Most Popular
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Marine Corps commander summoned by CIO for questioning on alleged influence-peddling case
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Debate rages over ‘overly fatty’ samgyeopsal
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40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather
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[Weekender] Korean psyche untangled: Musok
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N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel
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Pandemic left Korea more depressed than before: report
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Gov't appears to shelve punitive measures against mass walkout by doctors
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[Eye Interview] 'If you live to 100, you might as well be happy,' says 88-year-old bestselling essayist
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From fake prostitution ring to nonexistent robber, prank calls hamper police
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Missing S. Korean traveler in Paris found safe after 2 weeks
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[David Miliband] The law of the sea’s next wave
LONDON ― Thirty years ago, the Cold War was at its height and the United Kingdom had just clawed its way out of recession. Perhaps those factors explain why, this week in 1982, when 119 government delegations chose to sign the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the U.K. was not among them. According to Donald Rumsfeld, Britain’s then-prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, declared UNCLOS to be “nothing less than the international nationalization of roughly two-thirds of the Ea
Dec. 16, 2012
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Flawed constitution likely to be approved in Egypt
A vote by millions of Egyptians on a new constitution should have been an occasion for national celebration. But overreaching by Islamists, including the country’s president, has made the referendum that begins Saturday a source of division. Even if the document is approved, President Mohamed Morsi will need to reach out to Egyptians ― including Christians, secularists and women ― who feel they have been excluded from a revolution they helped create. Yes, Morsi was legitimately elected, but that
Dec. 14, 2012
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[Robert Cooper] Europe’s eyes on the prize
LONDON ― Institutions are not lovable. They are rule-bound and dull; they have routines, committees, agendas, budgets ― and rows about budgets. If they are successful, they go on forever.Prizes are for heroes. Like heroes, prizes blaze and are gone. Prizes belong to those who make great discoveries, write great poems, or discover new ways of living ― to the bringers of new things. Institutions are dull ― that is their purpose ― but those who found them may also be creators, even heroes.There is
Dec. 14, 2012
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[Klaus Schwab] Nothing to fear but fear itself
The eurozone will not break up. The price of departure is simply too great for any one country. Indeed, when Mario Draghi announced on Sept. 6 that the European Central Bank would undertake unlimited purchases of government bonds, the continent crossed the bridge to its future.Europe’s leaders must see that the drawbridge has been lifted behind them. They cannot back out of this, and thus must steel themselves for the journey ahead. Moreover, they must also realize that for the European project
Dec. 13, 2012
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Full Monti unlikely to help Italian voters
The weekend announcement by Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti that he will resign triggered a rush to sell off Italian debt and stocks, as investors blanched at the uncertainty that will follow the departure of “Super Mario.” Not surprisingly, many investors and Italian business leaders say they would like to see Monti run in the elections that his departure will force, probably in February. That way he could reclaim his job next year, this time with a mandate from Italian voters. Ferrari SpA C
Dec. 13, 2012
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All at sea over China’s intent
Moves advanced by rival claimants in South China Sea disputes have taken on a harder edge, topped off by China saying it would interdict ships found in its waters. This is happening in spite of calls for calm by ASEAN, as a bloc with an interest in the matter, and the United States, as a Pacific maritime power. Even a peripheral participant like India, which happens to have energy prospecting activity off the Vietnam coast, has implied it would dispatch its navy to protect its interests if it ha
Dec. 13, 2012
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10 days before the world ends, so what will we do?
There are less than 10 days left for you to celebrate the upcoming holiday season ― if you believe in the Mayan prophecy of the apocalypse. On Friday, Dec. 21, 2012, we might experience the end of days, like John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Amanda Peet, who barely escaped the “heightened change in the elements” in Roland Emmerich’s epic 2012. Yet, we shouldn’t rush to any conclusions. Hiding in the mountains may not be the best move, for such predictions are mostly opportunistic.If you type “20
Dec. 13, 2012
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Japan’s parties must confront debt problem
What can be done to rebuild the nation’s finances, which are the worst among advanced nations? Financial reconstruction is an issue that will heavily influence Japan’s future.However, there has not been very much debate on the issue in the campaigning for the Dec. 16 general election. Parties must show their resolve in dealing with this problem.Japan’s finances are facing a critical situation. Tax revenues have been continuing to decrease due to the prolonged economic downturn following the burs
Dec. 13, 2012
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[Amando Doronila] Gunboat diplomacy on horizon
The past four weeks saw the swiftest escalation in recent years of tensions over the territorial disputes between China and its neighbors in the Asia-Pacific.The tensions spiraled in late November when the province of Hainan, in the southern coastal region of China, issued an imperial-sounding edict that its so-called lawmaking body had authorized its police patrol boats to board and search foreign ships of any nationality that illegally enter what it considers Chinese territories in the South C
Dec. 13, 2012
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The Supreme Court’s chance to make history
The question before the U.S. Supreme Court is not whether to allow same-sex marriage, but how. That should be the question, anyway. Last week the court agreed to hear two cases involving the constitutionality of same-sex marriage. Theodore Olson, one of the lawyers for proponents of same-sex marriage, called it “perhaps the most important remaining civil-rights issue of our time.” He is undoubtedly right about that. What the court must do is find a way to encourage the movement’s progress withou
Dec. 12, 2012
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[Peter Singer] Should people live to 1,000?
PRINCETON ― On which problems should we focus research in medicine and the biological sciences? There is a strong argument for tackling the diseases that kill the most people ― diseases like malaria, measles, and diarrhea, which kill millions in developing countries, but very few in the developed world.Developed countries, however, devote most of their research funds to the diseases from which their citizens suffer, and that seems likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Given that constra
Dec. 12, 2012
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Asia-Pacific’s highly combustible mix
The recent East Asia summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, once again highlighted underlying regional tensions. We will come to that later. But first let us look at the background to all this. It basically stems from concerns about China’s rise, particularly whether or not it will be managed peacefully. Beijing certainly regards it as a peaceful development to correct the historical aberration of China’s humiliation by the colonial powers and Japan during the 19th and first half of the 20th century. T
Dec. 12, 2012
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[Kim Myong-sik] Time to end regional obsession with dictatorships
The people of Honam, comprising North and South Jeolla Provinces, have always had a sense of ostracism to varying degrees depending on individual sensibilities and circumstances. No one can clearly explain why; some attribute it to ancient monarchs’ distrust in the people of remote regions while many find more recent causes such as military rulers’ abhorrence about them as threats to their power.This latter reasoning is related to Kim Dae-jung’s challenge against President Park Chung-hee when he
Dec. 12, 2012
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Krugman, Krauthammer and their implied authors
There are real-world authors, and there are implied authors. Real-world authors are actual human beings, with their own distinctive characteristics, on display as they move through the world. Implied authors are the imaginary people whom authors create as they put words on a page. Implied authors have their own personalities ― their own sensibilities, characters, emotions, perspectives and concerns. Implied authors may or may not be like their real-world counterparts. A novelist may be cruel and
Dec. 12, 2012
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[Lee Jae-min] Who are subject to treaties?
One of the common misunderstandings about treaties (i.e., international agreements) is to believe that they bind all people and corporations of the contracting states. That is just wrong. Treaties only bind “governments” of the contracting states and do not reach private entities. So, individuals like you and me or corporations, big or small, are not bound by treaties that our governments sign. What bind us are the domestic laws that our governments adopt as a result of their obligations under t
Dec. 11, 2012
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Where will you be in 2030, America?
Uncertainty over how the U.S. will evolve over the next two decades makes its behavior a top “game-changer” of the international order. So say the authors of “Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds,” the latest quadrennial future-gazing exercise by the National Intelligence Council. The difficulty of predicting how a politically polarized U.S. will respond to the stiff domestic tests it faces is just one of six game-changers in this best guess by the intelligence community about the near-term wo
Dec. 11, 2012
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Endgame of Syria’s civil war draws near
Syria’s 20-month-long civil war appears to be approaching a tipping point as fighting around Damascus intensifies amid signs that President Bashar Assad’s grip on power may be weakening. As the final phase in the long conflict apparently draws nearer, the U.S. needs be prepared for the challenges it will face in a post-Assad Syria that, like Libya, could well remain unsettled for years after the dictator’s departure.In recent weeks, Syrian rebels have captured a number of strategic military base
Dec. 11, 2012
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Politics of pop music
South Korean pop singers and groups will not be part of the yearend NHK music show, “Kohaku Uta Gassen,” this year. When NHK announced its 50 performers for the singing extravaganza broadcast every New Year’s Eve, Korean performers were conspicuously absent.Fans and commentators claimed that the diplomatic conflict over the Takeshima Islands played a part in the decision. However, NHK said in a press release that the selection of artists for the 62nd annual program was based on artistic activiti
Dec. 11, 2012
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[Meghan Daum] Marking 20th anniversary of the text message
It was an especially fruitful week for rueful lamentations about “kids today.” Monday last week marked the 20th anniversary of the text message. Along with it came the predictable chorus of bellyaching about the demise of literacy, the shortening of attention spans and the rise of abbreviations and acronyms that take longer to decipher than it would to pick up the phone and have a real conversation.SMS, or short message service, technology dates to 1984, when a Finnish engineer named Matti Makko
Dec. 11, 2012
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[Kim Seong-kon] Overriding need to create jobs
Due to the severe worldwide economic recession, it seems to be extremely difficult to get a decent job these days virtually everywhere in the world. A few weeks ago, LTI Korea, of which I am president, advertized a job opening. To my surprise, 179 highly-qualified college graduates submitted applications for one opening and all of them exhibited stellar resumes such as a 940-960 TOEIC scores, a 3.8 GPA, ample overseas experience, and a B.A. or an M.A. from a top university. It was heartbreaking
Dec. 11, 2012