New Ways to Represent People
The National Assembly is a week into what promises to be yet another acrimonious session. The way things are shaping up, we could very well see more legislative scrums on our TV sets.

Sejong City Struggle
The Roman poet Titus Lucretius Carus once remarked, ``It is pleasant, when the sea is high and the winds are dashing the waves about, to watch from the shores the struggles of another."

Prognosticating 2010
With 2010 upon us, it is time for a few predictions about Korean politics over the next 12 months.

Rename Dokdo 'Syngman Rhee Islets'
Christmas is not the time for chest-thumping over Dokdo.

Korea’s Copenhagen Conundrum
President Lee Myung-bak will present his plan for a ``voluntary and unilateral" cut in Korea's emission of greenhouse gases later this week at the ongoing climate conference in Copenhagen.

Fighting Demographic Doom
Korea is committing slow-motion suicide.

US Politics Dominate Summit
It's easy to feel that the Korean leg of U.S. President Barack Obama's Asian tour was added almost as an afterthought.

Court Decided the Case First
``It is the merit of the common law that it decides the case first and determines the principle afterwards."

By-Election Afternotes
There are two big stories from last week's by-elections. The first has been widely reported but the second has slipped under the radar.

Beyond Heroes and Collaborators
Oct. 26 is the 100th anniversary of Korean nationalist Ahn Jung-geun's assassination of Hirobumi Ito, the first Japanese governor-general of Korea.

Sticky Rice Problem
Koreans have too much rice. It is not a matter of bulging waistlines but of bulging grain stores.

The Sphinx of 'Hannaradang'
Park Guen-hye will never be the president of Korea.

N. Korea Can Fool No One
Some people could be forgiven for believing that North Korea has made a fundamental change in its strategic outlook and is seeking peaceful coexistence on a nuclear weapons-free Korean Peninsula.

Doing What Is Right
An era has closed with the passing of former President Kim Dae-jung. While even people with goodwill can disagree vigorously on his accomplishments and legacy, there can be little doubt of his dedication to his political beliefs and his influence o..

Clinton’s Dangerous Success
Perhaps I have been in Korea too long but, upon seeing Euna Lee and Laura Ling depart their plane on American soil with former President Bill Clinton, I found myself hoping that the first words from them would be a ``sincere apology" for getting th..

Look to Latin America
While members of Korea's National Assembly ``defend democracy" against a supposed presidential dictatorship by attacking fellow members of the legislature, the world is witnessing the creeping advance of the real thing in Latin America.

Connection of Proliferation
Iran and Korea are locked arm-in-arm in their pursuit of nuclear and missile proliferation, to the detriment of regional security on opposite ends of Asia.