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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[Exclusive] Korean military set to ban iPhones over 'security' concerns
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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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Korean, Romanian leaders discuss defense tech, nuclear energy
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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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[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
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College: To be or not to be yourself
Jason Lamoreaux will graduate June 14 from Upper Merion High School. Last year at this time, he was navigating the college-application process, which includes the writing of a personal statement and this dilemma: Do I tell them what I think, or what I think they want to hear? Lamoreaux took what some might view as a risk. Instead of addressing world hunger or carbon emissions, he offered an honest
May 29, 2011
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[Kim Barker] Journalism at risk: Arrests have a chilling effect
The phone call came in the middle of the night last month, when my brother Todd and I were visiting our father in a suburb of Portland, Ore. Todd’s fiancee, Dorothy Parvaz ― also my good friend and former colleague ― was missing. An editor from Al-Jazeera English, where she works, told Todd that no one had heard from her in 24 hours, not since she left Qatar to report on the violence in Syria.As a
May 29, 2011
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[Joel Brinkley] A tangled knot in Pakistan, Afghanistan
America’s involvement in Pakistan and Afghanistan may be the most complex foreign-policy dilemma the nation has ever faced. And with the death of Osama bin Laden, along with Pakistan’s furious response, the knot is growing ever more tangled.Right now, Afghan officials are reviling their Pakistani counterparts. Pakistan is flirting with China. American officials are threatening to curtail aid to Is
May 29, 2011
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Obama speech sets off another Mideast standoff
Rarely have the differences between a U.S. president and an Israeli prime minister been so prominently displayed as they were last week when Barack Obama hosted Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. Netanyahu’s visit capped a week of activity: Jordan’s King Abdullah visited a few days before and then Obama delivered a speech outlining his views of an eventual peace agreement.To no one’s surprise,
May 27, 2011
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[Anne Michaud] Peace Corps’ shameful secret
My grandmother didn’t have much money. She was a widow who had raised five children on her husband’s paycheck from the textile mill. So when she tried to give me $1,000 not to go into the Peace Corps, it was a very big offer.I told her that I wanted to serve and that it wasn’t about money.And I went ― to Togo, West Africa, in 1983. My grandmother’s fears were about the kind of men I would meet the
May 27, 2011
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[Michael Boskin] A retreat from growth of welfare state?
STANFORD ― Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper, by winning an outright majority of seats in his country’s parliament for the first time since assuming office, continues a remarkable series of national election victories, backed by voters demanding at least a pause, and perhaps some reversal, of the growth of the welfare state.Moreover, Harper’s victory follows the Republican Party’s resounding
May 27, 2011
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Taiwan must ease restrictions on hiring of foreign workers
Earlier this month, The China Post reported that a meeting was held by the Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) to discuss the possibility of relaxing some of the current restrictions on hiring foreigners as “white-collar” employees. Immigration officials and others in the fields of education and economics attended the conference, but the report stated that the meeting concluded without any consensus be
May 27, 2011
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Tight power supply
Chinese power companies are trying hard to make a big fanfare about the urgent need to raise the price of electricity to avoid the country’s worst power shortage in decades. The country’s leading power distributor, State Grid Corp., warned on Monday that some 26 provincial regions will suffer combined power shortages of 30 million kilowatts this year. Should that be the case, enterprises should br
May 27, 2011
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Mizuho must regain trust through reform
Mizuho Financial Group Inc., one of the country’s three major banking groups, is being put to the test over whether it can evolve into a financial group with a sense of unity by carrying out necessary reforms.On Monday, the company announced a plan to integrate the operations of Mizuho Bank, Mizuho Corporate Bank and other banking units under its wing in a few years.The integration is aimed at reg
May 27, 2011
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[Pradumna B. Rana] Asian Monetary Fund so near yet so far
Asia has not forgotten the “Asian Monetary Fund” (AMF). In fact, the case for the AMF has been much strengthened by the difficulty in reforming the governance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).On May 4, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its three Northeast Asian partners China, Japan and South Korea met in Hanoi, Vietnam, and took an important step toward establishing the AMF.
May 27, 2011
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[Frank Farley] What makes politicians stray?
Last week, Arnold Schwarzenegger joined the club of leading male political figures who are known to have cheated on their spouses. Other members have included presidents (John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Franklin D. Roosevelt, for example), members or former members of Congress (among them, John Edwards, Newt Gingrich and John Ensign), and governors (including Eliot Spitzer and Mark Sanford).So w
May 26, 2011
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What Oprah wrought during past 25 years
On Wednesday, the final episode of Oprah Winfrey’s long-running TV talk show will air. In the 25 years since the show has been nationally syndicated, Winfrey ― or, really, Oprah, since that is how she is globally known ― has made herself a singular force in television and the popular culture. In that period, she has topped the daytime ratings as talk show host, earned an Oscar nomination for her a
May 26, 2011
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Libya war shows limits of War Powers Act
Under the War Powers Act, President Barack Obama had until Friday to get congressional authorization to continue U.S. military operations in Libya. But the day passed without his even asking for it, which means he has to disengage within 30 days. Obama may not heed that requirement either.Some members of Congress, from both parties, are unhappy about the administration’s disregard of the law. Six
May 26, 2011
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[David Ignatius] Positive signs for talks in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON ― The “fighting season” has started in Afghanistan, with deadly attacks almost every day. But at the same time, diplomats see what one calls “hopeful signs” that a regional framework for peace talks with the Taliban may slowly be emerging. The most important development is that Germany has been mediating secret talks between the U.S. government and Tayyab Agha, a Taliban official who in
May 26, 2011