Most Popular
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[AtoZ into Korean mind] Humor in Korea: Navigating the line between what's funny and not
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Yoon seeks rebound, taps 5-term lawmaker as chief of staff
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Medical standoff deepens as doctors reject new med school plan, talks
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[Herald Interview] Why Toss invited hackers to penetrate its system
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[Graphic News] 77% of young Koreans still financially dependent
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[Exclusive] Korean military set to ban iPhones over 'security' concerns
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S. Korean envoys convene to navigate strategy amid Middle East tensions
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North Korea fires several short-range ballistic missiles into sea: JCS
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Samsung, SK hynix investors dump shares on Nvidia crash
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Suspect in murder of girlfriend's mugshot, name made public
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[Francois Godement] China bargain-hunting in Europe
PARIS ― In Shakespeare’s plays, comedy often meets tragedy. Perhaps Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao reflected on this as he watched a performance of Hamlet in Stratford-upon-Avon during his recent European tour. And, apropos the play, he may have been thinking: “To buy or not to buy?” In Bulgaria last March, one of his ministers quipped that “there will always be someone pointing fingers at us, whether
July 14, 2011
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[Adam Skaggs and Maria da Silva] America’s judiciary: Courting disaster
Denouncing a proposal to cut $150 million out of a courts budget that has already absorbed a $200 million reduction, California’s chief justice, Tani Cantil-Sakauye, recently warned that the “devastating and crippling” cuts would “threaten access to justice for all.”California’s not alone. Last month, 350 court employees in New York were laid off to offset $170 million in cuts to the state judicia
July 14, 2011
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[Steffen Hertog] The perils of economic populism in the Mideast
The first signs of a post-revolutionary hangover are everywhere in the Arab world. Where unity of purpose once defined the reform movements in Egypt and Tunisia, now particular interests are coming to the fore. Forces for change are fracturing. Conflicts revolve not just around the constitutional framework of the transition away from dictatorship or the place of Islam in public life, but increasin
July 14, 2011
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[Joseph E. Stiglitz] Ideological crisis of capitalism
NEW YORK ― Just a few years ago, a powerful ideology ― the belief in free and unfettered markets ― brought the world to the brink of ruin. Even in its hey-day, from the early 1980s until 2007, American-style deregulated capitalism brought greater material well-being only to the very richest in the richest country of the world. Indeed, over the course of this ideology’s 30-year ascendance, most Ame
July 13, 2011
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[By Jonathan Alter] Sputnik dreams lost to space shuttle realities
It’s hard to believe that less than six months ago President Barack Obama was talking about a “Sputnik moment.” In his State of the Union address he proposed huge investments in infrastructure, innovation and education to help us “win the future.” The president still wants those investments, but nowadays he means something different when he talks about the need to “do something big.” At his news c
July 13, 2011
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[Linda Yueh] Seeing double at central banks
The current issue is that the monetary aggregate (M4) measure of lending to the private sector is at its lowest level in a decade, while inflation is more than double the BOE’s target.OXFORD ― Central banks are now targeting liquidity, not just inflation. The credit boom of the past decade highlighted the inadequacy of focusing only on prices, and underscored the need for the monetary authority of
July 13, 2011
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[Ehab Kotb] Revolution leaving much of Egypt behind
CAIRO ― Dramatic and once unimaginable changes have occurred in Egypt over the last six months. President Hosni Mubarak has been ousted from office. The people have won the right to new and free elections. The long-feared secret police appears to have been muzzled.But this revolution has only occurred in Cairo and the northern part of the country.Upper Egypt, an area that forms more than two-third
July 13, 2011
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[Tayler Clough ] Taxi drivers discriminate
As guests in Korea who only speak French and English, my wife and I have been amazed at the polite and helpful approach most Koreans have shown in helping us to buy groceries, get to the hospital, or travel to a certain destination. Having moved from America, a country with increasingly little patience for foreigners, we both appreciate the warm approach we have come to enjoy in Korea. However, re
July 13, 2011
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[Albert R. Hunt] High court may wade into election-year politics
A familiar pattern of past presidential elections is that early in the cycle both parties gin up their base with warnings about dire consequences if the other side controls the next Supreme Court selections; after a few well-timed speeches and fundraising appeals the matter is usually ignored by the electorate. Next year could be different by becoming the first time since 1968 that the Supreme Cou
July 13, 2011
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[William Pesek] Viral video says it all about Japan’s economy
If a poll were taken to pick the most reviled man in Japan, Ryu Matsumoto would win hands down. Until Tuesday, he had Japan’s second-most important job: reconstruction minister. Four months after the earthquake and tsunami, no issue looms larger than how Japan rebuilds, boosts growth and reassesses its nuclear industry. On July 3, a week into the job, Matsumoto headed north to check the devastatio
July 12, 2011
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[Lee Jae-min] A new start for South Sudan
The establishment of South Sudan last weekend sowed a seed of new hope. For the seed to bear fruit, wholehearted assistance from the international community is crucial.A major breakup occurred over the weekend and this one was very peaceful. The southern part of Sudan seceded from the country and went independent. The Republic of South Sudan was thus established on July 9 with the attendance of ma
July 12, 2011
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[Naomi Klein] Climate change and disaster in Montana
“We’re a disaster area,” Alexis Bonogofsky told me, “and it’s going to take a long time to get over it.”Bonogofsky and her partner, Mike Scott, are all over the news this week, telling the world about how Montana’s Exxon Mobil pipeline spill has fouled their goat ranch and is threatening the health of their animals.But my conversation with Bonogofsky was four full days before the pipeline began po
July 12, 2011
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[Meghan Daum] Walking out of a movie
In a world where everything’s refundable, fast-forwardable or otherwise disposable, it’s easy to forget that buying a movie ticket has never been a risk-free proposition.There’s something exhilarating about walking out of a movie. Not only does it reacquaint you with the notion of your own free will (“Wait a second, no one is forcing me to watch Tom Hanks ride around on a scooter!”), it’s like get
July 12, 2011
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[Editorial] Putting blame on the jury
Somewhere along the way, the American viewing public mistook the Casey Anthony trial for an episode of “American Idol.” If the audience had been allowed to vote, she’d be on her way to Florida’s death row.Instead, she’ll be released within days, acquitted of first-degree murder of her 2-year-old daughter. She’ll be free to sell her story, have another baby, go on breathing ― all to the loud dismay
July 12, 2011
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[Kim Seong-kon] Beautiful custom, vulgar society
Granted we now live in the age of radical social change, but we should keep the beautiful custom of respecting older people.When planning the agenda for the Seoul International Forum for Literature last May, the organizing committee encountered one minor problem: Who should have the honor of proposing a toast at the welcome reception among the 14 distinguished international guests? A committee mem
July 12, 2011
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[Michael Smerconish] An overture of candidates’ theme songs
Why is there always such poor advance work when it comes to presidential candidates and theme songs?Every four years, it seems, someone uses a song without getting the necessary clearance. You’d think politicians would learn from their predecessors’ mistakes.Three decades ago, Bruce Springsteen didn’t want Ronald Reagan using “Born in the U.S.A.” And two weeks ago, Tom Petty told Michele Bachmann
July 11, 2011
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[David Ignatius] Ready to be a company man
The challenge for an intelligence chief is to develop sufficient intellectual distance from military plans and policy papers so that he can give the president independent assessments. WASHINGTON ― What sort of agenda will David Petraeus pursue as director of the CIA, after he leaves Afghanistan later this month? He laid out a basic road map in his June 23 confirmation hearing. After spending a wee
July 11, 2011
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[John Kass] Sickening story sure to provide ‘Bella Vita’
Just when you think Casey Anthony can’t possibly nauseate you anymore than she has already, try this:She wants more children.“I had a dream not too long ago that I was pregnant,” she wrote in a letter to another prison inmate a few years ago.“It was like having Cays all over again,” Anthony continued, referring to her little girl, Caylee. “I’ve thought about adopting, which even sounds weird to me
July 11, 2011
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[Thomas Klassen] A decade of Seoul
For nearly a decade I’ve been visiting Seoul regularly. Each time I arrive, Seoul is a new city. My current trip finds the city more relaxed than ever. Suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, there is more time in Seoul. More time for its inhabitants to frequent the ever growing number of cafes. More time for complaining about how bad things are, like the economy and the weather, when they are not.The s
July 11, 2011
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[Trudy Rubin] With Iran poised to move, should U.S. be leaving Iraq?
Does anyone remember Iraq?As the United States moves toward withdrawing its last 46,000 troops from that country by the end of 2011, Iraq has become a black hole. It is the place Americans want to forget and the media hardly cover.No wonder. Although violence is way down since the mid-2000s, there’s been a resurgence of car bombs and sectarian killings. The Iraqi government barely functions, and t
July 11, 2011