Seven of South Korea's presidents have left office before their term ended

South Korea's decades long effort to build a new capital

South Korea has spent decades trying to ease overcrowding in Seoul by developing Sejong City as a new administrative hub. Named after the king who created Hangul, Sejong was designed to decentralize government functions—but slow population growth and limited transit have complicated the plan.

George Washington resigned after two terms to avoid the precedent of dying in office

America's first president could have stayed in office longer, but he knew the chances were high he would die in the middle of a term. So he quit after two to signal to future commander-in-chiefs that the presidency was not a lifetime position.

Why South Korean women are having fewer babies

For decades, Asian countries have been combating dwindling birth rates by basically bribing families into having more children: offering government-subsidized housing, free IVF treatments, and even straight-up cash handouts. It hasn’t worked. In this BBC video, a TV producer, a cartoonist, and a private-school teacher explain their views on having children in 21st-century Korea.

A backgrounder on North Korea’s power structure

North Korea has been ruled by three generations of the Kim family since 1948, one of the world’s longest-running dynastic dictatorships, where absolute authority flows from the Supreme Leader. Read the Council on Foreign Relations' backgrounder to understand the country’s structure of power.

The presidential line of succession ensures continuity of government

If the president dies, resigns, or is removed from office, the vice president assumes the presidency. The line then proceeds to the speaker of the House, Senate president pro tempore, and Cabinet secretaries, beginning with the Department of State, established under the Presidential Succession Act.

Inside the first year as a CEO

The CEO role is a complicated one, especially for those who haven't held it before. A recent study found that among CEOs who left their jobs in the first quarter of 2024, 15% held the job for less than 24 months. That's up almost 10% from 2019. This article highlights the challenges CEOs face in their first year on the job, and describes how they can overcome them. Read more here.

The US and South Korea have a robust, if delicate, alliance

The deep ties between South Korea and the United States go back decades, but the relationship hasn’t always been frictionless. When two off-duty American servicemen accidentally killed two South Korean middle-school girls in 2002, it set off anti-American protests that led South Korea to seek a more balanced relationship. The Council on Foreign Relations traces key moments in the two countries’ seven-decade history.

See the presidents with the most vetoes

Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a record 635 vetoes—more than twice as many as any other president. Other frequent users include Grover Cleveland (584), Harry Truman (250), and Dwight Eisenhower (181), reflecting long tenures, divided government, high legislative output, and assertive executive leadership.

All US presidents, by generation

Every president is a member of a generation, and Baby Boomers have held the Oval Office since 1992 (with the exception of Joe Biden, of the Silent Generation). But what about in the early days? Turns out the generation with the most presidents is the Transcendental Generation (born between 1792-1821), which includes Abraham Lincoln. Check out the full list (and what are most likely very new generational terms) with this fun overview.

Five US presidents won the election despite losing the popular vote

Because presidents are elected through the Electoral College rather than a national vote, candidates can win while receiving fewer votes nationwide. John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump (2016) each won the presidency while losing the nationwide popular vote.

How presidential systems differ from parliamentary governments

In presidential systems like the US, the executive and legislature are separately elected, giving presidents fixed terms and independent authority. In parliamentary systems, executives are elected by legislatures and can be removed by a simple vote of no confidence.

Davos has been home to many pivotal moments in international diplomacy

Davos provides a forum for unlikely meetings: FW de Klerk met with Nelson Mandela and Mangosuthu Buthelezi during South Africa’s transition from apartheid, North and South Korea held their first-ever ministerial talks, and East and West German leaders discussed reunification.

Seven early retirement lessons

After one year of retirement under his belt, financial publication Kiplinger's former editor has learned some lessons. Specifically, in this article, he shares his best early retirement advice, from when it makes sense to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth in early retirement, to how to prepare for retirement from a psychological perspective. Read more here.

Research shows that termed-out lawmakers become less active

A University of Chicago and Stanford study found that state legislators barred from reelection sponsor fewer bills, serve on fewer committees, and skip more votes. The research suggests lawmakers are more productive when future elections remain possible.

The consequences of dating as a K-pop idol

Seunghan, a star from the boy band RIIZE, experienced intense backlash for leaked photos of him kissing a woman when he was a trainee. Many fans were outraged by the images and found his behavior to be against their expectations of a wholesome K-pop idol. This article provides details about this case and gives other examples of idols who experienced a fallout with fans for having personal relationships.

Trot: Korea's melancholic pop that came before K-pop

Following the end of the Japanese occupation, Koreans shared their complex emotions through a musical genre called trot. Blending sorrowful lyrics with upbeat music, trot was used to dance the pain away after a difficult period.

Why workers in Japan hire resignation experts

Many workers in Japan hire resignation experts to help them quit their jobs. That's partly because quitting is taboo in Japan. It's seen as "the ultimate form of disrespect" in that country, where job hopping is uncommon. Bosses sometimes attempt to force workers to stay when they resign, creating quite the market for resignation assistance firms. Read more in this article.

Truman's decision to enter the Korean War without congressional authorization marked a major shift in presidential war powers

Rather than seeking a declaration of war, Truman sent troops to Korea under his own authority, citing the UN Charter and his role as commander in chief. The decision set a precedent that subsequent presidents have relied on ever since.

Communist governments across Eastern Europe fell in 1989

In 1989, a series of mostly peaceful uprisings led to the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe. Protests and political shifts in countries like Poland, East Germany and Czechoslovakia marked the end of Soviet dominance in the region.

The mysterious details of Stalin's death

The 73-year-old dictator of the Soviet Union died March 5, 1953, officially from a stroke, on top of nearly a decade of significant medical issues. But evidence suggests the longtime leader might have been poisoned less than a week before at an intimate gathering of Stalin's closest confidantes and advisors. Explore the current evidence for Stalin's alleged murder here.

'Presidential Reconstruction' attempted rapid reunification with minimal federal oversight

Led by Andrew Johnson after Lincoln's death, Presidential Reconstruction (1865-67) quickly restored Southern governments through mass pardons and lenient terms, allowing ex-Confederates to regain power and pass Black Codes that restricted freedpeople's rights.

Brazil's military dictatorship led to bossa nova's decline

In 1964, Brazil's president João Goulart was overthrown by a military coup supported by the US State Department. Scholars argue that the events led to the decline of bossa nova, with many Brazilians believing its pleasant sounds and picturesque lyrics were tone-deaf to the politically fraught moment.

South Korean artist uses her own body as a canvas

Dain Yoon is a South Korean artist whose whimsical paintings utilizing her body as a canvas have gone viral. See examples of her works where she uses her face and torso to present elaborate, often surreal, visual works.

What happened during the Fall of Saigon?

After the U.S. pulled out of the conflict in 1975, North Vietnam quickly subsumed the South, renaming its then-capital of Saigon into Ho Chi Minh City. What happened during the city's fall? Take the next 17 minutes to watch this 1975 footage from the Associated Press to learn more.

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi ruled Iran for nearly four decades before being ousted by the revolution

The last Shah of Iran came to power in 1941 and pursued rapid Westernization through his controversial reforms. His authoritarian rule, backed by the US, and his feared secret police, SAVAK, fueled mass resentment that ultimately drove him from power in 1979.

Watch contemporary footage covering the US-backed Shah of Iran fleeing the country in the face of the 1979 Iranian Revolution

Despite being favored by 87% of Americans, Congress does not have term limits.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

US intelligence allegedly pursued more than 600 schemes to assassinate Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro.

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

Frank Lloyd Wright's houses are historically hard to sell because they're old, subject to local landmark commissions, and often unfashionable

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

American short story writer Flannery O'Connor raised 40 peacocks, which became potent symbols for her fiction's elegant violence

Volcanoes 'die' when their supply of magma runs out, if they are shifted away from their underlying magma reservoir, or if they get clogged by collapsing or their magma cooling back into rock.

In 1945, Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and legendary animator Walt Disney began collaborating on a short film that was not completed until 2003, years after both men had died.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

In 1963, a basement renovation in Turkey revealed a passageway to a hidden, multilevel underground city that once housed as many as 20,000 people

An Ebola vaccine was developed during the 2018 west African Ebola outbreak, but the 2026 Ebola outbreak is with a different species of the virus, not the one that the vaccine is approved to treat.