The Korea Herald

PyeongChang Paralympics a growth opportunity

More sportsAug 3, 2011

When South Korea’s PyeongChang was declared the host city for the 2018 Winter Olympics last month, Yoon Seok-yong, head of Korea Sports Association for the Disabled, had mixed feelings. By rule, an Olympic host city also runs a Paralympics in the same year, summer or winter. PyeongChang’s victory automatically made the alpine town, some 180 kilometers east of Seoul, the host for the Winter Paral...
Korea falls to France 3-1 at U20 World Cup

SoccerAug 3, 2011

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) ― France defeated South Korea 3-1 on Tuesday after late goals from Gueida Fofana and Alexandre Lacazette, leaving both teams precariously poised in the group stage at the U20 World Cup. Fofana scored in the 81st to break a 1-1 deadlock and Lacazette closed out the scoring in stoppage time. Gilles Sunu gave France the lead in the 27th before Kim Young-uk equalized in the 59...
[Joel Brinkley] September looms large for Israel

ViewpointsAug 3, 2011

HAIFA, Israel ― Around here, everyone is deeply concerned about September. In fact, that’s just about the only thing anyone is talking about. For Israelis and Palestinians, September is the universally understood shorthand for the likely United Nations vote that month on whether to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state. Right now, Israeli and Palestinian officials are traveling to European an...
[Ramesh Ponnuru] Debt battles revealed tea party’s divisions

ViewpointsAug 3, 2011

At first glance, it looks as if the tea partiers scored a big win over Speaker of the House John Boehner and the Republican Party establishment last week. Boehner pleaded for Republican members of Congress to unite in support of a package of spending cuts and a debt-limit increase. He ran into vehement opposition from Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the head of the Republican Study Committee,...
[Editorial] Privatizing airport

EditorialAug 3, 2011

Management, be it of an airport or a utility, is generally more efficient in the hands of private enterprises aiming at minimizing waste and maximizing profits. In this regard, it is better to privatize Incheon International Airport, as the government plans to do in the near future, than to keep it as a state-owned corporation. True, Incheon is one of the best managed airports in the world despi...
[Editorial] Leave companies alone

EditorialAug 3, 2011

Minister of Knowledge and Economy Choi Joong-kyung invited legitimate complaints from the business community again when he called on large corporations on Saturday to cut executive pay and use the savings to create jobs. His remarks were received as an unwarranted act of government intervention in the private sector. He had made similar anti-business remarks on previous occasions. At a forum spo...
[Laszlo Bruszt , David Stark] Western democracy’s summer of silence over N. Africa

ViewpointsAug 3, 2011

FIESOLE, Italy ― The summer has not brought consolidation to processes of political change in North Africa. The political landscapes in Egypt and Tunisia are highly volatile. With only a few months before crucial elections, it is still highly uncertain who and what can guarantee that elections will widen and not narrow the road to consolidated democracy. This situation is remarkably similar to th...
Apple fined for illegal collection of location data in S. Korea

TechnologyAug 3, 2011

South Korea‘s telecom regulator said Wednesday that it decided to slap a fine on Apple Inc. for illegally collecting iPhone users’ location data. Apple violated the country‘s location information laws and was ordered to pay a 3 million won ($2,829) fine, the Korea Communications Commission said in a statement. The commission also ordered the Cupertino, California-based company to make appropriat...
[Edward Glaeser] Balanced budget suddenly looks more appealing

ViewpointsAug 3, 2011

We have stared hard into the abyss of a national default, and the close call with financial Armageddon is starting to make a balanced-budget amendment look good. A stringent restriction on public borrowing, if properly crafted, offers the hope for more fiscal responsibility, less wasteful spending and a slightly less terrifying budgetary process. Yet while a well-crafted amendment looks a little...
[Frida Ghitis] People everywhere fed up with politicians

ViewpointsAug 3, 2011

People have run out of patience with the government. Chat with someone in the street, at a party or a restaurant, anywhere, and you hear the same complaint rising from a grimacing face: We’re fed up; had more than enough of irresponsible, unreliable, dishonest, self-serving officials in government. And where does this growing exasperation with the country’s political leaders prevail? Everywhere....
International figures to discuss power of popular culture

CultureAug 3, 2011

World-class cultural figures like Peter Florence, founder and director of the Hay Festival, will be visiting Seoul next month to participate in the Culture Communication Forum 2011. Following the success of the C20 event last year in which the Corea Image Communication Institute invited cultural leaders from the G20 countries to experience Korean culture as a prelude to the G20 Seoul Summit, CIC...
Artist reminds viewers of basic human values

TheaterAug 3, 2011

South Korean artist Yang Soon-yeol has long pondered the question of what basic values human beings should pursue. Her solo exhibition, “Leaning against a gatepost in the world of imagination,” currently underway at Inter-Burgo Gallery in Manchon-dong, Daegu, is a roundup of her thoughts so far. The Daegu-raised artist is showcasing 40 oil paintings, installations and sculptures. Her works cover...
Find youth, rock spirit in Incheon this weekend

MusicAug 3, 2011

Incheon Dream Park’s outdoor pool, indoor club to stay open 24 hours The upcoming weekend in Incheon will be filled with the energy of youth and rock spirit, as leading bands from overseas and Korea power up the stage of the 6th Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival from Friday to Sunday. While the rock festival comes into its sixth year, weather during the annual summer festival has been sometimes s...
The Black Skirts hopes to get rid of ‘American’ label

MusicAug 3, 2011

While idol-centered K-pop has been heavily covered by the media, the Korean indie scene has received relatively little attention. This is the fifth installment of a series of interviews shedding light on the scene. ― Ed. The Black Skirts, a one-man indie band run by vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist and songwriter Holiday Cho, has been widely known in Korea as a New Yorker-turned Hongdae musician...
Demi Moore adds her style stamp to Ann Taylor ads

FashionAug 3, 2011

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― As a young teenager, before the fame, kids, paparazzi and front-row seats at fashion shows, Demi Moore regularly passed an Ann Taylor store at a local mall, taking note of the clothes. In the years since, she’s been a red-carpet rebel, jeans-wearing mom, bikini globetrotter and Versace model. Now her style evolution has come full circle, and Moore is the star of the Ann Taylor...