Most Popular
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Russia sent more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to N. Korea in March: White House
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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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S. Korean children, teens grow taller, mature faster than before: study
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[Graphic News] Number of coffee franchises in S. Korea rises 13%
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Army takes group action against Hybe for neglecting BTS
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Marine Corps commander summoned by CIO for questioning on alleged influence-peddling case
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Some junior doctors are returning: Health Ministry
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[Robert J. Fouser] AI changes rationale for learning languages
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Ador CEO's request for exclusive right to terminate NewJeans' contract with Hybe refused in February
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Woman dangling from power lines rescued by residents holding blanket
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Romney and Obama’s cartoon campaigns
Ayn Rand, the favorite author of many geeky teenage boys (who generally grow out of it) and Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan (who didn’t), combines an extreme libertarian capitalist message with a high-Soviet-propaganda literary style. This makes parody fairly easy. Still, it would be hard to top Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee. His Rand imitation in remarks at a private fundraiser in May, caught on video and posted on the Web by Mother Jones, is pitch-perfect. R
Sept. 24, 2012
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[Meghan Daum] Romney’s sorry state
When it comes to apologies, some people are like scent hounds: They can sniff them out anywhere. This is especially true when it comes to the supposed regrets and self-hatred of President Obama. Though he began his term with a series of speeches in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East in which, according to several fact-checking sources, the words “apology” or “I’m sorry” were never once uttered, his opponents nonetheless decided to construe the trips as some sort of mea culpa (make that Am
Sept. 24, 2012
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Thanking Ahn for making politics exciting again
South Korea is the place to be this election season. The fortune tellers are at it again. Defeat for Park, defeat for Moon, win for Ahn. Maybe. This year’s presidential election is a wide open contest. Whether this was foresight or plain good timing by Ahn we’ll never know. But the Ahn factor has galvanized interest right across South Korean society. Whether his humbleness and deference to the people is genuine or not, that’s another issue.The announcement on Wednesday (Sept. 19) seemed to be ta
Sept. 24, 2012
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[Jeffrey Frankel] Mitt Romney rejects his own natural voters
CAMBRIDGE ― The political fallout from Mitt Romney’s characterization of 47 percent of the American electorate as “victims” who are “dependent on government” and refuse to take “personal responsibility” for their lives demonstrates anew that cultural generalizations, particularly in politics, are usually dangerous. In fact, Romney appears to have categorized a large segment of his party’s own voters as supporters of President Barack Obama.As a rule, one should judge people on their merits, not o
Sept. 24, 2012
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The truth behind the new Islamic flashpoints
The CIA claims that it never saw the storm coming, but Canadian intelligence sure did.Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird landed in Vladivostok, Russia, earlier this month for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and had barely stepped off the plane when he announced that Canada would be pulling its diplomats out of Iran and closing its embassy while kicking all Iranian diplomats out of Canada.At the time, some thought that maybe the minister had a few too many mini vodkas on th
Sept. 23, 2012
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[Lee Jae-min] Credit rating back in place
This is unusual. In just 18 days, all major international credit rating agencies have acknowledged that the Korean economy is in stable condition and the government is managing diverse risks well. On Sept. 14, the most conservative Standard & Poor’s followed the path of Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings by upgrading Korea’s sovereign credit rating from A to A+. At a time when the term “downgrade” is ringing in the ears of many people (Moody’s just threatened a downgrade of the U.S. sov
Sept. 23, 2012
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China and Japan must break out of history’s trap
Last week, demonstrators incensed by Japan’s purchase of the disputed rocky outcrops known as the Senkaku Islands filled Chinese cities for the biggest anti-Japanese protests since 2005. These mostly young men and women holding pictures of Mao Zedong reminded me of Mao’s speech at the founding of the People’s Republic of China in September 1949: the “Chinese people, comprising one-quarter of humanity,” Mao warned, “have now stood up,” adding that “ours will no longer be a nation subject to insul
Sept. 23, 2012
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This is a ‘fair dinkum’ Korean style ― Gangnam Style
Korean rapper Psy’s “Gangnam Style” hit No.1 on iTunes in Australia this week along with seven other countries including the United States. The song was first released in July making it YouTube’s most watched K-pop video in less than two months, viewed over 200 million times as of Sept. 18. Even the world’s great pop icon Britney Spears had a super time on “The Ellen Degeneres Show” emulating his horse-riding move, and the “Gangnam Style” music video was nominated under the category Best Video a
Sept. 23, 2012
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[Lee Jong-soo] Koreas’ common stance on history
The recent rise of territorial disputes in East Asia marks a perilous new phase in the international relations of the region. At the same time, it presents an opportunity to build peace among the various East Asian nations, particularly between the two Koreas. In fact, Dokdo and the integrity of Korea’s national historical record are among the few causes that can unite South Korea and North Korea with a common Korean rallying cry. It is ironic and regrettable that the two Koreas have been fighti
Sept. 23, 2012
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Mideast governments let down their people
Over many decades, tens of thousands of ordinary citizens in Middle Eastern states had been brutalized, arrested, tortured and killed before Mohamed Bouazizi, a fruit salesman, set himself on fire in Tunisia, triggering the Arab Spring.A unique pair of affronts set him off. A government inspector confiscated his fruit and slapped him in the face. Bouazizi was insulted, humiliated in public. And the inspector threatened his very livelihood.His death resonated in a way that none of the previous ab
Sept. 21, 2012
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[Robert B. Reich] Romney, Ryan turn off majority
Unemployment is still above 8 percent, job gains aren’t even keeping up with population growth, the economy is barely moving forward. And yet, according to most polls, the Romney-Ryan ticket is falling further and further behind. How can this be?Because Republicans are failing the central test of electability. Instead of putting together the largest possible coalition of voters, they’re relying largely on one slice of America ― middle-aged white men ― and alienating just about everyone else.Star
Sept. 21, 2012
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Obama, Romney trade substance on China
American voters deserve a substantive debate between the presidential candidates about how the U.S. can manage China’s rise as a powerful economic and geopolitical rival in the coming decades. Unfortunately, President Barack Obama and the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, have so far been unwilling to have that discussion. Instead, the candidates have waged a war of words that gives voters oversimplified ― and sometimes false ― explanations of a vital and complex issue. Obama accuses Romney of se
Sept. 20, 2012
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[Nathan Gardel] Media and Arab awakening
LOS ANGELES ― The events of recent days in the Middle East only forewarn of future turmoil as the democratization of the media in the West meets the political awakening in the Arab world.The now-marginalized children of Facebook may have inaugurated the Arab Spring, which unleashed ― some say liberated ― anti-Western voices and actors long crushed by brutal autocrats. But now it is YouTube’s turn to roil the region. A 14-minute preview of a movie called “The Innocence of Muslims” ― posted by a m
Sept. 20, 2012
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Why does Beijing permit protests against Japan?
Anti-Japan protests have been expanding and escalating in China. This is a serious situation.Protesters railing against the recent nationalization of three islets of the Senkaku Islands in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, by the central government have taken to the streets of about 100 cities in China.In Beijing, protesters hurled rocks at the Japanese Embassy, while in other cities they attacked Japanese-affiliated business establishments. Some Japanese citizens have been assaulted in places where
Sept. 20, 2012
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Asian nations should beware of ‘riot’ in patriotism
Nationalism and protectionism are two of the most attractive qualities during dire economic times. European far-right political parties enjoyed widespread electoral success in the wake of the eurozone debt crisis. Even in a country in need of focus and economic revival such as the post-lost decade, post-financial crisis and post-March 11 earthquake Japan, long-term nationalist firebrand Shintaro Ishihara mustered enough support to force the government to distract itself from economic reform and
Sept. 20, 2012
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[Salman Haidar] Territorial turmoil for China and Japan
The long-running dispute between China and Japan about sovereignty over the variously named Senkaku (Japan) or Diaoyu (China) islands has entered a new, more active phase. These tiny specks of rock in the middle of the ocean attracted little attention until relatively recently. Their economic value was limited to providing an occasional platform for fishing boats and it is only a few years ago that prospects of finding gas and oil in the surrounding waters have added to their potential value.But
Sept. 20, 2012
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Census confirms U.S. middle class in dire trouble
The Census Bureau reported last week that middle-class income is continuing to shrink, top-tier incomes are growing and those at the bottom remained about the same. It wasn’t shocking news, confirming what dozens of independent studies have shown.What does come as a surprise is what politicians regard as middle income.On Friday, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said “middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less.”That’s about where President Barack Obama has drawn the line, too. He w
Sept. 19, 2012
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[David Ignatius] Georgia’s viral political battle
WASHINGTON ― The Georgian government of President Mikheil Saakashvili, long a favorite of U.S. conservatives for championing pro-democratic “color revolutions,” is under fire for its own alleged suppression of a domestic opposition movement headed by a billionaire tycoon. Saakashvili was lauded as a reformer after he became president in 2004, following the Rose Revolution, and he has bravely challenged Russian hegemony in the region. But he has also shown a tendency to overreach, as in the impru
Sept. 19, 2012
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U.S. banks ignore Europe’s lesson on greed
Four years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the near-total paralysis of capitalism’s central nervous system ― the moment fear completely overwhelmed greed on Wall Street ― we are starting to see a few glimmers of hope. The good news: Several big banks have finally started taking steps to reform Wall Street’s out-of-control compensation system, which rewards bankers and traders with big bonuses for taking insane risks with other people’s money. The bad news: These banks are
Sept. 19, 2012
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We want Middle East justice ― but we’re tired of conflict
What do Americans want done with killers in Libya who murdered U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others on Sept. 11, our national day of mourning?We want their heads stuffed into a burlap bag. We want to see that bag tossed into some town square, landing with hollow thunks, the bag opening, its cargo rolling along the ground.That’s revenge talking, and there’s nothing wrong with it. Americans were murdered. While our politicians make speeches about “resolve” and President Barack Obam
Sept. 19, 2012