Most Popular
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Russia sent more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to N. Korea in March: White House
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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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Seoul alerts overseas missions to NK terror threats
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[Graphic News] Number of coffee franchises in S. Korea rises 13%
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S. Korean children, teens grow taller, mature faster than before: study
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Some junior doctors are returning: Health Ministry
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Army takes group action against Hybe for neglecting BTS
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[Robert J. Fouser] AI changes rationale for learning languages
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[Today’s K-pop] Stray Kids go gold in US with ‘Maniac’
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Woman dangling from power lines rescued by residents holding blanket
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Russian roadblock to Obama’s nuclear-free vision
MOSCOW ― In a recent speech in Berlin, U.S. President Barack Obama reaffirmed his commitment to nuclear disarmament and proposed steps toward achieving that goal. But Russia has made clear that it does not plan to pursue further reductions to its nuclear arsenal any time soon.In the speech, Obama announced that the United States is prepared to cut its nuclear arsenal by up to one-third. He also proposed major reductions in the number of tactical nuclear weapons (TNWs) deployed in Europe. Moreove
July 21, 2013
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[Park Sang-seek] Korea between West, non-West
South Koreans share similar views on the political, economic and social-cultural issues. To them, the most important task for the nation is continued economic growth, not national security, although the younger people emphasize the reduction of wealth disparity, while the older people support the business-friendly government policies. Both old and new generations support democracy and capitalism, although the former interprets both systems conservatively and the latter more liberally. Most Korea
July 21, 2013
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How many recessions has Europe gone through?
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts ― The release of revised GDP data by the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics in late June seemed like an occasion for cheer, because growth had not quite been negative for two consecutive quarters in the winter of 2011-12, as previously thought. The point, as it was reported, is that a second UK recession following the global financial crisis in 2008 (a “double dip”) had now been erased from the history books, and that the Conservative government would take s
July 21, 2013
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Demilitarizing the state is key to Egypt’s future
LONDON ― Egypt’s crisis has been called the worst in its history. But in fact, it bears a striking resemblance to a previous episode, almost 60 years ago.On February 28, 1954, almost a million protesters besieged Cairo’s Abdin Palace, then being used by Gamal Abdel Nasser and other leaders of the July 1952 coup. The protesters’ main demands were the restoration of Egypt’s fragile democratic institutions, the release of political prisoners, and the army’s return to its barracks.The two-month cris
July 21, 2013
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[Robert Reich] Tax polluters, not students
A basic economic principle is that government ought to tax what we want to discourage, and not tax what we want to encourage.For example, if we want less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, we should tax carbon polluters. On the other hand, if we want more students from lower-income families to be able to afford college, we should not put a tax on student loans.Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, congressional Republicans seem intent on doing exactly the opposite.Earlier this year the
July 21, 2013
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How Abe can win friends and influence China
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants a mandate in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, and voters look set to give him one. The question is whether he understands what he’s getting. Polls show that Japanese want Abe to fix the economy. Optimism and stock prices shot up earlier this year after the Bank of Japan began a massive quantitative-easing program and Abe’s government announced stimulus plans to rouse Japan from its 20-year funk. The prime minister now says he needs control over both cham
July 19, 2013
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[William Pesek] Economic reform in China
Can we please have a moratorium on the word “Likonomics”? Premier Li Keqiang’s plans to overhaul the Chinese economy have hardly earned such a grand moniker yet. Say what you will about “Thatchernomics” or “Reaganomics,” but Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan fundamentally altered the British and American economies. No one is rolling their eyes at “Aquinomics,” President Benigno Aquino’s thus-far successful prescription for the Philippines, the onetime “sick man of Asia.” By contrast, Likonomic
July 19, 2013
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Obama’s confused policy toward Syria
By now it’s clear that the U.S.’s new policy toward Syria ― we use the word “new” advisedly ― remains unclear. The question is what President Barack Obama is willing to do about it. A month ago, the administration announced it would begin training and arming opposition fighters in Syria. Now it emerges that this aid hasn’t yet hit the ground, and when it does, it will involve only small arms in uncertain quantities. What exactly is the administration’s policy here? If the goal is to roll back th
July 18, 2013
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[Dewi Fortuna Anwar] Indonesia’s cautious confidence
JAKARTA ― In recent years, Indonesia has emerged as a robust democracy with a dynamic economy. Now, as the largest and most influential member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesia must leverage its newly acquired strength to confront the challenges facing it and its regional partners, while avoiding foreign-policy recklessness.Indonesia has reason to be confident. Less than two decades after the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis ravaged the economy and provoked a socia
July 18, 2013
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Japan should come to terms with its past
Japanese people can be surprisingly vague when stating their opinions. This can be seen either as a practical way to handle difficult topics without offending the other person or a way of avoiding humiliation.Questioned on his attitude toward Japan’s past, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is trying to be ambiguous by employing aimai, literally a doubled-edged approach.He complains that part of Japan’s history has been made a diplomatic issue, willfully ignoring the fact that Japan’s militarist
July 18, 2013
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Fear not, Asia’s emerging markets remain healthy
There is an irony to the sell-off in emerging markets recently. It is the result of a rare dose of uplifting news from the developed world ― the U.S. economy is showing enough strength to prompt the Federal Reserve to signal a paring back of its quantitative easing program.In tumultuous times such as these we must look at the economic fundamentals to separate the “signal” from the “noise.” The key question today is: Are the emerging markets fundamentally broken, or is this a brief phase in which
July 18, 2013
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[Shashi Tharoor] Politicians cannot afford to ignore social media
NEW DELHI ― On July 4, Narendra Modi, chief minister of Gujarat and putative prime ministerial candidate of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, became the most-followed Indian politician on Twitter, with more than 1.8 million followers. (Full disclosure: the long-time leader whom he eclipsed was me.) The occasion was celebrated by BJP supporters across the Internet, and triggered a spate of assessments of social media’s growing impact on Indian politics.Four years ago, when I first went on Tw
July 18, 2013
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An elaborate theatrical revolution in Egypt
From the start, it was a world-class piece of political theater.The recent massive demonstrations involving millions of Egyptians are said to have persuaded the Egyptian military to throw President Mohammed Morsi out of office. Actually, however, military and opposition leaders along with government and business officials appear to have planned all of it in advance.What better evidence could there be than the sudden, overnight resolution of several major problems that infuriated millions of Egyp
July 17, 2013
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[David Ignatius] Syrian rebels’ turn for the jilt
WASHINGTON ― One of the worst recurring features of U.S. foreign policy is a process that might bluntly be described as “seduction and abandonment.” Now it’s happening in Syria. The seduction part begins with an overeager rhetorical embrace. Nearly two years ago, on Aug. 18, 2011, President Obama first proclaimed “the time has come for President Assad to step aside.” He didn’t back up his call for regime change with any specific plan, but this hasn’t stopped him from repeating the “Assad must go
July 17, 2013
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EU-U.S. trade negotiations riddled with difficulties
STANFORD ― Negotiations have now commenced between the United States and the European Union on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), potentially the largest regional free-trade agreement in history. If successful, it would cover more than 40 percent of global GDP and account for large shares of world trade and foreign direct investment. The U.S. and EU have set an ambitious goal of completing negotiations by the end of 2014. Historically, however, most trade agreements have
July 17, 2013
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Snowden derails Putin’s shirtless summer tour
Russian President Vladimir Putin is normally trolling the global media at this time of year by posing shirtless and engaging in various camera-friendly summer sports like swimming and fishing. But this summer, he’s being out-trolled and is stuck answering questions about an entitled American twerp living in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.Secret-leaking former NSA contractor Edward Snowden recently attended a press conference inside the airport’s transit zone and indicated that he would seek asylu
July 17, 2013
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[Jeffrey D. Sachs] Bring back Egypt’s duly elected government
NEW YORK ― Putting an end to Egypt’s deepening polarization and rising bloodshed requires one urgent first step: the reinstatement of Mohammed Morsi as Egypt’s duly elected president. His removal by military coup was unjustified. While it is true that millions of demonstrators opposed Morsi’s rule, even massive street protests do not constitute a valid case for a military coup in the name of the “people” when election results repeatedly say otherwise.There is no doubt that Egyptian society is de
July 17, 2013
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China’s economy depends on its politics
The news that China’s gross domestic product grew 7.5 percent from April to June ― down from 7.7 percent in the first quarter ― has provoked fewer gasps of horror than one might have expected. Chinese officials have been talking down the importance of the number for days. The mainland economy might ultimately grow 7 percent this year instead of at its usual double-digit rate, they’ve hinted. Nothing to worry about. These officials, from Prime Minister Li Keqiang on down, are speaking to two audi
July 16, 2013
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[William Pesek] Foregone election in Japan
With elections to the upper house of parliament on July 21, Japanese voters seem ready to hand Prime Minister Shinzo Abe one of the bigger blank checks in memory. No one has forgotten there’s an election. It’s impossible to escape the cacophony of campaign sound trucks, blaring slogans out of tinny loudspeakers. What’s most noticeable, though, is the silence of the citizenry. Try finding the slightest hint that voters are fired up. If recent contests have been notable at all, it’s for setting lo
July 16, 2013
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The case against retrying George Zimmerman
When in 1992 a California jury acquitted the four officers who beat Rodney King, the result was a race riot of a kind not seen since the late 1960s ― followed by a federal civil-rights prosecution that convicted two of the officers. The acquittal of George Zimmerman for killing Trayvon Martin hasn’t produced rioting, but it has spawned a growing demand, led by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, for a federal trial to recharge Zimmerman with violating Martin’s civil r
July 16, 2013