Opinion: New 'cold war' grows ever warmer as prospect of nuclear arms race hots up

SEOUL, April 26 (AJU PRESS) - Champagne corks popped on Dec. 3 1989 as Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. president George H.W. Bush met on the cruise ship, Maxim Gorky, off the coast of Malta to declare the end of the cold war. Gorbachev and Bush's predecessor in the White House, Ronald Reagan, had – at two summits over the past five years – thrashed out agreements that would limit and reduce both sides' nuclear arsenals. With the cold war over, Gorbache

April 26, 2024

Opinion: Russia's invasion of Ukraine has left the entire region at a heightened risk of radioactive pollution

SEOUL, April 25 (AJU PRESS) - Russia's invasion of Ukraine has put the country's nuclear facilities at considerable risk. For example, on April 7 a drone attacked Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. This attack on the largest nuclear power plant in Europe was a rare instance of a direct assault on a nuclear facility. While both Ukraine and Russia deny responsibility for the drone attack, it's clear that Russia's ongoing invasion has put the site at active

April 25, 2024

Opinion: Yoon faces foreign policy challenges after the National Assembly election

SEOUL, April 24 (AJU PRESS) - South Korea's parliamentary election of April 10, 2024, was widely seen as a referendum on President Yoon Suk Yeol's first two years in office. That being the case, the nation collectively expressed its strong disapproval. With a relatively high turnout of 67 percent, voters handed Yoon's conservative People Power Party defeat, with its share of the 300-seat National Assembly dropping from 114 to 108. The opposition Democratic Party ret

April 24, 2024

Opinion: US Supreme Court appears open to Starbucks' claims in labor-organizing case

SEOUL, April 24 (AJU PRESS) - What factors must a court consider when the National Labor Relations Board requests an order requiring an employer to rehire terminated workers before the completion of unfair labor practice proceedings? That's the central question that the Supreme Court considered on April 23, 2024, during oral arguments in the Starbucks Corp. v. McKinney case. The global coffee shop chain is challenging the NLRB, the federal agency responsible for enforcing U.S.

April 24, 2024

Opinion: Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department and the art of melodrama

SEOUL, April 23 (AJU PRESS) - Taylor Swift album drops have become cultural moments – whether or not you are a fan of her music. Each album in the Swift catalogue seeks to open up new themes, discussion, sounds and ideas, while retaining a sense of familiarity that doesn't alienate fans. Lyrically, The Tortured Poets Department is a euphoric rejection of societal expectations. It embraces all the Taylor-isms her fans have come to know and love, from her one-note melodies

April 23, 2024

Opinion: A global plastics treaty is being negotiated in Ottawa this week

SEOUL, April 23 (AJU PRESS) - Plastic pollution spans the globe, yet national policies are generally not effective enough, and have so far focused primarily on waste management rather than targeting the root cause. To make matters worse, the global trade in plastic waste tends to push waste to parts of the world with the least capacity to manage it. On this basis, in March 2022, nearly 200 nations endorsed a historic resolution to develop a new global and legally binding agreement o

April 23, 2024

Opinion: Bitcoin is halving again – what does that mean for cryptocurrency and market?

SEOUL, April 22 (AJU PRESS) - Bitcoin, the largest and most talked about digital asset, has been on a rollercoaster of a ride since its launch in January 2009. With a market capitalization that reached a high of more than US$1.4 trillion (£1.125 trillion) this February and volatile swings since, bitcoin has attracted lots of attention recently. Now a hotly anticipated recurring event that happens roughly every four years is taking place: the bitcoin halving. This could have

April 22, 2024

Opinion: How will US foreign policy affect Joe Biden's chances of re-election in November?

SEOUL, April 22 (AJU PRESS) - When big questions about American foreign policy collide with an election, it's rarely good news for a sitting president. Like many leaders before him, U.S. President Joe Biden has had some of these questions thrust on him, such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Some have their origins in past administrations, such as the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Most are a mixture of both, such as Israel’s retaliation against Gaza and the role of Iran.

April 22, 2024

Iran attack on Israel provokes new crisis

KENOSHA, April 19 (AJU PRESS) - The direct attack by Iran on the territory of Israel may lead to an escalation of war in the fraught region of the Middle East. The encouraging news is that Israel in cooperation with Britain, the United States and – rather surprisingly – Jordan did an outstanding job of destroying the approximately 300 drones and missiles launched by Iran. This is dramatic testimony to the effectiveness of defensive anti-missile systems. On the other

April 19, 2024

Opinion: Oman serves as crucial back channel between Iran and US as tensions flare in the Middle East

SEOUL, April 19 (AJU PRESS) - Prior to launching a barrage of drones and missiles at Israel last week, Iran reportedly got word to Washington that its response to an earlier strike on its embassy compound in Syria would seek to avoid major escalation. The message was conveyed via the Gulf Arab state of Oman. The current crisis in the Middle East is one that officials in Oman have spent years trying to avoid. Located across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran, and with close defense and

April 19, 2024