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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[Photo News] Seoul seeks 'best sleeper'
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US expert says N. Korea might ignore Trump if he returns to White House
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Putin stymies protesters with subversion strategies
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s reaction to Moscow protesters perfectly illustrates how the former Soviet spy chief can masterfully leverage classic subversion strategies typically found in espionage to undermine the opposition and even ridicule the concept of democracy.In the wake of the Russian parliamentary vote in early December, a Russian opposition leader far more radically communist than Putin was jailed, and protesters hit the streets to protest what they considered electoral fra
ViewpointsJan. 11, 2012
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The Turkish-Iranian partition of the Middle East
During the last decade many right-wing American and Israeli analysts have described the geo-strategic struggles unfolding in the Middle East as a new “Cold War” pitting the United States against Shiite Iran. They have warned of an Arab “Shiite Crescent” ― stretching from Lebanon to Iraq ― connected to Iran via ties of religion, commerce and geostrategy.The new year has started with an attempted Shiite power play by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to dominate the Iraqi government, and an Iranian d
ViewpointsJan. 11, 2012
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[Editorial] Corporate leadership
When a conglomerate CEO is indicted on charges of large-scale embezzlement after strenuous investigation by prosecutors, he is normally expected to do three things. The first is to apologize to shareholders for the trouble caused by his personal activities, even before criminal procedures are completed. The second is to devote all his energy to attaining his group’s business targets, thereby helping recover the tangible and intangible losses inflicted on its finances and image. Third, is to take
EditorialJan. 10, 2012
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[Editorial] Lingering dispute
National Police Agency chief Cho Hyun-oh has remarked that “time has come for the police to start controlling the prosecution, ending prosecutors’ control of police.”This could be yet another emotional outburst from the police chief, who is hardly a man of great self-restraint, in the ongoing dispute between the two law-enforcement organizations. But he had very concrete reasons for pronouncing a reversal of the traditional police-prosecution relationship.The National Human Rights Commission rec
EditorialJan. 10, 2012
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How Wall Street turned a crisis into a cartel
Almost 65 years ago, in 1947, the U.S. government sued 17 leading Wall Street investment banks, charging them with effectively colluding in violation of antitrust laws. In its complaint ― which was front-page news at the time ― the Justice Department alleged that these firms had created “an integrated, overall conspiracy and combination” starting in 1915 “and in continuous operation thereafter, by which” they developed a system “to eliminate competition and monopolize ‘the cream of the business’
ViewpointsJan. 10, 2012
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[Lee Jae-min] Bleak job prospects for law grads
Last week must have been a torturous one for 1,698 students graduating from the new law schools in February. These students are the first batch of graduates from the 25 law schools nationwide, and they took the first bar exam over a five-day period last week. The students and their law schools spent all of 2011 preparing for the exam. As the passing rate is set at 75 percent of the total graduates, most of them will get the bar license they have pursued for the past three years at law school.A m
ViewpointsJan. 10, 2012
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My name is Beezow Doo-Doo Zopittybop-Bop-Bop
Mr. Beezow Doo-Doo Zopittybop-Bop-Bop, a 30-year-old American national from Wisconsin, was recently arrested for drug and firearms offences (The Daily Mail, Jan. 7, 2012). Prior to October 2011 this individual was known as Jeffrey Drew Wilschke; however he legally changed his name as he is fully entitled to do. Not only is he entitled to change his name, he is not in fact required by law to tell the authorities about it unless he is subject to certain control orders, a point usually ignored by c
ViewpointsJan. 10, 2012
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Name-calling on Internet is a serious business
More than 5 billion additional people will connect to the Internet in the next 20 years, and most of the newcomers will not speak English. This next generation will use the Internet in ways we cannot imagine, and its innovations will change the world. But if the debate in Washington over the creation of new domain names goes the wrong way, Internet policy won’t help the free flow of speech online. The U.S. can help by having the courage to stay the course. At issue is the Internet’s crabbed nami
ViewpointsJan. 10, 2012
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[Kim Seong-kon] Looking again at ‘The Heartless’
Yi Kwang-su is undisputedly known as the father of modern Korean literature. Before Yi, a new mode of Korean literature called New Fiction (sinsoseol) briefly emerged in the early 20th century and yet remained largely sentimental and old-fashioned in style, not completely free from the classical theme of “promoting virtue and reprising vice.” It was Yi Kwang-su who boldly adopted colloquial expressions and a modern narrative technique suitable for depicting and wrestling with the complex issues
ViewpointsJan. 10, 2012
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[VOICE] Is reunification closer to reality?
After the death of Kim Jong-il...Is reunification closer to reality?As soon as North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s death was announced, speculation began on the implications for South Korea’s relationship with Pyongyang. A major question is how Kim’s death and the transition of power to his youngest son Kim Jong-un will affect the long-held goal of Korean reunification. With the elder Kim gone, is a reunified Korean Peninsula closer to becoming a reality?According to North Korea scholar and Kookmi
Jan. 9, 2012
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[Editorial] Reform of parties
Rep. Koh Seung-deok of the Grand National Party is a first-term lawmaker from Seocho district of Seoul. He is called a “genius in Yeoeuido” with a diploma from Seoul National University College of Law, LL.M.’s from Yale Law School and Harvard Law School and J.D. from Columbia Law School. He passed the state judiciary examination as an SNU sophomore and the diplomatic and administration service exams in 1980, the year he graduated from the SNU law college with top honors. He also has CPA and pate
EditorialJan. 9, 2012
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[Editorial] Gender imbalance
As of 2011, women teachers accounted for 75.8 percent in the nation’s primary schools, 66.8 percent in middle schools and 46.2 percent in high schools. These figures represent significant rise in the presence of female teachers at primary and secondary schools since a decade ago, when the respective figures were 68 percent, 59 percent and 35 percent.With violence in school reportedly growing in recent years, occasionally causing suicides of young students after extended suffering from bullying a
EditorialJan. 9, 2012
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Strait talk with Iran over vital sea route
Iran’s threat to close a vital international waterway if stricter sanctions are imposed on Iranian oil exports is more than just bellicose and provocative. It is also a test of U.S. will and commitment in the Persian Gulf at a time when our role in the region is changing.The world has grown used to chest-thumping by Tehran, and there was nothing particularly noteworthy about the exercises recently conducted by Iranian armed forces to demonstrate their ability to close the Strait of Hormuz. But h
Jan. 9, 2012
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[Shimon Peres] A future without precedent
JERUSALEM ― In my nearly nine decades of life, I cannot recall a time in which the past was so irrelevant to policymaking. All of today’s significant developments went unpredicted by anyone. Experts studied the past, but, constrained by old paradigms, they could not discern the future.Today’s dynamic complexity, in which a science-based, fast-changing global economy makes so many more phenomena interdependent, prevents us from foreseeing the future through linear extrapolations of the past. The
ViewpointsJan. 9, 2012
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Readers’ VOICE
On Korean reunification...First of all, it should be sought. The question for South Koreans complaining of the negative economic consequences of reunification needs to be reformulated into a moral question: Is reunification the morally correct thing to do? I would argue yes. As regards the economic issue, the Ministry of Unification and the government have put aside a significantly sized unification budget. There would also need to be a temporary border along the lines of a federation, which is
Jan. 9, 2012
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[Shlomo Ben Ami] U.S. faces time of reckoning after decade of war
MADRID ― The folding of the American flag in Iraq amid a collapse of public security and a severe crisis in the country’s fragile political order seals a tragic chapter in the history of the United States. It marked the denouement of one of the clearest cases ever of the imperial overreach that former U.S. Senator William Fulbright called the “arrogance of power.”Violently torn by religious and ethnic rivalries, Iraq is in no condition to play its part in America’s vision of an Arab wall of cont
ViewpointsJan. 9, 2012
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Rise of Salafis poses challenge to Egypt’s future
CAIRO ― “We want democracy, but one constrained by God’s laws. Ruling without God’s laws is infidelity,” Yasser Burhami, the second leading figure in the Salafi Call Society (SCS) and its most charismatic leader, recently said. The unexpected rise of the Salafis in Egypt’s parliamentary election has fueled concern that the most populous Sunni Arab country could be on its way to becoming a fundamentalist theocracy akin to Shia Iran. Known for its social ultra-conservatism, literal and strict inte
ViewpointsJan. 9, 2012
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Radical Muslim power grabs in Arab nations huge setback for U.S.
WASHINGTON ― At its best, U.S. policy toward the Middle East consists of a deft combination of short-term pragmatism and long-term idealism.In the short term, Washington works to protect Israel and other U.S. allies, combat terrorism, rebuff Iran’s hegemonic ambitions, and support regional stability, all of which ensures the continued flow of oil to power Western economies.In the long run, Washington promotes the advance of freedom and democracy in the region and elsewhere to expand the circle o
ViewpointsJan. 9, 2012
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[Editorial] Bolstering defense posture
The United States has unveiled a new defense strategy that would slim down its military and rebalance it toward the Asia-Pacific region, away from Europe and the Middle East.Washington officials said the new strategy would have no impact on the U.S. forces stationed in South Korea. They reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to maintain peace on the Korean Peninsula and deter any provocations by North Korea.Yet policymakers in Seoul need to analyze the U.S. policy change carefully as it comes at a time
EditorialJan. 8, 2012
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[Editorial] Tying up loose ends
The prosecution has concluded that the cyber attack on the homepage of the National Election Commission on the day of the Oct. 26 Seoul mayoral by-election was jointly carried out by former aides to National Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae and Rep. Choi Ku-sik.According to the prosecution, the National Assembly speaker’s aide, surnamed Kim, and Rep. Choi’s aide, identified only as Gong, plotted the distributed denial-of-service attack and had it executed through Gong’s friend, a computer expert. K
EditorialJan. 8, 2012