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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Go nuclear on the filibuster
Nothing exposes partisan hypocrisy quite like the filibuster, that irksome parliamentary rule that allows a minority of U.S. senators to block legislation, judicial appointments and other business by requiring a 60-vote majority to proceed to a vote. Almost invariably, the party in power considers the filibuster to be an enemy of progress that must be squashed, while the minority fights to preserve it at all cost. That the same players often find themselves arguing from opposite sides depending
Dec. 18, 2012
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[Meghan Daum] Earhart’s letter and a gayer approach to marriage
Amelia Earhart’s “prenuptial agreement” with her husband, George Putnam, whom she married in 1931 when she was 32, drew a flurry of attention last week. Los Angeles writer Amanda Hess posted the letter on her Tumblr page after running across it in the online library of Purdue University, which houses Earhart’s papers.“On our life together I want you to understand I shall not hold you to any midaevil [sic] code of faithfulness to me nor shall I consider myself bound to you similarly,” Earhart wro
Dec. 18, 2012
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[Kim Seong-kon] What smartphones cannot do
Recently, I was invited by a university to give a talk on the role of Koreans in a globalizing world. When I entered the auditorium filled with approximately 400 undergraduate students, I expected to face 800 twinkling eyes, full of curiosity and enthusiasm. Instead, I was met with 400 totally uninterested students, all holding on to a smartphone as if it was a sacred chalice or the Excalibur. I noticed most of them were busily transmitting text messages, tweeting and surfing the Internet. Few p
Dec. 18, 2012
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Liberal case against right-to-work laws
The enactment of a so-called right- to-work law by the state of Michigan last week is indeed, as the news media have described it, a blow against the union movement. Michigan, of all places. But it is also a blow against fairness and common sense. “Right to work” sounds like a law guaranteeing you a job, or at least protecting your job once you’ve got it. A lot of the propaganda by the Chamber of Commerce and similar business groups is about so-called forced unionism. In fact, it’s almost the op
Dec. 18, 2012
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[David Ignatius] The case for John Kerry
WASHINGTON ― What kind of secretary of state would Sen. John Kerry make? That’s the question of the moment after U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice’s surprise decision Thursday to withdraw her name from consideration, making Kerry the likely nominee. Kerry is a familiar figure to America and the world. He has been a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for nearly three decades. This very familiarity can seem something of a liability: the lean face, the patrician bearing, the status as a pres
Dec. 17, 2012
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Change is possible with North Korea
North Korea’s success in putting a satellite in orbit, after four previous unsuccessful attempts, will satisfy the hardliners in Pyongyang who care only about their privileged status and not about the pain and suffering additional sanctions will impose on the people of North Korea.The three-stage missile that put this satellite in orbit is a potential threat to the region and the United States. The launch is an act of defiance; an act meant to intimidate the international community. It’s a messa
Dec. 17, 2012
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Liberal Democratic Party back in the saddle again
The Liberal Democratic Party, which was badly defeated in the Lower House election in August 2009 and had to give up power to the Democratic Party of Japan after ruling the nation almost without interruption since 1955, made a comeback in Sunday’s general election. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the current LDP chief, will regain the premiership. A Kyodo News exit poll showed that the LDP and its ally Komeito may gain two-thirds of the Lower House seats ― enough seats to overturn decisions by
Dec. 17, 2012
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Ferraris outnumber plans to clean up Asia’s corruption
Transparency International’s latest corruption report is sober reading for Asian leaders committed to ending dirty dealings in the world’s fastest-growing region. Dec. 9 was International Anti-Corruption Day, and Asia’s report card was a big disappointment. China, Japan and South Korea, three of Asia’s four biggest economies, all lost ground. So did such emerging-market darlings as Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Even Hong Kong, routinely celebrated as a model of economic freedom, slid
Dec. 17, 2012
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[Zaki Laidi] Is U.S. withdrawing from the Middle East?
PARIS ― For some time now, a certain strategic vision has been gaining traction: the United States is becoming energy-independent, paving the way for its political retreat from the Middle East and justifying its strategic “pivot” toward Asia. This view seems intuitively correct, but is it?Energy-hungry America has long depended on the global market to meet domestic demand. In 2005, the U.S. imported 60 percent of the energy that it consumed. Since then, however, the share of imports has decrease
Dec. 17, 2012
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[Joseph E. Stiglitz] America’s hope against hope
NEW YORK ― After a hard-fought election campaign, costing well in excess of $2 billion, it seems to many observers that not much has changed in American politics: Barack Obama is still president, the Republicans still control the House of Representatives, and the Democrats still have a majority in the Senate. With America facing a “fiscal cliff” ― automatic tax increases and spending cuts at the start of 2013 that will most likely drive the economy into recession unless bipartisan agreement on a
Dec. 16, 2012
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Whites to lose U.S. majority by 2043
LOS ANGELES ― Whites will no longer make up a majority of Americans by 2043 as the United States will for the first time become a majority of minority groups, the Census Bureau projects.In its first set of projections based on 2010 Census, officials said the U.S. population will be considerably older and more racially and ethnically diverse by 2060. The nation is also expected to grow at a slower pace in coming decades. The nation’s population, about 315 million in September, is expected to cros
Dec. 16, 2012
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Michigan’s anti-union law breaks hearts and backs
Michigan’s new right-to-work law, this nation’s 24th, is ostensibly all about freedom. Proponents such as Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, say it simply gives workers the right to decide, solo, whether to pay union dues ― freedom of choice. That’s a pretty American idea, isn’t it? Never mind one obvious retort: Paying for union services only when you need them is like paying taxes for police and fire services only if you use them. We pay taxes to ensure that if we call 911, someone well trained sh
Dec. 16, 2012
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N. Korea remains defiant
North Korea on Wednesday morning launched a long-range multistage rocket and claims to have put a satellite into orbit. In a preliminary assessment, the United States also said that an object carried by the rocket went into orbit. Pyongyang’s action must be condemned in the strongest terms. It ignored repeated calls by the international community to cancel the launch, the second this year following an attempt on April 13. At that time, the U.N. Security Council issued a presidential statement co
Dec. 16, 2012
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Israel suffers diplomatic setback at the U.N.
The U.N. General Assembly resolution admitting Palestine as a “non-member observer State” was a blow to Israel, which had been adamantly opposed to it. The resolution won support from 138 countries, among them France and Italy, great friends of Israel. Germany, which, for known historical reasons, supports Israel with conviction, chose to be one of the 41 countries that abstained.Only eight countries sided with Israel in opposing the resolution: The United States, Canada, the Czech Republic and
Dec. 16, 2012
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[David Miliband] The law of the sea’s next wave
LONDON ― Thirty years ago, the Cold War was at its height and the United Kingdom had just clawed its way out of recession. Perhaps those factors explain why, this week in 1982, when 119 government delegations chose to sign the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the U.K. was not among them. According to Donald Rumsfeld, Britain’s then-prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, declared UNCLOS to be “nothing less than the international nationalization of roughly two-thirds of the Ea
Dec. 16, 2012
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Flawed constitution likely to be approved in Egypt
A vote by millions of Egyptians on a new constitution should have been an occasion for national celebration. But overreaching by Islamists, including the country’s president, has made the referendum that begins Saturday a source of division. Even if the document is approved, President Mohamed Morsi will need to reach out to Egyptians ― including Christians, secularists and women ― who feel they have been excluded from a revolution they helped create. Yes, Morsi was legitimately elected, but that
Dec. 14, 2012
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[Robert Cooper] Europe’s eyes on the prize
LONDON ― Institutions are not lovable. They are rule-bound and dull; they have routines, committees, agendas, budgets ― and rows about budgets. If they are successful, they go on forever.Prizes are for heroes. Like heroes, prizes blaze and are gone. Prizes belong to those who make great discoveries, write great poems, or discover new ways of living ― to the bringers of new things. Institutions are dull ― that is their purpose ― but those who found them may also be creators, even heroes.There is
Dec. 14, 2012
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[Klaus Schwab] Nothing to fear but fear itself
The eurozone will not break up. The price of departure is simply too great for any one country. Indeed, when Mario Draghi announced on Sept. 6 that the European Central Bank would undertake unlimited purchases of government bonds, the continent crossed the bridge to its future.Europe’s leaders must see that the drawbridge has been lifted behind them. They cannot back out of this, and thus must steel themselves for the journey ahead. Moreover, they must also realize that for the European project
Dec. 13, 2012
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Full Monti unlikely to help Italian voters
The weekend announcement by Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti that he will resign triggered a rush to sell off Italian debt and stocks, as investors blanched at the uncertainty that will follow the departure of “Super Mario.” Not surprisingly, many investors and Italian business leaders say they would like to see Monti run in the elections that his departure will force, probably in February. That way he could reclaim his job next year, this time with a mandate from Italian voters. Ferrari SpA C
Dec. 13, 2012
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All at sea over China’s intent
Moves advanced by rival claimants in South China Sea disputes have taken on a harder edge, topped off by China saying it would interdict ships found in its waters. This is happening in spite of calls for calm by ASEAN, as a bloc with an interest in the matter, and the United States, as a Pacific maritime power. Even a peripheral participant like India, which happens to have energy prospecting activity off the Vietnam coast, has implied it would dispatch its navy to protect its interests if it ha
Dec. 13, 2012