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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Nominee for chief of anti-corruption body pledges 'independence, effectiveness'
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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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KT launches new mobile plans for foreign residents
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[Joel Brinkley] China faces a health crisis
China is poisoning its own people and making no apparent effort to stop this.Most people know about the unprecedented air pollution in major Chinese cities. For months, photos of Beijing and other cities obscured by the gray-brown muck have been on the front pages of newspapers worldwide.But even more serious problems are leading people to consume toxic rice and other foods, while also creating other shocking consequences ― like the 42 deaths and more than 1,500 serious injuries in Shaanxi provi
Oct. 18, 2013
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A health care history lesson for the GOP
Two different narratives have been at play in Washington lately to explain what caused the government shutdown. In the first, House Republicans are to blame for trying to hold Democrats and the president hostage over a law that was duly passed by Congress. In the other, Democrats are to blame for their rigid refusal to compromise on Obamacare.But there’s a part of the story that seemingly has been lost in history: Democrats have already compromised on health care reform by adopting Obama/RomneyC
Oct. 18, 2013
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[David Ignatius] A spy network compromised
WASHINGTON ― The Turkish-Israeli relationship became so poisonous early last year that the Turkish government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is said to have disclosed to Iranian intelligence the identities of up to 10 Iranians who had been meeting inside Turkey with their Mossad case officers. Knowledgeable sources describe the Turkish action as a “significant” loss of intelligence and “an effort to slap the Israelis.” The incident, disclosed here for the first time, illustrates the bitt
Oct. 17, 2013
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Terrorism and illicit trade in ivory, rhino horns
If the world needs another reason to get serious about combating elephant poaching, here’s one: The attack by terrorists on Westgate Mall in Nairobi. Income from illegal ivory trafficking is a substantial funding source for the Shabab, the group that claimed responsibility for the attack.The connection between terrorism and wildlife smuggling is clear. An 18-month undercover investigation conducted by our groups found an indisputable financial trail between the illicit trade in ivory and rhino h
Oct. 17, 2013
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High expectations as Myanmar takes helm of ASEAN
In less than two months’ time, a brand new sports complex in Naypyidaw will play host to the opening ceremony of the Southeast Asian Games, the country’s first in 44 years.Hotels and restaurants are springing up in Myanmar’s capital, barely 8 years old, to cater to visitors from nine other ASEAN countries in what officials see as a test run for Myanmar’s debut chairmanship of the regional grouping from January 2014. But Naypyidaw lacks direct international flights, and Internet connectivity is w
Oct. 17, 2013
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China must prepare for an aging society
The Chinese nation has a tradition of respecting and caring for the aged. Nowadays, China faces greater-than-ever pressures to take care of its elderly people, thanks to the practical need to brace itself for an aging society.This can best explain why the national legislature decided in December to set the ninth day of every lunar September as Seniors Day, although the country already has its Chongyang Festival, or Double Ninth Festival, which falls on the same day as a reminder of the homage th
Oct. 17, 2013
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[Azmi Sharom] Compassion and free trade
On the topic of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, I thought it might be good to look back a bit at the history of free trade and the laissez faire system.In the 19th century, Britain was firmly in the grips of the free trade ideology.It had been a source of great wealth in the 18th century and by the Victorian age it was thought that the future of growth and development following this dogma was endless, especially with the advent of the industrial revolution.To a large extent, this optimi
Oct. 17, 2013
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A model for building Indonesia’s beef industry
Former Australian cattle station manager Michael Sheehy has some singular advice for the Indonesian government if it wants to achieve self-sufficiency in beef: Follow the model of the booming palm oil industry and put cattle raising in corporate hands.As with most of Indonesia’s agriculture, the livestock industry is largely confined to low-technology operations ― backyard feedlots that mean a higher cost of production and higher prices for consumers as a result.The Indonesian government has use
Oct. 17, 2013
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A big unanswered question in economics
The awarding of a Nobel Prize to three economists with divergent views on the working of markets highlights a troubling truth about the state of the discipline: We still don’t know nearly enough about why the prices of stocks, bonds and other assets move the way they do.If the economics profession wants to help the world avert ― or at least better survive ― financial crises, it will have to be more open to new ways of looking at this question.The recipients of this year’s Sveriges Riksbank Prize
Oct. 16, 2013
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[Trudy Rubin] Nobel committee’s mistake
The Nobel Peace Prize committee blew it big time on Friday.It could have electrified the world by giving the prize to Malala Yousafzai, the courageous Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban because of her crusade for girls’ education. She was the odds-on favorite to win. And by fortuitous coincidence, Friday was also the United Nations’ International Day of the Girl Child, with a focus on promoting girls’ education.What a global statement the Nobel committee could have made by hand
Oct. 16, 2013
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[Kim Myong-sik] Thinning trust in our intelligence apparatus
Let us review the fuss here over the recent disappearance and reappearance of North Korea’s de facto first lady Ri Sol-ju. One recent defector from a high position in Pyongyang seems to have been contacted by a reporter from the Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun sometime last month. Their conversation resulted in the newspaper’s report in its Sept. 20 edition on the “public execution” of nine musicians in Pyongyang. They met the tragedy because they claimed Ri Sol-ju “played” with them when they were
Oct. 16, 2013
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The Fed’s surprise and Yellen’s challenge
NEWPORT BEACH ― The U.S. Federal Reserve sparked a global ― and now month-long ― guessing game with its decision on Sept. 18 not to “taper” its monthly purchases of long-term securities. The Fed does not surprise markets often, and this has been especially true of the Ben Bernanke-led Fed, which has devoted enormous time and effort to better communication, greater transparency, and timely management of expectations. Now that President Barack Obama has nominated Fed Vice Chair Janet L. Yellen to
Oct. 16, 2013
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For Obama and Boehner, weakness is strength
In a negotiation, you might well have more power if you are powerless. Strength can be weakness, and weakness can be strength. Since 2011, these principles have been playing a significant role in conflicts between President Barack Obama and the House of Representatives.To see the general point, suppose that you are a malpractice lawyer, representing a patient in a suit against a doctor. Your client believes that the doctor made a big mistake. He is very angry. He knows a trial wouldn’t be a lot
Oct. 16, 2013
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[Lee Jae-min] Defining collective self-defense
Although expressed in very cautious words, the U.S.’ apparent approval of the possibility of Japan’s more active military involvement in the region under the name of “collective self-defense” has become a topic of much discussion in the neighboring countries. The geopolitical implications of this development will certainly be significant in many respects. It is somewhat odd, though, to see this matter being discussed under the theme of “collective self-defense” as the situation envisioned in the
Oct. 15, 2013
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The U.S. needs a narrative plot against Syria
ANTALYA, Turkey ― When President Richard Nixon visited Syria in 1974, Syrians lined the streets of Damascus to greet him. Not all were delighted by his visit, though. “Isn’t that Nixon the same one you have been telling us for years is an evil man who is completely in the control of the Zionists and our enemies?” an eight-year-old boy asked his father. “How could you welcome him and shake his hand?”Today, that boy is president of Syria.Though the United States is currently focused on destroying
Oct. 15, 2013
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[Kim Seong-kon] Is cohabitation before marriage necessary?
It has been a long time since young people in the West chose to move in together before marriage in order to make sure they are compatible. Cohabitation before marriage seems to be a reasonable strategy for couples to get to know each other. Sometimes you find out about your spouse’s fatal flaws after marriage, but at that point, it is too late to regret or undo what has been done. Unlike merchandise at a department store, marriage is not something you can return or exchange within 30 days of pu
Oct. 15, 2013
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Challenges to campaign against chemical weapons
WASHINGTON ― Syria’s chemical-weapons arsenal has rightly galvanized international attention. The chemical attacks against civilians have prompted Russia and the United States to put aside diplomatic tensions to devise a plan to eliminate the Syrian regime’s stockpiles. And the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which has been tasked with executing the Russian-U.S. plan, has just been awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.Obviously, the dangers that such weapons pose do not en
Oct. 15, 2013
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Japan needs more brawling billionaires
Japan is being treated to a juicy spectacle as two of its richest and most innovative entrepreneurs brawl in public over Internet market share and visions for the future. But what’s most important about the fight between Masayoshi Son and Hiroshi Mikitani is the example it’s setting.The two men have much in common. They are self-made billionaires who founded game-changing technology companies ― Son with mobile-phone carrier SoftBank Corp., Mikitani with e-commerce giant Rakuten Inc. Each is his
Oct. 15, 2013
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[David Ignatius] Lost in an Earth-bound cosmos
WASHINGTON ― “I hate space,” says the character played by Sandra Bullock in the new movie “Gravity,” and you can understand why: It’s an empty void, filled with the wreckage of failed satellites and derelict space stations, a beautiful nothingness where human beings float helplessly, praying for some way to get home. Movies have a way of distilling moments in our culture, and “Gravity” may be the defining film for the lost-in-space year of 2013: Nothing works. Our political system is clogged wit
Oct. 14, 2013
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Nonprofit journalism tries to keep its promise
As the head of a journalism school I have a strong, and obvious, interest in promoting the idea that people who decide to pursue careers as journalists are making a good choice ― that it’ll enable them both to serve a valuable social purpose and, no less important, to make a living.Without a doubt, the news business is in upheaval ― or, to be kind, transition ― and many of the institutions that have made up its core are struggling.But while some of the country’s top news organizations are being
Oct. 14, 2013