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Wed, October 17, 2018 | 09:35

Opinion > Columnists > John Burton >

'Pyongyang time'

The international media last week gleefully reported the decision by North Korea to switch to “Pyongyang time,” a half hour behind that of Seoul and Tokyo, as another example of the bizarreness of the Kim Jung-un regime. But the move was not as crazy as some may think.

John Burton | 2015-08-12 17:03

“Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked,” is a famous quote by Warren Buffett, the world's greatest investor, about how receding economic currents can reveal the vulnerabilities of those who previously appeared to be floating on success. With Korea's export machine sputtering, is the country about to be exposed as naked?

John Burton | 2015-07-29 16:45

President's Pyrrhic victory

This newspaper published a story earlier this month with the headline, “Ruling camp feud puzzles foreign diplomats,” referring to the clash between President Park Geun-hye and YooSeong-min, the now former ruling party parliamentary floor leader. The article suggested that some foreign diplomats basically didn't have a clue why Park and Yoo were fighting because they assumed that since the two leading politicians were from the same party, they would naturally cooperate on pursuing the same government policies.

John Burton | 2015-07-15 16:41

Is the Korean media toothless?

A colleague asked me the other day an interesting question: How much impact does the Korean media have on government policy? It is frankly a difficult question to answer. To most Anglo-American observers, the Korean news media appears to be beholden to the country’s political and business elite and does not play the same role as the fourth estate in the U.S. or U.K. as an independent referee.

John Burton | 2015-07-01 16:24

Samsung's moment of truth

A fight between billionaires can be a great spectator sport and that's certainly the case between Paul Singer, the head of the U.S. activist hedge fund Elliott, and Lee Jae-yong, the crown prince of the Samsung Group. Elliot’s bid to derail the $8 billion merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, Samsung's de facto holding company, can be viewed in several ways.

John Burton | 2015-06-17 16:15

Korea's debt advantage

Good news sometimes is obscured. While there are many worries about the shape of the Korean economy from slowing growth to growing inequality, there is at least one bright spot.

John Burton | 2015-06-03 17:11

Can Korea become an immigrant nation?

One of the biggest stories in Europe over the last few years has been the growing popularity of anti-immigrant political parties. Countries once known for their tolerant attitude toward immigrants and refugees, including Sweden, the Netherlands, France and Germany, are now confronting demands by sizeable segments of their populations that the inflow of foreigners should be curbed. In the recent British elections, the anti-immigrant UKIP received 12 percent of the vote, although only one parliamentary seat.

John Burton | 2015-05-20 16:26

Korea's emerging fault lines

On May Day, I was quietly munching my Big Mac at a McDonald’s on the edge of Insa-dong when a group of about 50 shouting young protesters burst into the restaurant to demand higher wages and better working conditions for part-time workers. At least three busloads of police soon followed and stand-off developed before the protesters dispersed.

John Burton | 2015-05-06 16:39

A gloomy economic outlook

On the face of it, the Korean economy is not performing too badly against its advanced industrial peers. Its gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 2.7 percent for the fourth quarter of 2014 was slightly better than the U.S. (2.4 percent) and Canada (2.6 percent) and much better than Japan, Germany, France or Italy. Korea compared well even with the British economy, which at 3 percent was the best-performing among the major European countries.

John Burton | 2015-04-22 16:50

Do lead, Madam Park!

This week was already expected to be an emotional one as the nation marks the first anniversary of the Sewol tragedy, which uncovered a nexus of corruption between government and industry in the maritime sector.

John Burton | 2015-04-15 18:09

Jindo wants to put Sewol tragedy behind

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