Most Popular
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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[KH Explains] No more 'Michael' at Kakao Games
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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Samsung chief bolsters ties with Germany’s Zeiss
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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Med schools expect 1,500+ new admission slots next year
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Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
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[Grace Kao] Hybe vs. Ador: Inspiration, imitation and plagiarism
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[Yoon Young-kwan] Vast military revolution across East Asia
A vast revolution in military affairs is taking place across East Asia. The latest signs are Chinese President Xi Jinping’s purge of General Xu Caihou, an ex-Politburo member and former vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, on charges of corruption, and Japan’s “reinterpretation” of Article 9 of its constitution to permit the country to provide military aid to its allies.Despite the rising regional tensions that inspired these moves, China’s relations with its neighbors and the Unite
July 6, 2014
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Fed is not just U.S., but the world’s central bank
BERKELEY, California ― The U.S. Federal Reserve these days is broadly happy with its monetary policy. But, since mid-2007, its policy has been insufficiently expansionary. The policy most likely to succeed right now would be analogous to that implemented by the Fed in 1979 and 1933, Great Britain in 1931, and Shinzo Abe today.Those of us who fear that the Fed’s approach has greatly deepened the U.S. economy’s malaise and is turning America’s cyclical unemployment into permanent long-term structu
July 6, 2014
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Building stuff is better than nothing
John Cochrane, the University of Chicago Booth Business School finance professor and blogger, has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal about fiscal stimulus. Cochrane thinks stimulus isn’t the answer, and cites his own research to show that the economic models used to justify stimulus spending are on shaky ground. Instead, he thinks that erratic government policy, taxes, regulation, and ham-handed attempts at redistribution are to blame.I’m sure a lot of bloggers will jump in to counter Cochrane’
July 6, 2014
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Will Japan’s democracy survive Abe?
Sunday shoppers in Tokyo could be forgiven for wondering if they had been transported to Tibet or Myanmar as a man climbed atop a pedestrian crosswalk, voiced his reason to the crowd via megaphone and set himself ablaze.Self-immolation as political protest is almost unheard of in developed nations. The middle-aged man, identified only by the family name Yamashiro, said igniting himself was the only way to show Prime Minister Shinzo Abe his anger at a plan that some see as violating the spirit Ja
July 4, 2014
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[Robert Reich] Hillary’s hardest choice
What’s the reason for the tempest in the teapot of Hillary and Bill Clinton’s personal finances?It can’t be about how much money they have. Wealth has never disqualified someone from high office. Several of the nation’s greatest presidents, who came to office with vast fortunes ― John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and his fifth cousin, Teddy ― notably improved the lives of ordinary Americans.The tempest can’t be about Hillary Clinton’s veracity. It may have been a stretch for her to say she
July 4, 2014
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[Chon Shi-yong] Uphold personnel screening bar
The successive fall of two nominees for prime minister and the ongoing controversy over some of President Park Geun-hye’s other Cabinet nominees demonstrate that Korea’s public service now requires very high ethical standards. Candidates for senior government posts who are subject to parliamentary screening first go through tough public and media scrutiny over their personal and professional qualifications. The scrutiny is so stringent that even the candidates’ private lives are all but laid bar
July 3, 2014
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Pakistan’s ill-conceived war at home
SINGAPORE ― Last month, after years of indecision, Pakistan’s military launched a full-scale military operation in the North Waziristan Tribal Agency aimed at eliminating terrorist bases and ending the region’s lawlessness. In particular, the army wants to clear out foreign fighters who are using the territory as a base for various jihads around the Muslim world. But, by triggering yet another refugee crisis, the operation risks spreading the terrorist threat to other parts of Pakistan, includin
July 3, 2014
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No kid gloves for corruption
The expulsion of Xu Caihou from the party, which was announced on Monday, has once again vindicated the majority of people’s belief that the anti-graft fight led by the new leadership will not treat corrupt elements with kid gloves no matter how high a position they hold or once held.Xu, once vice-chairman of the military commission of the Party Central Committee and the People’s Republic of China and also a former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Party Committee, is one of the high
July 3, 2014
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Thai junta demonstrates few insights on reforms
It was perhaps inevitable that Thai junta chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha would become a favored leader among Thais after seeing the work he has overseen in the first month since seizing power.Prayuth seems to know what people want and need. His orders to crack down on mafia and gambling, seize war weapons, and promptly pay around 90 billion baht ($2.77 billion) in funds owed to farmers from the rice-pledging scheme were warmly welcomed by the public, according to opinion polls.Two recent polls fou
July 3, 2014
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Two modern saints on blue-collar work
I have time and again written about the need for a change in mentality among Filipino parents and their children, that the occupations of farmers, carpenters, electricians, mechanics, plumbers, and other blue-collar workers who engage in a great deal of manual effort should attract many of our high school graduates.This is especially true now that the K-12 curriculum can be tweaked so that the last two years of senior high school can be transformed into preparations for vocational or technical j
July 3, 2014
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[Chun Sung-woo] Reform requires balancing act
Seventy-eight days have passed since the Sewol ferry with 476 people aboard sank on April 16. As many as 293 people, mostly students of a high school on a trip, drowned, with 11 more still missing.It is not the first deadly maritime accident in Korea. On Oct. 10, 1993, the overcrowded and overloaded Seohae ferry capsized and sank, killing 292 of its 362 passengers.Accidents happen. Mother Nature and human error both cause them. But human casualties should be prevented or kept to a minimum. Why a
July 2, 2014
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China’s picks for Hong Kong leader are the pits
If China wants Hong Kong residents to stop taking to the streets in protest, it should start picking better leaders.Of course, that’s exactly why an estimated 300,000 demonstrated yesterday and almost 800,000 voted in a recent unofficial referendum: to gain the right to choose the city’s chief executive officer. China won’t let them and is noncommittal about when, or if, that might happen. Not surprisingly, anger about China’s meddling, surging property prices, pollution and income disparities a
July 2, 2014
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[Naomi Wolf] Hillary Clinton’s rhetoric alienates female voters
NEW YORK ― Hillary Clinton is annoying people again. Recently, she said in an interview that she and her husband were “dead broke” when they left the White House. This led to unhelpful headlines such as “Bill Clinton: Hillary Is ‘Not Out of Touch.’” The gaffe also opened the door for Republican attacks ― this being a standard campaign strategy that has dogged wealthy major-party candidates (as they all are) since George H.W. Bush was astonished by a grocery scanner.You would think that Clinton,
July 2, 2014
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Why the Hobby Lobby decision bulwarks freedom
“What this law basically says is that the government should be held to a very high level of proof before it interferes with someone’s free exercise of religion.” ― President Bill Clinton, at his signing ceremony for the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Nov. 17, 1993Since March 2010, as the Obama administration turned the Affordable Care Act into federal regulations, few provisions grew as controversial as the mandate that most employers provide insurance coverage for contraceptives. The most d
July 2, 2014
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Is U.S. being duped into funding jihadist startup?
PARIS ― The Islamic terrorist army, often referred to as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, has made a faster womb-to-superstardom ascension than Justin Bieber. Largely unheard of just a few weeks ago, the group is now the self-proclaimed new ruler of an Islamic caliphate, or republic, extending across Iraq and Syria. These countries currently have internationally recognized heads of state ― but, you know, whatever, man. It’s not like U.S. President Barack Obama is going to stop ISIL. In
July 2, 2014
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[Robert J. Fouser] Lifestyle migration to Jejudo
Koreans like to jump on trends, many of which are fed by upbeat media coverage. One such trend is leaving the rat race in Seoul for a quieter life elsewhere. Jejudo Island has become the most popular destination because of its natural beauty and easy access to Seoul by air. The trickle started with retirees who could move easily, but has recently expanded to include younger people who quit their jobs in Seoul to make the move. What is going on?The recent interest in Jejudo Island belies its trou
July 1, 2014
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TPPing into irrelevance
Trade negotiators from a dozen countries will gather for their 20th official meeting in Ottawa, Canada, starting July 3 but all signs are indicating that talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership will not get very far, if anywhere at all. The meeting is part of a final push for an agreement in time for President Barack Obama’s visit to Asia for the APEC Summit in November. Since this will require members to sign on without fast-track assurance by the United States, it is likely that any announcemen
July 1, 2014
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[Kim Seong-kon] Korea and the kingdom of heaven
Recently I came across Shiono Nanami’s “Story of the Crusades” and read it with great enthusiasm. The book reminded me of the mesmerizing epic movie “Kingdom of Heaven,” which I had seen in 2005. The movie happened to be showing on a cable channel last week, so I decided to watch it one more time. And it was worth watching again. Superbly directed by Ridley Scott, “Kingdom of Heaven” boldly touches upon the sensitive but compelling issue we now face: the clash between Christians and Muslims, whi
July 1, 2014
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U.K.’s Cameron loses, so does Europe
British Prime Minister David Cameron has sustained what looks like his biggest political defeat. Knowing he was destined to lose, he forced a vote among European leaders on whether Jean-Claude Juncker should lead the European Commission. He lost 26-2, with only Hungary’s Viktor Orban backing him.Juncker is not the right man for the job, but the vote is a bigger disaster than his election. It almost makes another Cameron defeat ― in the U.K. parliamentary election in May 2015 ― necessary to keep
July 1, 2014
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ISIL assault in Iraq leads to unusual alliance
American relations with the Middle East in general and with Syria in particular are in the process of taking some peculiar turns, reflecting the delicate policy nature of the region.The earlier U.S. policy of trying to replace the regime of President Bashar Assad with a more sympathetic one failed, first through the durability of Assad’s regime and second due to sharp divisions among the rebels against him, which included Islamist extremist elements opposed by the United States. On Thursday, Pre
July 1, 2014