Most Popular
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'Super Rich in Korea' will leave viewers appreciating Korea more: producers
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Probe of first lady on Dior bag allegations set to begin
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Top prosecutor pledges 'speedy, strict' probe into first lady's luxury bag allegations
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Indonesia’s KF-21 fighter jet deal cut back -- what’s next?
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[KH Explains] Can tech firms' AI alliances take on Nvidia?
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Local filmmakers criticize ‘The Roundup: Punishment’ monopoly of screens
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Police seek arrest warrant for med student who killed girlfriend
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[Grace Kao, Meera Choi] Has money displaced romance on dates?
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Will China's self-sufficient dream in HBM come true?
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Man stabs woman and her son amid financial dispute, killing 1
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Attacks on reporters show need to improve journalists’ safety
Well over 100 journalists have been killed so far this year ― the highest number since the International Press Institute began keeping count of journalists’ deaths in 1997. All across the world ― from Africa, Asia and Europe, to the Middle East and Latin America ― journalists continue to be systematically and brutally targeted because of their work. Some are caught in the crossfire while reporting on conflict, but most are targeted by criminal groups and individuals who want to prevent informati
Nov. 21, 2012
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[Shashi Tharoor] The emerging world’s education imperative
NEW DELHI ― Official delegations from the world’s nine most populous developing countries just met in New Delhi to discuss a subject vital for their countries’ futures: education. The meeting of ministers and others from Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan, known as the E-9, is the latest in a series of encounters held every two years to fulfill the pledge of “education for all” by 2015.The E-9 account for 54 percent of the world’s population, 42.3 pe
Nov. 21, 2012
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[Harold Brown] America’s trouble with China
WASHINGTON ― Xi Jinping, China’s newly anointed president, made his first visit to the United States in May 1980. He was a 27-year-old junior officer accompanying Geng Biao, then a vice premier and China’s leading military official. Geng had been my host the previous January, when I was the first U.S. defense secretary to visit China, acting as an interlocutor for President Jimmy Carter’s administration.Americans had little reason to notice Xi back then, but his superiors clearly saw his potenti
Nov. 20, 2012
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Housing agency woes offer chance to fix market
For the first time in its 78-year history, the U.S. Federal Housing Administration might need a government bailout. The agency’s most recent audit, released last week, reveals it is burdened by a $16.3 billion deficit in the value of its insurance fund, primarily on loans it backed ahead of the housing market’s collapse. The audit also reveals ― or should remind us ― that the federal government’s role in the mortgage market is outsized and should be reduced. The FHA’s troubles are largely a resu
Nov. 20, 2012
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U.S. is unprepared to patrol, secure Arctic
In the final presidential debate, when explaining why the Navy has fewer ships than in 1916, President Obama famously quipped that the United States also has “fewer horses and bayonets,” setting off a debate over quality versus quantity. In the Arctic ― an increasingly important part of the world ― the situation is simpler. When it comes to patrolling and securing the Arctic, the United States has neither quality nor quantity.The rapid melting of the Arctic sea ice is opening up previously unnav
Nov. 20, 2012
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[Kim Seong-kon] Shall we view our past with pride or prejudice?
Sometimes foreigners’ observations of our culture are strikingly insightful. In the late 19th century, the Russian government dispatched four military officers and one government official to observe the Hermit Kingdom called Joseon. Their observations, which were quite accurate and comprehensive, were later published in book form in 1858. As I read the book, which was full of useful, intriguing information on pre-modern Korean society, a passage caught my attention: “Koreans are a curious people
Nov. 20, 2012
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The U.S. should walk the talk on free trade
One of the greatest ironies of the 2012 presidential campaigns was that both candidates framed the U.S. as a champion of free trade under assault from malevolent “cheaters.” In fact, the U.S. is basically the world’s biggest loner.Trade accounted for about 29.2 percent of U.S. economic activity in 2010. That makes the U.S. the most closed of all developed nations according to “trade intensity,” which is calculated as the sum of exports and imports, divided by gross domestic product.Only one othe
Nov. 20, 2012
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Obama turns to place where economy grows
Barack Obama’s trip to Myanmar is a gift from the photo-opportunity gods. The sight of the U.S. president standing beside political-prisoner-turned-Nobel- laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon will be a heart-warming moment for a world yearning for good news. The most remarkable thing about Obama’s first trip abroad since his re-election is his itinerary. During the four-day journey that starts tomorrow, Obama will bypass China as well as such staunch Pacific allies as Australia, Japan and South K
Nov. 19, 2012
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[David Ignatius] Recipe for a witch hunt
WASHINGTON ― Washington superlawyer Joseph Califano once passed a message to a client being grilled by a congressional committee that read: “Keep cool in Kabul.” That phrase has a certain piquancy now, but Califano simply wanted to calm the witness, slow the process a bit and get everyone to chill out. The “keep cool” advice seems especially useful now that Washington’s latest set of scandals is entering the phase of congressional investigation, righteous political indignation and public penance
Nov. 19, 2012
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Obama, Congress must cooperate
Congressional gridlock is dead. Long live constructive bipartisanship in our nation’s capital.Well, that’s not reality ― yet. But it’s encouraging that President Barack Obama and other leaders in Washington are talking more about shared sacrifices needed to deal with the country’s real priorities.They include working together to reduce the deficit and reform entitlements by making sound compromises that cut spending and raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans.During his press conference Wednesda
Nov. 19, 2012
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An editor and a diet for Auntie BBC
George Entwistle’s tenure as head of the British Broadcasting Corp. must rank among the shortest and unhappiest in the history of media: It lasted just 54 days and included two pedophilia-related news scandals, one formal apology to the victims and a resignation speech.The scandals (more on those later) have severely damaged the BBC’s reputation as one of the world’s finest media organizations ― fine enough to tempt the New York Times to hire Entwistle’s predecessor, Mark Thompson, as chief exec
Nov. 19, 2012
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[Meghan Daum] The timeless frump factor and Holly Petraeus
The second week of this month was a historic one for women. Eighteen women won or reclaimed Senate seats, bringing the number of women in that body to 20. Nearly 80 women now occupy the House. New Hampshire became the first state to elect a female governor and an all-women congressional delegation.But wait: What’s that sound of tires screeching to a halt? What’s that feeling of being yanked aside by the elbow and told, “Not so fast, missy.”It’s that timeless behemoth known as the double standard
Nov. 19, 2012
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[Brahma Chellaney] America’s unhinged ‘pivot’
NEW DELHI ― President Barack Obama’s first foreign trip since winning a second term highlights Asia’s new centrality to America’s economy and security. But Obama’s Asian tour also underscores the main question about American policy in the region: Will the United States’ “pivot” to Asia acquire concrete strategic content, or will it remain largely a rhetorical repackaging of old policies?The United States, quick to capitalize on regional concerns triggered by China’s increasingly muscular self-as
Nov. 19, 2012
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France’s imminent competitiveness shock
The government of French President Francois Hollande deserves credit for its decision last week to cut payroll taxes. Unfortunately, by itself, the 20 billion euro ($25 billion) reduction in costs for companies won’t administer the “competitiveness shock” that a dire, government-commissioned study recommended Nov. 5 to revive growth. It certainly won’t allay the concerns of France’s largest trading partner, Germany, whose own economy would be at risk from a meltdown across the Rhine. As Germany’
Nov. 18, 2012
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[David Ignatius] Charting a post-Petraeus era
WASHINGTON ― So it turns out that the top brass at the CIA had an inbox of secrets of the all-too-human, sexual variety. Titillating, unquestionably. But what about the other secrets ― the intelligence secrets that are the agency’s reason for existence? How are they doing on this score? When the uproar passes over the personal misjudgments of Gen. David Petraeus, the country will be left with this question of intelligence goals and missions. And here’s where an overlooked problem of the Petraeus
Nov. 18, 2012
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International citizens in Seoul support Obama
The incumbent U.S. President Barack Obama narrowly won a majority of the popular vote against the Republican challenger Mitt Romney, 50.6 percent to 47.9 percent. However, he won a commanding majority among the fast-growing Latino (71 percent) and Asian populations (73 percent), along with African-Americans (93 percent), according to New York Times exit polls. In other words, he swept groups representing the “Global South” or “Majority World” regions of Latin America, Africa and Asia. According
Nov. 18, 2012
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National English Ability Test needs upgrading
Last year, the Korea Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation released a report on the achievement and tasks of English education policies focused on practical English. According to the report, more than 90 percent of elementary school students and their parents, 86 percent of middle school students and their parents, and 76 percent of high school students and their parents said that a balanced education of four skills ― reading, listening, speaking and writing ― would enhance students’ ability to
Nov. 18, 2012
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A new Korean player on L.A. Dodgers
Recently, there has been great excitement within the baseball community here in Korea with regards to the possible MLB acquisition of Ryu Hyun-jin, a southpaw who throws for the KBO’s Hanwha Eagles. It comes as no surprise, then, that the organization on the other end that is interested is the Los Angeles Dodgers, who, given their long history, have a proud tradition of welcoming new talent across cultural divides into the Big Leagues. Beginning in 1947, with the signing of Jackie Robinson, and
Nov. 18, 2012
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[Andrew Sheng] Trouble of writing rules for unknown unknowns
Traveling to Traverse City by Lake Michigan in the U.S. in cold, rainy October, serendipity struck in funny ways. In a bookshop next door to the renovated Art Deco State Theatre movie-house run by the film director Mike Moore, I picked up a 2010 book by the Serbian physicist Vlatko Vedral, “Decoding Reality,” which sees the world through the lens of quantum information. I read the book in Boston, right in the midst of Hurricane Sandy as it tore through the East Coast of the U.S., demonstrating t
Nov. 18, 2012
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The French view of the Petraeus sex scandal
PARIS ― French public reaction to American CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus’ suicide-bombing of his own career demonstrates a lack of understanding of the perceived offense in favor of a blind defense of libertinism. It was learned last week that Petraeus had an extramarital affair with his biographer, reserve Army officer Paula Broadwell (who, like Petraeus, is married with children).Let’s go back in time for some context.The French never understood why President Bill Clinton was impeached for
Nov. 16, 2012