Most Popular
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Korea enters full election mode
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Immigrant woman stabbed to death by Korean husband
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Seoul bus drivers go on general strike, cause morning rush hour delays
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Lee Jong-sup resigns as envoy to Australia
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Yellow dust engulfs S. Korea, advisory alert issued
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Official campaigning kicks off for April 10 elections
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S. Korea to boost support for single-parent families
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Court upholds jail term for man who attempted to murder ex-girlfriend
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Kia EV9 wins world car of year
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Korea misses out on global bond index boost
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[Simon Tilford] Europe’s competitiveness trap
LONDON ― A flawed understanding of what drives economic growth has emerged as the gravest threat to recovery in Europe. European policymakers are obsessed with national “competitiveness,” and genuinely appear to think that prosperity is synonymous with trade surpluses. This largely explains why Germany is routinely cited as an example of a strong, “competitive” economy.But economic growth, even in
June 21, 2011
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[Rachel Marsden] How to survive a political sex scandal in the U.S.
Democratic New York Congressman Anthony Weiner decided to take some photos of himself minimally burdened by cloth, send them to a few girls he met online, then complain that his phone was hacked when the details dribbled out in the press. After a few days of strident denial, he called a press conference to confess to everything. Weiner has reportedly decided to undertake a treatment program ― pres
June 21, 2011
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A cautionary tale of three fiscal crises: The U.S., Britain and Greece
In today’s world, there are three kinds of fiscal crises brought on by too much government spending, and three kinds of responses. We can call them the nightmare scenario, the preemptive experiment and the head-in- the-sand model. In the nightmare scenario, a country runs large deficits for a decade or more ― and the financial markets are happy to buy its debt at low interest rates. But then the m
June 21, 2011
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[Kim Seong-kon] Going back to childhood, innocence and purity
Recently, in the United States, there has been a campaign to return to the innocence and purity of our adolescence in order to solve social problems such as racial prejudice and ideological antagonism. During childhood, indeed, we are so pure-hearted that we hardly have prejudices against others. As we walk into adulthood, however, we gradually become racially biased and ideologically prejudiced.
June 21, 2011
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Help bio-designed cassava save the world
The human population, now approaching 7 billion, may top 10 billion by 2100. Agronomists predict food shortages in our future, and it doesn’t take an advanced degree to understand why: When food production fails to keep pace with population growth, billions go hungry, including many Americans. To avert disaster, we must find a way to squeeze more grains, fruits and vegetables from ever less farmla
June 20, 2011
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[David Ignatius] End of U.S.-Pakistan love affair?
WASHINGTON ― It’s always painful to watch a love affair go sour, as the unrealistic expectations and secret betrayals come crashing down in a chorus of recrimination. That’s what’s happening now between the U.S. and Pakistan, and it has a soap-operatic quality, in Washington and Islamabad alike. “How could they treat us so badly?” is the tone of political debate in both capitals. If this were a fe
June 20, 2011
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[Kim Jin-guk] New subcontracting law will damage the economy
It has been more than a year since the government introduced the “fair society” concept as its governing philosophy. One major aspect of it has been encouraging “joint growth” between small and medium-sized enterprises and big business groups ahead of major elections next year. The revised bill on fair subcontracting transactions allows SME industry associations the right of collective negotiation
June 20, 2011
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Philippines Independence Day under a Chinese cloud
What an irony that as the Philippines celebrates two historic moments, part of its territory is coveted by the most powerful nation in Asia, and its sovereignty and territorial integrity have to be guaranteed by yet another power which happens to be the most powerful in the world today.This week began with the 113th anniversary of the day first Philippine President Emilio Aguinaldo cast off the co
June 20, 2011
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[Albert R. Hunt] Voters want Obama to put winning the present first
White House strategist David Plouffe says all President Barack Obama’s messages should be directed to a middle-aged, white woman in Ohio. When a person in this target audience considers the economy and the administration, which of the following is her first thought: a.) There are “signs of real strength.” b.) The top priority is jobs. c.) There are “bumps on the road to recovery.” d.) The chief ch
June 20, 2011
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[Joel Brinkley] Vetting Afghan aid recipients
If you were to read two new government reports on American aid to Afghanistan, you would come away first astounded and then utterly furious, just as I did. Ten years into the Afghan war, our government still heedlessly throws many billions of dollars at Afghan organizations that steal some of it and pass the rest off to militants who use it to kill American troops.The State Department, for example
June 20, 2011
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[Margaret Carlson] Is Mr. Romney now Mr. Right for Republicans?
Mitt Romney has had the kind of smooth life that makes people want to trip him as he bounds up stairs two at a time. But he has become a steadying presence in a field of Republican presidential candidates who raise the blood pressure ― and not in a good way. At this week’s debate in New Hampshire, Romney was a mighty oak planted at center stage, with little saplings arrayed around him. In every Re
June 19, 2011
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[Mohamed A. El-Erian] U.S.’s dangerous debt ceiling debate
NEWPORT BEACH ― It has been raised more than 70 times in the last 50 years, mostly without commotion. It must be raised again this summer if the United States government is to continue paying its bills on time. But now America’s debt ceiling has become the subject of intense political posturing and touch-and-go negotiations behind closed doors. And, obviously, the outcome has implications that go
June 19, 2011
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Dispel concerns before signing Hague Convention
When international marriages fall apart, how should cross-border disputes over child custody be handled?The Japanese government is in the process of formulating legislation in preparation for joining the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which sets international rules for settling such disputes.If Japan becomes a signatory to the convention, perhaps as soon as
June 19, 2011
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[Peter Goldmark] Generation of weapons: small, smart, anonymous
A new generation of weapons is being born.They are small, smart and anonymous.There’s a company on contract to the Pentagon building a drone ― a remotely piloted air-going craft ― no bigger than a small bird. Another military contractor is developing an invisible mist to be sprayed on enemy individuals or vehicles, thus “painting and tagging” them to be recognizable electronically without their kn
June 19, 2011
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[Laurence Kotlikoff] ‘Vouchercare’ is the right name for Medicare
There’s a lot in a name. Just ask the so-called pinkos from the 1950s, or any ethnic group denigrated with a nasty epithet. In our Medicare debate, the role of invective has been foisted upon the word “voucher.” If we want to get our government’s finances under control, it’s time we rehabilitated it. The use of the V-word screams “far right wing.” Its public utterance has become so dangerous that
June 19, 2011
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[Robert Reich] Obama should avoid supply side
“I am concerned about the fact that the recovery that we’re on is not producing jobs as fast as I want it to happen,” President Obama said last week.Does this mean we’re about to see a package of bold ideas from the White House for spurring growth of jobs and wages? Sadly, it doesn’t seem so.The president says he’s interested in working with Republicans to extend some of the measures that were par
June 19, 2011
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[Noah Feldman] Praise the Arab Spring, prepare for the Arab Fall
For all the excitement about the twilight of the dictators, only two ― Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia ― have been officially knocked over since the start of the so-called Arab Spring six months ago. It isn’t even clear whether that count will reach three. Yemeni strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh is in neighboring Saudi Arabia for medical treatment after a bomb in his own
June 17, 2011
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[David Ignatius] Emissaries, defectors, Libya puzzle
WASHINGTON ― The botched defection several months ago of Musa Kusa, Libya’s former foreign minister, illustrates the uncertain strategy that has plagued the NATO campaign against Col. Moammar Gadhafi. But even so, the Gadhafi regime is feeling enough pressure to send an emissary to Washington this week to explore a possible negotiated settlement. Kusa, a prominent member of Gadhafi’s inner circle,
June 17, 2011
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India, Pakistan must cooperate for peace
To ensure its control over the government, the Pakistan army has always exaggerated the threats from India, often referred to as the No. 1 enemy. It has been able to secure billions of dollars from the U.S. ostensibly in the fight against terror. The Pakistani government has followed the policy of running with the hare and hunting with the hound. Although an ally of the U.S. in its fight against g
June 17, 2011
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Weapons-export ban threatened
In meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Singapore on June 3, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa told him that Japan would allow the United States to export to other countries an anti-missile missile being jointly developed by Japan and the U.S. if certain conditions are met.Japan is expected to confirm this position in a meeting of Japanese and U.S. foreign and defense ministers to b
June 17, 2011