Most Popular
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[Exclusive] Korean military set to ban iPhones over 'security' concerns
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Korean, Romanian leaders discuss defense tech, nuclear energy
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S. Korea calls on Japan to confront history amid Yasukuni Shrine visit
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Yoon’s jailed mother-in-law excluded from latest parole list
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Hybe and Min Hee-jin, CEO of Hybe sublabel Ador, lock horns
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[Pressure points] Leggings in public: Fashion statement or social faux pas?
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[Herald Interview] 'Amid aging population, Korea to invite more young professionals from overseas'
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Korea’s homegrown nanosatellite successfully launches into space
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Nicaragua shuts down Seoul embassy
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Rocket engine expert, ex-NASA exec to lead Korea's new space agency
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[Robert B. Reich] Romney, Ryan turn off majority
Unemployment is still above 8 percent, job gains aren’t even keeping up with population growth, the economy is barely moving forward. And yet, according to most polls, the Romney-Ryan ticket is falling further and further behind. How can this be?Because Republicans are failing the central test of electability. Instead of putting together the largest possible coalition of voters, they’re relying largely on one slice of America ― middle-aged white men ― and alienating just about everyone else.Star
Sept. 21, 2012
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Obama, Romney trade substance on China
American voters deserve a substantive debate between the presidential candidates about how the U.S. can manage China’s rise as a powerful economic and geopolitical rival in the coming decades. Unfortunately, President Barack Obama and the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, have so far been unwilling to have that discussion. Instead, the candidates have waged a war of words that gives voters oversimplified ― and sometimes false ― explanations of a vital and complex issue. Obama accuses Romney of se
Sept. 20, 2012
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[Nathan Gardel] Media and Arab awakening
LOS ANGELES ― The events of recent days in the Middle East only forewarn of future turmoil as the democratization of the media in the West meets the political awakening in the Arab world.The now-marginalized children of Facebook may have inaugurated the Arab Spring, which unleashed ― some say liberated ― anti-Western voices and actors long crushed by brutal autocrats. But now it is YouTube’s turn to roil the region. A 14-minute preview of a movie called “The Innocence of Muslims” ― posted by a m
Sept. 20, 2012
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Why does Beijing permit protests against Japan?
Anti-Japan protests have been expanding and escalating in China. This is a serious situation.Protesters railing against the recent nationalization of three islets of the Senkaku Islands in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, by the central government have taken to the streets of about 100 cities in China.In Beijing, protesters hurled rocks at the Japanese Embassy, while in other cities they attacked Japanese-affiliated business establishments. Some Japanese citizens have been assaulted in places where
Sept. 20, 2012
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Asian nations should beware of ‘riot’ in patriotism
Nationalism and protectionism are two of the most attractive qualities during dire economic times. European far-right political parties enjoyed widespread electoral success in the wake of the eurozone debt crisis. Even in a country in need of focus and economic revival such as the post-lost decade, post-financial crisis and post-March 11 earthquake Japan, long-term nationalist firebrand Shintaro Ishihara mustered enough support to force the government to distract itself from economic reform and
Sept. 20, 2012
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[Salman Haidar] Territorial turmoil for China and Japan
The long-running dispute between China and Japan about sovereignty over the variously named Senkaku (Japan) or Diaoyu (China) islands has entered a new, more active phase. These tiny specks of rock in the middle of the ocean attracted little attention until relatively recently. Their economic value was limited to providing an occasional platform for fishing boats and it is only a few years ago that prospects of finding gas and oil in the surrounding waters have added to their potential value.But
Sept. 20, 2012
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Census confirms U.S. middle class in dire trouble
The Census Bureau reported last week that middle-class income is continuing to shrink, top-tier incomes are growing and those at the bottom remained about the same. It wasn’t shocking news, confirming what dozens of independent studies have shown.What does come as a surprise is what politicians regard as middle income.On Friday, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said “middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less.”That’s about where President Barack Obama has drawn the line, too. He w
Sept. 19, 2012
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[David Ignatius] Georgia’s viral political battle
WASHINGTON ― The Georgian government of President Mikheil Saakashvili, long a favorite of U.S. conservatives for championing pro-democratic “color revolutions,” is under fire for its own alleged suppression of a domestic opposition movement headed by a billionaire tycoon. Saakashvili was lauded as a reformer after he became president in 2004, following the Rose Revolution, and he has bravely challenged Russian hegemony in the region. But he has also shown a tendency to overreach, as in the impru
Sept. 19, 2012
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U.S. banks ignore Europe’s lesson on greed
Four years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the near-total paralysis of capitalism’s central nervous system ― the moment fear completely overwhelmed greed on Wall Street ― we are starting to see a few glimmers of hope. The good news: Several big banks have finally started taking steps to reform Wall Street’s out-of-control compensation system, which rewards bankers and traders with big bonuses for taking insane risks with other people’s money. The bad news: These banks are
Sept. 19, 2012
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We want Middle East justice ― but we’re tired of conflict
What do Americans want done with killers in Libya who murdered U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others on Sept. 11, our national day of mourning?We want their heads stuffed into a burlap bag. We want to see that bag tossed into some town square, landing with hollow thunks, the bag opening, its cargo rolling along the ground.That’s revenge talking, and there’s nothing wrong with it. Americans were murdered. While our politicians make speeches about “resolve” and President Barack Obam
Sept. 19, 2012
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[Kim Myong-sik] Dokdo and old teacher’s 19th-century chronology
During my junior high school years in the 1950s, we were taught Oriental history, mainly of China, in the first year, Western history in the second and the national (Korean) history in the senior year. It was shortly after the Korean War and teachers were strongly patriotic, and thoroughly anticommunist, of course.In the first and second years, we enjoyed the stories of the heroes of China, Europe and America as if we were reading fairy tales. But in the senior year, we learned chapter after cha
Sept. 19, 2012
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Arnault’s childish decision to pack his bags
It’s a shame that France’s two most powerful people, its president and its richest man, were unable to get beyond populist posturing and recrimination as they battled over taxes this week. They may have missed a golden opportunity to find common ground on restoring growth to their country’s beleaguered economy. The clash erupted after Bernard Arnault, the chief executive officer of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, acknowledged that he has applied for Belgian citizenship. He said this was a “
Sept. 18, 2012
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[Omar Ashour] Libya’s jihadist minority
DOHA ― “They are armed I am not going to fight a losing battle and kill my men over a demolished shrine,” said Fawzi Abd al-’Aali, the former Libyan interior minister, before he “resigned” last August. He was referring to the armed Salafi groups that were accused of destroying Sufi shrines. One of the accused groups was the Ansar al-Shariah Brigade, which was quick to support the demolition, but denied any responsibility for it.Ahmed Jibril, Libya’s deputy ambassador to London, has now accused t
Sept. 18, 2012
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Korea-Japan island dispute: Enough is enough!
Enough is enough! Obviously, the political leadership in Tokyo and Seoul never learned the First Rule of Holes: when you find yourself in one, stop digging. Each side seems to be going out of its way to make a bad situation worse, even while providing private assurances that it won’t let the situation get too far out of hand. In all likelihood it is probably impossible to start making significant repairs until after upcoming elections: December in Korea and who knows (but probably sooner rather
Sept. 18, 2012
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Time to end the habit of Western translation
Sept. 28 marks the 2,563rd anniversary of the birth of Confucius.Few people realize that the Bible discourages people from studying foreign languages. The story of the tower of Babel informs us that there is one humanity (God’s), only that “our languages are confused.” From a European historical perspective, that has always meant that, say, any German philosopher could know exactly what the Chinese people were thinking, only that he couldn’t understand them. So instead of learning the foreign la
Sept. 18, 2012
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[Kim Seong-kon] We need Samsung-, LG-endowed professors
When people reach a comfortable standard of living, they often turn to cultural activities such as watching movies, attending concerts and visiting art exhibitions to enrich their lives. When big corporations make a fortune, they donate money to libraries and museums as a goodwill gesture of returning their profits to society. Sometimes, they establish a cultural foundation through which they can promote cultural exchange. (The Daesan Foundation, for one, comes to mind). And when movie directors
Sept. 18, 2012
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Heart attack is no reason to disappear in China
What does it say about China when the man seen as the next president disappears for 13 days and leadership circles pretend nothing is amiss? The answer is that officials in Beijing still cling to their Kremlin-like ways. It is one thing for Ethiopia, with $32 billion of output, to be mired in similar intrigue (Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was confirmed dead last month after weeks of rumors and conspiracy theories). It is quite another when it takes place in a country whose economy might surpass t
Sept. 17, 2012
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[Mehdi Khalaji] Iran’s strategy for U.S. election
WASHINGTON, D.C. ― Negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program have again hit a wall, but the country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appears unconcerned. Indeed, Khamenei seems convinced that neither the United States nor Israel will attack its nuclear facilities ― at least not before the U.S. presidential election in November. Ironically, while Khamenei is no fan of democracy, he relies on the fact that his principal enemies are bound by democratic constraints. Khamenei controls Iran’s
Sept. 17, 2012
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To be presidential, Romney must first be truthful
Presidential campaigns sometimes turn on big moments that help voters ponder the central question they have about every challenger: What would this person actually be like as president? These aren’t the same as gaffes, which are slips of the tongue that may be politically damaging but say little about the candidates except that they misspoke. I’m talking instead about critical moments of miscalculation ― often made in desperation ― that illuminate important truths about a politician. In 1964, Ba
Sept. 17, 2012
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Castration as a measure against child rape
Imagine a town which has outlawed the most conventional form of criminal punishment, imprisonment. It believes that incarcerating a human being in a jail cell for five, 10 or 20 years is cruel and outdated. Instead, it reintegrates “criminals” back into the community with counseling and encouragement. It has concluded that locking up a human being, whatever his crime, is an infringement of his human right to freedom and liberty. The aforementioned example is a paradisiacal community. When one co
Sept. 17, 2012