Most Popular
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Jimin of BTS, actor Song Da-eun suspected to be dating, again
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Police raid popera singer Kim Ho-joong's house over hit-and-run suspicions
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What's next for the government's push in quota hike?
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Trump may like to 'solve' N. Korean nuclear problem if reelected: ex-official
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Woman falls to death from acquaintance's home after exhibiting ‘unexplained' behaviors
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N. Korea slams planned S. Korea-US military drills, warns of 'catastrophic aftermath'
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‘Malice should not undermine the system, social order,’ says Hybe's Bang
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N. Korea fires short-range ballistic missiles toward East Sea: JCS
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[Robert J. Fouser] Social attitudes toward language proficiency
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[Graphic News] How much do Korean adults read?
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[Kim Seong-kon] The gulf between K-pop and Korean literature
Due to the recent popularity of Korean pop culture overseas, some Koreans naively think that the whole world is crazy about anything Korean, including Korean literature. It is undeniable that these days foreigners are increasingly interested in Korean pop culture such as Korean soap operas, movies and pop songs. Unfortunately, however, few foreigners are interested in Korean literature, because literature, in general, is sought by a smaller number of people worldwide. In the past, when books wer
June 25, 2013
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NSA whistle-blower finds no friend in Putin
The suspense did not last long: Soon after his flight from Hong Kong landed in Moscow, we were told that National Security Agency whistle-blower Edward Snowden had applied for political asylum in Ecuador. It was in Hong Kong that Snowden publicly disclosed the existence of Prism, a top-secret U.S. National Security Agency program providing the NSA with access to the servers of top Internet companies like Miscrosoft, Apple, Google and Yahoo! Hong Kong has an extradition treaty with the U.S., wher
June 24, 2013
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[Marcel Fratzscher] Germany takes on the euro
BERLIN ― Usually, people or institutions are taken to court when things go wrong and a fight ensues about who is liable for the damage. So the German Constitutional Court’s hearing on June 11-12 to consider the legality of the European Central Bank’s so-called outright monetary transactions (OMT) program was peculiar. Here is a fight over the single most successful monetary-policy measure of recent decades ― not just in Europe, but anywhere.The announcement of the OMT scheme in July 2012 reduced
June 24, 2013
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‘Soft’ partition may be best for Afghanistan
NEW DELHI ― The United States, still mired in a protracted war in Afghanistan that has exacted a staggering cost in blood and treasure, will formally open peace talks with the Taliban, its main battlefield opponent, in the coming days (apparently despite last-minute opposition from Afghan President Hamid Karzai). With the U.S. determined to withdraw its forces after more than a decade of fighting, the talks in Doha, Qatar, are largely intended to allow it to do so “honorably.”How the end of U.S.
June 24, 2013
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Obama’s legacy may hinge on this summer’s achievements
There are two widely discussed scenarios that could unfold in Washington this summer. The first, embraced by the White House and some Democrats, is upbeat: The immigration bill passes the Senate with a big margin, making it almost impossible for House Republicans to resist; more people start signing up for President Barack Obama’s health-care law, and even though no fiscal grand bargain is in the offing, an improving economy gives the president a stronger hand in dealing with Republicans on exte
June 24, 2013
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[Pankaj Mishra] Turks are fighting over the future, not religion
The protests in Turkey, which now involve an extraordinarily diverse group of people, illuminate an altered political landscape. Yet much coverage of the demonstrations betrays an intellectual lag ― worse than the one that plagued many journalists and pundits when anti-Mubarak protesters filled Tahrir Square in 2011. Hasty proclamations of a “Turkish Spring” have given way to sophisticated-sounding but shallow dualisms, which seem to come straight from Flaubert’s “Dictionary of Received Ideas.”
June 24, 2013
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How many are needed to put the screws in Kim?
As U.S. President Barack Obama seeks a united front to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, he’s facing an unlikely spoiler: Japan. Traditionally, China has played this irksome role. The six-party talks over North Korea’s nuclear program ― suspended since 2009 ― never got anywhere largely because China refused to put the screws on its ally. No matter how many missiles the Kim Dynasty fired off, how many nuclear tests it conducted, or how many North Koreans starved or ended up in prison camps, Chin
June 23, 2013
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[David Ignatius] The sequester’s harsh bite
WASHINGTON ― For people (like me) who worry that the U.S. government is becoming dysfunctional, it’s worth studying the subtle and largely hidden effects of sequestration on the U.S. military and other agencies. What’s happening is the slow-motion decay of programs and readiness, which should scare the heck out of most citizens. Sequestration, you will remember, was the meat-ax approach to budget cutting whose consequences were thought to be so capricious and damaging that Congress would have to
June 23, 2013
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How to best manage $406b of Korean Pension Fund
Fifty million Koreans will count on the Korean National Pension Plan in their retirement years. Clearly, managing the $406 billion national pension fund in the best manner possible is one of the most critical missions of the national government, right next to national defense and economic growth. Is the Korean national pension fund being managed well? Let’s consider the quality of the national pension fund by three criteria: safety of the assets, rate of return on the portfolio, and steadiness o
June 23, 2013
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Tied in knots over interfaith weddings
Wedding season is officially upon us, and one needn’t be marrying a “Bridezilla” star to find the planning comes with some stress. Interfaith couples seem to have more than most as they try to satisfy not only each other but two extended families and two religious communities.I interviewed dozens of interfaith couples from across the country for a book on interfaith marriage. One husband and wife I met had planned to get married in a Catholic church to accommodate the bride’s family. Which was a
June 23, 2013
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[Simon Chesterman] U.S. Director of National Intelligence, Inc.
SINGAPORE ― Among the stories and rumors prompted by Edward J. Snowden’s leaking of classified material ― whistleblowing or treason, depending on where you stand ― the revelations that may actually lead to a policy change concern the extent to which private companies now carry out intelligence gathering and analysis in the United States.Around a third of the 1.4 million people with “top secret” U.S. security clearances are contractors, according to the Office of the U.S. Director of National Int
June 23, 2013
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Edward Snowden and the dangers of amateurism
PARIS ― Anyone who knows anything about the real world of intelligence and espionage knows that James Bond is a joke who wouldn’t survive his first day on the job (and not just because he’d fall asleep during static surveillance). But just try explaining to people that Agent 007 bears absolutely no resemblance to the reality of espionage profession. So it shouldn’t come as any surprise that intelligence-leaking NSA contractor Edward Snowden ― with his lack of understanding of the intelligence ap
June 21, 2013
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[Joel Brinkley] A costly effort in Afghanistan
They’re stealing from our people who are trying to help them and killing our soldiers who are trying to train them. And when called on it, they say we are lying.It’s probably no surprise that I’m talking about Afghanistan. But a new U.S. government auditors’ report puts glistening new icing on the cake.The Afghan Finance Ministry has levied nearly $1 billion in unwarranted taxes on United States aid agencies that “build roads, schools, hospitals” for the Afghan people, the auditors’ report said
June 21, 2013
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Two centers of unaccountable power in U.S.
There are two great centers of unaccountable power in the American political-economic system today ― places where decisions that significantly affect large numbers of Americans are made in secret, and are unchecked either by effective democratic oversight or by market competition.One goes by the name of the “intelligence community,” and its epicenter is the National Security Agency within the Defense Department. If we trusted that it reasonably balanced its snooping on Americans with our nation’
June 20, 2013
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[Mehdi Khalaji] Rowhani gives facelift to Iran
WASHINGTON ― On June 17, at his first press conference as Iran’s President-elect, Hassan Rowhani broke little new ground in the Islamic Republic’s relations with the West. On nuclear policy, he said that the “era of suspension is over”: Iran will not accept the suspension of uranium enrichment in upcoming negotiations but will seek to make its nuclear activities more transparent in order to build international confidence. Moreover, Iran would welcome direct negotiations with the United States if
June 20, 2013
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Ward off capital risks
The yuan keeps rising, inter-bank rates have shot up, and foreign exchange purchases have slumped, such conflicting trends have caused worries among puzzled China watchers. But are such fears justifiable?The yuan hit new highs on Monday in terms of the official central parity rate, rising to 6.1598 against the U.S. dollar before edging down on Tuesday. It has risen by more than 2 percent since the start of this year.While the economic fundamentals are out of line with the currency appreciation m
June 20, 2013
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All eyes on China’s post-1965 cohort
Talk of China’s future leaders usually revolves around those born in the early 1960s, such as Guangdong party boss Hu Chunhua and Chongqing chief Sun Zhengcai.But lately, the focus has been shifting to the “liu wu hou” cohort ― those born in or after 1965 ― as more emerge in key Communist Party and government posts.There are 15 now in the party committees governing China’s provinces and municipalities, making them a minority among the 400-plus provincial leaders nationwide.Another four post-1965
June 20, 2013
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Peat fires and the return of Malaysian haze
It’s the same old script, year after year. Right around this time, the clear blue skies in parts of our country and a few other countries in the region will turn grey.It is that time of the year when forests are being cleared the easy way by small-time farmers and big-time plantation companies.And so the fires rage on and, aided by the monsoonal wind patterns, bring unhealthy pollutants into our lives. The haze is no respector of geographical or international boundaries. It simply goes where the
June 20, 2013
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[Salman Haidar] Chinese president in America
As China has risen, the U.S. has grappled with the task of coming to terms with this constantly more prominent reality on the international scene. This has not been a smooth process, indeed it has been marked by many disagreements and considerable friction. From time to time, various negative features of China’s emergence have been emphasized in the U.S. and other Western countries, such as its record on democracy and human rights.Official agencies have led the criticism, and, taking their cue f
June 20, 2013
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[David Ignatius] Playing for time in Syria
WASHINGTON ― Critics are correct when they argue that President Obama doesn’t have a strategy for military victory in Syria. The reality is that despite his decision last week to arm the opposition there, Obama is still playing for a negotiated diplomatic transition. It’s a confusing policy with multiple objectives: Obama wants to bolster moderate opposition forces under Gen. Salim Idriss until they’re strong enough to negotiate a transition government. He wants to counter recent offensives by H
June 19, 2013