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Sat, April 21, 2018 | 16:44

Opinion > Columnists > John Burton >

What's best about Korea?

Having lived in Seoul on and off for 15 years, sometimes it’s nice to be reminded of the good things about Korea that one takes for granted after being here for awhile. I was reminded of that when I was recently reading the postings on Quora, a U.S. question-and-answer website, in response to the question: "What does South Korea do right?"

John Burton | 2015-02-11 17:01

Korea's Cuba solution

"In Cuba, we are ending a policy that was long past its expiration date. When what you're doing doesn't work for 50 years, it's time to try something new," said President Obama last week in his State of the Union address to defend his decision to normalize relations with Havana and to relax the trade embargo against the communist-run island.

John Burton | 2015-01-28 16:25

Transparency counts

Park Geun-hye can be seen as a tragic figure. In the space of five years, while in her 20s, she saw first her mother being murdered in 1974 and then her father in 1979 in politically motivated crimes.

John Burton | 2014-12-17 16:56

Is the foreign media leaving Korea?

There has been a discussion recently in the Korean press about what is perceived as an exodus of foreign journalists from Korea, blamed partly on the uncommunicative nature of the Park Geun-hye administration. Worries have been expressed that this could result in a less sympathetic treatment of Korea in the international media in the future.

John Burton | 2014-12-03 16:46

The Caesarean birth of Korean cool

"The Birth of Korean Cool: How One Nation is Conquering the World Through Pop Culture" by Euny Hong is just one of a recent spate of books that also includes "Korea: The Impossible Country" and "A Geek in Korea" by Daniel Tudor and "Modern Korea" by Andrew Salmon. Their appearance underscores the fact that Korea has indeed become "cool."

John Burton | 2014-11-19 16:58

Korea's next hit product?

The electronics industry moves at a dizzy pace. Look at how Samsung Electronics was the undisputed king of smartphones at the beginning of the year, but is now seen under renewed threat by Apple at the upper end with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus and Chinese makers such as Xiaomi at the lower end with their cheaper models.

John Burton | 2014-10-22 16:29

Will Seoul gain from Hong Kong's pain?

The protests that have paralyzed parts of Hong Kong have raised questions about the city’s stability and its future as an international financial center. A key question is if long-term damage will be inflicted on the city because of continued unrest or a Chinese government crackdown and will foreign banks or other financial institutions reduce their presence and move some of their operations elsewhere in Asia?

John Burton | 2014-10-08 15:50

Garages of dreams

"Garages of dreams" is how President Park Geun-hye rather inelegantly described her latest plans for encouraging start-ups as part of the "creative economy." She was referring to the mythical beginnings of Apple, Google and Amazon in small garages before they became the global powerhouses of the internet economy.

John Burton | 2014-09-24 16:33

Property boom or bust

“House prices bubble up” was the headline for a recent article in the Economist that highlighted the recovery of property prices around the world due to monetary easing. Real estate prices have been on fire across many Asian markets. Home prices in Hong Kong have doubled in the last six years, while those in Singapore have risen nearly 20 percent.

John Burton | 2014-09-10 16:10

My office is near the Japanese Embassy, and every Wednesday I can hear the shouts of protesters at their weekly demonstrations, demanding that Tokyo pay reparations to the Korean women who were used as sex slaves by the Japanese army during World War II.

John Burton | 2014-08-27 17:03

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Missile attack on Syria