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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[KH Explains] Hyundai-backed Motional’s struggles deepen as Tesla eyes August robotaxi debut
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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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[Brahma Chellaney] Pink Floyd tops bill in China’s education farce
China’s surreal and uneasy relationship with Hong Kong is a story you just have to love. The latest chapter: the mainland government’s campaign to force-feed “patriotic education” to Hong Kong’s students, extolling the genius of the Communist Party and all it has done for China and humanity. That mind-numbing phrase evokes a wealth of literary ― not to mention rock ‘n’ roll ― references that parents, teachers and students rallied around as the school year started. Hong Kong wisely heeded public
Sept. 12, 2012
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[Brahma Chellaney] China’s made-in-America success boosts U.S.
NEW DELHI ― America’s strategy in Asia for more than a century has sought a stable balance of power to prevent the rise of any hegemon. Yet the United States, according to its official National Security Strategy, is also committed to accommodating “the emergence of a China that is peaceful and prosperous and that cooperates with us to address common challenges and mutual interests.” So America’s Asia policy has in some ways been at war with itself.In fact, the U.S. has played a key role in China
Sept. 12, 2012
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A milestone toward multi-ethnic democracy
On Monday (Sept. 10), the training wheels came off in Kosovo. That’s the day the international community officially ended its oversight of our country and turns full responsibility for the courts, the constitution, the parliament ― everything ― over to the people of Kosovo and their elected leaders. This is a huge milestone on our journey to becoming Europe’s newest nation ― and a multi-ethnic, free-market democracy.Emerging after the breakup of the former Yugoslavia and enduring war, genocide a
Sept. 11, 2012
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[Daniel Fiedler] Castrating human rights
In an effort to appeal to popular public feelings, politicians in South Korea often make asinine proposals. The latest such proposal is the bill submitted to the National Assembly last week providing for court ordered physical castration of convicted sex offenders. Initially this proposal appears to be a focused solution to a previously insolvable problem ― that of recidivism among sex offenders ― however the proposed law not only violates a number of South Korea’s international commitments to h
Sept. 11, 2012
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[Kim Seong-kon] Life in the age of smartphones
We now live in a world in which smartphones have become a must ― an object you must carry at all times no matter where you go. During the Joseon Dynasty, our ancestors almost always carried a long bamboo smoking pipe wherever they went. But that was primarily for the pleasures of inhaling nicotine and exhaling stress. Of course, smartphones, too, provide entertainment and even narcotic pleasures if you’re an addict. Unlike traditional smoking pipes, however, smartphones keep us busy all day long
Sept. 11, 2012
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Syria shows weaknesses of both U.S. candidates
I’ve been trying to focus on what the political conventions reveal about future U.S. foreign policy. But I can’t keep my mind off Syria.The reason? It’s not just because of the horrific carnage in that country (as juxtaposed to the endless hoopla in Tampa and Charlotte). It’s not just because I’m reading “Woman in the Crossfire,” the heartbreaking diary of Samar Yazbek, a Syrian who risked her life to document the regime’s brutal attacks on peaceful demonstrators.The real reason I’m more attuned
Sept. 11, 2012
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In Mexico, time to move on
The Institutional Revolutionary Party’s Enrique Pena Nieto has twice been declared the winner of Mexico’s presidential election, yet the runner-up, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, refuses to recognize the results. Instead, the leftist candidate is preparing to hold a demonstration Sunday and threatening to establish a kind of shadow presidency, just as he did in 2006, when he narrowly lost that vote.That’s unfortunate. Mexico can’t afford the kind of long and divisive battle that Lopez Obrador is t
Sept. 11, 2012
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Mutual mistrust among countries in the Pacific
Recent disputes among some of the United States’ closest Asian allies over largely uninhabited islands in the Sea of Japan (East Sea), the East China Sea and the South China Sea underscore the challenges facing Washington in moving beyond the classic hub-and-spoke structure of its security system in the Western Pacific and in crafting a more collective approach. For some time ― and as most recently reiterated in the 2010 National Security Strategy, the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review report and
Sept. 11, 2012
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[Robert B. Reich] How the GOP protects itself
“We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers,” says Neil Newhouse, a Romney pollster.A half-dozen fact-checking organizations and websites have refuted Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan’s claims that President Obama removed the work requirement from the welfare law and will cut Medicare benefits by $716 billion. The New York Times even reported that Romney has been “falsely charging” President Obama with removing the work requirement.USA Today calls the Romney campaign’s claim that
Sept. 10, 2012
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Insurance to serve seniors better than Medicaid
As the dust settles from the political conventions in Florida and North Carolina, one issue important to the health care of older Americans is rising into the sunlight and finally getting some of the attention it needs. We don’t mean Medicare; for months, the campaigns have taken regular shots at each other on that. We mean Medicaid, the program generally thought of as health insurance for poor families. Yet one-third of Medicaid’s budget ― about $120 billion ― goes to fund long-term care for th
Sept. 10, 2012
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Superpower moment for China: Remembering ‘7-13’
NEW YORK ― The memories are still fresh at the National September 11 Memorial, where the names of the victims ― including some 150 from Asia and the Pacific ― are inscribed into bronze parapets surrounding twin memorial pools, located in the footprints of the Twin Towers of the destroyed World Trade Center.Eleven years ago this month, more than two dozen Koreans were among the nearly 3,000 people killed in the United States by terrorist attacks on a date now immortalized as “9-11.” That day, and
Sept. 10, 2012
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[Meghan Daum] Michelle Obama’s traditional American values
At the risk of inviting legions of conservatives to swoop down and tell me I’m drowning in the Obama Kool-Aid (actually, it’s not just a risk; it’s a guarantee), I’m just going to come out and say it: Michelle Obama was spectacular at the Democratic National Convention two weeks ago. She managed to do in 25 minutes what her husband has been struggling to do for nearly four years: remind us why we were once so excited about the prospect of seeing this family in the White House.Almost immediately,
Sept. 10, 2012
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[Mohamed A. El-Erian] A ‘back to school’ letter to the U.S. Congress
NEWPORT BEACH ― What if members of the United States Congress, now returning from their summer recess, were to receive a “back to school” letter from concerned citizens? Here is what a first draft might look like.Dear Member of Congress:Welcome back to the Capitol. We hope that you had a good summer break, and that you return to Washington not just rested, but also energized to take on our country’s mounting economic challenges.The news has been mixed during your absence. We have seen some impro
Sept. 10, 2012
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Sanctions not enough to stop Iranian enrichment
Western sanctions on Iran are as comprehensive and punishing as they have ever been. And yet they haven’t worked and probably never will.The sanctions are intended to block oil sales and banking transactions. But they are providing far less than a hermetic seal. In fact, new leaks are springing almost every day. And, as the United Nations pointed out a few days ago, Iran is galloping forward with its atomic-weapons program, while denying that it’s underway.Late last week, leaders of 120 nations
Sept. 9, 2012
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[Joseph E. Stiglitz] Mitt Romney’s fair share
NEW YORK ― Mitt Romney’s income taxes have become a major issue in the American presidential campaign. Is this just petty politics, or does it really matter? In fact, it does matter ― and not just for Americans.A major theme of the underlying political debate in the United States is the role of the state and the need for collective action. The private sector, while central in a modern economy, cannot ensure its success alone. For example, the financial crisis that began in 2008 demonstrated the
Sept. 9, 2012
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Australia’s partnership dilemma: China or U.S.
Because of its historical beginnings as a British colony, Australia didn’t need to make hard choices on the international stage. It simply followed Britain, the mother country.During WWII when Japan was overrunning one Asian country after the other pushing Britain out of the region, Australia feared for its security, drawing closer to the United States. After WW11, it became part of the U.S.-led ANZUS alliance.But now with the rise of China and the resultant strategic competition between it and
Sept. 9, 2012
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Asia can beat Apple
For analysts, a company as innovative as Apple could never be Asian. A recent example is Samsung being found guilty by a Californian court of stealing Apple’s intellectual property. With the next iPhone imminent, Apple appears more invincible than ever. And yet, this victory may well signal both the peak and start of the decline of the Apple Empire. The man who created the personal computer as we know it ― the Macintosh of 1984 ― did it again, not just once, but twice. The iPod (2001) and iTunes
Sept. 9, 2012
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[Park Sang-seek] Non-aligned Movement as an anti-West movement
Iran has taken over the chairmanship of the Non-aligned Movement from Egypt, which held its 16th summit in Tehran in the last week of August. The world is keenly watching how NAM will change. NAM emphasizes that the traditional world order dominated by the U.S. and the West should be replaced by a new international order, which is based on multilaterism and democracy. All members agree that NAM should play the leading role for the transformation of the world order.Here the demand for multilatera
Sept. 9, 2012
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Tips for adapting to new economic reality
By now, it should be pretty clear to anyone with even the faintest pulse that regardless of who ends up winning any future elections, they aren’t going to change your personal economic reality quickly enough to suit your liking. And that’s only if they even manage to find the courage to sufficiently cut through all the lobbyists and special interests to implement any significant ideas at all ― which is unlikely in all cases. Forget relying on politicians to determine your fate. Take charge of yo
Sept. 7, 2012
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[David Ignatius] In Syria, allies stage a rerun
WASHINGTON ― The U.S. and its allies are moving in Syria toward a program of covert support for the rebels that, for better or worse, looks very much like what America and its friends did in Afghanistan in the 1980s. The parallels are spooky, if you’ll forgive the pun. In Syria, as in Afghanistan, CIA officers are operating at the borders (in this case mostly in Jordan and Turkey) helping Sunni insurgents improve their command and control, plus other activities. Weapons are coming from third par
Sept. 7, 2012