Most Popular
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Debate rages over ‘overly fatty’ samgyeopsal
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40 flights canceled on Jeju Island due to bad weather
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[Weekender] Korean psyche untangled: Musok
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N. Korea slams US, other countries for seeking alternative to UN sanctions monitoring panel
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Pandemic left Korea more depressed than before: report
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Gov't appears to shelve punitive measures against mass walkout by doctors
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[Eye Interview] 'If you live to 100, you might as well be happy,' says 88-year-old bestselling essayist
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From fake prostitution ring to nonexistent robber, prank calls hamper police
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Missing S. Korean traveler in Paris found safe after 2 weeks
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S. Korea, China, Japan in talks to hold trilateral summit May 26-27: official
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[David Ignatius] Time to unveil the vision thing
WASHINGTON ― It’s telling that nearly three years into the Obama presidency, so many conversations with administration officials still begin with a litany of how bad things were under George W. Bush, to wit: The Obama team faced two foreign wars, an aggressive al-Qaida, a deep mistrust among allies, a shaken U.S. economy. They inherited a world of woe. And now? Obama officials recite their catechism of successes. Osama bin Laden is dead and al-Qaida is on the run; the troops are back from Iraq a
ViewpointsDec. 18, 2011
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Whale hunts matter more than saving people
Want to know why Japan’s earthquake recovery efforts are moving in slow motion? Ask the whales. Tokyoites have grown accustomed to shocking news items since the earth shook and the oceans rose: the nuclear meltdown has proven far worse than the government admitted; radioactive cesium made its way into baby food; more leaks were found in the damaged Fukushima reactor; warnings by seismologists still go unheeded. Yet the tale of the whales and the $30 million is what proved most disturbing ― and s
ViewpointsDec. 18, 2011
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Why can’t lawmakers see what we all see: corporate contributions corrupt?
It was one of those uncomfortable moments when you suddenly realize you’re in the wrong place, that you’re a rube from the sticks in a sophisticated city whose customs you don’t quite understand.Politico was recently sponsoring a “Washington Year in Review” symposium, and they’d invited me to be part of the energy panel. So even though I’d spent barely three weeks in Washington this year (and the most memorable nights were spent in its central cellblock for protesting outside the White House to
ViewpointsDec. 18, 2011
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[Joel Brinkley] It’s time for the U.S. and Europe to act on Iran
The world is closing in on Iran, but not aggressively enough. It’s time for Europe to deal the final blow.The Iranian attack on the British embassy in Tehran was close to an act of war ― as was the attempt to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington. Given the collection of recent provocations from this rogue state, the West’s extremely slow-motion campaign to end Iran’s nuclear-weapons program needs to be pushed to its denouement.In recent days, the United States and Europe have been impo
ViewpointsDec. 18, 2011
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[Editorial] Fostering youth start-ups
The government is rolling up its sleeves to stimulate start-up activities among young people as youth unemployment worsens.The November job data released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday put the unemployment rate among those aged 15-29 at 6.8 percent, more than double the general unemployment rate of 2.9 percent.While the overall jobless rate improved this year on the back of employment growth in the service sector, the rate among young people worsened.Korea’s youth unemployment figure may not l
EditorialDec. 16, 2011
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[Editorial] End to GNP factionalism
Rep. Park Geun-hye has cleared the biggest hurdle to her comeback in more than five years as the leader of the embattled ruling Grand National Party.On Wednesday, she met a group of reformist GNP lawmakers who had vociferously called for dissolving the party to create a new one. They threatened to leave the party should Park reject their demands. Two hot-tempered lawmakers did declare their departure from the party on Monday.Park was in principle against disbanding the GNP. She regarded it as no
EditorialDec. 16, 2011
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Coda: Code for a Chinese Trojan horse
A Los Angeles firm has quietly assembled a Trojan horse electric car designed to carry the Chinese military-industrial complex deep into America’s auto market. Detroit should be afraid, very afraid. And anyone in the U.S. unemployment line ― along with American taxpayers, who are subsidizing this sham ― should be outraged.The car is branded Coda and debuted at the L.A. Auto Show. While Coda Automotive salespeople were eager to portray it as “All American” ― we got one of them bragging about it o
ViewpointsDec. 16, 2011
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[Philippe Legrain] For ECB, now is the time to act
BRUSSELS ― Panic is beginning to overwhelm the eurozone. Italy and Spain are caught in the maelstrom. Belgium is slipping into the danger zone. As France is dragged down, the widening gap between its bond yields and Germany’s is severely testing the political partnership that has driven six decades of European integration.Even strong swimmers such as Finland and the Netherlands are straining against the undertow. Banks are struggling to stay afloat ― their capital providing little buoyancy as fu
ViewpointsDec. 16, 2011
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Tokyo must break impasse on the Futenma issue
It has become even more difficult to implement visible steps that would lessen Okinawa Prefecture’s burdens as the host of many U.S. military bases. The government must recognize that this situation is extremely serious.The armed services committees of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives have agreed on revisions to a bill for the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2012, which includes a freeze on the entire $156 million budget for shifting U.S. marines stationed in Okinaw
ViewpointsDec. 16, 2011
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Voters must think and act more strategically
Representatives for Taiwan’s three presidential candidates chose their “election numbers” last week. Tsai Ing-wen and Su Jia-chyuan of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ticket got number one. The Kuomintang (KMT) ticket of Ma Ying-jeou and Wu Den-yih drew number two while the People First Party’s (PFP) nominees James Soong and Lin Ruey-shiung ended up with number three. While no one takes the numbers too seriously, staff members for the respective candidates did put their spin on the numeri
ViewpointsDec. 16, 2011
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Four nations launch joint Mekong patrols
The launching of joint patrols on the Mekong River by China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand over the weekend is the initial result of the quartet’s efforts to increase security and stability along the waterway. The joint patrols have set a precedent for more transnational cooperation in security issues in the region. On Saturday, five patrol boats equipped with heavy machine guns and carrying hundreds of armed police and military personnel from the four nations, acted as escorts to 10 Chinese cargo
ViewpointsDec. 16, 2011
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[Elisabeth Gwee] K-pop is my escape from treadmill
Last week, my colleague Adeline Chia wrote a controversial article dissing K-pop. It resulted in more than 800 comments on her Facebook page from outraged fans and her name trending as the No.1 topic on Twitter for two days.Some friends jokingly asked me if I had signed an online petition demanding that she apologize to everyone she had offended. I’m not surprised they did.Those who know me know that I am crazy about K-pop. I could cite numerous examples of mad fangirl behavior (queuing five hou
ViewpointsDec. 16, 2011
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[Editorial] Summit agenda
President Lee Myung-bak is visiting Kyoto, Japan, on Saturday and Sunday for shuttle diplomacy with Prime Minister Yoshiko Noda. Glaringly missing from the officially sanctioned summit agenda, however, is an issue concerning Korean women forced into sex slavery during World War II. The summit will have to deal extensively with the case, be it on the official agenda or not.True, presidential aides say that Lee, very much concerned about the issue, may take it up any time he meets Noda. But a curs
EditorialDec. 15, 2011
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[Editorial] GNP in turmoil
The ruling Grand National Party, faced with a leadership crisis, is put to a test over whether it will be able to put itself on the path to its former glory or continue to run adrift until it is shipwrecked. There is no easy prediction about its future, as an ad hoc committee that is empowered to map it out has yet to be created.For the moment, however, pessimism is outweighing optimism. Some demoralized party-affiliated lawmakers are giving up running for reelection, while some others are vowin
EditorialDec. 15, 2011
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Obama sides with the 99% ahead of election
Conservatives were quick to accuse President Obama of embracing class warfare in his speech last week in Osawatomie, Kan. And liberal Democrats were thrilled to see a hint of the populist president they had hoped they were voting for in 2008.The polarized reactions suggest that Obama’s speech succeeded in one of its goals: to frame the 2012 election as a clear choice between two philosophies, a contest he might be able to win, instead of a referendum on his own unhappy economic record.But electi
ViewpointsDec. 15, 2011
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[David Ignatius] In Iraq, a man of the shadows
WASHINGTON ― Is Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ― suspicious eyes, wary demeanor, brows furrowed by years living in the underground ― really the face of today’s Iraq? Unfortunately, the answer is yes, and America helped make it that way. Maliki’s visit to Washington this week has been a time for taking stock of Iraq eight years after the U.S. invasion. What did America achieve in overthrowing Saddam Hussein and battling a stubborn insurgency? It brought a democracy, yes, but one shaped by the mos
ViewpointsDec. 15, 2011
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[Meghan Daum] Republicans grooving to ‘We Are the GOP’
Is it just me, or does the GOP candidate pool remind you of “We Are the World,” the 1985 charity single made under the name USA for Africa that featured dozens of pop artists singing about how to “make a brighter day” and “stand together as one”? I’m not talking about the message itself ― though, admittedly, both the “We Are the World” lyrics and most of the Republican talking points lean more toward platitude than poetry ― but rather about the way nearly every candidate has had a chance to grab
ViewpointsDec. 15, 2011
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Chongqing rising as lab of policy innovation
CHONGQING ― A quiet revolution is happening in China’s hinterland.Breakneck growth spurred by government-led economic reforms has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and transformed a poor agrarian society into a global industrial powerhouse in one generation. Yet, the second-largest economy in the world is now at a crossroads. Its spectacular success has brought about byproducts such as a large wealth gap and widespread corruption that threaten the sustainability of its develop
ViewpointsDec. 15, 2011
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[Nathan Gardels] Germany as Europe’s anchor
More than 20 years after the end of the Cold War, a sense of dj vu is raising anew issues once thought settled. In Moscow, demonstrators are once again filling the streets, calling for an end to authoritarian rule ― this time aimed at Vladimir Putin instead of the Communist Party. In Europe, resolution of the sovereign debt crisis on Berlin’s terms has retrieved the “German question” from the ash can of history.What happens next in Russia’s version of the Facebook-driven Arab Spring will take so
ViewpointsDec. 15, 2011
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[Editorial] Playing it safe in 2012
Next year is likely to be another tough year for Korean economic policymakers as economic and political uncertainties are likely to mount at home and abroad. Globally, the eurozone sovereign debt crisis is expected to persist, adding fuel to turbulence in global financial markets and aggravating the vulnerability of the Korean economy.The year 2012 is also an election year not only in Korea but in many countries, including the United States, Russia, France and Spain. A leadership change is also
EditorialDec. 14, 2011