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Sam Kim
For Sam Kim's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol suffered a stinging defeat in Wednesday’s parliamentary election, hampering his conservative pro-business agenda.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 11, 2024
South Korea's Yoon becomes lame duck following election
The outcome at the polls effectively derailed Yoon Suk-yeol's pro-business goals for the next three years.
An employee organizes baby supplies at a store in Siheung, South Korea, on Tuesday. A lack of babies is speeding up the aging of South Korean society, generating concerns about the growing fiscal burden of public pensions and healthcare.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Feb 28, 2024
South Korea keeps shattering its own record for lowest fertility rate
The number of babies expected per woman in a lifetime fell to 0.72 last year from 0.78 in 2022.
Low fertility threatens to undermine South Korea’s economic future by shrinking its workforce and slowing consumption.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 14, 2023
South Korea set to see fertility rate fall even further
The country already has the world’s lowest fertility rate at 0.78 as of 2022.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol waves as he and his wife, Kim Keon-hee, arrive in London on Monday for a state visit to the U.K.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 21, 2023
South Korea’s Yoon to talk AI in U.K. as trade negotiations begin
South Korea's Yoon Suk-yeol and British leader Rishi Sunak will try to burnish their international credentials ahead of respective general elections.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 28, 2023
South Korea to avoid cashing in on China’s U.S. chipmaker ban
China’s Micron crackdown has drawn South Korea into the U.S.-China battle over technology access and national security.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 16, 2023
South Korean marriages slide to record low in a blow for country with the world’s lowest birth rate
South Korea’s crude marriage rate — the number of marriages per 1,000 people — slid to 3.7 from 3.8 in 2021.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 20, 2023
South Korea joins space race as Russia’s isolation deepens
Seoul last month revoked a contract with Moscow in favor of a European operator to launch a satellite into space.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2023
South Korean babysitter app seeks to ease guilt among mothers torn between child and career
As women feel torn between children and a career, South Korea continues to struggle with a low birthrate.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 7, 2022
South Korea debt crisis is a cautionary tale as era of easy money ends
Even relatively safer financial systems like South Korea's face threats of contagion.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 28, 2022
South Korean central bank governor warns against Japan-like stimulus
The country should instead embark on long-delayed structural reforms, central bank Gov. Rhee Chang-yong said.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 8, 2022
South Korea urges corporate governance focus on women to address fertility crisis
The country last year saw the number of babies expected per woman drop to 0.81, a result that shattered its own world record.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 29, 2022
Crisis trauma haunts South Korea as it confronts a credit meltdown
Past financial crises are haunting South Korean policymakers as they rush to support a local credit market that's quickly gone from one of the world's safest to teetering on the brink.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 14, 2022
Burden of raising kids drives South Korean fertility to world’s lowest rate
The country's president plans to sharply increase cash payments for new parents, but for women considering children, temporary subsidies may do little to assuage worries over years of costs.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 31, 2022
South Korea to triple baby payments in bid to tackle fertility crisis
A plan to provide a monthly stipend to every family with a newborn is Seoul's latest move to address the world's lowest fertility rate.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 24, 2022
South Korea shatters its own record for world’s lowest fertility rate
South Korea is the world's fastest-aging nation among economies with GDP per capita of at least $30,000.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 23, 2022
Sky-high inflation triggers fried-chicken price war in South Korea
Shoppers have left no stone unturned in looking for ways to save on food, and that includes standing in hourslong queues to buy discounted poultry.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 19, 2022
Janet Yellen touts ‘friend-shoring’ as global supply chain fix
Yellen called on 'trusted” U.S. allies to strengthen trade relationships disrupted by the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and threatened longer term by a reliance on China.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 5, 2022
South Korea’s inflation hits fastest pace since 1998
The news will add to the pressure on the Bank of Korea to consider an outsized interest-rate hike next week
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2022
South Korean trade minister calls for ‘fresh look’ at Japan ties
'It's high time to have a fresh look at bilateral relations and forge forward-looking, more constructive relations between Korea and Japan,” South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 21, 2021
In good sign for global economy, South Korea exports post early double-digit gains
South Korea's trade figures offer a timely assessment on the health of global commerce as its manufacturers are positioned widely across supply chains.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on