Most Popular
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Marine Corps commander summoned by CIO for questioning on alleged influence-peddling case
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Army takes group action against Hybe for neglecting BTS
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Debate rages over ‘overly fatty’ samgyeopsal
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Ador CEO's request for exclusive right to terminate NewJeans' contract with Hybe refused in February
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[Weekender] Korean psyche untangled: Musok
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Naver will consider company benefits in deciding on selling Line shares: CEO
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Woman dangling from power lines rescued by residents holding blanket
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Hankook Tire takes over control of Hanon Systems
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[Herald Interview] ‘Time to Be Strong’ follows retired K-pop idols’ self-discovery
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Samsung chief returns from Europe after meeting with Pope, business leaders
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Piketty entangles economics with moral philosophy
BERKELEY, California ― The best review of Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” that I have read so far is the one published by my friend and frequent coauthor Lawrence Summers in Michael Tomasky’s Democracy Journal. Go read the whole thing now.Still here? You are, you say, unwilling to read 5,000 words? It would be time well spent, I assure you. But if you are still here, I will offer you neither a synopsis nor highlights, but rather a brief expansion of a very small and minor
June 2, 2014
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[David Ignatius] A time-limited foreign policy
WASHINGTON -- President Obama‘s measured defense of his foreign policy at West Point on Wednesday made many cogent points to rebut critics. Unfortunately, the speech also showed that he hasn’t digested some of the crucial lessons of his presidency.Obama wisely said he wants “to see the world as it is, with all its dangers and responsibilities.” And he repeated several interventionist applause lines, from touting America as the “indispensable nation” to affirming “American exceptionalism.” But Ob
June 1, 2014
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Why women ― and voters ― prefer jerks to fops
PARIS ― An intriguing social phenomenon prompted a horrific killing spree in Santa Barbara, California, last week, and the same phenomenon might help explain the surprising results of last weekend’s European Parliament elections.The suspected Santa Barbara killer, 22-year-old Elliot Rodger, left behind a 141-page diatribe and multiple online videos expressing frustration over a failure to score with the opposite sex, despite ticking what he considered to be all the right boxes: a BMW, nice cloth
June 1, 2014
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[Yu Kun-ha] Ferry fiasco casts long shadow over local elections
On Wednesday, Koreans go to the polls to select some 4,000 local administrative and legislative officials, including mayors for Seoul and seven other major cities, governors for the nine provinces and education superintendents for these cities and provinces. The upcoming local elections are much different from previous ones, as they come in the wake of the Sewol ferry tragedy, one of the worst maritime disasters in Korea that claimed more than 300 lives, mostly young students.The ferry capsized
June 1, 2014
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Our last chance for a safe planet
MELBOURNE ― Humanity has just about run out of time to address climate change. Scientists have pointed out that a rise in temperature of 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels will put the Earth in dangerous, uncharted territory. Yet we currently are on a path toward an increase of 4 degrees or more this century. The last chance for action has arrived.That chance lies in Paris in December 2015, when the world’s governments meet for the 21st annual United Nations climate-change meeting. Bu
June 1, 2014
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Is George Soros trying to spark a Japan rally?
Takahiro Mitani finds himself between George Soros and a hard place.Mitani is Japan’s $1.26 trillion man. The Government Pension Investment Fund that he runs tops Mexico’s annual output and dwarfs the Middle Eastern sovereign-wealth funds that investors are always cooing about. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants the notoriously conservative fund to crank up returns by putting more money in stocks ― with an unlikely assist from billionaire Soros.In January, the world’s most famous short seller chatt
June 1, 2014
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[Robert Reich] Hard-charging capitalism
For years Americans have assumed that our hard-charging capitalism is better than the soft-hearted version found in Canada and Europe. American capitalism might be a bit crueler, but it generates faster growth and higher living standards overall. Canada and Europe’s “welfare-state socialism” is doomed.It was a questionable assumption to begin with, relying to some extent on our collective amnesia about the first three decades after World War II, when tax rates on top incomes in the U.S. never fe
May 30, 2014
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That ‘Car War’ with China? U.S. already lost
Critics of China are fired up over the World Trade Organization’s ruling on Friday that Chinese tariffs on American-made SUVs and luxury cars violate international rules, coming as it does amid U.S. allegations of Chinese hacking of U.S. businesses. Echoing the rhetoric that helped President Barack Obama win crucial Ohio votes in 2012, Democrats from the industrial Midwest trumpeted the ruling as a “significant victory” for American manufacturing jobs. “It is time for China to start playing by t
May 30, 2014
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[Hwang Jang-jin] Park Geun-hye’s Sewol crisis
President Park Geun-hye has a knack for crafting pithy sound bites and taking swift action to move the public, disarm enemies and ride out of trouble at critical moments.At this time of national tragedy, however, her political genius is failing to deliver.Her latest catchphrase, “state reformation,” is widely dismissed as being far-fetched, empty and even illusory. Her hasty decision to reorganize the government and botched choice of a new prime minister have unleashed a torrent of criticism.A l
May 29, 2014
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Congrats on that diploma; You may not need it
College graduation season is in full bloom, and this year American institutions will confer about 1.8 million bachelor’s degrees. As in the past, many of the best and brightest have, or will land, jobs requiring knowledge, skills and critical thinking ― and will be paid good salaries. But increasingly, today’s college graduates face an uncertain future, and many will end up taking jobs historically done by those with high school diplomas or even less ― construction workers, taxi drivers, restaur
May 29, 2014
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[Juan L. Mercado] Alternative scenarios for future of Asia
Few Filipinos have visited the Natuna archipelago of Indonesia’s Riau province. It straddles one of the world’s potentially largest gas fields. And over the last two months, Indonesia twice accused Beijing of claiming part of Natuna, reports the South China Morning Post.In so doing, China succeeded in shifting Indonesia, from moderator between China and other South China Sea states, to opponent, notes the SCMP commentary “Peril of Price and Prejudice.” It was written by Philip Bowring, who has c
May 29, 2014
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Philippines ups tempo
I have been a major “bull” on the Philippines. The combination of an educated, English-language speaking workforce and a deep-rooted work ethic has turned the Filipino people into the care-givers, IT programmers and maritime professionals of the world.As my friend and prominent business reporter Doris Dumlao wrote in the Philippine Daily Inquirer recently “... I distinctly remember him (yours truly) telling me ― long before it happened ― that he could feel a turnaround happening for the Philipp
May 29, 2014
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Post-election economic landscape in Indonesia
Amid slowing economic growth, higher budget deficit and increased exposure to external debt, the future of the domestic political landscape is showing some distressing signs. The polarization of the political parties supporting the two pairs of presidential candidates, Joko “Jokowi” Widodo-Jusuf Kalla and Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa, are almost evenly split, indicating a divided House of Representative come October 2014. Since the stakes of both presidential candidates are high, the bitter com
May 29, 2014
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[David Ignatius] A hopeful dialogue on Mideast
BRUSSELS ― Getting the former spy chiefs of Israel and Saudi Arabia to talk together about peace is hardly a breakthrough, but it at least helps keep alive the idea of an eventual Israeli-Palestinian settlement. Sharing a public stage here Monday were Prince Turki al-Faisal, former Saudi intelligence chief, and retired Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, former head of Israeli military intelligence. The gathering was sponsored by the German Marshall Fund, of which I’m a trustee. It was streamed live on the I
May 28, 2014
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Navigating charity’s fast and slow lanes
Imagine that you’re running a charity. Suppose you have evidence showing that your charity is highly effective ― that you are really making a difference in people’s lives. In your fundraising campaign, should you emphasize how effective you are?In a new study, Yale University economist Dean Karlan and Clemson University economist Daniel Wood offer a surprising answer. It turns out that large donors respond positively to statistical evidence of effectiveness ― but small donors respond negatively.
May 28, 2014
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Beijing’s hardheaded stance on minorities won’t stop killing
China’s problems stemming from minorities in the west of the country ― particularly the Uighurs, but also the Tibetans ― do not seem to be coming to an end. Given Beijing’s approach, it will not be solved soon.The most recent attack occurred last Thursday in Urumqi, in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Suicide bombs from two SUVs killed at least 31 and wounded 94 at a popular morning garden market. Some suspect that the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a separatist group, may have played a
May 28, 2014
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VA scandal fits established Obama narrative
We don’t normally expect our presidents to pay close attention to how long veterans are being asked to wait for care in the vast medical system run by the Department of Veterans Affairs.But we do expect presidents to appoint Cabinet officers and other aides who can run the federal government well ― well enough, at least, to prevent full-blown scandals from erupting.That’s what the VA’s long-running scheduling problems have turned into after reports that veterans died while waiting for medical ca
May 28, 2014
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[Kim Myong-sik] Problematic party affiliation in local autonomy
A few weeks ago, I met Gangnam District chief Shin Yeon-hee in her office for the first time. It was shortly before the district head stopped her official business to engage in her reelection campaign, as required by the election law. Shin invited me and four other Gangnam residents to present letters of appreciation in her name. We were cited because we had planted trees along the banks of Yangjaecheon Stream last Arbor Day in response to the district’s neighborhood beautification program. I pl
May 28, 2014
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Sewol incident and aftermath
The recent, tragic accident of the Sewol ferry, which claimed hundreds of lives, engulfed the nation with a sense of remorse and sorrow. Over a month has passed since then, and many are still resentful. Some blame the authorities, from the Coast Guard to relevant ministries, while others criticize the outdated and ineffective system. But, we should rise up from playing the blame game to conduct a “logical, heartfelt analysis and systematic reform,” so that the deaths of fellow Koreans are not in
May 28, 2014
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[Lee Jae-min] Demise of open examinations?
Many universities in Seoul have “special study groups” organized, supported and funded by the universities themselves to help college students prepare for the annual National Civil Service Examination. Each fall, when the exam results are out, banners are hoisted on campus and success stories are recorded in the school’s promotional materials. I myself used to serve as a supervising professor for one such study group for several years because of my own exam experience and government background.
May 27, 2014