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The Korea Times

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Oh Young-jin Column

Tue, March 28, 2023 | 08:42

Oh Young-jin

Mr. President, undo your pay cut

I will only take “your heart” that comes with your kind offer. That would be my response to a 40 percent pay cut President Moon Jae-in made together with top government officials. Moon kindly offered the chunk of his salary to people suffering the effects of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic - hundreds of thousands of small merchants and gig workers who have seen their incomes...

2020-03-27 17:39

Oh Young-jin

Infinitesimal virus humbles us (With Photos)

We are but a tiny speck in the universe, or so we would say to suppress our all-too-human, ever-expanding ego. Now, that observation is made to sound insouciant. We, mankind, are under attack by a virus, an unthinking microbe that only lives to replicate itself in a living being until the host dies out.

2020-03-20 17:11

Oh Young-jin

Minister Kang: our best Joan of Arc for now

“Slapping travel restrictions on Koreans entering foreign countries is as domestic an affair as the Korean government is protesting about it.” This is what one foreign ambassador stationed in Seoul told me regarding Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha's forlorn, thankless campaign to stem the tide of countries blocking Koreans from setting foot on their soil lest they bring the o...

2020-03-13 17:33

'Korea shows leadership in global coronavirus fight'

Oh Young-jin

Top 10 follies in coronavirus fight

My Top 10 list is not about the best of things but the worst of them in the fight against the coronavirus by Korea and the world. I don't think anybody will feel upset if they are not included on this list of follies and foibles. But its purpose is to put ourselves into perspective, detaching us from our daily viral battle. Seriously as we may take this fight and determined a...

2020-03-06 16:38

Oh Young-jin

Trump suffers no mental constipation

What was U.S. President Donald Trump thinking when he heaped criticism on Korean director Bong Joon-ho's movie “The Parasite” that won big at the recent Academy Awards? It has little to do with Bong or the movie's plot - a satire on class struggle with modern twists - or even Bong's native nation, South Korea, which Trump openly took a jab at during his anti-“Parasite” tirade...

2020-02-28 17:16

Oh Young-jin

Perfect storm of coronavirus in Korea

I spoke with American virology expert Dr. Hakim Djaballah Friday morning about the COVID-19 outbreak in Korea. In New York, where he is based after stint as head of the Institut Pasteur Korea, he repeated: "This is bad." He was referring to a cluster of cases in Daegu and the first death in Korea from the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic. Djaballah described the Daegu outbreak as a c...

2020-02-21 16:51

Oh Young-jin

Is Korea overreacting to 'Parasite' success?

I may sound, well, unpatriotic. But if that is the risk, I would take it for my own patriotic reasons. I think we are overreacting to the success of “Parasite” at the recent Academy Awards. There has been much depressing news lately - a tanking economy, rudderless politics and endless bickering in our society. So our native son, director Bong Joon-ho, making Oscar history, ha...

2020-02-14 17:25

Oh Young-jin

Chinese emperor's arrogant messenger?

In all fairness, one may wonder why the “new” Chinese ambassador to Seoul was given a free pass on his diplomatic gaffe, while the U.S. ambassador - who was born to a Japanese mother - was pilloried over his mustache that critics compared to the facial hair of Japanese colonial-period leaders preying on Koreans.

2020-02-07 16:41

China can bring coronavirus under control 'in 10 days,' Chinese envoy says

Oh Young-jin

Give it a shave, Mr. Ambassador

It was only two weeks ago but by the standard of today's news cycle that moves at the speed of light, it feels as good as ancient. But being ancient in the news does not mean it is irrelevant because often we find ourselves in an uncanny case of deja vu where we have to pick up from where the issue was left off. If you feel clueless about what I am talking about, it is not yo...

2020-01-31 17:19

Harris disliked by liberals and conservatives alike

Oh Young-jin

Is Trump more presidential after Iran attack?

Has the United States been made to look mightier and Donald Trump more presidential after a U.S. military drone strike that assassinated an important Iranian general? The answers are yes, in a way that for Trump, the U.S. and the world, it has served a purpose for different reasons. Whether the killing and its purpose are justifiable is a different matter. After all, global p...

2020-01-10 17:15

Ministry lodges protest over Iranian envoy's reported mention of possible end of Seoul-Tehran ties

Hormuz mission tests Korea-US alliance

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