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East Asia
Moon ratifies Pyongyang Declaration
President Moon Jae-in ratified an agreement signed between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at their third summit in Pyongyang last month. “Moon ratified the Pyongyang Joint Declaration. An official announcement will soon follow,” a Cheong Wa Dae official said. As a procedural step for the ratification, the Cabinet earlier…
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East Asia
Why are Naver blogs and online cafes blocked in China?
Internet users in China have not been able to access Naver’s blogs and online cafes over the past week, raising speculation that the Chinese government may have intentionally blocked access as it had done previously to foreign online services. Access to Naver’s blogs has been blocked in China since Oct.…
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East Asia
Arabic Letters: the Sacred Alphabet
Arab citizens are living in their alphabet letters; the street names and signs, the shop banners and café’s panels, the schools and factories, the back of their cars decorated with different proverbs, and the front of their uniforms. This could be the same for all nations, but when it comes…
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East Asia
Korea’s economic cul-de-sac
Korea is likely to be among the most vulnerable economies in Asia if the Sino-American trade war escalates. While Korea’s economic strength rests on exports, this also proves to be its biggest weakness when global trade slows. Although the country recently signed a revised free trade agreement with the U.S.,…
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East Asia
How will Turkey end up if the situation continues?
On August 13, ‘Turkish Lira’ and ‘Turkey’ were ranked as number one and two respectively in the real-time query of the leading portal in Korea, Naver. Two questions are to be asked in this situation. The first one is why did the Turkish Lira suddenly collapse? The other question is…
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East Asia
What is Mental Coaching?
The coaching that has brought the women’s curling team to win Silver at the Pyeongchang Olympics. When I introduce myself as a mental coach, people ask two questions: what I majored in and which sport I coach. I am neither a sports person nor a psychotherapist. Nevertheless, I have coached…
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East Asia
Fake News in South Korea
2 out of 5 Koreans cannot recognize fake news Two out of five Koreans cannot tell fake news apart from the real thing, a survey showed Wednesday. In a recent joint survey of online video consumption by Rep. Kim Sung-soo of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and the Green…
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East Asia
“Into The Light”: a Route From Art to Social Issues
This is a story of art, disabilities, diplomacy, and democracy. A story in which the feeling of guilt is intertwined with the spiritual searching of a soul. An adventure that started in Gwangju, South Korea reached New York in the United States. And this was possible thanks to a partnership…
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East Asia
Rohingya crisis goes beyond condemning the military: Myanmar scholars
Ongoing media coverage of the plight of Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar (also known as Burma) has been heavy in condemning Myanmar military forces for allegedly attempting ethnic cleansing and forcing hundreds of thousands of them to flee across the border into Bangladesh. This resulted in the United Nations Human…
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East Asia
Exploring the Andong Mask Festival
Mask dance is an elusive aspect of Korean culture. Many visitors to the peninsula are vaguely aware of it; they may have seen a yangban mask printed on a bus, or noticed the iconic character faces that line Yaksu Station. But in a country whose nation-brand is largely connected to…
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