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  OPINION: Drums in sync, strategy in step: why Seoul and Tokyo can't afford to drift apart SEOUL, April 02 (AJP) -President Lee Jae Myung’s drum duet with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during his January visit to Tokyo was more than a light cultural moment. It captured, in miniature, a broader shift: two uneasy neighbors moving — cautiously but unmistakably — back into rhythm. Lee himself framed the stakes with unusual clarity, warning that the global trade order is “unstable like never before” and calling deeper bilateral ties &ld April 2, 2026
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  EDITORIAL: A breach of trust at the heart of the platform economy Woowa Brothers, operator of South Korea’s leading food delivery app Baemin, has issued a public apology after customer data was misused by criminals who infiltrated an outsourced customer service contractor under false pretenses. Coming on the heels of a recent data-related controversy at Coupang, the episode has further shaken confidence in platform operators entrusted with vast amounts of personal information. More than a lapse in security, it exposes a structural vulnera March 31, 2026
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  OPINION: What Belarusian leader's first visit to Pyongyang means SEOUL, March 30 (AJP) - Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko visited North Korea last week, becoming the first Belarusian head of state to do so. With the conflict in the Middle East dragging on with no signs of an end, attention has turned to why North Korea invited a leader from an Eastern European country more than 6,500 kilometers away to Pyongyang. Russia's war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year, has become more than a regional conflict and is shaking the U.S.-led i March 30, 2026
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  OPINION: The essence of the Iran war — beyond the wounds of religion and ethnicity, toward an order of coexistence SEOUL, March 29 (AJP) - When examining the war in the Middle East, the first instinct to resist is oversimplification. The ongoing Iran conflict may appear on the surface as a clash between Israel and Iran, but in reality it is a multi-layered war entangling U.S. military and diplomatic intervention, the strategic interests of Gulf states, the involvement of pro-Iranian proxies such as the Houthis and Hezbollah, and the mounting pressure surrounding the Strait of Hormuz and the global March 29, 2026
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  EDITORIAL: Tokenized securities are reshaping U.S. markets — Is Korea ready? SEOUL, March 28 (AJP) - The U.S. capital market is once again attempting to reshape the backbone of financial infrastructure. This time, the catalyst is not artificial intelligence, but tokenized securities — asset tokenization built on blockchain technology. The Financial Times recently observed that tokenized stocks may succeed precisely because investors hardly notice the transition. In an opinion piece titled “Tokenised stocks are coming, and ideally nobody will noti March 28, 2026
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  OPINION: A third oil shock — and why Korea must not return to price controls SEOUL, March 26 (AJP) -The latest U.S.-Iran war is no longer just another geopolitical flare-up. It is rapidly taking on the contours of a systemic shock — one that is already pushing oil prices higher and exposing vulnerabilities across the global economy. President Donald Trump, who once unsettled markets with tariff threats, is now presiding over a far more destabilizing development. Damage to key oil facilities in the Middle East and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz h March 26, 2026
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  OPINION: BTS concert proves live stage power in AI age Last weekend’s BTS live show swept South Korea into a rare, collective high. Staged in central Seoul’s Gwanghwamun and livestreamed globally on Netflix, the concert reached 300 million viewers across the world — a simultaneous celebration of BTS and a showcase of Seoul itself. Beyond the spectacle, the group’s first full reunion performance in nearly four years underscored a deeper shift: live events are emerging as K-pop’s most powerful growth March 24, 2026
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  OPINION: Why Iraq now matters As tensions between the United States, Israel and Iran intensify, global attention has fixed on Tehran, Washington and Tel Aviv. Yet the most consequential variable in this widening conflict lies elsewhere — largely overlooked, but increasingly decisive. That variable is Iraq. At first glance, Iraq appears peripheral, spared the sustained bombardment seen elsewhere. In reality, it is fast becoming the space where the logic of war is most deeply embedded. What un March 23, 2026
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  OPINION: A century show, carried with care SEOUL, March 22 (AJP) -It was billed as a comeback. It became something larger: a test of scale, identity and control — and, ultimately, a quiet assertion of how far K-pop, and Korea, have come. BTS returned to Gwanghwamun Plaza not just as artists resuming a career, but as men who had completed a national duty and reassembled a global phenomenon. Thirteen years into their journey, the performance was less about proving relevance than about defining legacy. T March 22, 2026
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  SPECIAL OPINION: Song crosses century as BTS stands at Gwanghwamun SEOUL, March 21 (AJP) - Songs rarely defy the gravity of time. Even those that define an era typically fade as the industry of music demands rapid production and immediate consumption. Most melodies remain trapped within their own chronology, yet Arirang stands as the definitive exception. It is not the work of a single composer or a finished product born at a specific moment; it is a collective creation, an accumulation of voices across a century of records and even longer oral trad March 21, 2026