Opinion: China set to blast off to far side of the Moon – here's what it could discover

SEOUL, May 02 (AJU PRESS) - China is attempting to recover the first ever soil and rock samples from the lunar far side. The surface mission, Chang'e 6, named after the Chinese Moon goddess Chang'e, is a predecessor to the successful sample return mission, Chang'e 5, and a part of the Chinese lunar exploration programme. The mission is set for launch using a long March 5 rocket at the Wenchang satellite launch center in Hainan province on May 3. The spacecraft due to l

May 2, 2024

Opinion: Electric cars pile up at European ports as Chinese firms struggle to find buyers

SEOUL, May 01 (AJU PRESS) - China's automotive industry has revolutionized over the past decade, from producing basic western clones to making cars that equal the world's best. As the manufacturing powerhouse of the world, China is also producing them in huge volumes. However, Chinese cars are facing difficulties in finding buyers in Europe. Imported cars, many of which are Chinese electric vehicles, are piling up at European ports, with some spending up to 18 months in po

May 1, 2024

Opinion: Japan's diplomatic charm offensive in US aims to keep Washington in committed relationship

SEOUL, May 01 (AJU PRESS) - April 2024 proved to be a busy month in Japanese-U.S. diplomacy. The month saw a state visit to the U.S. by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that included a White House sit-down with President Joe Biden on April 10. The next day, both men were joined by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for the first-ever U.S.-Japan-Philippines trilateral summit. Then on April 23, a former prime minister and leading figure in Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic

May 1, 2024

Opinion: Vaping now more common than smoking among young people – and risks go beyond lung and brain damage

SEOUL, April 29 (AJU PRESS) - Vaping is now more common than cigarette smoking among young people, according to a new report coordinated by the University of Glasgow and commissioned by the World Health Organization. This echoes research that has found the popularity of vaping among young people in the U.K. has surged in recent years. The number of children experimenting with vapes increased from 7.7 percent in 2022 to 11.6 percent in 2023, according to a survey conducted by anti-

April 29, 2024

Opinion: College administrators are falling into tried and true trap laid by the right

SEOUL, April 29 (AJU PRESS) - Interrogations of university leaders spearheaded by conservative congressional representatives. Calls from right-wing senators for troops to intervene in campus demonstrations. Hundreds of student and faculty arrests, with nonviolent dissenters thrown to the ground, tear-gassed and tased. We've been here before. In my book "Resistance from the Right: Conservatives and the Campus Wars in Modern America," I detail how, throughout the 1960s

April 29, 2024

Opinion: New 'cold war' grows ever warmer as prospect of nuclear arms race hots up

SEOUL, April 26 (AJU PRESS) - Champagne corks popped on Dec. 3 1989 as Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. president George H.W. Bush met on the cruise ship, Maxim Gorky, off the coast of Malta to declare the end of the cold war. Gorbachev and Bush's predecessor in the White House, Ronald Reagan, had – at two summits over the past five years – thrashed out agreements that would limit and reduce both sides' nuclear arsenals. With the cold war over, Gorbache

April 26, 2024

Opinion: Russia's invasion of Ukraine has left the entire region at a heightened risk of radioactive pollution

SEOUL, April 25 (AJU PRESS) - Russia's invasion of Ukraine has put the country's nuclear facilities at considerable risk. For example, on April 7 a drone attacked Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant. This attack on the largest nuclear power plant in Europe was a rare instance of a direct assault on a nuclear facility. While both Ukraine and Russia deny responsibility for the drone attack, it's clear that Russia's ongoing invasion has put the site at active

April 25, 2024

Opinion: Yoon faces foreign policy challenges after the National Assembly election

SEOUL, April 24 (AJU PRESS) - South Korea's parliamentary election of April 10, 2024, was widely seen as a referendum on President Yoon Suk Yeol's first two years in office. That being the case, the nation collectively expressed its strong disapproval. With a relatively high turnout of 67 percent, voters handed Yoon's conservative People Power Party defeat, with its share of the 300-seat National Assembly dropping from 114 to 108. The opposition Democratic Party ret

April 24, 2024

Opinion: US Supreme Court appears open to Starbucks' claims in labor-organizing case

SEOUL, April 24 (AJU PRESS) - What factors must a court consider when the National Labor Relations Board requests an order requiring an employer to rehire terminated workers before the completion of unfair labor practice proceedings? That's the central question that the Supreme Court considered on April 23, 2024, during oral arguments in the Starbucks Corp. v. McKinney case. The global coffee shop chain is challenging the NLRB, the federal agency responsible for enforcing U.S.

April 24, 2024

Opinion: Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department and the art of melodrama

SEOUL, April 23 (AJU PRESS) - Taylor Swift album drops have become cultural moments – whether or not you are a fan of her music. Each album in the Swift catalogue seeks to open up new themes, discussion, sounds and ideas, while retaining a sense of familiarity that doesn't alienate fans. Lyrically, The Tortured Poets Department is a euphoric rejection of societal expectations. It embraces all the Taylor-isms her fans have come to know and love, from her one-note melodies

April 23, 2024