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"RIGHT THEN and there, I saw two men get their throat slit and fall to their knees for the uniform they wore," narrates Carolina*; what she witnessed reflects what thousands of Colombians have seen during the massacres that occur in the country every year. Although the occurrence of these mass killi
Worldwide
Park Joo-hyun
2020.11.01 20:00
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ON AUGUST 6th, President Donald Trump issued an executive order demanding Tik Tok to either sell its U.S. operations to an American company or face being banned from all transactions with the United States. The executive order expressed concerns about the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) using personal
Today's Affairs
Kim Chae-yoon
2020.11.01 19:57
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ADRIENNE (ALIAS) positioned the trash can carefully on her family store’s outdoor area, trying to remember where the puddle had formed during the last typhoon. The water had dripped through the floor to the fitness center below them, and the owner had called Adrienne’s in panic and fury, demanding t
Society
Kim Chae-yoon
2020.10.11 20:20
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DARK LIQUID streaks across the emerald water from the half-emerged ship. Black, oily spots spread further out in clumps, ocean waves pushing them towards the shores of Mauritius. Dead starfish and crabs wash up onto the beach, covered in black oil, while volunteers waddle into the water themselves a
Worldwide
Lee Ju-won
2020.10.11 20:20
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“WE MUST start anew the search for balanced national development, and I propose completion of the [Sejong] administrative capital as a solution,” stated Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the Democratic party. “The entire National Assembly must move to Sejong [….] Furthermore, through further discussion
Today's Affairs
Kim Chae-yoon
2020.08.31 10:17
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“I CAN’T BREATHE” has been the rallying cry for protests against U.S. law enforcement’s excessive use of force targeting African Americans. The phrase obtained its symbolism after Minneapolis police choked and killed African American George Floyd while arresting him for passing counterfeit currency—
Worldwide
Kim Chae-yoon
2020.08.31 10:15
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A CRAMPED boat with nearly 400 Rohingya refugees rocks over turbulent waters; after weeks at sea, they were turned back at Malaysian borders as docks shut down in face of the pandemic. A family waits for months, along with hundreds of other families, in makeshift shelters in Mexico as they await the
Worldwide
Lee Ju-won
2020.08.31 10:13
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THE COVID-19 pandemic has revealed, more than ever, the indispensability of doctors and those working in the healthcare industry. In response to the anticipation of more infectious disease outbreaks as well as the rapidly aging Korean population, the government has pushed for an increase in the medi
Society
Park Joo-hyun
2020.08.31 10:05
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BACK IN June 25, 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea during the Korean War, the United States helped South Korea by sending armed forces. South Korea and the United States have been tied with a military alliance ever since; however, this 67-year alliance appears to be facing a crisis as the two nations are failing to reach an agreement on how to divide the costs for military defense. The alliance Signed in October, 1953, the Mutual Defense Treaty is the military alliance that forms the backbone of the relationship between South Korea and the United States after the hostilities of the Kor
Society
Kwon Kyu-hee
2020.06.14 06:56
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THE SPECULATIONS began on April 15 with Kim Jong-un’s conspicuous absence at the Kumsusan Palace “Day of the Sun” celebration commemorating his grandfather’s birthday. This aberration, snowballed with hypotheses about the leader’s debilitating health and a three-week absence, unleashed an avalanche of specious conclusions and articles. The rumors subsided with Kim’s reappearance, but the incident is symptomatic of the uncertainty and assumptions that pervade reporting about North Korea. The disappearance On April 20, an unnamed source told Daily NK* that Kim received cardiovascular surgery on
Worldwide
Kim Chae-yoon
2020.06.14 06:46
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SHIN-CHEON-JI ONLY came under extensive scrutiny when it abetted the spread of COVID-19, but the religious group was already familiar to many Koreans. Its proselytizers have penetrated society and even our own school. Many have been baffled or enraged at the sect’s popularity and refusal to comply with local governments and the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Unbeknownst to most, Shin-cheon-ji has been applying creative tactics of proselytization to maintain its numbers, burgeoning into a social problem. Lee Man-hee, the Last Messiah Shin-cheon-ji Church of Jesus the Temple of the Tabernacle
Today's Affairs
Kim Chae-yoon
2020.04.04 16:54
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IN JUST a span of 5 months, 4 South Korean taxi drivers set themselves on fire. These taxi drivers were protesting against a single issue: ride-hailing services recently introduced to the South Korean transportation market. Tada—one ride-hailing service that operates with large 11-seat vans—has long been the center of controversy ever since its launch in October, 2018, causing intense anger and heightening tensions between the taxi industry and ride-hailing services. In response to such controversy, a revision to a law to ban Tada was officially passed on March 6, 2020; however, it
Society
Kwon Kyu-hee
2020.04.04 16:21
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THE SOUTH Korean military has been infamous for forcing its members to follow strict gender and sexual regulations, but a transgender Staff Sergeant Byun Hee-su has challenged these norms and requested to serve after her gender reassignment surgery. Although the military has declared her condition a mental impairment and dismissed her, Byun and civil rights groups are suing to reinstate her to the army and to change how transgenders and sexual minorities are treated in the military. A Level-3 mental impairment Staff Sergeant Byun Hee-su was a well-trained soldier in the Korean military, receiv
Society
Kim Chae-yoon
2020.03.13 01:16
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A DARING operation on October 26, 2019 by elite American commandoes assassinated Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the infamous leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), in the northwestern Syrian village of Barisha. While hailed as a victory for the western nations engaging in the long-term war against terrorism, a question remains: will this be the final blow that destroys ISIS for good? Operation Kayla MuellerAccording to the Washington Post at approximately 11 p.m. on October 26, 2019 an American task force embarked on a mission to kill the longtime leader and figurehead of ISIS. According
Worldwide
Nicholas Newton
2019.12.03 18:25
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WORDS ARE more easily said when one can hide behind the shield of anonymous posting. The convenience of anonymous online platforms has created a blindside for exploitation, allowing people to lash out at others without considering the consequences on the victim as well as society. In South Korea, online anonymity has shed light on hate comments as a serious social issue, yet official laws that mandate legal persecution of online hate comments are yet to be established. The gravity of the issue of hate comments is constantly on a rise; with the number of crimes related to online defamation incr
Today's Affairs
Kwon Kyu-hee
2019.12.02 02:32
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“IF WORLD leaders choose to fail us, my generation will never forgive them,” voice of Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish climate change activist, echoed across conference hall at the 2019 September United Nations (UN) Climate Action Summit. In a hall filled with representatives from all over the world, including 91 heads of state, Thunberg’s call for actions against the global climate change seemed to represent a simple yet powerful message—that we are facing a grave environmental crisis. As years of global efforts to deal with climate issues were met with little success, millions of
Worldwide
Kwon Kyu-hee
2019.11.02 17:51
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THE KINGDOM of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran are engaged in a decades-long struggle for dominance. But unlike the popular image of two uniformed militaries fighting each other on defined battlefields, this conflict relies on covert actions to undermine each other and achieve their goals. In the 21st century, regional conflicts no longer occur in a vacuum and the outcome of this power struggle carries global implications. A September 14 attack on two major Saudi oil processing facilities caused international concerns and threatens to escalate an already tense situation to a new,
Today's Affairs
Nicholas Newton, Oscar Jay
2019.11.02 17:47
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ON AUG. 22, 2019, the Moon Jae-in administration has announced its decision to discontinue the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), abolishing the bilateral military agreement between South Korea and Japan that initiated in 2016. As the government explained its justification of termination to be based on the presence of general mistrust of Japan as a result of recent tensions and diplomatic hostilities, GSOMIA serves as a turning point in the recently revised South Korea-Japan relations. The decision signifies a change not only with diplomacy of the two nations, but in
Today's Affairs
Cho Seung-wan
2019.10.06 20:40
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THE SILENCE in the office is shattered as a man brutally smacks an employee across his face. The violence continues as the perpetrator Yang Jin-ho, who was then CEO of the online storage service provider, WeDisk, forces the employee to kneel down and beg for an apology as he continues to hurl ruthless violence. This is an example of workplace harassment in South Korea where employees often experience various forms of abuse, ranging from physical to verbal, typically from someone of higher authority. To tackle such phenomenon, a law enforcing a ban on harassment in the workplace has officially
Society
Kwon Kyu-hee
2019.09.04 20:40
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“JAPAN MAY condescend to Korea regarding our complicated history, but it doesn’t help if Korea undiscriminatingly labels people who aren’t outright anti-Japan as national traitors,” said An Sung-min (Fresh., Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Waseda Univ.). A Korean student currently studying in Japan, An senses the sentiments of both nations going to the extreme, especially with the ongoing economic sanctions and boycott movements. Japanese brands in Korea are drastically losing businesses, and Japanese corporations even resorted to reducing a significant number of regional branches in the coun
Today's Affairs
Cho Seung-wan
2019.09.04 20:38