Most Popular
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Jimin of BTS, actor Song Da-eun suspected to be dating, again
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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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‘Malice should not undermine the system, social order,’ says Hybe's Bang
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N. Korea slams planned S. Korea-US military drills, warns of 'catastrophic aftermath'
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N. Korea fires short-range ballistic missiles toward East Sea: JCS
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[Graphic News] How much do Korean adults read?
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N. Korea says it test-fired tactical ballistic missile with new guidance technology
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Korean firms target EV charging market in US
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[Mohamed A. El-Erian] The global political economy’s 2013 outlook
NEWPORT BEACH ― Watching America’s leaders scramble in the closing days of 2012 to avoid a “fiscal cliff” that would plunge the economy into recession was yet another illustration of an inconvenient truth: messy politics remains a major driver of economic developments.In some cases during 2012, politics was a force for good: consider Prime Minister Mario Monti’s ability to pull Italy back from the brink of financial turmoil. But, in other cases, like Greece, political dysfunction aggravated econ
Jan. 14, 2013
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[David Ignatius] Eisenhower has lessons for today
WASHINGTON ― It’s telling that one of Chuck Hagel’s favorite gifts to friends recently has been a biography of President Dwight Eisenhower, a war hero whose skepticism toward the military is a model for Hagel’s own. Thinking about Eisenhower’s presidency helps clarify the challenges and dilemmas of Barack Obama’s second term. Like Ike, Obama wants to pull the nation back from the overextension of global wars of the previous decade. Like Ike, he wants to trim defense spending and reduce the natio
Jan. 13, 2013
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Obama’s opportunities for historic progress
Recent second presidential terms have been difficult. Ronald Reagan became enmeshed in the Iran-contra scandal; Bill Clinton was impeached, though not convicted; and George W. Bush’s popularity cratered, thanks to two mismanaged foreign wars, mishandled hurricane relief and a collapsing domestic economy.Yet, every American president since Rutherford Hayes has sought a second term. And the traumas of Barack Obama’s controversy-filled first four years failed to prevent him from winning re-election
Jan. 13, 2013
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Solace for late actress Choi Jin-shil’s children
Dear kids,It must be heartbreaking mourning the death of your mother, uncle, and father in your tender years. And the manner of their untimely passing must be especially difficult to understand. It’s hard for me to even imagine the extent of your grief and the depth of your sorrow. Although I don’t know you personally, I’ve been a fan of your mother, and a grief-stricken admirer of her work. Now, after reading the sad news of your father’s death, I have become a sympathizing stranger. Clearly, y
Jan. 13, 2013
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Al-Jazeera should be a welcome source for U.S. news junkies
AMMAN, Jordan ― The Arab world’s best-known satellite TV network purchased the American cable channel Current TV last week. That means you may soon be able to add “Al Jazeera America” to your remote control favorites. If you’re a news junkie like me, you should tune in. The network, founded 15 years ago in the Qatari capital of Doha, has forever improved TV news, especially in the Middle East.Before al-Jazeera, many Arabs could watch only state-owned and -run television stations that primarily b
Jan. 13, 2013
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[Joseph E. Stiglitz] Long-term action vital in weak economy
NEW YORK ― In the shadow of the euro crisis and America’s fiscal cliff, it is easy to ignore the global economy’s long-term problems. But, while we focus on immediate concerns, they continue to fester, and we overlook them at our peril.The most serious is global warming. While the global economy’s weak performance has led to a corresponding slowdown in the increase in carbon emissions, it amounts to only a short respite. And we are far behind the curve: Because we have been so slow to respond to
Jan. 13, 2013
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How to make immigration reform happen
Could this be the moment? After years of gridlock and legislative disappointment, policymakers on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue are laying the groundwork for immigration reform. The White House has been building a coalition, including labor, business and advocacy groups, to power a final push. Meanwhile, a bipartisan bloc in the U.S. Senate has begun to outline comprehensive changes that have proved elusive in years past. Although common ground among Democrats and Republicans is otherwise lim
Jan. 11, 2013
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[Alex Joffe] Netanyahu the Palestinian
PHILADELPHIA ― In January, Israeli voters will go to the polls for an election that promises to hand Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu a renewed mandate. Few prospects are more loathsome to the Israeli left, U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration, most European leaders, or many American Jews.But no one regards the prospect of another Netanyahu government with more anguish than the Palestinians. In the Arab-Israeli conflict’s long, tortured history, they have reviled no Israeli prime minist
Jan. 11, 2013
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The silent revolution underway inside the IMF
The International Monetary Fund, at long last, has begun to open up. Gone are the days when it acted as a handmaiden of Western, mainly U.S., economic orthodoxy. It is even throwing a gauntlet down to the mighty U.S. Federal Reserve, questioning the effects its constant monetary boosting has had on the rest of the world.Given that the IMF is the key arbiter on many key issues of global finance and economics, and hence also over global fairness and equity, the change should be greatly welcomed. O
Jan. 10, 2013
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[Paul Bracken] Rules for second nuclear age
NEW HAVEN ― North Korea’s launch of a long-range missile in mid-December was followed by a flurry of global condemnation that was almost comical in its predictability and impotence. But the launch underscored a larger reality that can no longer be ignored: the world has entered a second nuclear age. The atomic bomb has returned for a second act, a post-Cold War encore. This larger pattern needs to be understood if it is to be managed.The contours of the second nuclear age are still taking shape.
Jan. 10, 2013
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Mending ties with China
The dispute between Japan and China over the sovereignty issue involving the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea has caused bilateral ties to plummet. China is repeatedly violating Japanese territorial waters and airspace around the islands. Japan needs to enhance its ability to protect its territorial waters and airspace in the area. More importantly, the Abe administration must make strenuous diplomatic efforts to find opportunities to talk quietly with China in an effort to put bilateral re
Jan. 10, 2013
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End accident cover-ups
The two recent incidents that had been covered up in Shanxi province, one concerning water contamination and the other an explosion in a tunnel, should remind policymakers of the urgency to rethink the country’s accident reporting mechanism. An accident in a coal chemical plant led to chemicals leaking into the river in Changzhi, Shanxi province, which necessitated cutting off the water supply downstream, including some areas in neighboring Henan and Hebei provinces. The leak was discovered on D
Jan. 10, 2013
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Abe’s ability to tackle problems faces test
With the change of government, positive signs have emerged for the nation’s prospects for this year.Since just before the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was launched, the super-strong yen has weakened and stock prices have jumped, apparently reflecting high hopes for the Abe administration’s economic measures. On Friday, the first trading day of 2013, most stocks on the Tokyo Stock Exchange climbed, recovering levels seen before the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011.Can
Jan. 10, 2013
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[Andrew Sheng] A synthesis of the Chinese and Western minds
Browsing through my library during the holidays, I came across a book on comparative Western and Chinese philosophy that had an old saying: “Every Chinese person is a Confucian when everything is going well; he is a Taoist when things are falling apart; and he is a Buddhist as he approaches death.” Chinese culture is like ancient pyramids of different worldviews built over one another. The earliest was animism, where one believed in different gods; the Book of Changes taught two sides to every s
Jan. 10, 2013
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Hemingway’s teaching on New Year’s predictions
Predicting events can be a dangerous game. That’s because some people simply project wishful thinking, allowing their personal biases to obscure reality. We see it repeatedly during election season. The key to making accurate predictions is absolute objectivity: observing patterns in a detached manner, drawing inferences and applying them to new developments in order to predict their likely trajectory.The big problem these days is that this requires the absorption of large amounts of information
Jan. 9, 2013
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[Robert Reich] Fiscal cliff deal won’t end war
“It’s not all I would have liked,” said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, speaking of the deal on the fiscal cliff, “so on to the debt ceiling.”For Republicans, the battle over the fiscal cliff is only a prelude to the coming battle over raising the debt ceiling ― a battle that will likely continue through early March, when the Treasury runs out of tricks to avoid a default on the nation’s debt.The White House’s and Democrats’ single biggest failure in the cliff negotiations was
Jan. 9, 2013
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Do credit ratings matter?
Taro Aso, 72, sure is a busy man. While most Japanese of his vintage are happily ensconced in retirement, Aso has three new jobs: deputy prime minister, finance minister and minister for financial services. This trifecta of responsibilities means Aso has been deputized to end deflation and weaken the yen once and for all. As he endeavors to do what no one has done before, Aso also will conduct an experiment of great interest to policy makers and investors: testing whether credit ratings matter.
Jan. 9, 2013
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How to secure expansion in higher education
Over the next decade, it is estimated by the World Economic Forum that the global economy will need to create some 600 million new jobs to preserve social cohesion, and ensure sustainable growth. In the midst of ongoing economic fragility across much of the world, this poses a monumental challenge, and will thus be one of the topics discussed at WEF’s annual meeting in Davos later this month.Education is key to delivering this agenda. Human advancement and development has always been driven by k
Jan. 9, 2013
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[Kim Myong-sik] Why not indulge in winter culinary pleasures?
The presidential election is over and the New Year is on. Kim Jong-un in the North chose less provocative words than usual for his New Year address. The National Assembly here cut hundreds of billions of won from the defense budget in the 2013 spending bill, and groups of our representatives left for junkets in Latin America, Africa and elsewhere on taxpayers’ money. We citizens too deserve a little relaxation, having been exposed to so much of politics. In this, the coldest winter in living mem
Jan. 9, 2013
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Falling birthrates portend a very different world
HANOI ― As the new year dawns, the world is rapidly growing old, and I’m not talking about the earth beneath our feet. No, birth rates for nearly all of humankind are plummeting.In fact, fewer than 20 percent of the world’s nations are now experiencing growing population rates, the CIA reports. All the rest have either stable or declining populations. The reasons for this are varied ― as are the likely consequences. But first the facts.The nations with the world’s lowest birth rates are here in
Jan. 8, 2013