Most Popular
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Court refuses injunction on medical school expansion
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Why Korean crime stories typically feature nameless, faceless perpetrators
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Debate on 'no-seniors zones' heats up
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Is NewJeans headed for a long 'break'?
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Jimin of BTS, actor Song Da-eun suspected to be dating, again
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S. Korea, Cambodia forge strategic partnership
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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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Kepco to raise electricity prices as total debt soars past W200tr
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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
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[Kim Myong-sik] Dokdo and old teacher’s 19th-century chronology
During my junior high school years in the 1950s, we were taught Oriental history, mainly of China, in the first year, Western history in the second and the national (Korean) history in the senior year. It was shortly after the Korean War and teachers were strongly patriotic, and thoroughly anticommunist, of course.In the first and second years, we enjoyed the stories of the heroes of China, Europe and America as if we were reading fairy tales. But in the senior year, we learned chapter after cha
Sept. 19, 2012
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Arnault’s childish decision to pack his bags
It’s a shame that France’s two most powerful people, its president and its richest man, were unable to get beyond populist posturing and recrimination as they battled over taxes this week. They may have missed a golden opportunity to find common ground on restoring growth to their country’s beleaguered economy. The clash erupted after Bernard Arnault, the chief executive officer of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, acknowledged that he has applied for Belgian citizenship. He said this was a “
Sept. 18, 2012
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[Omar Ashour] Libya’s jihadist minority
DOHA ― “They are armed I am not going to fight a losing battle and kill my men over a demolished shrine,” said Fawzi Abd al-’Aali, the former Libyan interior minister, before he “resigned” last August. He was referring to the armed Salafi groups that were accused of destroying Sufi shrines. One of the accused groups was the Ansar al-Shariah Brigade, which was quick to support the demolition, but denied any responsibility for it.Ahmed Jibril, Libya’s deputy ambassador to London, has now accused t
Sept. 18, 2012
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Korea-Japan island dispute: Enough is enough!
Enough is enough! Obviously, the political leadership in Tokyo and Seoul never learned the First Rule of Holes: when you find yourself in one, stop digging. Each side seems to be going out of its way to make a bad situation worse, even while providing private assurances that it won’t let the situation get too far out of hand. In all likelihood it is probably impossible to start making significant repairs until after upcoming elections: December in Korea and who knows (but probably sooner rather
Sept. 18, 2012
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Time to end the habit of Western translation
Sept. 28 marks the 2,563rd anniversary of the birth of Confucius.Few people realize that the Bible discourages people from studying foreign languages. The story of the tower of Babel informs us that there is one humanity (God’s), only that “our languages are confused.” From a European historical perspective, that has always meant that, say, any German philosopher could know exactly what the Chinese people were thinking, only that he couldn’t understand them. So instead of learning the foreign la
Sept. 18, 2012
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[Kim Seong-kon] We need Samsung-, LG-endowed professors
When people reach a comfortable standard of living, they often turn to cultural activities such as watching movies, attending concerts and visiting art exhibitions to enrich their lives. When big corporations make a fortune, they donate money to libraries and museums as a goodwill gesture of returning their profits to society. Sometimes, they establish a cultural foundation through which they can promote cultural exchange. (The Daesan Foundation, for one, comes to mind). And when movie directors
Sept. 18, 2012