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The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Opinion

Columnists

2. John Burton

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

2015-04-15 18:09

Jindo wants to put Sewol tragedy behind

Lee Kuan Yew's dangerous legacy

Lee Kuan Yew was the Dorian Grey of the global elite. He represented the secret wish fulfillment of many leaders - East and West - who paid him profuse eulogies after the former Singapore prime minister died last month at 91.

2015-04-08 16:03

The perils of cheap labor

One of the bright spots in the beleaguered administration of Park Geun-hye has been the appointment last summer of Choi Kyung-hwan as finance minister. Choi has generally won plaudits from local and international investors for his pragmatic policy in reviving economic growth.

2015-03-25 17:09

The Confucian Cowboy

I find the rivalry between Samsung Electronics and Apple fascinating because of their contrasting management styles as they compete to see who will come out on top. It is tempting to say that Samsung's consensus-driven management is Confucian, while the entrepreneurial Apple model represents the cowboy ways of America.

2015-02-25 16:43

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?"

2015-02-11 17:01

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