Most Popular
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
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Golden chance to liquidate babies’ gold rings?
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Seoul to more than double military drones by 2026 to counter NK threats
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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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Seoul alerts overseas missions to NK terror threats
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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Over 60% of S. Koreans support W100m childbirth incentive: survey
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‘Inside Out 2’ adds four new emotions, explores teenage life
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Questions raised over fair promotion of RM, NewJeans
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Stem cell question
Jamie has felt terrible pain in his stomach for a few weeks. So he squeezes some time out of his hectic schedule and knocks on the door of the regular clinic near his place. After undergoing 20 minute-long endoscopy, he staggers to a seat opposite the doc, and find himself hearing the words, the very words breaking his dizzy body into tiny splinters ... “You have gastric cancer, I’m sorry, it’s terminal...”After that, Jamie’s battle for life begins, leaving no stone unturned to catch even the la
Nov. 22, 2011
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We need to tackle college student debt
Soaring student debt is a problem that only Congress can answer. Until it acts, students and their families will keep falling deeper into debt.For years, state support of higher education has dropped drastically, pushing tuitions up. At the same time, most American families have seen their incomes shrink, forcing them to borrow more and more if they want to send their kids to college. It’s no wonder the total amount of money Americans owe for higher education is now more than what we owe on cred
Nov. 22, 2011
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Solyndra scandal and the Nov. 3 layoffs
The White House decision to back a California-based maker of advanced solar panels with a $535 million loan guarantee in 2009 looks seedier by the day. By all appearances, this deal and subsequent debacle had more to do with campaign cash and hoodwinking voters than it did with green energy.Solyndra Inc. burned through its loans in just two years, filed for bankruptcy and threw its employees on the street.If the story stopped there, it would be bad enough. But a trail of emails trickling out ove
Nov. 22, 2011
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[Kim Seong-kon] No such thing as a free lunch
English-speaking people often say, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” It is a well-known adage that implies “you cannot get something for nothing.” Some Koreans may take the phrase to simply mean: “If somebody invites you to lunch, he has a favor to ask and you are obliged to help him.” Such an interpretation is not completely wrong, but the maxim means more than that. The saying can also mean: “If you want something, you need to give up something else,” or “If you get something at no cos
Nov. 22, 2011
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U.S. hesitant to ‘reckon with evil’ in Syria
Samantha Power used to be best known for her tour-de-force book, “A Problem From Hell,” in which she correctly accused the United States of willfully ignoring genocide in Rwanda, Cambodia, Bosnia and elsewhere.“Despite graphic media coverage,” she wrote, “American policymakers” are “extremely slow to muster the imagination to reckon with evil.”Now Power sits in the Obama White House, a senior staffer on the National Security Council. She’s watching along with everyone else in Washington as Syria
Nov. 21, 2011
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[David Ignatius] Saudi Arabia’s role in Mideast
RIYADH ― Over this past year of Arab Spring revolt, Saudi Arabia has increasingly replaced the United States as the key status-quo power in the Middle East ― a role that seems likely to expand even more in coming years as the Saudis boost their military and economic spending. Saudis describe the kingdom’s growing role as a reaction, in part, to the diminished clout of the United States. They still regard the U.S.-Saudi relationship as valuable, but it’s no longer seen as a guarantor of their sec
Nov. 21, 2011
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Islam offers a third way in Pakistan, Tunisia
During the worldwide depression of the mid-1930s, the poet and Islamic modernist Muhammad Iqbal, often called Pakistan’s spiritual founder, wrote a poem dramatizing the inadequacies of Western political and economic systems. Democracy and capitalism had empowered a privileged elite in the name of the people, Iqbal felt. But he was not much fonder of Marxism, which was then coming into vogue among anti-colonial activists across South Asia and the Middle East: But what’s the answer to the mischief
Nov. 21, 2011
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Turn underwater homes into college diplomas
Both in the real world and in the corridors of power, the consensus is that the congressional supercommittee will fail to compromise this week on how to close the country’s multi-trillion-dollar federal budget deficit and, as a result, a series of cuts, totaling $1.2 trillion, will automatically kick in. Many people believe this failure to act will short-circuit what little hope exists for an economic recovery. And it will be yet another demonstration of the inability of our political parties to
Nov. 21, 2011
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[Graham E. Fuller] Who wins and who loses in the turmoil of Arab change?
Who are the winners and losers in the dramatic and evolving turmoil in the Middle East? For the citizens of Arab world the way ahead may yet be rough and unpredictable, but events represent a major net gain in breaking away from the frozen, sterile and crushing old orders.But with the breakup of the old Middle East system on the international level, who wins and who loses?The biggest single loser, hands down, is Israel. Many of the old dictators propped up by U.S. money and political support to
Nov. 21, 2011
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Salmon sushi roll might have big hidden price tag
Salmon, once a pricey delicacy, is now an affordable staple at supermarkets and sushi restaurants everywhere. For that, we can thank fish farms. They produce 70 percent of the salmon eaten by consumers, who savor its subtle texture and rich flavor. Medical researchers say the fatty acids in salmon might help prevent cancer and heart disease. So it was troubling that researchers over the past few weeks may have found an infectious disease known as salmon anemia in wild fish in British Columbia. L
Nov. 20, 2011
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[David Ignatius] Too overt with covert on Iran
ABU DHABI ― The leading Republican candidates were weirdly overt with their promises in last weekend’s debate about waging covert war against Iran, and even assassinating its scientists. Perhaps it’s a sign that foreigners don’t take American politics very seriously, but the inflammatory talk created barely a ripple in this part of the world. Or maybe the savvy, cynical Middle East believes that the covert war has already begun ― with Israel’s Mossad conducting lethal operations of the sort Repu
Nov. 20, 2011
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Let’s prepare for the biotechnology age
If we call the 20th century the age of physics and chemistry, the 21st century will be the age of biotechnology. Since Dr. James Watson and Dr. Francis Crick discovered the DNA double helix in 1953, biology has made great progress. Nowadays, so-called biotechnology can clone a life form in addition to manipulating genes. Since the first cloned sheep Dolly came into being in 1996 in Britain, also in Korea, a cloned cow Youngrongie and a cloned dog Snuppy have been “born” in succession.Moreover, K
Nov. 20, 2011
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[Meghan Daum] Don’t drink the Kool-Aid
Drunk any Kool-Aid lately? Or maybe you accused someone else of doing it? If so, congratulations, you’re right in step with one of the nation’s most popular idiomatic trends. A snappy, fruit-flavored way of referring to someone who unquestioningly embraces a particular leader or ideology, “drinking the Kool-Aid” has become a staple of self-righteous public discourse.Bill O’Reilly is fond of the expression, as is Washington Times columnist Marybeth Hicks, whose new book “Don’t Let the Kids Drink
Nov. 20, 2011
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Tarnished corporate image
The admission by Olympus Corp., a major maker of cameras and endoscopes, that it has covered up investment losses since the 1990s damages not only the firm but also the image of corporate Japan.It is all the more regrettable that the financial wrongdoing, which has become the target of a criminal investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department, was committed by a 92-year-old company known for its technological prowess and enjoying a more than 70 percent share in the global market for endosco
Nov. 20, 2011
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[Erik Berglof] Cross-border banking at risk
LONDON ― The gravity of the eurozone crisis has finally sunk in. The stakes could not be higher. Governments and international financial institutions have scrambled to put together a solution within exceedingly tight political and economic constraints. Many questions have yet to be answered about the design; implementation will be at least as challenging.Eurozone leaders must now aim to preserve not only the single currency, but also the gains from financial integration in Europe. No region of t
Nov. 20, 2011
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Seoul 2008 offers lessons for New York 2011
The Occupy Wall Street that is happening now in New York resembles a familiar episode that I witnessed in Seoul. As Yogi Berra said, this is like dj vu all over again!When my long stay in Seoul on a project started in the beginning of 2008, the new administration was elected but had not yet taken the office. The Korean democracy at work allowed a smooth transition to the new government, with befitting joyous ceremonies.Shortly after the new government was sworn in, some major shifts in policies
Nov. 18, 2011
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[Shashi Tharoor] Ties between India and Europe
NEW DELHI ― The recent Indian-Italian bilateral dialogue, held in Milan on Nov. 7, at a time when Italy was reeling from the euro crisis and Silvio Berlusconi’s impending political demise, offered a fraught reminder of the potential, and the limits, of India’s relationship with the European Union.India has a long history of relations with Europe, going back to the days of the Roman Empire. Its southwestern state of Kerala boasted a Roman port, Muziris, centuries before Jesus Christ was born; exc
Nov. 18, 2011
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U.S.-China relations call for determined diplomacy
It is essential for Japan to pursue strategic diplomacy with the United States and China if effective international rules are to be worked out to ensure peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda met with U.S. President Barack Obama in Honolulu Saturday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and explained to him a government plan to submit to Okinawa Prefecture within this year an environmental assessment report on the planned
Nov. 18, 2011
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Thai government eyes short-term political gain
Although the Yingluck Shinawatra government has planned a budget for the 2012 fiscal year with spending as high as 2.38 trillion baht, the spending details do not respond well to the needs of the country, which is suffering from the ongoing flood crisis and mismanagement by the administration.The massive flooding has prompted many economic institutions to revise the country’s growth projection downwards. The Bank of Thailand, for instance, has lowered the projected growth rate for next year to o
Nov. 18, 2011
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Focus on real agenda
The series of meetins held by the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) starting in Bali, Indonesia, on Thursday, should be an opportunity for participants to expand common ground and explore new areas of cooperation, so that the region can better contribute to regional and global development and stability. ASEAN’s traditional dialogue partners, China, Japan and South Korea, will participate and Russia and the United States have been invited to take part for the first time. Despite the
Nov. 18, 2011