The Korea Herald

Fashion designer plants trees of hope

PeopleApr 20, 2011

Lee Kwang-hee seeks donations for Sudanese to ease hunger with mangos Fashion designer Lee Kwang-hee has made clothes for the richest in society, including former and current first ladies. Two years ago, she rolled up her sleeves not to sew dresses but to grab a garden trowel in Africa. She planted mango trees in one of Sudan’s poorest areas to help people living in the troubled Sudanese villag...
[Editorial] Bad bank

EditorialApr 20, 2011

The proposed establishment of a bad bank is set in motion by the financial regulators, who are worried that soured project financing loans, if not dealt with appropriately, could cause a financial crisis. At the request from the regulators, creditor banks will sooner or later discuss the details, including how much of money each of them will chip in to set up a bad bank and how much of toxic loan...
[Editorial] Overeducating

EditorialApr 20, 2011

The number of people who are highly educated but economically inactive has been increasing at an alarmingly high rate during the past decade ― surely an unwelcome reminder to parents that the costly efforts to send their children to university may not pay off. As opposed to the economically active population, those economically inactive are people who do not work and, at the same time, do not me...
Obama’s decision a blow to the rule of law

ViewpointsApr 20, 2011

The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has abandoned plans to try several terrorists, including the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, in civilian courts. Instead, it will use military tribunals to administer justice. It is a sad decision. The United States should be leading efforts to show that the fight against terrorism does not require sacrificing the very values tha...
[Michael Smerconish] Working at McDonald’s and lovin’ it?

ViewpointsApr 20, 2011

When I heard that McDonald’s planned to hire 50,000 people next Tuesday, I thought it was a sign of reluctance by suburban kids to enter the workforce by wearing the Golden Arches. I’m one of the many Americans who have worked at a McDonald’s, which puts me in the company of Jay Leno, Carl Lewis, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Andie MacDowell and Macy Gray. But it’s a bigger group than that. Some estimate...
[Nouriel Roubini] China’s growth strategy is a bad bet

ViewpointsApr 20, 2011

LONDON ― I recently took two trips to China just as the government launched its 12th Five-Year Plan to rebalance the country’s long-term growth model. My visits deepened my view that there is a potentially destabilizing contradiction between China’s short- and medium-term economic performance. China’s economy is overheating now, but, over time, its current overinvestment will prove deflationary ...
The best remedy for the price of gas

ViewpointsApr 20, 2011

There is no magic wand that will bring down the price of gasoline, which has once again crossed the $4 mark. But there is a long-term solution that will inoculate us from higher costs in the future. The Obama administration can’t do much to lower the price of a gallon of gas, but it is on the cusp of a crucial decision that could help consumers come out ahead because they would need less gas. O...
[Greg Burk] The good book, re-edited

ViewpointsApr 20, 2011

Despite the anti-Semitic ranting of Mel Gibson, the public gulf between Roman Catholics and Jews has narrowed during recent decades. It started with overtures from Pope John Paul II between 1979 and 2000, during which time he visited Auschwitz and Jerusalem. After following his predecessor to Auschwitz in 2006, Pope Benedict XVI slammed Holocaust deniers in 2009, then set off on an Israel trip. A...
[Aryeh Neier] Goldstone reversal on the Gaza war

ViewpointsApr 20, 2011

NEW YORK ― Justice Richard Goldstone was condemned by many apologists for Israel’s human-rights record for his conclusion that Israel intentionally targeted Palestinian civilians as a matter of policy during the 2008-09 Gaza war. Goldstone’s United Nations-backed report accused both Israelis and Palestinians of war crimes, and called on both sides to investigate, prosecute, and punish their own p...
Michelle Obama’s plane was too close to cargo jet

World NewsApr 20, 2011

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― An official plane carrying U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama had to abort a landing at an air force base near Washington on Monday due to an air traffic controller’s error, U.S. media reported Tuesday. The aircraft carrying her was too close to a 200-ton military cargo jet and had to scrap its final approach to Andrews Air Force Base, a key hub for top U.S. government officials i...
‘Tosca’ reveals beauty of Puccini opera

TheaterApr 20, 2011

The Seoul Metropolitan Opera Company’s first production of “Tosca,” one of the most frequently performed operas among Puccini’s works, reveals the beauty of the Italian composer’s best-known lyrical aria through the singers’ vocal ability, acting and the orchestra’s following of veteran conductor Mark Gibson. During a press rehearsal Tuesday prior to April 21-24, soprano Kim Eun-joo in the role ...
East meets West in Edinburgh

TheaterApr 20, 2011

Korean artists to take center stage at annual culture festival It is an annual festival in Edinburgh that draws hundreds of thousands of people for three weeks of music, dance, theater and opera in August. This year the world’s biggest cultural fest will seek to build a bridge between Asia and Europe by featuring artists from Korea, China and Japan, according to the organizer. The staging of t...
SBS drama ‘Brilliant Legacy’ wins platinum at Houston film festival

TelevisionApr 20, 2011

Korean broadcasters had a fine showing at the 44th Houston International Film Festival from April 8-17, with SBS programs winning six awards and KBS taking four. According to SBS, the drama “Brilliant Legacy,” which aired from April to July in 2009, featuring singer-actor Lee Seung-gi and actress Han Hyo-joo, won the Platinum Remi for TV Series Full Length. The drama depicts a relationship betwe...
Asia’s addiction to technology takes its toll on its youth

PeopleApr 20, 2011

SINGAPORE (AFP) ― A baby girl starves to death as her parents raise a virtual child online; a boy scolded for excessive gaming kills his mother then commits suicide ― technology addiction is taking a toll in Asia. With more 100 million smartphones now sold annually in the Asia-Pacific region ― expected to double in five years’ time ― it is the world’s largest market for advanced mobile devices. ...
Got prom dibs? Girls use Facebook to claim dress

FashionApr 20, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) ― Teenage girls largely live in a lookalike culture, wearing the same styles that they got in the same stores as their friends. On prom night, though, the idea is to stand out, making sure no one arrives to the big dance in the same outfit. To ensure their uniqueness ― after they’ve shopped in faraway malls and tapped into store registries ― girls are using social media to claim di...