COLUMNIST: LEE JAE YOUNG
Seoul Insights
Jae Young Lee obtained his undergraduate degree in international law at Hanyang University in Seoul, South Korea, and his masters degree at Cornell University Law School in Ithaca, New York. While in the United States, he organized forums on the North Korean nuclear issue and South Korea-Japan relations. He is now a citizen reporter of Ohmynews International.
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June 20, 2008Seoul, South Korea — Democracy means that a nation’s citizens have the power to decide how their political system will operate. In South Korea, the favorable view of representative democracy has recently weakened, and the people have moved toward participatory democracy. This is a sign of political maturity.
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June 19, 2008Seoul, South Korea — North Korea is suffering a grave shortage of food and facing a famine; thus outside support has become critical for the country’s survival. The South Korean government may expect that it can gain an advantage by bargaining with the North about aid now, but this is not necessarily the case.
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June 06, 2008Seoul, South Korea — Koreans of all ages have stormed onto the streets of Seoul in recent days to protest the import of U.S. beef over concerns about mad cow disease. The movement that began with a small candlelight vigil has sparked an enormous firestorm all over the country.
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May 29, 2008Seoul, South Korea — Recently, the most prevalent issue in Korea has been the people’s protests over the Korea-U.S. FTA, particularly against the Korean government’s negotiations on beef imports. Do these protests indicate a rise of Korean people’s anti-Americanism as right-wingers have claimed?
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May 15, 2008Seoul, South Korea — South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has said that the historical dispute between South Korea and Japan should not interfere with their future relationship. However, if he thinks he can restore the two countries relationship by simply sweeping the past under the carpet, he may be disappointed.
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May 05, 2008Seoul, South Korea — New South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has taken an approach toward North Korea that contrasts distinctively with that of his predecessors by assuming a radically cold tone. This stems from his adoption of "pragmatism" as the primary principle of his foreign policy. So far it is a failure.
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April 25, 2008Seoul, South Korea — East Asia's economies have been integrating. This once seemed unlikely, but recently free trade agreements have been making a breakthrough, heightening the possibility of such a community including Southeast Asian nations, China, Japan and South Korea.
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April 09, 2008Seoul, South Korea — South Korea in February adopted a new system whereby a jury will be present during court trials, in an effort to make its legal system more democratic. However, the jury's ruling is not legally binding upon the judge, who still holds the right to determine the verdict and the sentence.
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March 31, 2008Seoul, South Korea — South Korea has emerged as one of the preeminent free trade agreement negotiators in Asia since its conclusion of a trade deal with the United States last year. Since signing the FTA with the United States, South Korea has been showered with requests for similar agreements from Japan, China, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and India.
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March 11, 2008Seoul, South Korea — The World Trade Organization has been seen as the central player driving world trade in the globalization era. But now free trade agreements are the new trend, like the South Korea-U.S. deal signed last year, aimed at strengthening their traditional alliance as well as promoting economic exchange.
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February 28, 2008Seoul, South Korea — Professor Karl Polany predicted in 1944 that a global market economy would erode social stability as people crossed borders in pursuit of higher paying jobs. Fortunately, reality is less gloomy than his prediction, due to the global prosperity the world now enjoys.
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January 28, 2008Seoul, South Korea — With the restored support of South Korea and that of Japan, the United States is better positioned to drive its foreign policy in Northeast Asia and on the Korean peninsula. However, Washington would be wise to broaden the framework of its policy if it wishes to remain a long-term regional player.
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January 21, 2008Seoul, South Korea — South Korean President-elect Lee Myung-bak is expected to improve ties with Japan and the United States, a welcome prospect both within and without his country. It is best to opt for multilateral, rather than triangular, diplomacy to establish long-term security on the Korean peninsula, however.
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January 07, 2008Seoul, South Korea — The advent of a new South Korean government next month under President-elect Lee Myung Bak could bring a shift in the "Sunshine Policy" toward North Korea. A hard-line tilt could interrupt the six-party talks and undermine engagement with the North.
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December 21, 2007Seoul, South Korea — Japan is deadlocked on its path toward "normal state" status, which would match its economic power with political and military power, because of its failures in domestic politics and international diplomacy.
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December 13, 2007Seoul, South Korea — Since former Seoul mayor Lee Myung-bak was nominated as the presidential candidate of the Grand National Party in August, expectations have been high that he will be elected South Korea's next president on Dec. 19 with unprecedented public support.
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November 22, 2007Seoul, South Korea — A debate is underway in South Korea between neoliberal capitalists and pro-labor activists as to which way the economy should develop in the face of growing globalization.The labor struggle has been part of a democratic movement in support of workers' r
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November 08, 2007Seoul, South Korea — Since the reign of former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, and even before, nationalism has been a conspicuous trademark of Japanese politics. This has especially been the case with regard to foreign policy, which has drawn strong protest from n
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November 01, 2007Seoul, South Korea — The second summit talks between South and North Korea, held for three days in September, may indicate the North's changing attitude toward more engagement with the outside world. However, if this change was chosen by the North as part of its ongoing strat