he said. “I thought the first step was meeting athletes in person, communicating and listening to their voices. I started campaigning with that mindset and kept it to the end, and I think athletes responded positively and voted for me.” The election is decided by votes from athletes competing at the Olympics. With events spread across northern Italy, Won said the campaign became a physical grind. He recalled saying when he entered the race that he would “run until three pairs of sneakers wear out.” “With six clusters separated, getting around was especially difficult,” he said. “In places like Livigno, where it snowed or it was cold, it could be dangerous. After standing 14 to 15 hours, it felt like my knees and back wore out more than my shoes.” Won said he drew on Yoo’s campaign during the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016. “I heard President Yoo walked more than 30,000 steps a day, and I did it with a similar feeling,” Won said. “From morning to night, I communicated with everyone — athletes, volunteers and staff. It’s meaningful that I approached it with sincerity.” Looking ahead, Won said he wants to broaden support for athletes in countries with limited winter-sports infrastructure. “I’m interested in helping athletes from many countries, including those without snow, understand the value of sport and ultimately support them so they can take part in the Olympics,” he said. “I’ve helped Jamaican sled athletes and supported athletes from Thailand and others who competed at the Youth Olympics as they transition into senior competition, and I want to expand that work.” Asked about changes to Olympic events, Won said he has heard concerns from athletes about potential cuts. “In the case of Nordic combined or snowboard alpine (parallel giant slalom), I heard athletes say on site, ‘There are lots of spectators and it’s fun — why should it be removed?’” he said. “I think my role is to listen carefully to athletes’ messages and deliver them to the IOC.” Won said he hopes that after his eight-year term, athletes will say they chose well. “I’d like to hear athletes say, ‘We picked a good representative,’” he said. “I want to do work that repays the trust they placed in me.” 2026-02-21 00:51:00