Most Popular
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Korean labor force to shrink by 10 million by 2044: report
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[AtoZ Korean Mind] Does your job define who you are? Should it?
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Allegations surrounding BTS resurface, enraged fans demand apology
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Students with history of violence will be barred from becoming teachers
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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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Medical feud leaves hospitals in financial crisis
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'Queen of Tears' riding high on Netflix chart
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Samsung mocks Apple over iPhone alarm glitch
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[Kim Seong-kon] South Korea’s prospects in the Year of the Dragon
As the New Year dawns, people are concerned about what will happen on the Korean Peninsula in 2012. Rumors say that Mount Baekdu in North Korea may erupt soon, possibly in 2012. They say the clock is ticking and the eruption will bring about disaster affecting the whole peninsula. With Kim Jong-il’s abrupt death due to a heart attack this past December, North Korea’s situation, too, seems quite uncertain and nebulous in the New Year. In South Korea, parliamentary and presidential elections are s
Jan. 3, 2012
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Mexico’s strengths still shine through the gloom
The news from Mexico, in recent years, has most often been bad. For a while, it was largely reports of corruption, electoral fraud and economic crisis. These days, it’s all about crime and insecurity. The country hasn’t been given sufficient credit for the good news it has generated since the 2000 elections broke the 71-year hegemony of a single party: the Institutional Revolutionary Party, better known as the PRI. Neither the international press nor we Mexicans have fully acknowledged what has
Jan. 2, 2012
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Victims’ tears for dictators honor a shared past
I was born in China in 1976, just a few months before the death of Mao Zedong. So when I saw footage of thousands of North Koreans in tears after the death of Kim Jong-il, their leader, two thoughts hit me hard. One: They must be brainwashed. And two: Were we Chinese that brainwashed under Mao? Curious, I called my mother in Shanghai. Both of my parents were survivors of Mao’s brutal Cultural Revolution. Like countless others, they were taken out of urban schools and sent to rural areas to be “r
Jan. 2, 2012
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[Howard Davies] London’s souring relations with the eurozone
LONDON ― Ever since the United Kingdom joined the European Economic Community in 1973, after the French withdrew Charles de Gaulle’s veto of its membership, Britain’s relationship with the European integration process has been strained. The British are reluctant Europeans, for historical and cultural reasons.For centuries, British foreign policy strove to avoid permanent European entanglements; but, most importantly, it aimed to prevent a single continental power from achieving dominance ― espec
Jan. 2, 2012
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Ways Japan can put disaster to good use
The first comprehensive report on Japan’s Fukushima nuclear crisis is 507 pages of the most sobering reading of the year. The verdict by a government-appointed panel: Disarray among regulators, dismal safety preparations, operational blunders, amateurish communication breakdowns and institutional inertia led to the worst radiation leak since Chernobyl in 1986. The findings, although damning, offer Japan the kind of opening that doesn’t come along very often short of war or the sort of natural di
Jan. 2, 2012
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Intensify real diplomatic effort with Iran
Now that we’re finally out of one unnecessary war, the drumbeats for the next one are growing louder. Let’s hope that this time the voice of reason prevails over the itchy trigger finger. The Next Big Enemy, of course, is Iran. And the danger in a presidential election year is that President Barack Obama will feel pressured to sound more hawkish about it.One of the key reasons Obama beat Hillary Clinton in the 2008 Democratic primaries was his opposition to the Iraq War and her yea vote on a res
Jan. 1, 2012
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On road to Delhi, India’s economy gets real
A few years ago, one of India’s private airlines started operating a flight from Delhi to the Himalayan city of Shimla, a few miles from my village. The brisk descent in a small turboprop aircraft isn’t for those with a fear of flying. The runway on a table-top mountain seemed particularly short last week, when the plane, breaking free of the fog over Delhi, came down to a wintry Himalayan mist. Still, cutting down journey times to a fraction, the flight seemed too good to be true; and, having e
Jan. 1, 2012
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How readers can help with donations in world trouble spots
Readers often ask me how they can help the people I write about, whether it’s Iraqis who are endangered because they helped Americans, or Afghan women, or Israelis and Palestinians working for peace.So, for those who haven’t completed their end-of-the-year giving, I’m listing a few charities ― some quite small ― that are working hard, and sincerely, on these problems. These are organizations that are run, or staffed, by folks I’ve come to know in the course of my reporting. I admire them for the
Jan. 1, 2012
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[Joel Brinkley] Looking back on a good year for humankind
Looking back on 2011, we now can recognize that we lived through the most consequential year since the end of World War II.This was the year when the people of the world woke up and began taking hold of their fate. And by several important measures, the lot of humankind improved.Sure, you can choose to think about Japan’s nuclear crisis, Jerry Sandusky, America’s gridlocked government or the European debt crisis.Instead, consider those Egyptian women, tens of thousands of them, who angrily demon
Jan. 1, 2012
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Africa’s rise deserves Americans’ attention in 2012
Here’s an issue that doesn’t get much play in America, but is worth watching in 2012: The rise of Africa.The continent may seem far from our own concerns here at home, but the emergence of an African middle class would mean new markets for U.S. products ― and more jobs for American workers. The emergence of the Four Asian Tigers ― Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan ― certainly produced that kind of ripple effect here.Beyond the Arab spring headlines out of the northern part of the cont
Dec. 30, 2011
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[Haruhiko Kuroda] Prioritizing climate change efforts
Rising, warming and increasingly acidic seas threaten the very survival of Pacific island countries. The retreat of glaciers and snowfields in the Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau jeopardize these “water towers” on which one billion Asians depend for dry season and drought year flows. More than 450 million Asians live within the low-elevation coastal zone, including almost 20 percent of the region’s urban residents. There’s no question the scale of climate challenges facing Asia and the Pacific is d
Dec. 30, 2011
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More than buildings
Beijing will strive to become a world-class cultural center by the year 2020. As the capital, the city has never lacked the capacity to erect symbolic structures, but buildings alone do not make a cultural center. Yet what is particularly noteworthy about the proposal is the construction projects involved, such as the restoration of the ancient wall towers at the southeastern and southwestern corners of the old outer city wall. Dongcheng district government will also spend 800 million yuan ($126
Dec. 30, 2011
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Putin must commit fully to rule of law in Russia
Mass rallies to protest the high-handed political tactics of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin illustrate public discontent with his long-standing grip on power.It can be said that the contradictions plaguing Russia have come to the fore 20 years after the collapse of the former Soviet Union.Demonstrations began immediately after an election for the State Duma earlier this month, as protesters claimed there had been vote-rigging and called for the election to be held again. An image of alleg
Dec. 30, 2011
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Budget with record-high spending
The Noda Cabinet a week ago endorsed the fiscal 2012 budget to be submitted to the Diet. The general account spending will drop 2.2 percent from the fiscal 2011 initial budget to 90.33 trillion yen ― the first fall in six years.Spending for social welfare will fall 8.1 percent to 26.39 trillion yen. That for public works, defense and education/science will fall, respectively, 8.1 percent to 4.57 trillion yen, 1.3 percent to 4.71 trillion yen and 1.9 percent to 5.40 trillion yen.But one should no
Dec. 30, 2011
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Thai politicians have failed the people yet again
The annual rite in which Thailand’s parliamentary reporters give new nicknames to politicians is a tongue-in-cheek affair. Nonetheless, with the theme this year reflecting the overall poor performance of all politicians, the funny nickname event is not simply much ado about nothing.For instance, House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont has been given the nickname “Fake gavel from Dubai”, implying the connection with Thaksin. Somsak used to be known as a “gavel master” for his effective control over the
Dec. 30, 2011
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[Yuriko Koike] North Korea’s samurai rules
TOKYO ― On Dec. 17, North Korea announced that its supreme “Dear Leader,” Kim Jong-il, had died in a train carrying him on one of the many inspection tours that he had taken since suffering a stroke in 2008 ― evidently part of the regime’s effort to eliminate concerns about his health. The Dear Leader’s death triggered a hereditary transfer of power, with the world’s attention focused not only on Kim Jong-il’s son and chosen successor, Kim Jong-un, but also on who will actually turn out to be th
Dec. 30, 2011
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Fear recoupling in 2012, not the end of the world
The Mayans were wrong. The world won’t end in 2012, but at times it may feel as if it’s about to. Such is Asia’s lot as Europe’s debt debacle and the U.S.’s political paralysis fuse, presenting challenges for leaders from Beijing to Jakarta. In a less chaotic time, this might have been Asia’s big moment. News this week that Japan and China will promote direct trading of yen and yuan without using dollars is a case in point. An eastward shift of power and capital would seem to be a given as Bruss
Dec. 29, 2011
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[Barak Barfi] Rebuilding the ruins of Gadhafi
TRIPOLI ― With the creation of a new government, Libya’s leaders should finally be able to focus on organizing the transition from the authoritarian state that they inherited to the more pluralistic one they envisage. But are they really able and willing to achieve that goal?In the United States, the debate on Libya has focused on what steps its government should take next. Senator Robert Menendez argues it “must move quickly to embrace democratic reform,” while international development special
Dec. 29, 2011
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China, India and Brazil are on the rise as West stagnates
Here’s a trend to watch in the coming year: the rise of new economic powers.China, India and Brazil are in the ascendancy, as the economies of United States, Europe and Japan continue to stagnate.China and India are the two most populous countries in the world, together having about 37 percent of the world’s population.With 780 million workers, China has the world’s largest workforce. India is in second place, with 478 million. Both countries together have about 40 percent of the planet’s workfo
Dec. 29, 2011
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[Meghan Daum] Christopher Hitchens gets the last laugh
As fans of the late Christopher Hitchens cycle through the five stages of grief, it’s interesting to see which of his opinions can still inspire the kind of anger that is unlikely to ever fade into acceptance. There are, of course, the obvious candidates: his characterization of Bill Clinton as “a rapist” or his vilification of Mother Teresa as “a fanatic, a fundamentalist, and a fraud.” There is also his oh so chivalrous shout-out to the Dixie Chicks, whom he called “fat slugs” (or “slags” or “
Dec. 29, 2011