news highlight

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  Editorial: Korea can no longer afford to delay new nuclear plants Competitiveness in the age of artificial intelligence will not be decided by semiconductors and data centers alone. Without a stable supply of electricity, both investment in advanced industries and the goal of carbon neutrality are empty promises. Now that the government has opened a public deliberation on the role and share of nuclear power, it must face the country's energy reality and draw up a rational power mix that includes building new reactors. Countries around the November 4, 2026
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  Editorial: Brazil's surprise balancing act Brazil has delivered a surprising check on the “blue tide” sweeping Latin America as President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva staged a stunning comeback Sunday to win a fourth term. After trailing Flávio Bolsonaro in the first round, Lula won Sunday’s runoff with 51.79 percent of the vote against 48.21 percent — a margin of more than 4.4 million votes, according to Brazil’s electoral court. Brazil isn't a lone defender of the left. Mexico October 26, 2026
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  Editorial: The French lesson on the state's raison d'être France is in a rage. A nation that prides itself on reason and the republican ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity is confronting deep fissures between its promises and its people’s daily lives. Hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets to demand something more basic than lofty ideals: schools that teach, public services that function and a living they can afford. The nationwide protests on Oct. 17 alone drew 550,000 people by the government’s count and October 21, 2026
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  Editorial: The education debt we owe our children “Étudier est un droit qu’on ne négociera pas.” (Studying is a right we will not negotiate.) The chant rose in Brussels. In neighboring France, students have taken to the streets demanding teachers, safe classrooms and conditions fit for learning. That these demands should erupt into protests marked by violence and clashes in a cradle of the Enlightenment is a rude awakening for a society that helped define education as a public duty. &ldqu October 12, 2026
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  Editorial: Korea's AI republic needs a human survival plan Suddenly, the hottest question in artificial intelligence is no longer whether AI will take our jobs. It is whether, one day, it could kill us. The prospect remains fiercely disputed and may sound like science fiction. Yet researchers inside some of the world's leading AI companies are now openly warning about the possibility of humans losing control of increasingly autonomous systems, with some putting the risk of human extinction within the next decade above 10 percent. September 11, 2026
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  Editorial: Relocate public institutions, but get the order right Move, merge or disappear. Hundreds of South Korean public institutions and their employees still do not know which fate awaits them. The government on Thursday put roughly 350 public institutions based in the Seoul metropolitan area under review for relocation while separately unveiling a sweeping restructuring plan that would reduce the number of public entities and subsidiaries by 109 through mergers, consolidation and other changes. Yet which institution will move where &md September 4, 2026
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  Editorial: Lee's Cabinet overhaul needs discipline, not haste President Lee Jae Myung has launched a broad Cabinet reset as his approval rating slides sharply barely into his second year in office, replacing six ministers at once in a bid to regain political momentum and accelerate delivery on the economy, housing and reform. The decision is understandable. What the administration needs now is not another prolonged season of personnel speculation but demonstrable results, particularly on the economy and housing. Lee's approval rati August 30, 2026
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  Editorial: Korea's football association scandal crosses the line The controversy surrounding the Korea Football Association has moved from damaging to deeply troubling. After disputes over the selection of the national team coach and the unprecedented police raid on the association, allegations have now emerged that foreign referees and match officials were provided sexual services around international matches in South Korea. According to reports citing a 2016 audit by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, around 10 foreign referee August 10, 2026
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  Editorial: South Korea is not the AI bust - it's the first stress test Everyone seems to have one thing to say about South Korea's stock market these days. Bloomberg Opinion warns that the country is becoming "uninvestable." Asia Times sees a familiar story in which "financial leverage plus unsophisticated new buyers plus a strong fundamental story" produced a spectacular bubble and crash. The Economist portrays South Korea as "a great experiment in mixing the extremes of state capitalism and market speculation," August 4, 2026