In July, Republican James Comey was the toast of the Democratic Party. That was after he announced that “no reasonable prosecutor” would bring criminal charges against Hillary Clinton for allowing emails with classified information to be stored on a private server. Party leaders praised the FBI director’s independence.Now, many of Clinton’s supporters argue, as Republicans did over the summer, that Comey has terrible judgment and is playing politics.Overblown reactions are standard fare in polit

Viewpoints Nov. 1, 2016

The scandal surrounding Choi Soon-sil and President Park Geun-hye is battering the nation. Many Korean citizens, already in a state of shock, anger and despair, are fearful of what is to come. This is a crisis not only for Park, but for the entire nation.As more allegations continue to surface that the president let Choi exert undue influence over key state affairs, the public is becoming more restless. The recent petitions calling for Park to step down and street marches by angry college studen

Editorial Oct. 31, 2016

A few weeks back, Time magazine ran a story titled “The Truth Is Out There in 2016. Way Out There.” It begins with a vignette about a Donald Trump backer in North Carolina who believes climate change is a hoax, drug cartels control the government and, because it has just popped up as a headline on his so-called smartphone, that Obama has announced plans to seek a third presidential term.　The Trump backer, Allan Thiel, complains that “people aren’t being taught history anymore” and “they’ve dumbe

Viewpoints Oct. 31, 2016

Korea’s relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have gone from strength to strength. Korea initiated sectoral dialogue relations in 1989 and is today a key strategic partner of ASEAN.Now the ASEAN Community is being realized and the 2015 Kuala Lumpur Declaration on a People-Oriented, People-Centered ASEAN has demonstrated the ASEAN leaders’ intention to transform the regional body into an institution that prioritizes its peoples’ concerns, what role can Korea play to support th

Viewpoints Oct. 31, 2016

It’s not about one person and it never was. I don’t care who that person is or was, it has always been of the people, for the people and by the people.　It is what our founding fathers had in mind when they penned the US Constitution. They knew then what we keep forgetting — that the greatness of this country was going to depend upon a village, not a chief.　So they carefully crafted a living document that would keep any one man or woman from destroying what so very many men and women have given t

Viewpoints Oct. 31, 2016

The Europeans — in particular, this time, the French and British — continue to labor mightily with the major problem that migrants from the wars of the Middle East and of poverty in Africa continue to pose for them.　A million came in 2015.　Some 6,000 of them clustered in Calais, a city in France on the English Channel, close to the United Kingdom. Their goal was not to settle in France, but to be as well positioned as possible to seek asylum in the UK. This they wanted for a variety of reasons.

Viewpoints Oct. 31, 2016

Bank of Korea Gov. Lee Ju-yeol convened an irregular meeting of senior officials at the central bank last Thursday to discuss pending economic issues.The Finance Ministry -- in coordination with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport -- plans to unveil measures to stabilize the heated property market this Thursday with assistance from the BOK and the Financial Services Commission.President Park Geun-hye is seen as being too caught up with handling her own scandal, in which she allege

Editorial Oct. 30, 2016

The French mathematician Blaise Pascal famously said, “It is not certain that everything is uncertain.” Had he been around for Brexit, he might not be so sure. While a moderate outcome remains likely, uncertainty and animosity have been on the rise in recent weeks. This is the Brexit paradox: The longer it takes for pragmatism to re-enter the debate, the higher the chance that the chilling effect of the unknown will cause permanent damage to both the United Kingdom and the European Union.This wa

Viewpoints Oct. 30, 2016

In recent months, nongovernmental organizations and journalists have accused the United Nations of bias toward Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and failure to distribute humanitarian aid to rebel-controlled areas of Syria. To an extent, these criticisms are justified. The UN does work closely with the Syrian government, and humanitarian aid has not consistently reached areas outside of government control. But the detractors overlook an inherent contradiction in the UN’s responsibilities

Viewpoints Oct. 30, 2016

With its debts surging and growth sluggish, China has hit on a new strategy to revitalize its ailing economy. It’s the same as the old strategy. Only this time, it won’t work.Earlier this month, China’s State Council released guidelines for a new swap program, in which companies can exchange troubled debt with banks in return for equity. The government hopes this will give the firms a chance to restructure on favorable terms, and avoid the prospect of “zombie companies” propped up indefinitely b

Viewpoints Oct. 30, 2016