Most Popular
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Samsung under pressure after Intel's foundry spin-off: analysts
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Yoon leaves for Prague to cement nuclear energy push
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Heavy rain to fall nationwide over weekend, but warmer fall expected
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Seoul chastises predatory pricing claims over Czech nuclear export deal
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YouTuber under fire for consoling former singer accused of bullying
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NK newspaper 'unusually' silent on new missile tests: Seoul
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Samsung CEO introduces ‘bold growth’ as new target
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Bank of Korea eyes rate cut after US Fed's historic pivot
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3 suspects apprehended for selling celebrity deepfake porn: police
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Hyundai Motor officially becomes KT’s largest shareholder
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[David Ignatius] Bin Laden papers show his mindset
WASHINGTON ― What’s riveting about the documents taken from Osama bin Laden’s compound, beyond the headline items about plots to kill American leaders, is the way they allow the reader to get inside the terrorist mastermind’s head. I’ve only seen a small sample of the thousands of items that were carried away the night of May 2, 2011. But even those few documents shown to me by a senior Obama administration official give a sense of how bin Laden looked at the world in the years before his death.
March 21, 2012
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Korea makes its presence felt in the Middle East
When talking about a “going-abroad” policy, China immediately and justifiably comes to mind. From a Middle Eastern perspective, however, a smaller country has been taking an increasingly confident posture and deserves attention. In 2009, it took nearly everyone by surprise when a consortium of its leading companies won a $20.4 billion contract to construct four nuclear power plants in the United Arab Emirates, beating traditional nuclear suppliers from France and the United States. This developm
March 21, 2012
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[Meghan Daum] The line Limbaugh crossed
Last week, in a column about Rush Limbaugh’s verbal attacks on Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke, I mentioned that there were those on the left who are also guilty of using crude language against women. For example, I wrote, Bill Maher has said things about Sarah Palin that are “wholly unacceptable.” A number of readers, some Limbaugh fans and some not, found that assessment wholly unacceptable too.They were right. I didn’t say enough. So even as the Fluke flap gets absorbed into la
March 21, 2012
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[Lee Byong-chul] South Korea, Israel share fear of nuclear catastrophe
SEOUL ― The United States is now wrestling with the nuclear fears of two of its close allies, Israel and South Korea. Israel’s alarm at the prospect of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon is existential in nature. The same is true of South Korea, whose capital sits only 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the border with the North.On Feb. 29, the U.S. and North Korea reached an agreement in which the North promised to halt its nuclear weapons development in exchange for food aid. But South Koreans know th
March 21, 2012
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Raising children safely in era of social media
Kendal, an engaging girl who looks about 11 years old, is wearing a koala bear hat in the video she uploaded to YouTube. In it, she looks straight at the camera, explaining that “I just wanted to make a random video seeing if I was, like, ugly or not, because a lot of people call me ugly and I think I am ugly.”In the time it took me to watch the video, titled “Am I Pretty or Ugly?” 13 new answers to her question appeared, including this one: “ugly, kill yourself.” The crowd-sourcing of Kendal’s
March 20, 2012
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[Lee Jae-min] The FTA journey has just begun
The long odyssey has finally come to an end. Fifty-seven months after the jubilant signing ceremony and ensuing heated debates in the legislatures of both countries, the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement went into effect on March 15. Despite all the controversies, the majority view is that this agreement reflects the long-term trade interests of the two countries in a balanced manner and opens up a new horizon for bilateral trade.Not surprisingly, a huge sigh of relief is being heard in both capit
March 20, 2012
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How will the war end in Afghanistan?
This has been one of the worst fortnights in the increasingly unhappy 10-year Afghan war for NATO and, above all, the United States and its ally, Britain.First there was the burning of the Korans at Bagram air base, which unleashed a wave of religious fury and revenge killings of U.S. troops. Then came the deaths of six British soldiers, incinerated by a giant Taliban bomb two weeks ago, which pushed the British death toll in the war over the symbolic 400 mark. Support in Britain for an increasi
March 20, 2012
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[Kim Seong-kon] Rosy election lies and sweet talk
It is well known that elections are both benevolent and malevolent. They are benevolent because politicians can suddenly become extremely generous and come up with all sorts of rosy promises. For example, facing elections for the National Assembly and the office of the president this year, politicians have made promises ranging from a 400 percent increase of pay for drafted soldiers to incredibly beneficial welfare policies. If one listens to the plethora of fantastic promises being made, one ma
March 20, 2012
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Paradise Jeju Island: a Tahiti in South Pacific?
Jeju Island is one of Korea’s most attractive tourist destinations for Koreans and foreign visitors. Its reputation of unique beauty and majesty has been widely known for a long time.Indeed, Jeju is a special place. Its distinct traditions, diverse flora, magnificent landscapes and what could only be described as playful remnants of nature’s most creative formations are harmoniously mixed to become the home to nine of the world’s 66 UNESCO Global Geoparks. Even Mr. Robert Redford, not so long ag
March 20, 2012
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Anti-contraception battle a loser on policy
Politically, the great contraception debate appears to have been a wash. Republicans saw their message on religious liberty enveloped by the crude misogyny of radio host Rush Limbaugh. Democrats, anticipating a polling boost from outraged female voters, appear to have experienced nothing of the sort. Instead, in a Bloomberg News poll, three-quarters of respondents, including the majority of women, said the issue has no place in the debate. Politics, however, is not all there is to political deba
March 19, 2012
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Let’s reexamine Jeju naval base project from the start
Your March 9 editorial “No more delay for Jeju base” has said we should not delay the construction of the proposed Jeju naval base any more. But I think it should also have considered whether the base is actually needed and whether there are no problems with this project.As you know, Jeju boasts beautiful nature and an affluent ecosystem. The coast of Gangjeong Village, in particular, is UNESCO-designated biosphere reserves, and a Korean government-designated ecosystem and cultural asset preserv
March 19, 2012
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WTO rare-earths case won’t ensure security
The Cold War had Americans worried about a “missile gap.” Should the rise of China have us nervous about a neodymium gap? It’s a question President Barack Obama is taking seriously, as he showed Tuesday in asking the World Trade Organization to look into China’s manipulation of the global market in so-called rare-earth elements. We wish the U.S. Defense Department would show an equal amount of concern. Neodymium is one of 17 rare-earth metals that have become vital to industrial production and n
March 19, 2012
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Kill the primaries to save American politics
By now, you’ve probably heard of Americans Elect, the political-reform group funded by a collection of Wall Street executives (some of whom remain anonymous) who hope to field a bipartisan presidential ticket in 2012. Americans Elect has been amply, but poorly, covered. The part of its strategy that generates the most attention is also the part that’s most wrongheaded: an effort to nominate a bipartisan superticket to contest for the presidency in 2012. This sort of thing is a perennial fantasy.
March 19, 2012
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[Robert Reich] Productivity gains, smaller pie slice
First, the good news. The economic pie is growing again. Growth in the fourth quarter last year hit 3 percent on an annualized rate. February’s 227,000 net new job marks the third month in a row of job gains well in excess of 200,000.Here’s the bad news. The share of growth going to American workers is at a record low.Although the nation is now producing more goods and services than it did before the slump began in 2007, we’re doing it with 6 million fewer people.Companies have been able to boos
March 19, 2012
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Sarkozy’s cry for help in face of socialist march
French President Nicolas Sarkozy was elected five years ago by promising to modernize France’s societal infrastructure and bring it more into line with America’s: less government reliance, more freedom in life and work. It was a tall order, but his mandate was overwhelming, with a six-percentage-point win over Socialist rival Segolene Royal. Sarkozy was full of vigor and free-market, limited-government ideas imported directly from across the Atlantic.But then something got in the way: France. It
March 18, 2012
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[Joel Brinkley] The screws tighten on Syria’s Assad
Sitting in his sumptuous palace, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad can almost certainly hear the drip, drip, drip, like a leaky faucet, of his life dribbling away.The world is finally closing in on him, and he realizes that to remain alive, or at least a free man, he must continue killing his own people. He knows that the minute he stops and withdraws his forces to their barracks, as almost the entire world is demanding, one of two things will happen: One of the rebel armies will capture and kill
March 18, 2012
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Yes, Mr. Smith, Goldman Sachs is all about making money
Apparently, when Greg Smith arrived at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. almost 12 years ago, the legendary investment firm was something like the Make-A-Wish Foundation ― existing only to bring light and peace and happiness to the world. Smith, who was executive director and head of the firm’s U.S. equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, does not go into details in his already notorious op-ed article in Wednesday’s New York Times, “Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs.” But one imag
March 18, 2012
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Self-reported data blemishes U.S. college rankings
International parents and students considering an undergraduate education in the U.S. frequently consult one or more of the big three ranking publications ― the Shanghai, QS World and Times Higher Education World University rankings reports. Emphasizing research publication productivity and the accompanying reputation, these reports tend to filter out all but the top tier research institutions in any country. With hundreds of high quality yet sub-top tier institutions in the United States, these
March 18, 2012
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To boost U.S. productivity, elect a new Congress
Last week, Harvard Business School hosted a conference in New York to talk about how the U.S. could continue to support “high and rising living standards for Americans” in the face of global competition. It was a lively discussion, leading to many good, if familiar, economic-policy ideas for increasing productivity in the U.S. Unfortunately, this conversation largely ignored the key constraint to many of the policy recommendations: the rise of hyperpolarization in Congress. If business leaders w
March 18, 2012
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[Nouriel Roubini] Scary oil poses risk in global economy
NEW YORK ― Today’s fragile global economy faces many risks: the risk of another flare-up of the eurozone crisis; the risk of a worse-than-expected slowdown in China; and the risk that economic recovery in the United States will fizzle (yet again). But no risk is more serious than that posed by a further spike in oil prices.The price of a barrel of Brent crude, which was well below $100 in 2011, recently peaked at $125. Gasoline prices in the U.S. are approaching $4 a gallon, a damaging threshold
March 18, 2012