2023 was a year of many developments for South Korea and elsewhere. The country and her people continue to forge various productive ties internationally. This benefits South Koreans, the region and the world. Domestic matters are less happy. North Korea again plays a version of nationalist games for incremental gains and the ruler’s ego. The Ukraine war continues. A new war in Gaza unfolds. The continued mania of Donald Trump enthralls too many.

Amid it all, Christmas arrived at midnight. Just as it has for over 2000 years. Just as it shall do forever more until the end of Earth and beyond. What is Christmas, and why should we care?

Jesus’s birth heralds the message of his law, which is love. The précis for Christ’s meaning, emerging in generous and unremitting light this day, is that we are to love God above all else and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We should understand these as pieces of a unity, not a........

© The Korea Times