Most Popular
-
1
[Weekender] Geeks have never been so chic in Korea
-
2
N. Korea says it test-fired tactical ballistic missile with new guidance technology
-
3
NewJeans members submit petitions over court injunction in Hybe-Ador conflict
-
4
[News Focus] Mystery deepens after hundreds of cat deaths in S. Korea
-
5
S. Korea's exports of instant noodles surpass $100m for 1st time in April: data
-
6
[Herald Interview] Byun Yo-han's 'unlikable' character is result of calculated acting
-
7
[KH Explains] Why Korea's so tough on short selling
-
8
US military commander in S. Korea during Gwangju uprising dies
-
9
Actors involved in past controversies return first via streaming service originals
-
10
[Photo News] Seoul seeks 'best sleeper'
-
[Editorial] Sign of weakness
North Korea’s new leadership began showing raw bellicosity toward the South Korean government immediately after the mourning period for Kim Jong-il. Key state organizations issued statements attacking President Lee Myung-bak and the ruling group in Seoul for deterring South Koreans from paying tribute to the dead North Korean leader. A joint editorial of major official newspapers on the New Year’s Day also condemned the “traitors” in the South for their “inhuman and anti-national acts.”This was
EditorialJan. 2, 2012
-
[Editorial] Seoul mayor’s proposal
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon has officially proposed that the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Chung Myung-whun visit Pyongyang for performances and the top soccer teams of Seoul and Pyongyang hold regular games in the two cities. The liberal mayor, who was elected to the office in a by-election on Oct. 26, made the proposal to the Unification Ministry here and the North Korean authorities in his New Year address. His idea may sound a bit untimely considering the present state of affairs be
EditorialJan. 2, 2012
-
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
ViewpointsJan. 2, 2012
-
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
ViewpointsJan. 2, 2012
-
[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
ViewpointsJan. 2, 2012
-
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
ViewpointsJan. 2, 2012
-
[Robert Reich] Republican crack-up bad for America
With the Iowa caucuses just days away, the Republican crack-up threatens the future of the Grand Old Party more profoundly than at any time since the GOP’s eclipse in 1932. That’s bad for America.The crack-up isn’t just Romney-the-smooth versus Gingrich-the-bomb-thrower. Not just House Speaker John Boehner, who keeps making agreements he can’t keep, versus House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who keeps making trouble he can’t control. And not just the GOP establishment versus the tea partiers.The
Jan. 2, 2012
-
[Editorial] Year of elections
The year of 2012 is a year of elections, with the nation set to select members of the National Assembly in April and the next president in December. Having both elections in the same year happens every 20 years. Their outcomes will have a long lasting impact on the nation’s political landscape. The elections will determine which political groups, conservative or liberal, will lead the nation at a time when the world economy is coming out of one crisis only to be drawn into another. They will als
EditorialJan. 1, 2012
-
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
ViewpointsJan. 1, 2012
-
[Brahma Chellaney] Japan, India as Asia’s natural-born allies
NEW DELHI ― At a time when China’s economic, diplomatic, and military rise casts the shadow of a power disequilibrium over Asia, the just-concluded visit of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to India cemented a fast-growing relationship between two natural allies. Now the task for Japan and India is to add concrete strategic content to their ties.Asia’s emerging balance of power will be determined principally by events in East Asia and the Indian Ocean. Japan and India thus have an importan
Jan. 1, 2012
-
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
ViewpointsJan. 1, 2012
-
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
ViewpointsJan. 1, 2012
-
[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
ViewpointsJan. 1, 2012
-
[Editorial] Bracing for uncertainties
A new year has dawned. After a tough year, we naturally hope this one will be much better than the last. Yet 2012 promises to be just as demanding, if not more so, for the nation.This year, as in the one that just ended, economic growth is expected to be lackluster as the government will put the emphasis of economic policy on stability rather than growth in the face of escalating uncertainties.The government and the Bank of Korea both forecast that the economy would grow 3.7 percent this year, 0
EditorialDec. 30, 2011
-
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
ViewpointsDec. 30, 2011
-
[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
ViewpointsDec. 30, 2011
-
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
ViewpointsDec. 30, 2011
-
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
ViewpointsDec. 30, 2011
-
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
ViewpointsDec. 30, 2011
-
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
ViewpointsDec. 30, 2011