Most Popular
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[Weekender] Geeks have never been so chic in Korea
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[News Focus] Mystery deepens after hundreds of cat deaths in S. Korea
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NewJeans members submit petitions over court injunction in Hybe-Ador conflict
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N. Korea says it test-fired tactical ballistic missile with new guidance technology
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S. Korea's exports of instant noodles surpass $100m for 1st time in April: data
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[KH Explains] Why Korea's so tough on short selling
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Actors involved in past controversies return first via streaming service originals
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[Herald Interview] Byun Yo-han's 'unlikable' character is result of calculated acting
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US military commander in S. Korea during Gwangju uprising dies
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‘Kim desperately wanted to denuclearize,’ Moon writes in memoirs
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An editor and a diet for Auntie BBC
George Entwistle’s tenure as head of the British Broadcasting Corp. must rank among the shortest and unhappiest in the history of media: It lasted just 54 days and included two pedophilia-related news scandals, one formal apology to the victims and a resignation speech.The scandals (more on those later) have severely damaged the BBC’s reputation as one of the world’s finest media organizations ― fine enough to tempt the New York Times to hire Entwistle’s predecessor, Mark Thompson, as chief exec
Nov. 19, 2012
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[Meghan Daum] The timeless frump factor and Holly Petraeus
The second week of this month was a historic one for women. Eighteen women won or reclaimed Senate seats, bringing the number of women in that body to 20. Nearly 80 women now occupy the House. New Hampshire became the first state to elect a female governor and an all-women congressional delegation.But wait: What’s that sound of tires screeching to a halt? What’s that feeling of being yanked aside by the elbow and told, “Not so fast, missy.”It’s that timeless behemoth known as the double standard
Nov. 19, 2012
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[Brahma Chellaney] America’s unhinged ‘pivot’
NEW DELHI ― President Barack Obama’s first foreign trip since winning a second term highlights Asia’s new centrality to America’s economy and security. But Obama’s Asian tour also underscores the main question about American policy in the region: Will the United States’ “pivot” to Asia acquire concrete strategic content, or will it remain largely a rhetorical repackaging of old policies?The United States, quick to capitalize on regional concerns triggered by China’s increasingly muscular self-as
Nov. 19, 2012
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France’s imminent competitiveness shock
The government of French President Francois Hollande deserves credit for its decision last week to cut payroll taxes. Unfortunately, by itself, the 20 billion euro ($25 billion) reduction in costs for companies won’t administer the “competitiveness shock” that a dire, government-commissioned study recommended Nov. 5 to revive growth. It certainly won’t allay the concerns of France’s largest trading partner, Germany, whose own economy would be at risk from a meltdown across the Rhine. As Germany’
Nov. 18, 2012
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[David Ignatius] Charting a post-Petraeus era
WASHINGTON ― So it turns out that the top brass at the CIA had an inbox of secrets of the all-too-human, sexual variety. Titillating, unquestionably. But what about the other secrets ― the intelligence secrets that are the agency’s reason for existence? How are they doing on this score? When the uproar passes over the personal misjudgments of Gen. David Petraeus, the country will be left with this question of intelligence goals and missions. And here’s where an overlooked problem of the Petraeus
Nov. 18, 2012
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International citizens in Seoul support Obama
The incumbent U.S. President Barack Obama narrowly won a majority of the popular vote against the Republican challenger Mitt Romney, 50.6 percent to 47.9 percent. However, he won a commanding majority among the fast-growing Latino (71 percent) and Asian populations (73 percent), along with African-Americans (93 percent), according to New York Times exit polls. In other words, he swept groups representing the “Global South” or “Majority World” regions of Latin America, Africa and Asia. According
Nov. 18, 2012
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National English Ability Test needs upgrading
Last year, the Korea Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation released a report on the achievement and tasks of English education policies focused on practical English. According to the report, more than 90 percent of elementary school students and their parents, 86 percent of middle school students and their parents, and 76 percent of high school students and their parents said that a balanced education of four skills ― reading, listening, speaking and writing ― would enhance students’ ability to
Nov. 18, 2012
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A new Korean player on L.A. Dodgers
Recently, there has been great excitement within the baseball community here in Korea with regards to the possible MLB acquisition of Ryu Hyun-jin, a southpaw who throws for the KBO’s Hanwha Eagles. It comes as no surprise, then, that the organization on the other end that is interested is the Los Angeles Dodgers, who, given their long history, have a proud tradition of welcoming new talent across cultural divides into the Big Leagues. Beginning in 1947, with the signing of Jackie Robinson, and
Nov. 18, 2012
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[Andrew Sheng] Trouble of writing rules for unknown unknowns
Traveling to Traverse City by Lake Michigan in the U.S. in cold, rainy October, serendipity struck in funny ways. In a bookshop next door to the renovated Art Deco State Theatre movie-house run by the film director Mike Moore, I picked up a 2010 book by the Serbian physicist Vlatko Vedral, “Decoding Reality,” which sees the world through the lens of quantum information. I read the book in Boston, right in the midst of Hurricane Sandy as it tore through the East Coast of the U.S., demonstrating t
Nov. 18, 2012
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The French view of the Petraeus sex scandal
PARIS ― French public reaction to American CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus’ suicide-bombing of his own career demonstrates a lack of understanding of the perceived offense in favor of a blind defense of libertinism. It was learned last week that Petraeus had an extramarital affair with his biographer, reserve Army officer Paula Broadwell (who, like Petraeus, is married with children).Let’s go back in time for some context.The French never understood why President Bill Clinton was impeached for
Nov. 16, 2012
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[Robert B. Reich] Game of economic chicken
With the election behind us, I had hoped our politicians would get beyond games of chicken. No such luck.First, you need to understand that the upcoming game of chicken isn’t about how much or when we cut the budget deficit, or even whether the upcoming “fiscal cliff” poses a danger to the economy.The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office warned last week that the automatic tax increases and spending cuts scheduled to start in January amount to too much deficit reduction, too soon. They’d put
Nov. 16, 2012
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[David Ignatius] A warrior’s star tarnished
WASHINGTON ― David Petraeus achieved genuinely great things in his career, so his fall as CIA director over what he bluntly described in his resignation letter Friday as “extremely poor judgment ... engaging in an extramarital affair” has the poignancy you might find in a novel by Leo Tolstoy or Victor Hugo. Petraeus may have seemed larger than life in uniform, but beneath the ribbons he was a very human story.Petraeus’ 14-month tenure as CIA director was short and, compared to his rocket-like a
Nov. 15, 2012
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Too early to review Japan’s mandatory indictments
Ichiro Ozawa, head of the People’s Life First party, was once again found not guilty by a court.The Tokyo High Court dismissed an appeal lodged by court-appointed lawyers acting as prosecutors and upheld a lower court ruling acquitting Ozawa of violating the Political Funds Control Law over his alleged role in a suspicious land deal conducted by his fund management body, Rikuzan-kai.The high court ruling acknowledged that the 400 million yen provided by Ozawa to the fund management body to purch
Nov. 15, 2012
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What direction will Obama take?
What America does still matters more to the world than the actions of any other country. Now that we know who will lead the world’s greatest power and largest economy for the next four years, perhaps it is time to consider what directions are likely to be set.While some continuity should be expected from a second Obama administration, there are underlying and quite fundamental factors that might well change the American engagement with Asia.The first factor is the widespread anxiety about the co
Nov. 15, 2012
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Inexcusable delay in justice
In the retrial of Govinda Prasad Mainali, a Nepalese man convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the March 1997 robbery-murder of a 39-year-old Tokyo woman, the Tokyo High Court eventually acquitted him Nov. 7, pointing to the strong possibility that a third person was the perpetrator.Mainali is back in Nepal. He was released when the court decided on June 7 to retry him and was immediately deported for overstaying his visa. The acquittal came 15 ahd a half years after he was arrested. The
Nov. 15, 2012
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Migrant workers for sale and rape?
The circulation of leaflets stating “Indonesian maids now on sale” in Kuala Lumpur early this month may not incite widespread anger here, but a report of an Indonesian migrant worker gang-raped by three policemen in the Malaysian state of Penang is a far more serious matter the neighboring country needs to address.The case, although it might happen to only one of about 2 million Indonesian migrant workers (TKI) employed in Malaysia both legally and illegally, will risk straining bilateral ties b
Nov. 15, 2012
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[Masahiro Matsumura] U.S.-Japan ties: Oki-now-what?
OSAKA ― Japan’s alliance with the United States is widely viewed as a crucial counterweight to China’s hegemonic ambitions, which pose significant threats to Asian security. But, although the United States and Japan are conducting joint naval exercises in the East China Sea in order to signal to China that it should tone down its actions over the disputed Senkaku Islands, all is not well with the alliance.Controversy over the deployment by the U.S. Marines of 12 tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey aircraft t
Nov. 15, 2012
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[Robert Shiller] A president without a plan
NEW HAVEN ― During the United States’ recent presidential election campaign, public-opinion polls consistently showed that the economy ― and especially unemployment ― was voters’ number one concern. The Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, sought to capitalize on the issue, asserting: “The president’s plans haven’t worked ― he doesn’t have a plan to get the economy going.”Nonetheless, Barack Obama was reelected. The outcome may reflect the economy’s slight improvement at election time (as happene
Nov. 14, 2012
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Argentina’s populist policies court disaster
Cry for yourself, Argentina.What a shame to see a country of such great economic promise swerving off the road to prosperity again.The latest in a history of unforced errors began in 2007. National elections ushered in populist President Cristina Fernandez, who has led her nation to the brink of disaster by refusing to play by the rules of global finance. She restricted international trade, violated contracts and pumped out phony data to disguise the soaring inflation her policies brought about.
Nov. 14, 2012
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The asymmetric threat of email doomed Petraeus
The resignation of David Petraeus as director of central intelligence ― prompted, you may have heard, by the discovery, via an email trail, of an extramarital affair that possibly posed a security risk ― leads to a cascade of concerns. Leaving aside questions of morality, which would only lead to foolhardy and empty pronouncements, it’s fair to ask who will take the helm of the Central Intelligence Agency, which seemed to flourish under Petraeus’s leadership. What does this mean for the unending
Nov. 14, 2012