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Mon, June 26, 2017 | 19:26

Opinion > Thoughts of the Times >

The emperor's trump

If the elephant's trump is the elephant's trunk trumpeting "Here comes the elephant", as I wrote in my previous article, then what is the emperor's trump? Though the elephant appears to be a much more contemporary figure than the emperor, a friend advised to me interpret the re-emergence of the ridiculous strongman with Hans C. Andersen's tale "The Emperor's New Clothes".

Thoughts of the Times | 2017-06-26 17:33

Has comfort women activism failed?

The final scene of "The Apology" (director: Tiffany Hsiung, 2016) about three former comfort women ends with a drum beat of determination. On a bus, Grandma Gil of S. Korea and her activist/caretaker returning from an overseas mission of demanding an apology and compensation from Japan, belt out “Live Like a Rock!”

Thoughts of the Times | 2017-06-25 17:20

Lessons from the Korean War

The most tragic incident in Korean history must be the Korean war which broke out in 1950. The war is still going on even after the fighting ended a long time ago. Some injured veterans apply for registration for honoree status and benefits. No one knows when the compatriots’ war came to an end. The conflict resulted in unimaginable pain to all Koreans forever.

Thoughts of the Times | 2017-06-23 16:09

Best Friends Forever (BFF)

In 1693, William Penn wrote, "A true friend...advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably."

Thoughts of the Times | 2017-06-22 17:06

Kim dynasty loses India's support

North Korea has often been depicted as an isolated country and a threat to global peace. The probable reason for this perception is that it has been involved in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). There are also allegations that the North Korean regime violates the human rights of its people, abducts foreign nationals and is involved in the narcotics trade...

Thoughts of the Times | 2017-06-21 17:08

Honest employees

Every Saturday I fly to Jeju to take care of my businesses. One day when I walked onto my tree farm, I was quite shocked to find a thief had broken into my farmhouse and taken away all the window frames. The thief had destroyed the walls just to take the door. The house had to be demolished. Three years later, another incident took place: a steel container weighing over two t...

Thoughts of the Times | 2017-06-20 17:35

Team culture and horizontal leadership

Is your team culture successful? Why are some teams’ performances superior even when they have the same amount of people, space, resources, and recruitment standards as the other teams? This is the first question I usually ask the team leaders of corporations, as almost all corporations are interested in creating high-performing teams.

Thoughts of the Times | 2017-06-19 17:25

Bestsellers on North Korea (part2)

Yesterday, I explored how North Korea escape narratives became bestsellers. Today, I ask: have human rights abuses been tackled as a result of the escape narratives, or have these stories become a form of grim escapism?

Thoughts of the Times | 2017-06-16 17:27

Bestsellers on North Korea (part 1)

“Imagination is more important than knowledge” - so said Albert Einstein in a 1929 interview. Given the mind’s extraordinary capacity to be transported, it’s bizarre that many of us are using this potential to inhabit North Korea’s gulags and propaganda offices, thanks to a plentiful supply of escape narratives. As I let go of Jang Jin-sung’s “Dear Leader,” there are two key ...

Thoughts of the Times | 2017-06-15 17:51

China's North Korea policy

Much has been said of Beijing’s influence on Pyongyang and its ability to compel the regime towards change. Through sustained support for Pyongyang since the 1950s, China has demonstrated its strategic interests in ensuring the Kim Dynasty’s survival. Seemingly disregarding this fact, expectations in Washington for Beijing to rein in Pyongyang are rising. Yet, what can Beijin...

Thoughts of the Times | 2017-06-14 17:50

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Park's impeachment