Most Popular
-
1
Korea enters full election mode
-
2
Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
-
3
Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
-
4
Lee Jong-sup resigns as envoy to Australia
-
5
Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
-
6
Yellow dust engulfs S. Korea, advisory alert issued
-
7
S. Korea to boost support for single-parent families
-
8
Court upholds jail term for man who attempted to murder ex-girlfriend
-
9
Kia EV9 wins world car of year
-
10
Korea misses out on global bond index boost
-
[Meghan Daum] What’s with the ‘hiker hate’ in the U.S.?
The story of Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal and Sarah Shourd, the American hikers who in July 2009 crossed the border ― inadvertently, all evidence suggests ― from Iraqi Kurdistan into Iran and were imprisoned for espionage, is back in the headlines. Shourd, who was released in September on humanitarian grounds and after paying $500,000 in bail, has been promoting a “rolling hunger strike” to remind us
June 13, 2011
-
Nuclear proliferation: Engaging with Iran
As ambassadors to Iran during the last decade, we have all followed closely the development of the nuclear crisis between Iran and the international community. It is unacceptable that the talks have been deadlocked for such a long time.The Arab world and the Middle East are entering a new epoch in which no country is immune from change. This includes the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is facing t
June 13, 2011
-
[Trudy Rubin] Ex-bin Laden colleague sees al-Qaida’s influence waning
LONDON ― Abdullah Anas, a jovial, bearded onetime Algerian imam, was a close colleague of Osama bin Laden in the jihad against the Soviets in Afghanistan.He considered bin Laden a friend, but broke with him over the slaughter of innocents on 9/11. Today, Anas thinks al-Qaida’s grip on the minds of radical Muslim youth is finally ending.“I think the philosophy of al-Qaida is failing now,” Anas says
June 13, 2011
-
[Dick Polman] Democrats sing new tune on finances
Obviously, if we had a dime for every time the politicians junked their avowed convictions, we’d all be living in luxury. But it’s still breathtaking to behold the Democrats’ blatant embrace of a sleazy campaign tactic that they condemned just eight months ago.Last autumn, President Obama and his political allies insisted that secret donations were a “threat to democracy.” On the eve of the 2010 c
June 12, 2011
-
[David Ignatius] Obama’s ‘partnership deficit’
WASHINGTON ― There was some head-scratching in Washington at the recent presentation of the Medal of Freedom to German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The previous foreign recipients included Pope John Paul II, who championed the freedom of Eastern Europe; Nelson Mandela, who triumphed over apartheid in South Africa; and Helmut Kohl, who reunited Germany. Did Merkel, for all her good qualities, really f
June 12, 2011
-
[Peter Goldmark] GOP playing with fire on debt ceiling
There they go again.The Republicans in the House of Representatives are acting like jackasses. And they’re doing it on the critical issue of the debt ceiling, which could undermine confidence in the United States around the world if it is mishandled.The Republican-dominated House of Representatives recently said they would refuse to raise the national debt limit unless their draconian spending cut
June 12, 2011
-
[Anne Michaud] Arab Spring must not leave women behind
This year’s Arab Spring uprisings against authoritarian regimes included many prominent women: There was a Tunisian blogger who was among the first to alert the world to the country’s growing turmoil. And there were demonstrators, journalists, bloggers and tweeters in Egypt who forced the February ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.But since those inspiring days, the news from this region has paint
June 12, 2011
-
How new is Egypt’s ‘new’ foreign policy?
CAIRO ― In the months since Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation, his successors have signaled a shift in foreign policy by reaching out to former adversaries. Egypt’s government has welcomed Iranian diplomats and embraced the Palestinian group Hamas. Many interpret such moves as clear evidence of Egypt’s desire for a diplomacy that is not subordinate to American interests.But Mubarak ne
June 12, 2011
-
[Robert Reich] Sliding back toward a double dip
The recovery has stalled. Only 54,000 jobs were created in May. That’s hardly enough to make a dent in the nation’s sky-high unemployment.Even those who have jobs are sliding back toward recession. The average hourly earnings of production and non-supervisory employees ― who make up 80 percent of non-government workers ― are now lower than they were in the depths of the recession, adjusted for inf
June 12, 2011
-
Taiwan voters need solid facts on nuclear power
It is easy to see how a commercial against nuclear power could influence a voter. A Taiwanese family is enjoying supper when alarms ring out. Images of people in hazmat suits fill the television screen as an announcer reports horrific events: thousands dead, millions evacuated, parts of northern Taiwan unlivable for generations. This theoretical TV spot then ends with the tagline: “Is Nuclear Powe
June 10, 2011
-
[Rachel Marsden] Stupid immigration reform idea
As Barack Obama inches toward reforming the immigration mess in America ― whenever that might be ― here’s a stunning example of political rhetoric over substance.The idea comes courtesy of far-right leader Marine Le Pen, a serious contender for the French presidency in next year’s elections. That is, until she self-immolated with this doozy.Le Pen sent a note to all 577 members of French parliamen
June 10, 2011
-
Germany’s nuclear-policy flip-flop may blunt its edge
Germany’s decision to abandon nuclear energy is a monumental policy shift that might threaten the competitiveness of the German industry.The country’s coalition government decided Monday to abolish all of its 17 nuclear reactors by 2022. Older nuclear reactors built before 1980, which have already been taken off the grid, will remain offline permanently. The remaining nine reactors will be phased
June 10, 2011
-
Naked aggression
Philippine President Aquino told reporters in Brunei last week that a military confrontation between the Philippines and China would be “no contest.” In terms of military strength, China has “a great advantage,“ he said. “Even in a boxing match, there’s one and half billion of them, (while) we are barely 100 million.”All true, of course. But stating the obvious seems totally unnecessary and counte
June 10, 2011
-
Chinese house price collapse rumors wishful thinking
Media reports that the prices of new homes in major Chinese cities are plummeting at double-digit rates amount to nothing more than bunkum and wishful thinking. Admittedly, shrinking sales of new apartments can be observed in most Chinese cities nowadays. But this is just a possible harbinger, not evidence, that property prices have begun to drop. China’s rocketing housing prices are so unpopular
June 10, 2011
-
[Salman Haidar] A time of troubles in Pakistan
The killing of Osama bin Laden was like a huge seismic tremor that gave rise to a number of aftershocks that still plague Pakistan. The fact that U.S. attackers were able to penetrate deep into Pakistani territory without being challenged made the security apparatus look helpless and unworthy of the automatic public trust it has claimed and received. A mood of disenchantment with the army was indu
June 10, 2011
-
A U.S. strategy for fighting cyberattacks
The Pentagon is developing a new cyberwarfare strategy that calls for the use of military force ― including conventional weapons ― in response to certain kinds of damaging online attacks on U.S. institutions. That’s fine in theory; if foreign agents launch a cyberattack on, say, the nation’s electrical grid, it may be both reasonable and proportionate to fire missiles at, say, the attacker’s energ
June 9, 2011
-
[David Ignatius] Testing the Afghan exit ramps
WASHINGTON ― The argument within the Obama administration for a big troop withdrawal from Afghanistan over the next year goes roughly like this: We’ve killed Osama bin Laden. That means we’ve achieved the core goal for which we sent forces in 2001. We have a ticket out, and we should take it. The counterargument from administration hawks is that a quick departure is a guarantee of failure. It risk
June 9, 2011
-
U.S. economy is being suffocated by uncertainty
The economic recovery is 2 years old this month. Isn’t that reassuring? I didn’t think so. As recoveries go, this one is as blah as it gets. Judging by the most recent indicators, we may be headed for a double dip, or perhaps a period of flatlining that feels just as bad.Job growth is sluggish and unemployment is again on the rise. In the first three months of this year, the economy slowed substan
June 9, 2011
-
[Fuller W. Bazer] English-only lectures
The editorial in The Korea Herald, June 7, 2011, states that “The spreading of English-only lectures in Korean universities is likely to slow, as presidents and deans have concluded that they have been largely ineffective because of the unpreparedness from both professors and students.” This is not forward thinking in a global society that embraces English as the language of science and business.
June 9, 2011
-
[Fenton Johnson] Sex in the time of AIDS
Thirty years ago, on June 5, 1981, the Centers for Disease Control published a notice of a strange illness affecting five Los Angeles gay men, two of whom died before the report could be published. The illness soon acquired the designation AIDS, along with a burden of fear and misinformation that it has never quite shaken.The decades of terror and rage and sacrifice and nobility that followed have
June 9, 2011