Most Popular
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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Golden chance to liquidate babies’ gold rings?
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Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
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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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Seoul to more than double military drones by 2026 to counter NK threats
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Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
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Seoul alerts overseas missions to NK terror threats
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Over 60% of S. Koreans support W100m childbirth incentive: survey
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‘Inside Out 2’ adds four new emotions, explores teenage life
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Questions raised over fair promotion of RM, NewJeans
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[David Ignatius] War on terror: How lines blurred
WASHINGTON ― One consequence of the early “war on terror” years was that the lines between CIA and military activities got blurred. The Pentagon moved into clandestine areas that had traditionally been the province of the CIA. Special Forces began operating secretly abroad in ways that worried the CIA, the State Department and foreign governments. The Obama administration is now finishing an effor
June 1, 2011
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[Mario I. Blejer] Greek day of reckoning looms in Ponzi Europe
One of the undeniable features of the European debt crisis is the tendency to obscure, verbally and politically, the real issues at play. Euphemisms, statistical gimmicks, meaningless institutional squabbling, undecipherable acronyms, and plain double talk proliferate as part of the debate. In my experience as central-bank governor in Argentina during the worst financial crisis in our history, at
June 1, 2011
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[Albert R. Hunt] Republicans can stop waiting for white knight
Godot isn’t likely to show up for the Republicans. Like the characters in Samuel Beckett’s play, the Republican establishment probably will wait in vain for a white knight ― Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and Paul Ryan are the most oft-cited ― to rescue the party’s presidential prospects. The Republican field seems set, with the major contenders likely to be former Governors Mitt Romney of Massachusetts
June 1, 2011
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[J. Bradford DeLong] Construction boom: Built to bust
BERKELEY ― In the mid-2000s, the United States had a construction boom. From 2003-06, annual construction spending rose to a level well above its long-run trend. Thus, by the start of 2007, the U.S. was, in essence, overbuilt: about $300 billion in excess of the long-run trend in construction spending.When these buildings were constructed, they were expected to more than pay for themselves. But th
June 1, 2011
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Provide food aid to N.K. with conditions attached
North Korea has fallen victim again to floods, severe cold and failed harvests ― and the case for food assistance to stave off famine is again being dictated by strategic considerations. Serves the North right, critics of Pyongyang’s duplicitous ways would say.South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has shocked his people’s kin sensibilities by withholding any form of cooperation (not just food shipm
May 31, 2011
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More work needs to be done for Medicare reform
It’s risky to read too much into Kathy Hochul’s upset victory in a special congressional election in western New York on Tuesday ― it was, after all, just one race. Still, Hochul’s fellow Democrats are touting the outcome as a voter rebellion against the House Republican plan to transform Medicare into a subsidy program for private health coverage. If the election prompts Republicans to rethink th
May 31, 2011
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[Trudy Rubin] After bin Laden, will Taliban talk?
KABUL, Afghanistan ― The talk of talks with the Taliban has taken on new momentum in the wake of the death of Osama bin Laden.Even as the Taliban was mounting its spring offensive, Afghan officials told me of recent meetings in Qatar and Germany between U.S. officials and a Taliban official named Tayyeb Agha, who may ― or may not ― be an emissary of Mullah Omar.And there lies the rub.Secretary of
May 31, 2011
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[Lee Jae-min] Pirates, private security firms, consuls
No. 1: One way to sail through the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden with peace of mind is purchasing security services. Protection Vessels International, Ltd. is one of such security corporations founded by former British special forces personnel. It provides escort and protection services to merchant ships. PVI is a maritime version of Blackwater Inc., which provides security services to officials an
May 31, 2011
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[Dick Polman] GOP’s wake-up call on Medicare
The conservative ideologues in Washington discovered last week that their fond dream of privatizing Medicare is political suicide.This should not have come as a surprise. Back in early April, when the tea-partying House Republicans were preparing to vote yes on a plan to eradicate guaranteed health care for seniors ― one of the most popular government programs of the last half-century ― their own
May 31, 2011
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[Meghan Daum] Obama’s fast brain versus slow mouth
Apparently, a lot of people consider President Obama to be bumblingly inarticulate. “The guy can’t talk his way out of a paper bag!” a reader wrote to me recently. “Sarah Palin is a brilliant speaker. It’s the president whose sentences are undiagrammable,” said another in response to a column I wrote about Palin.It’s not just my readers, nor is it exclusively conservatives, who hold this view. A G
May 31, 2011
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[Kim Seong-kon] Diplomats and cultural interactions
A few days ago, U.S. Ambassador Kathleen Stephens hosted a farewell dinner party for Patrick J. Linehan, minister-counselor for public affairs, who has been newly assigned to Osaka as consulate general. Since Linehan is my good friend, I decided to attend the dinner to bid farewell to him. When I met Linehan at the U.S. ambassador’s residence, he seemed to be genuinely sad to leave Korea, where he
May 31, 2011
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Kim Jong-il’s China visit points to peace
The leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Kim Jong-il paid a successful visit to China from May 20 to 26. The attention-grabbing event marks the further consolidation of relations between the two neighbors. It also sends a strong signal to the outside world that the two will make joint efforts to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. This is Kim’s third visit to China
May 30, 2011
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This is not the time for infighting in Japan
Voices critical of Prime Minister Naoto Kan appear to be getting louder within the Democratic Party of Japan. One cannot give high marks to Kan for his performance as the nation’s leader in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.Even so, as Japan faces the difficult task of reconstruction and bringing the nuclear accidents at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant under control, DPJ poli
May 30, 2011
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[Rachel Marsden] Harper a role model for conservatives
A few years ago, if Americans had been asked to name the world’s most conservative countries, Canada likely wouldn’t have been on most people’s list. But as so many previous top contenders, including the U.S., slide into socialism, Canada is beginning to shine as a beacon of free-market success. After decades of Liberal Party rule, broken only by eight years of Conservative governance in the 1980s
May 30, 2011
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[David Ignatius] Arab Spring and the whiff of vengence
WASHINGTON ― “Revenge, at first though sweet, Bitter ere long, back on itself recoils.” The wisdom of that couplet from John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” extends in many directions. But let’s consider the context of the Arab Spring and its transition from dictatorship to democracy. Revolutions can go off the rails for many reasons. But history shows that one of the most dangerous (if also understandab
May 30, 2011
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[Butch Bracknell] U.S. and the ICC: Unfinished debate
I recently returned from a week in Iraq, where I trained an elite security force unit on human rights and the law of combat operations. Discussions regarding the responsibility of commanders for the acts of their forces migrated to the issue of the United Nations’ International Criminal Court. One Iraqi officer asked me, “If the United States believes in accountability over impunity, why are you n
May 30, 2011
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[Yoon Young-kwan] N.E. Asia’s threesome has turned four
Like many regions of the world, Northeast Asia faces severe political challenges in creating a viable structure of peace. But, given China’s rising power, such a regional structure is becoming all the more necessary if today’s lack of trust is not to devolve into military antagonism.Relations among the region’s three major powers, China, South Korea, and Japan, are burdened both by territorial dis
May 30, 2011
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Helping hands to Japanese P.M. Naoto Kan
The perseverance that people in northeastern Japan have shown after the massive earthquake and tsunami devastated their communities March 11 has impressed many people around the world.In Northeast Asia, anti-Japan feelings in China and South Korea seem to have receded since the catastrophe, thanks to Tohoku people’s dignified behavior.Under these circumstances, Prime Minister Naoto Kan held meetin
May 29, 2011
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Eyes on East Asian future
The leaders of China, Japan and South Korea met in Tokyo on May 21-22 as scheduled, even though Japan is still recovering from the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis, demonstrating the three countries’ consensus on regional responsibility.The leaders agreed to strengthen a future-oriented partnership aimed at constructing a nuclear power safety and disaster prevention system, and developing co
May 29, 2011
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[Robert Reich] The battle for the soul of the GOP
Who’s more influential in the Republican Party ― the so-called Tea Party, or Wall Street and big business? The answer will be critical in the weeks ahead as the House decides whether to raise the limit on the nation’s debt.Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner warns that if the limit isn’t increased by Aug. 2, the federal government goes broke. It doesn’t just close down. It stops making lots of payment
May 29, 2011