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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Korean battery makers heave sigh of relief over 2-year IRA reprieve
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Over 80,000 millionaires, 20 billionaires in Seoul: report
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Police seek arrest warrant for med student who killed girlfriend
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Local filmmakers criticize ‘The Roundup: Punishment’ monopoly of screens
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Will China's self-sufficient dream in HBM come true?
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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
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[Robert B. Reich] Game of economic chicken
With the election behind us, I had hoped our politicians would get beyond games of chicken. No such luck.First, you need to understand that the upcoming game of chicken isn’t about how much or when we cut the budget deficit, or even whether the upcoming “fiscal cliff” poses a danger to the economy.The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office warned last week that the automatic tax increases and spending cuts scheduled to start in January amount to too much deficit reduction, too soon. They’d put
Nov. 16, 2012
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[David Ignatius] A warrior’s star tarnished
WASHINGTON ― David Petraeus achieved genuinely great things in his career, so his fall as CIA director over what he bluntly described in his resignation letter Friday as “extremely poor judgment ... engaging in an extramarital affair” has the poignancy you might find in a novel by Leo Tolstoy or Victor Hugo. Petraeus may have seemed larger than life in uniform, but beneath the ribbons he was a very human story.Petraeus’ 14-month tenure as CIA director was short and, compared to his rocket-like a
Nov. 15, 2012
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Too early to review Japan’s mandatory indictments
Ichiro Ozawa, head of the People’s Life First party, was once again found not guilty by a court.The Tokyo High Court dismissed an appeal lodged by court-appointed lawyers acting as prosecutors and upheld a lower court ruling acquitting Ozawa of violating the Political Funds Control Law over his alleged role in a suspicious land deal conducted by his fund management body, Rikuzan-kai.The high court ruling acknowledged that the 400 million yen provided by Ozawa to the fund management body to purch
Nov. 15, 2012
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What direction will Obama take?
What America does still matters more to the world than the actions of any other country. Now that we know who will lead the world’s greatest power and largest economy for the next four years, perhaps it is time to consider what directions are likely to be set.While some continuity should be expected from a second Obama administration, there are underlying and quite fundamental factors that might well change the American engagement with Asia.The first factor is the widespread anxiety about the co
Nov. 15, 2012
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Inexcusable delay in justice
In the retrial of Govinda Prasad Mainali, a Nepalese man convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the March 1997 robbery-murder of a 39-year-old Tokyo woman, the Tokyo High Court eventually acquitted him Nov. 7, pointing to the strong possibility that a third person was the perpetrator.Mainali is back in Nepal. He was released when the court decided on June 7 to retry him and was immediately deported for overstaying his visa. The acquittal came 15 ahd a half years after he was arrested. The
Nov. 15, 2012
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Migrant workers for sale and rape?
The circulation of leaflets stating “Indonesian maids now on sale” in Kuala Lumpur early this month may not incite widespread anger here, but a report of an Indonesian migrant worker gang-raped by three policemen in the Malaysian state of Penang is a far more serious matter the neighboring country needs to address.The case, although it might happen to only one of about 2 million Indonesian migrant workers (TKI) employed in Malaysia both legally and illegally, will risk straining bilateral ties b
Nov. 15, 2012
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[Masahiro Matsumura] U.S.-Japan ties: Oki-now-what?
OSAKA ― Japan’s alliance with the United States is widely viewed as a crucial counterweight to China’s hegemonic ambitions, which pose significant threats to Asian security. But, although the United States and Japan are conducting joint naval exercises in the East China Sea in order to signal to China that it should tone down its actions over the disputed Senkaku Islands, all is not well with the alliance.Controversy over the deployment by the U.S. Marines of 12 tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey aircraft t
Nov. 15, 2012
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[Robert Shiller] A president without a plan
NEW HAVEN ― During the United States’ recent presidential election campaign, public-opinion polls consistently showed that the economy ― and especially unemployment ― was voters’ number one concern. The Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, sought to capitalize on the issue, asserting: “The president’s plans haven’t worked ― he doesn’t have a plan to get the economy going.”Nonetheless, Barack Obama was reelected. The outcome may reflect the economy’s slight improvement at election time (as happene
Nov. 14, 2012
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Argentina’s populist policies court disaster
Cry for yourself, Argentina.What a shame to see a country of such great economic promise swerving off the road to prosperity again.The latest in a history of unforced errors began in 2007. National elections ushered in populist President Cristina Fernandez, who has led her nation to the brink of disaster by refusing to play by the rules of global finance. She restricted international trade, violated contracts and pumped out phony data to disguise the soaring inflation her policies brought about.
Nov. 14, 2012
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The asymmetric threat of email doomed Petraeus
The resignation of David Petraeus as director of central intelligence ― prompted, you may have heard, by the discovery, via an email trail, of an extramarital affair that possibly posed a security risk ― leads to a cascade of concerns. Leaving aside questions of morality, which would only lead to foolhardy and empty pronouncements, it’s fair to ask who will take the helm of the Central Intelligence Agency, which seemed to flourish under Petraeus’s leadership. What does this mean for the unending
Nov. 14, 2012
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Time to reconsider Korean management style
It’s no question that Koreans work more hours than in any other country in the world. However, in terms of management efficiency they are ranked among the lowest. What could possibly be the reason for such inefficiency? Is it Confucianism ― employees looking back, embracing tradition and refusing to adapt to a changing world? Is it their military training in which all men are required to dedicate nearly two years of their lives? I believe that it is a combination of both that creates a business
Nov. 14, 2012
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A student’s plea for someone to comfort him
When a student of mine called me to ask for some advice, I listened calmly, expecting him to inquire about his grades or request that I look over one of his essays. Instead, his dilemma was a rather unique one. He had decided to apply to Swarthmore, a top-ranked liberal arts school in America, and wanted to submit a rock album that he had been recording but that was still incomplete. Not only was his counselor against the student’s decision to apply to Swarthmore, insisting that his scores were
Nov. 14, 2012
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[Kim Myong-sik] Reconsider security measures for ex-presidents
Here’s a good tip for the three presidential candidates that is sure to add at least a hundred thousand votes, quite a figure in this very close election: Declare that, if elected, he or she would decline the secret service protection upon retirement after the mandatory single five-year term.This may not be in compliance with the Law on the Treatment of Former Presidents and the Law on the Presidential Security Service, but legal matters can be fixed when any president-elect so decides and does
Nov. 14, 2012
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Right-leaning Japan relives 19th century
Japan’s leaders just can’t seem to put the 19th century behind them. It may be 2012, and the world surrounding this island nation of 126 million is changing at a blistering pace, but Japanese officialdom seems oddly stuck in the late 1800s. Back then, reformers adopted the slogan “rich nation, strong army.” This rabid nationalism culminated, of course, in World War II and a crushing defeat. Fast-forward a hundred years or so. Here is the hauntingly similar motto Shinzo Abe, very possibly Japan’s
Nov. 13, 2012
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[Lee Jae-min] The naming season again?
Imagine someone whose name changes every five years. Confusion would reign for a while, to say the least. In Korea, changing a person’s name even requires an approval from the court. Situations in other countries are not that different.Check this out: It was 1993 when the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Energy and Resources were merged to become the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (known as “MOTIE”). In 1998, the ministry’s name was changed as the Ministry of Commerce,
Nov. 13, 2012
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Syria needs a tougher Obama in second term
ATMA, Syria ― Traveling inside war-wracked Syria on the U.S. Election Day was a stark reminder of how lucky we are to have a vibrant democracy, whatever its failings.It was also a reminder that Syrian rebels who want democracy, not an Islamic emirate, hope a second-term President Obama will finally move beyond anti-regime rhetoric and take firmer action to end Bashar al-Assad’s rule.I’m not certain their hopes will be met. But what I saw and heard in two forays into Syria, and meetings inside th
Nov. 13, 2012
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[Kim Seong-kon] James Bond and older men’s wisdom, knowledge
As I grow older, I begin to look back upon my past with remorse and regret. During my lifetime, I must have done quite a few good things and did others favors numerous times. Sadly, however, I am oblivious of all the good things I have done and can only think of all the mistakes I have made, whether unwittingly or intentionally. Full of regrets, I often whisper to myself silently, “I shouldn’t have done that. How could I have been such an imbecile?” Perhaps the peculiar psychological phenomenon
Nov. 13, 2012
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Choices for new U.S. treasury secretary
President Barack Obama needs a new treasury secretary. Timothy Geithner has made clear that he intends to leave. Furthermore, it is time to bring some fresh thinking to two vital issues: fiscal policy and financial-sector oversight. On fiscal policy, the need is obvious. The framers of the Constitution took great care to divide powers within our government. We can act decisively only when one party controls all branches, or when we agree that there is a grave national emergency. Whatever spin yo
Nov. 13, 2012
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The political inevitability of immigration reform
Having helped power President Barack Obama to victory over Mitt Romney, Hispanic voters are suddenly the “it” demographic in U.S. politics. Hispanics made up 10 percent of the total vote and gave Obama almost three votes for every one earned by Romney. Obama may even have won a majority among Florida’s Cuban voters, who were once a Republican mainstay. With more than 60,000 Hispanics turning 18 every month between now and 2016, we doubt many Republicans are still in denial about the demographic
Nov. 12, 2012