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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Public backlash against division of Gyeonggi Province under 'corny' name
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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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Vietnam’s dilemma in relations with U.S., China
In Hugh White’s latest book, “The China Choice: Why America Should Share Power,” the Australian professor argues that, for the sake of regional peace, the United States and China should carve up Asia between them. In particular, the U.S. should consider ceding Indochina to China, the former defence official added.That suggestion has caused apoplexy throughout the region, not least from Vietnam, given its chequered history with China.But if one takes the hard-headed realist’s perspective, one can
Sept. 3, 2012
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[Robert B. Reich] GOP erases George W. Bush
As Bill Clinton is resurrected by the Democrats, George W. Bush is being erased by the GOP ― as if an entire eight years of American history hadn’t happened.While Clinton stumps for President Obama, Mitt Romney has gone out of his way not to mention the name of the president who came after Clinton and before Obama.Former President Clinton will have a starring role at the Democratic National Convention. Former President George W. Bush won’t even be at the Republican one ― the first time a nationa
Sept. 3, 2012
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Rapists: prevention, punishment, and treatment?
Whenever highly publicized sex crimes occur in Korea the debate on chemical castration reemerges and politicians cash in on the popularity of appearing tough.Reported recently was that the ruling Saenuri Party are “considering” making chemical castration mandatory for sex offenders. Naturally the liberal left human rights brigade will rise to defend the rights, and not the responsibilities, of the criminals while at the same time ignoring the rights of their victims. Before sanctioning chemical
Sept. 3, 2012
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Ecuador provides latest strange twist in Assange tale
The grant of extradition to WikiLeaks founder and alleged sex-crime perpetrator Julian Assange by Ecuador is the most bewildering twist yet in this long, bizarre saga. Up to now, the government of Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa was better known for stifling freedom of the press at home than for championing the free flow of information. If ever there was an odd coupling of convenience, this is certainly it.There’s no mystery over why Assange, a 41-year-old Australian, should choose to go on t
Sept. 3, 2012
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Heads of state shun their own health care systems
Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia’s dictator, died last week ― in a Brussels hospital.Why didn’t he get medical care at home? Look at the state of his people’s health, and you’ll understand.The government provides vaccinations for only 5 percent of the children. Fewer still receive antibiotics when they contract pneumonia. Only 20 percent of teenage girls are educated about AIDS. Is it any wonder that Ethiopia’s average life expectancy is 56 ― among the world’s lowest?Eleven years ago, 53 African nations s
Sept. 3, 2012
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[J. Bradford DeLong] Grassroots democracy in U.S.
BERKELEY ― When the French politician and moral philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville published the first volume of his “Democracy in America” in 1835, he did so because he thought that France was in big trouble and could learn much from America. So one can only wonder what he would have made of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.For Tocqueville, the grab for centralized power by the absolutist Bourbon monarchs, followed by the French Revolution and Napoleon’s Empire, had destroyed
Sept. 3, 2012
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China’s growing economic crisis
Policy makers around the world have long envied China’s ability to get big things done. A huge 4 trillion-yuan ($630 billion) stimulus plan as the global economy cratered in 2008? No problem. Marshaling banks to lend trillions more? Check. Enacting sweeping regulatory changes at a moment’s notice? You bet. Ahhh, the good old days. Now, a once-in-a-decade leadership shift is getting in the way of the stimulus-happy policies to which investors became accustomed. The nimbleness that helped China st
Sept. 2, 2012
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[David Ignatius] The failure of a noble idea
WASHINGTON ― There is no “big idea” easier to pay homage to in principle, or harder to make work in practice, than the peacekeeping role of the United Nations. This is painfully clear in a new memoir by Kofi Annan, its former secretary-general. The latest failure of the U.N. dream was Annan’s mediating mission to Syria. For months, he tried to cajole President Bashar al-Assad into stopping the killing and starting a political transition that would avert civil war. To which he received the standa
Sept. 2, 2012
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Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’ and Samsung smartphones
While Psy’s “Gangnam Style” is becoming increasingly popular abroad, one of Korea’s major conglomerates Samsung lost the first round of patent lawsuit against Apple in the United States. Other than the two being Korean, what do Psy’s “Gangnam Style” and Samsung’s smartphones have in common? In my view, the two cases are sending a very important message to Korean society. Some Koreans are bewildered as to why “Gangnam Style” is receiving so much attention abroad, especially in the United States,
Sept. 2, 2012
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Candidate’s remarks on rape may help clarify abortion debate
Like any sentient person, I was appalled by Missouri Republican Congressman Todd Akin’s comments about “legitimate rape.” I was shocked by the Limbaugh-ian proportions of his ignorance about the female reproductive system (“in cases of legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down”) and remain flabbergasted that he hasn’t caved in to party pressure to quit his Senate campaign.But unlike the many people proclaiming their outrage on Facebook and Twitter, I’m actual
Sept. 2, 2012
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[Eli Park Sorensen] Reproduction and the elusive quest for originality
“The originals are not original,” Ralph Waldo Emerson writes in an essay in which he argues that the idea of originality is not only elusive but ultimately illusory. For there is a sense in which everything comes after something; that everything is always-already part of history and tradition; and that there is no pure beginning. Texts, thoughts, speeches ― even personal identities ― all seem to have precursors, antecedents, forerunners. That the concept of originality is a fairly recent inventi
Sept. 2, 2012
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Republicans have long way to go on diversity
Florida Senator Marco Rubio took the stage Thursday night at the Republican National Convention, following in the footsteps of previous convention speakers with names such as Sandoval, Valenzuela, Cruz and Fortuno. On Tuesday night, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, an Indian American, briefly held center stage. This portrait gallery of 21st-century American diversity is a welcome sight ― not because it’s a convincing picture of the Republican Party in 2012, but because it’s an acknowledgment
Aug. 31, 2012
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[Howard Davies] Putting Europe back on track
PARIS ― Some economists believe that this summer could mark the moment when some of the eurozone’s peripheral members may begin to be forced out; others think that such a scenario is inconceivable. All agree that, at least in the short term, a eurozone breakup would be disastrous for jobs and growth.But, because the outcome is unknowable, and depends on politics as much as on economics, let us leave that frightening prospect to one side and look instead at what we know about the underlying perfo
Aug. 31, 2012
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[David Ignatius] A Syrian defector’s mission
PARIS ― Syria’s most prominent military defector says the key to political transition there is to provide a “safety net” that persuades Alawites they won’t be massacred if they break with President Bashar al-Assad. “My main work is to convince the Alawites that they do not have to commit suicide along with the regime,” said Manaf Tlass, a former general in the Syrian army who left the country in July. He spoke Tuesday at a location in France where he has taken refuge. It was his first in-depth i
Aug. 30, 2012
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End of establishment Republicans’ rule?
Ever since Ronald Reagan, the Republican Party has moved steadily to the right. Yet in Tampa this week, for the seventh consecutive time, Republicans nominated a mainstream presidential candidate after rejecting movement conservatives. No one would confuse Willard Mitt Romney with a populist or movement conservative; he oozes establishment. So did the other presidential nominees since Reagan, both Presidents Bush, Bob Dole and John McCain. Like those predecessors, Romney calculated the formula f
Aug. 30, 2012
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Growth needed to end Philippine labor exports
Hailed as new heroes for bringing in billions of dollars a year to fuel the growth of the Philippine economy, many overseas Filipino workers are, in truth, martyrs for slaving abroad just to help their families survive back home.As of last count, there are about 12 million Filipinos ― more than 10 percent of the population ― working in some 200 countries across the globe. In 2011, they sent home $20.1 billion to the families they left behind.In the first half of 2012, OFW remittances amounted to
Aug. 30, 2012
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Watershed moment in Apple’s downfall?
From the look of it, life couldn’t be better right now for Apple Inc. The value of the Cupertino, California-based technology giant surpassed $600 billion in mid-August to become the world’s most valuable company. Last Friday Apple scored a major legal victory over its smart device market rival Samsung, with a California court finding several Samsung devices infringed on Apple patents. Apple was awarded $1.05 billion in damages. While $1.05 billion is a big number, it is trivial compared to the
Aug. 30, 2012
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Asian nationalism is dangerous development
The overlapping claim between South Korea and Japan over the Dokdo or Takeshima islands is moving towards uncharted water. The international community thinks that, as the two most important allies of the U.S. in the region, South Korea and Japan should know how to avoid creating an environment that augurs badly for strategic cooperation. That is not true. Worst of all, this tension is happening when their giant neighbor, China, is on a meteoric rise. In fact, if the quarrel continues unabated, i
Aug. 30, 2012
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[William Choong] A Konrad Adenauer model
August is that time of year when Japan has to grapple with its militaristic past. On Aug 15, 1945, the country suffered an ignominious defeat to Allied forces, marking the end of World War II in the Asia-Pacific.This year, however, Japan came under even more pressure, as Tokyo saw territorial disputes with South Korea and China over two groups of islands.Earlier this month, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak made a historic visit to the Dokdo islands ― a move challenged by Japan, which calls t
Aug. 30, 2012
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In Korea, it’s Ross Perot vs. Queen Elizabeth I
South Koreans may face a fascinating choice come December’s presidential election: Elizabeth I or Ross Perot? Park Geun-hye, the unmarried ruling-party candidate, touts the virgin queen who ruled England from 1558 to 1603 as a role model. Ahn Cheol-soo is the businessman most Koreans want to take her on. He’s Korea’s answer to Perot, the billionaire who 20 years ago ran as America’s most successful modern third-party candidate. So far, Ahn hasn’t said if he will run. Should he do so, he could st
Aug. 29, 2012