Most Popular
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[Weekender] Geeks have never been so chic in Korea
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N. Korea says it test-fired tactical ballistic missile with new guidance technology
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NewJeans members submit petitions over court injunction in Hybe-Ador conflict
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[News Focus] Mystery deepens after hundreds of cat deaths in S. Korea
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S. Korea's exports of instant noodles surpass $100m for 1st time in April: data
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[Herald Interview] Byun Yo-han's 'unlikable' character is result of calculated acting
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US military commander in S. Korea during Gwangju uprising dies
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[KH Explains] Why Korea's so tough on short selling
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Actors involved in past controversies return first via streaming service originals
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[Photo News] Seoul seeks 'best sleeper'
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[Kim Seong-kon] Physical appearances and speaking foreign languages
Does one’s physical appearance have something to do with the language(s) he is expected to speak? Perhaps it does. A few weeks ago, I gave a talk on Korean culture at the State University of New York at Buffalo. I talked mainly about the positive elements of South Korean culture, such as the enormous popularity of hallyu, the remarkable success of Samsung, LG and Hyundai in the American market, and the bright prospect of globalizing Korea. Borrowing from CNN.go.com, I even introduced, “50 Reason
ViewpointsJan. 17, 2012
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Readers' Voice
On welfare...Welfare will probably be a key issue in this year’s elections in Korea, and it should: particularly in these extremely challenging times, it’s not only a matter of social security, but a matter of national security, about the social and financial sustainability of a nation.If Korea is not the only country facing similar challenges in this electoral year, it must also cope with rather depressing demographic trends, and an utterly polarized political landscape. Last year, even the tra
Jan. 16, 2012
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[VOICE] Should Korea adopt a welfare state?
With increased social spending an increasingly popular policy ...Should Korea adopt a welfare state?Social welfare was a defining issue in Korean politics last year. President Lee Myung-bak, having come to power in 2008 with a message of small government, less regulation and lower taxes, was confronted with a slew of opposition proposals for expanding welfare. Then came calls for increased welfare from the unlikely source: Grand National Party, driven by the loss of a Seoul referendum against fr
Jan. 16, 2012
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[Editorial] Analogy with Taiwan
The Republic of Korea and the Republic of China on Taiwan have taken similar courses of political and economic development since the division of their countries after World War II. Civil wars in early years of the Cold War hardened the division. After democracy movements ended authoritarian rule in both nations, conservative and progressive governments took power by turns.These historical similarities prompt analysts to make comparisons between what takes place in the domestic politics of the tw
EditorialJan. 16, 2012
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[Editorial] New opposition leadership
For the first time, Korean partisan politics came under female leadership in both ruling and opposition camps. Han Myeong-sook, who was prime minister under President Roh Moo-hyun, took the helm of the newly reassembled main opposition Democratic United Party to lead it through the National Assembly elections in April and possibly until the presidential vote in December. She will take on the Grand National Party’s Park Geun-hye, who now heads an emergency committee to overhaul the ruling party a
EditorialJan. 16, 2012
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You can’t fake youth ― don’t even try
If you’re around my age, which can be defined as “too old for work-study but too young for cremation,” you might already know what I’ve only recently learned: you can pretend to be older but you cannot pretend to be younger.And yet entire industries, magazine empires, advertising conglomerates and the global conspiracy of Spanx manufacturers are trying to convince women otherwise.At one point, I loved looking older than my years. Didn’t we all once love not getting carded at bars when our friend
ViewpointsJan. 16, 2012
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[Mohammed Ayoob] Turkey walks fine diplomatic line
EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN ― Turkey has over the past few weeks become the spearhead of a joint Western-Arab-Turkish policy aimed at forcing President Bashar al-Assad to cede power in Syria. This is quite a turnaround in Turkish policy, because over the past two years the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had gone out of its way to cultivate good relations with neighboring Syria, with whom it shares a long land border. This change of course on Syria has also cost Turkey a great deal
ViewpointsJan. 16, 2012
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‘Mayonnaise’ Romney needs to spice up his pitch
Mitt Romney, who gets an 85.5 percent probability to win the Republican presidential nomination by the online betting service Intrade.com, is a formidable candidate ― on paper. He is handsome, articulate, has impeccable integrity and a charming, down-to-earth wife. He’s ideologically close to the American center and can boast of success in diverse endeavors. It’s in person where his problems begin. He’s decent and likeable enough, both critics and some supporters agree. They also agree he doesn’
ViewpointsJan. 16, 2012
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Simplifying immigration
The U.S. immigration system is a capricious and convoluted bureaucracy. Take, for example, the rules that children and spouses of U.S. citizens must navigate to legalize their status.Currently, immigrants who qualify for a visa, and ultimately a green card, must return to their homelands to receive it. The problem is that the moment they leave the United States, they trigger automatic sanctions that bar them from returning for up to 10 years. Some can secure waivers to re-enter, but only if they
ViewpointsJan. 16, 2012
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Talks not likely to effect an honorable U.S. exit
Now that U.S. troops have left Iraq, the administration is seeking to negotiate an end to the Afghan war.So there was some excitement when an Afghan Taliban spokesman recently announced that the group would open a political office in the Arab Gulf state of Qatar, dropping its long-held objections to peace talks. This move comes after months of secret efforts by the Obama administration.Yet, anyone who believes that talks with the Taliban will lead to an honorable exit is deluding himself.I sympa
Jan. 16, 2012
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[Joseph E. Stiglitz] The perils facing global economy
KOLKATA ― The year 2011 will be remembered as the time when many ever-optimistic Americans began to give up hope. President John F. Kennedy once said that a rising tide lifts all boats. But now, in the receding tide, Americans are beginning to see not only that those with taller masts had been lifted far higher, but also that many of the smaller boats had been dashed to pieces in their wake.In that brief moment when the rising tide was indeed rising, millions of people believed that they might h
ViewpointsJan. 16, 2012
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Toward the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit
The Nuclear Security Summit that will open in Seoul on March 26 will bring together heads of states united in their commitment to strengthen the international nuclear security regime and confront the threat of nuclear terrorism. Building on the success of the first summit, held in the U.S. in 2010, the Seoul meeting is well-positioned to ensure that nuclear security remains at the top of the international security agenda. At the same time, the summit participants will have to deal with signific
OpinionJan. 15, 2012
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[Editorial] Identity crisis
The ruling Grand National Party is in the process of redefining its ideological guidelines, which will be contained in a new official platform. A similar procedure will soon start at the main opposition Democratic United Party, which has now completed the process of establishing a new leadership to manage the April general elections. What is emerging at this early stage of electoral preparations provides a glimpse into, if not a whole picture of, the nation’s future political landscape: There is
EditorialJan. 15, 2012
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[Editorial] Biased prosecution
The prosecutors’ office is often accused of political bias in its criminal investigations. Such accusations have gained greater credence from recent court decisions on two politically fraught cases. One case involved Han Myeong-sook, who was prime minister for President Roh Moo-hyun’s administration in 2006-07. The other involved Chung Yeon-ju, who was forced out of the post of president of the Korea Broadcasting System, the country’s most powerful radio and TV network, shortly after President L
EditorialJan. 15, 2012
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Obama’s personality under the microscope
Barack Obama puzzles many of us. His performance as president has disappointed so dramatically that it prompts me to wonder what makes him tick.The most widely used tool for understanding personality types is a questionnaire called the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. So I bought a book called “Do What You Are,” by Paul Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger, and read their explanation of the Myers-Briggs classifications to try to understand our president in the broad terms commonly used by professionals.
ViewpointsJan. 15, 2012
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[David Ignatius] Steps needed to defuse a crisis
WASHINGTON ― As the United States and Iran move closer toward open confrontation, it’s important that both take quiet steps to avoid the miscalculations and misunderstandings that can lead to an inadvertent military conflict. It’s been done before: During the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, President Kennedy used a back channel to communicate American resolve to the Soviets, and also explore a formula for settlement. The key points of contact were his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and
ViewpointsJan. 15, 2012
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[Meghan Daum] Santorum and the mythic power of the zealots
If you think Rick Santorum is a weird, pious wackadoo, try being a female walking around certain ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in Israel with your ankles showing.Santorum’s near-victory in the recent Iowa caucuses raised the volume on some of his more paranoid kvetchings about the moral breakdown of society ― gay marriage being a slippery slope to marrying your pet, “Christendom” being under attack, birth control being “not OK” even for married couples. Meanwhile, in Jerusalem ― where I was two w
ViewpointsJan. 15, 2012
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Keep the pressure on Assad to stop Syrian violence
Speaking from what he apparently considers a position of strength, Syrian President Bashar Assad this week condemned the “terrorists,” “traitors” and “outsiders” he said were leading the 10-month-old uprising against him and threatened to strike his enemies with an “iron fist.” Preventing such an offensive by the regime, which has complied only fitfully with a demand by the Arab League that it restrain itself, will be difficult. But the Arab League and the United Nations can and must do more to
ViewpointsJan. 15, 2012
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Pentagon fires at budget targets that can’t be hit
At some point in every negotiation over fiscal policy, once the high-minded speeches and other pleasantries have been delivered, the disagreeable details poison the atmosphere. Everyone is in favor of tax and entitlement reform, after all, until they see the specifics. The reaction to the cost-cutting strategy that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta revealed last week suggests this is about to happen with regard to Pentagon spending. Let me be very clear: Substantial efficiencies can and should be w
ViewpointsJan. 15, 2012
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[Joel Brinkley] Venezuela’s embarrassing leader
Hugo Chavez, the peacock president of Venezuela, called President Obama a “clown” a few weeks ago, and “an embarrassment.” My suggestion, President Chavez: If you want to find an embarrassing clown, look in the mirror.Did Obama have a model of himself crafted into a wise man, standing next to Joseph in a downtown Caracas nativity scene, peering into the baby Jesus’s manger?Did Obama send a florid note to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin congratulating him on his “great victory” in parliamen
ViewpointsJan. 15, 2012