Most Popular
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Korea enters full election mode
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
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Lee Jong-sup resigns as envoy to Australia
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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Yellow dust engulfs S. Korea, advisory alert issued
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S. Korea to boost support for single-parent families
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Court upholds jail term for man who attempted to murder ex-girlfriend
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Kia EV9 wins world car of year
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Korea misses out on global bond index boost
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[Robert J. Fouser] Generational conflict in Korea
A few days ago, Kim Dae-jung came to mind, and I decided to watch a few videos of his old speeches on YouTube. One of the most impressive was a speech in Daegu during the 1987 presidential campaign in which he challenged the sharply hostile crowd to imagine a country without regional conflict. Always articulate, he argued the point passionately and managed to finish the speech without being driven off the podium.In the 1980s, regional conflict divided Korea more than anything else. The conflict
Nov. 25, 2014
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Ukraine gave up the bomb to find a bear
With Russian tanks and other military equipment rolling into Ukraine, Kiev is learning the hard way that when you reside in a nasty neighborhood it doesn’t pay to get rid of nuclear weapons without ironclad security guarantees. But that is exactly what it did in December 1994 when it agreed to the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances co-signed by the United States, Russia and the United Kingdom.As Russia took Crimea this year and continued to support the separatists, some Ukrainian officia
Nov. 25, 2014
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[Kim Seong-kon] Long-distance relationships
Americans are known to be hopelessly bad at long-distance relationships. When a husband has a job in New York City and his wife works in Los Angeles, their relationship is likely to gradually deteriorate to the point that they have no option but to break up. One of my American friends teaches at a college on the East Coast and his wife teaches on the West Coast. As they had to spend a whole day traveling to visit each other once in a while, they eventually broke up. The English maxim “Out of sig
Nov. 25, 2014
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The banking system is safer, simpler and fairer ― Really?
This week in Singapore, fresh from the G20 meetings in Brisbane, Bank of England Mark Carney delivered a major speech outlining the future of financial reform. As current Chairman of the Financial Stability Board, tasked with coordinating global financial stability efforts, he patted himself on the back that the Brisbane meeting had completed the monumental task of designing a post-crisis system of prudential regulation. The tough job ahead is implementation. Congratulations ― seven years after
Nov. 25, 2014
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Why we should give thanks for animals
Most of us share our homes with animals, so we know that they provide us with companionship, teach us how to love unconditionally and help us enjoy the outdoors and get more exercise. But wild animals also quietly provide us with many other benefits that we rarely notice. As we count our blessings this Thanksgiving, let’s pause to consider the other species who share our planet and the many ways that they make our lives better.Oysters, clams and mussels clean up the ocean. As these industrious l
Nov. 25, 2014
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[Jeffrey D. Sachs] China’s new global leadership
NEW YORK ― The biggest economic news of the year came almost without notice: China has overtaken the United States as the world’s largest economy, according to the scorekeepers at the International Monetary Fund. And, while China’s geopolitical status is rising rapidly, alongside its economic might, the U.S. continues to squander its global leadership, owing to the unchecked greed of its political and economic elites and the self-made trap of perpetual war in the Middle East.According to the IMF
Nov. 24, 2014
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How to stop Asia’s SAT cheats
On Dec. 6, nervous teenagers around the world will sit down to take the SAT. Most will succeed or fail honestly. Others, particularly in Asia, may well have bought the answers beforehand. As evidence, FairTest, a Massachusetts-based organization that advocates for standardized-testing reform, sent me the transcript of an online chat with an anonymous seller in China, who offered to provide a copy of the upcoming Dec. 6 test for as little as $3,000.While it’s impossible to verify the seller’s cla
Nov. 24, 2014
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U.S. Congress hurdle for trade breakthroughs
Economic news is grim all around the world. This year’s output growth has been disappointing, and the International Monetary Fund expects only a slight improvement in 2015. Europe may be sliding back into recession, with even the once-robust German economy teetering on the brink. China is downshifting, and Brazil, Russia, and India are struggling to avoid a stall.So it is a pity that three important opportunities for growth from trade liberalization ― the World Trade Organization’s Doha Developm
Nov. 24, 2014
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The invasion that dare not say its name
It’s time for President Obama to start using the I-word when referring to Russia’s assault on Ukraine. I mean invasion.The world is witnessing a Russian invasion of a neighboring country, something that hasn’t happened since the fall of the Soviet Union (except for Russia’s 2008 invasion of Georgia).As U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, NATO’s top commander, stated bluntly last week: “Russian tanks, Russian artillery, Russian air defense systems, and Russian combat troops” have been moving in
Nov. 24, 2014
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[A. Gary Shilling] Why countries wage currency wars
The U.S. dollar has been on a tear this year, rising against the currencies of virtually all major developed economies. What we’re seeing around the world is intense ― and in some cases, deliberate ― devaluations. What’s going on and what are the investment implications?One reason for the devaluations is that, when economic growth is weak ― as it has been globally for five years ― governments feel tremendous pressure to increase exports and reduce imports to restore growth. Often that means lowe
Nov. 24, 2014
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[David Ignatius] The IS’ terrifying strategy
WASHINGTON ― A centerpiece of President Obama’s strategy for defeating the Islamic State is mobilizing tribal fighters to join the Iraqi military in retaking Anbar and other Sunni-dominated provinces. But new research shows the jihadists have been working since 2009 to gut the very Sunni tribal leadership on which Obama’s rollback depends ― making the U.S. campaign much more difficult. U.S. strategists want to create a “national guard” version of the tribal militia known as the “Awakening,” whic
Nov. 23, 2014
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Consumers may propel India’s economy
MUMBAI ― India’s economy could soon be on the move again. The new government is reestablishing fiscal discipline and energizing the bureaucracy, fueling optimism that rising business confidence will re-activate investment, particularly in infrastructure. But India’s overall growth prospects conceal a patchwork of economic opportunities that exist within states, districts, cities, and even towns ― opportunities that companies can uncover only with careful research.India’s economic data are promis
Nov. 23, 2014
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[Ram Garikipati] Win-win regional trade pact choices for Korea
After dillydallying for several years, China has thrown the cat among the pigeons by aggressively pushing for the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific at the recently concluded APEC summit in Beijing.Threatened by China’s urgency, the United States, which has been driving its own Trans-Pacific Partnership minus China, was seen making backroom maneuvers to dilute any reference to the FTAAP in the Leaders’ Declaration. It did manage to take out the deadline of 2025 that was in the draft and what wa
Nov. 23, 2014
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Cosby accusers should have spoken up sooner
I know that the nuns who had custody of my conscience for 12 long years will be hanging their heads about this, but I’ve come to the conclusion that you can actually be too compassionate. While it’s always good to reach out to the suffering, there are times when you have to say, “Sorry, but you waited too long. I can’t help you now.”That’s how I feel about the women who are coming out and accusing Bill Cosby of raping them decades ago. I know that most of the ladies are doing it to make themselv
Nov. 23, 2014
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‘Fighting Jane’ battled the machine and won
Did she ever get steamed up at a negative portrayal in the media ― and there were many ― then have a few drinks and call the reporters to give them angry editorial criticism?Sure she did. Often.And the time she became furious with her husband, Jay McMullen, and whipped an ashtray at his head because he deserved it? And he certainly did deserve it.Yeah, I heard that story.Or that time she demanded that the Chicago Outfit help her reduce violence among black street gangs, and called out for Tony S
Nov. 23, 2014
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[Rachel Marsden] A statesman or a politician?
PARIS ― U.S. President Barack Obama was elected in 2008 as a politician, and he’s on pace to finish his presidency as one, rather than as the statesman many presumed he would become.As it currently stands, his accomplishments aren’t likely to remain historically memorable ― except in the way that a natural disaster might be considered historically memorable. Obama and his supporters might try to blame Republicans for being “obstructionist” in doing their job as the opposition party, but that’s a
Nov. 21, 2014
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Japan should be more German
Plenty of economists are warning that Europe could soon look like stagnant Japan. In fact, Japan could stand to look a little more European ― or, to be more precise, more German.Why has the “Made in Germany” brand thrived over the last 15 or so years, even as “Made in Japan” grinds toward irrelevance? All the more extraordinary, Germany has flourished in a savagely competitive global environment despite high labor costs, an overvalued euro and any number of regional financial crises. Its secret:
Nov. 21, 2014
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[Chon Shi-yong] Fundamentals of the basic law
Since its inception in 1948, the Korean Constitution has been revised nine times, most recently in 1987, when the wave of democratization was at its height. The basic law does not necessarily need to be revised simply because it is a little old, but there has been increasingly frequent talk of amending the Constitution in recent years. There is a certain logic to the calls for a constitutional revision. Most of all, the 1987 amendment was largely the result of the triumph of the pro-democracy mo
Nov. 20, 2014
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Jerusalem’s new holy war should be stopped
There are terror attacks, and there are pogroms. The attack at a Jerusalem synagogue this week that killed four rabbis was a pogrom. It was an attack motivated not by politics but by religious hatred; it was directed not at Israelis but at Jews.The killers were armed with hatchets and guns instead of suicide belts, and they came not to kill Jews but to butcher them. The images are horrific: a prayer shawl in a pool of blood; a prayer book turned crimson, from which one of the victims had been wo
Nov. 20, 2014
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Crimes of ‘honor’
When a category of crime draws sustenance from age-old cultural attitudes, particularly those pertaining to the concept of honor and a woman’s place in society, legislation alone is an inadequate deterrent.Nevertheless, a beginning must be made, and so it was with the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2004 when, for the first time, ‘honor’ crimes were defined in the Pakistan Penal Code.The same piece of legislation also effected an important amendment in Section 311 of the PPC. This section specifies
Nov. 20, 2014