Former President Park Geun-hye has expressed her disapproval of her impeachment and the corruption allegations against her. In a message delivered Sunday by Rep. Min Kyung-wook, formerly her spokesperson, after she returned to her private residence from the presidential office, she said, “I am sorry that I couldn’t complete the mission that was bestowed upon me as president. I’ll take all the consequences. It may take time but I have faith that the truth will come to light eventually.” Her messa

Editorial March 13, 2017

They say you can’t put the genie back in the bottle, but if you could, here’s how we imagine it: An American company invents the process and then outsources physical genie-stuffing to a factory in Mexico. The empty bottles are shipped in from Taiwan.No, we’re not really thinking about genies — we’re contemplating the global economy. Once a country becomes part of the international order of things, it’s not easy or cheap to retreat to the previous way of life. Free trade and free genies are simil

Viewpoints Oct. 21, 2016

The most important thing about the vice presidential debate was what didn’t happen.Neither Indiana Gov. Mike Pence nor Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine was pressed at all on his qualifications for the job, or on his readiness to become president if necessary. Nor was either candidate required to answer for any personal scandal. And, with minor exceptions, neither candidate had to defend his record in public office, or what he has said on the campaign trail.That’s because both of them are widely perceived

Viewpoints Oct. 7, 2016

In Ivory Coast, I once met a boy working on a cocoa farm whose only dream was someday to taste the rich brown chocolate he helped produce. And in Pakistan, I once rescued a boy who sewed footballs and wished only to play with the product of his work.In the course of more than three decades of defending children’s rights -- including rescuing tens of thousands of children from bonded labor and slavery, among them little girls who were trafficked from their homeland for sexual exploitation -- I ha

Viewpoints Sept. 23, 2016

Whatever else you may think of fallen Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff -- fiscal crook or putsch victim -- the end of her accident-prone presidency in an impeachment trial last week offered a glimmer of relief for one of Latin America’s most conflicted nations.Yet even as President Michel Temer touts the new Brazil, as he did at last week’s G20 summit in Hangzhou, China, the more familiar Brazil of shifty politics, backroom maneuvers and legal brinkmanship rears its head.Consider the bizarre conc

Viewpoints Sept. 9, 2016

The recent failed military coup in Turkey has produced instability, paranoia and a crackdown on the regime’s perceived opponents, including many journalists. Luckily, it did not end with rebel forces seizing some of the dozens of US nuclear weapons stored at Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base, from which rebel aircraft departed. But what about next time?The world’s nine nuclear powers claim that there is little to worry about. They argue that the combination of physical protection and, in most cases, el

Viewpoints Sept. 9, 2016

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is cracking down on Turkish civil society following the failed coup in July.Beyond purging thousands of military officers, judges, and educators, the government has issued arrest warrants for dozens of journalists, and shuttered more than 100 news agencies, publications and radio and television stations.The crackdown in Turkey is a major story, and it should make us appreciate the countless unsung reporters and editors worldwide who struggle every day to

Viewpoints Aug. 26, 2016

Job insecurity is a central theme of the 2016 campaign, fueling popular anger about trade deals and immigration. But economists warn that much bigger job losses are ahead in America -- driven not by foreign competition but by advancing technology. A look at the numbers suggests that America is having the wrong debate this year. Economic security won’t come from renegotiating trade deals, as Donald Trump claimed in a speech in Detroit on Monday, or rebuilding infrastructure, as Hillary Clinton ar

Viewpoints Aug. 12, 2016