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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[Kim Seong-kon] Is Korea a conqueror of the world?
We should be more discrete and modest when it comes to evaluating the popularity of Korean culture overseas.With the rise in popularity of Korean television dramas and movies across Asian countries, the headlines of our newspapers invariably proclaim, “Hallyu (the Korean Wave) has conquered Asia.” When our K-pop group singers succeeded in attracting a huge crowd in Paris and London, our media once
July 5, 2011
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[William Pesek ] Commentary-Pesek
It’s a man’s world. That’s something, for better or worse, women in Asia can tell you. Japan and South Korea underutilize women with little regard for how it constrains growth. The Philippines sends all too many of them abroad as domestics to ship money home and support an inefficient economy. A preference for boys in India and elsewhere leads to elective abortion of female fetuses. Indonesia and
July 4, 2011
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[Desmond Tutu] Ending the evil of nuclear weapons
CAPE TOWN ― Eliminating nuclear weapons is the democratic wish of the world’s people. Yet no nuclear-armed country currently appears to be preparing for a future without these terrifying devices. In fact, all are squandering billions of dollars on modernization of their nuclear forces, making a mockery of United Nations disarmament pledges. If we allow this madness to continue, the eventual use of
July 4, 2011
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[Fabrizio Tassinari] The unraveling of Europe’s peace
COPENHAGEN ― The European Commission recently unveiled long-awaited measures to bring neighboring countries in the Mediterranean and the former Soviet Union closer to Europe. On the same day, another department of the same commission presented proposals aimed at curbing visa-waiver programs for some non-European nationals. Few missed the irony of formulating two plans that pointed in opposite dire
July 4, 2011
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[Trudy Rubin] Consequences of Republicans’ stance on debt
At a time when America’s economy is hurting, Republican presidential hopefuls call for “restoring American greatness.”So why are Republicans in Congress bent on policies that would hasten U.S. decline?America’s strengths ― which made it the unchallenged global leader ― were based on democratic institutions and economic successes. Other nations sought to copy our economic and political systems beca
July 4, 2011
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[Andrew J. Bacevich] U.S. foreign policy: War fever subsides
At periodic intervals, the American body politic has shown a marked susceptibility to messianic fevers. Whenever an especially acute attack occurs, a sort of delirium ensues, manifesting itself in delusions of grandeur and demented behavior.By the time the condition passes and a semblance of health is restored, recollection of what occurred during the interval of illness tends to be hazy. What hap
July 4, 2011
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The housing clearance sale and market’s role
Bank of America on Wednesday announced an $8.5 billion settlement for investors who bought its toxic mortgage bonds before the housing crash.For the homeowners who took out those toxic mortgages, the settlement delivers … nothing.It’s only natural for Americans to feel disgusted in the aftermath of the real-estate bust. People want more sanctions against those who profited during the boom, more re
July 3, 2011
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[David Ignatius] A general’s farewell to Afghans
KABUL ― A few weeks ago, late on the night that President Obama announced he would be withdrawing troops from Afghanistan faster than the military had wanted, Gen. David Petraeus held a videoconference from Washington with his senior staff, who were assembled in Kabul for their 7:30 a.m. meeting. He assured them their campaign plan was still “doable,” even with fewer numbers over time, and told th
July 3, 2011
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[By Ayaan Hirsi Ali] Obama’s Afghan withdrawal
On Wednesday, U.S. President Barack Obama announced he would order a gradual troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. On a superficial level there is nothing surprising about this decision. Obama is simply implementing what he had promised the American people in 2009 when he agreed to honor Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s request for more troops. The surge was always going to be temporary, especially in view
July 3, 2011
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[Deborah Blum] In praise of poison ivy, people admire its moxie
I still remember the moment in my childhood in which I lost all faith in the innocent purity of plants. One day, I was a carefree adolescent at summer camp, exploring the leafy woods with my fellow campers. A couple of days later, I was an illustration for a medical textbook. “The worst case of poison ivy I’ve ever seen!” the camp nurse told the other staffers as she trotted me and my dime-sized b
July 3, 2011
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[Mike Lofgren] Borrowing and spending the GOP way
President Obama’s fiscal policies are a mess. Whatever one thinks of the need for stimulus in a severe recession, it is obvious that running trillion-dollar deficits for years on end is unsustainable. Moreover, his proposals are dishonest. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office concluded that his proposed 2012 budget underestimates spending while overestimating revenues.Sadly, the Republicans
July 3, 2011
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[Michael Smerconish] Christie may never be this hot again
Chris Christie should run for president now, assuming he aspires to ever hold that office. The GOP field for 2012 remains wide open, while there is no telling how a 2016 (or later) field could shape up. The economy is the focal point this cycle, so Christie’s reputation as a budget-cutting governor suits the times. And popularity in politics is often fleeting, particularly for a Republican from De
July 3, 2011
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[Gregory Rodriguez] The virtue of ‘I don’t know’ ignored in polls
In a world overrun by half-truths and wall-to-wall opinion, the simple words “I don’t know” might very well become the most valuable phrase in any language.There’s plenty of grousing about the lopsided ratio of opinion to fact in our lives. But what irks me more is that these days it seems everyone is obligated to have a point of view on every issue.Last week’s news reports about the Miss USA page
July 1, 2011
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[Nathan Gardels] China: Shaping new global system
BEIJING ― When the now 88-year-old Henry Kissinger sat down with Chairman Mao to discuss opening up China back in the 1970s, America was at the peak of its power. It surely never entered Kissinger’s mind at the time that less than half a century later, as the Communist Party of China confidently celebrates its 90th anniversary, he would be back in Beijing passing the baton of global leadership on
July 1, 2011
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Proposal good for debate, not for policy
Let’s just make one thing clear: Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou did not endorse the “One China, two governments” idea revisited by the Chinese scholar Chu Shulong in an Apple Daily interview.Before we go any further, let’s look at some of the talking points in the Tsinghua University professor’s proposal. Published by the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, Chu’s article
July 1, 2011
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Japan’s Cabinet changes do little for disaster recovery
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has finally clarified his hitherto vague “conditions” for resigning his post.At a press conference on Monday, he said he is ready to step down after securing Diet passage of the second supplementary budget for fiscal 2011, as well as passage of two bills. One bill concerns special measures to promote renewable energy ― by obliging utilities to buy electricity gene
July 1, 2011
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Thais need not stay divided after election
Thailand’s parliamentary election on Sunday is looking like a continuance of unfinished business. This would be the least helpful scenario for a governance process already muddied in recent elections by military interventions and constitutional tinkering. The opposition Puea Thai party, which leads narrowly in the polls, will relish victory as vindication for its absent putative leader, Thaksin Sh
July 1, 2011
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[Martin Khor] Towards green low-carbon growth?
With the slow progress in global climate negotiations, some developing countries are taking their own climate actions to reduce emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change.Of course, their actions will fall far short of what is required, unless the expected funds and technology resulting from the global talks materialize.And unless the developed countries also cut their emissions greatly
July 1, 2011
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[Jeffrey Goldberg] Tim Pawlenty girds for Romney, embraces Reagan
Here is something I’ve learned you shouldn’t say to candidates for next year’s Republican presidential nomination: “So, I guess you represent the John McCain-Lindsey Graham foreign-policy wing in this race.” I made this observation the other day to Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota, and he winced. It wasn’t a run of the mill wince; it was, as they say, an audible wince. McCain and Gra
June 30, 2011
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[Lee Jae-min] Here comes the Korea-EU FTA
Will you really love me? Just one week before the marriage the concerned bride asks the groom (or the groom asks the bride). Not in private, but in public. The bride (or groom) appears before friends and relatives, and pronounces her (or his) expectation of the upcoming marriage with a list of dos and don’ts and past sins. Friends would then wonder what they have said to each other during the cour
June 30, 2011