The Korea Herald

Taiwan’s soft power faces a rising China

World NewsOct 17, 2011

A strong sense of deja vu prevailed listening to Philip Yang, a Taiwanese spokesman, recently, as Taipei embarks on a “soft-power” offensive by promoting its local culture, indigenous people, food and other goodies. It’s no longer “politics-as-usual” in Taiwan, he quipped.The occasion was appropriat
[Editorial] Kim Han-sol spotlight

EditorialOct 17, 2011

The international media, including South Korean newspapers and networks, has found a new celebrity in the 16-year-old grandson of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il. The activities of Kim Han-sol at an international school in Bosnia are competitively covered by the European, Japanese and Korean media
[Editorial] China and N.K. refugees

EditorialOct 17, 2011

Large numbers of North Koreans cross the Amnok (Yalu) and Duman (Tumen) Rivers into China to escape from hunger and repression. Only the privileged few get official travel permission for business or visits with their relatives but most risk their lives as they swim across narrow and shallow points o
Planet Earth to welcome the 7 billionth child

ViewpointsOct 17, 2011

At some point this month, October 2011, a child will be born and the world’s population will have reached seven billion. There is a good chance that this childbirth will take place in the Asia-Pacific region; home to 61 percent of the world’s population.If the child is born in the Asia-Pacific regio
[Nouriel Roubini] The instability of inequality

ViewpointsOct 17, 2011

NEW YORK ― This year has witnessed a global wave of social and political turmoil and instability, with masses of people pouring into the real and virtual streets: the Arab Spring; riots in London; Israel’s middle-class protests against high housing prices and an inflationary squeeze on living standa
Why Einstein was wrong about being wrong

ViewpointsOct 17, 2011

If you want to get your mind around the research that won three astronomers the Nobel Prize in physics this year, it helps to think of the universe as a lump of dough ― raisin-bread dough, to be precise ― mixed, kneaded and ready to rise. Hold that thought.Now consider Albert Einstein ― not the wild
[Meghan Daum] Liberals pin hopes on Elizabeth Warren

ViewpointsOct 17, 2011

Liberal fervor, which took a hit when it became apparent that Barack Obama the president was not going to live up to the promise of Barack Obama the Shepard Fairey poster, is back in action. From the streets of Manhattan to the pages of Facebook, from L.A.’s City Hall to email blasts from MoveOn.org
[Peter Singer] Harsh judgements on the death penalty ― again

ViewpointsOct 17, 2011

PRINCETON ― Three significant events relating to the death penalty occurred in the United States during September. The one that gained the most publicity was the execution in Georgia of Troy Davis, who had been convicted of the 1989 murder of Mark McPhail, an off-duty police officer.Davis’ death sen
Rights watchdog runs multi-language petition system for foreigners

Social affairsOct 17, 2011

The state civil rights watchdog has been striving to listen not only to the voices of Korean citizens but also to those of foreign residents so as to help improve their lives here.Since June 2008, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission has run a multi-language section on its petition-filing
Reaching out to ethnic Koreans in Central Asia

Social affairsOct 17, 2011

Kim Dai-sik visits Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan to launch ombudsman outreach program in Central AsiaThe Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, a leading governmental panel promoting citizens’ rights, plans to reach out to Korean firms and ethnic Koreans in Central Asia through a wide-ran
Israelis debate over prisoner release

World NewsOct 17, 2011

JERUSALEM (AP) ― Relatives of Israelis killed in Palestinian attacks waged a charged debate Sunday over the planned release of militants this week in a deal to free an Israeli soldier held by Hamas for five years.Several families have filed court appeals against the deal, though it is not expected t
Occupy Wall Street shows muscle, raising $300,000

World NewsOct 17, 2011

NEW YORK (AP) ― The Occupy Wall Street movement has close to $300,000, as well as storage space loaded with donated supplies in lower Manhattan. It stared down city officials to hang on to its makeshift headquarters, showed its muscle Saturday with a big Times Square demonstration and found legions
French presidential race: Sarkozy vs. Hollande

World NewsOct 17, 2011

Former Socialist Party chief to go up against conservative president facing public frustrationPARIS (AP) ― The resurgent French left, riding on popular anger at conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy and global financial markets, endorsed former Socialist Party chief Francois Hollande on Sunday as i
Contemporary craft in Swedish show

Foreign affairsOct 17, 2011

Swedish Ambassador Lars Danielsson and his wife Gunilla von Utfall host their first event in Korea. (Yoav Cerralbo/The Korea Herald)As a child, arts and crafts comprise a whole host of activities and hobbies related to making things with one’s hands. As young artists become adults, their work into t
Caravaggio exhibit opens in Texas

TheaterOct 17, 2011

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) ― Works by Italian artist Caravaggio are on display along with pieces by those influenced by him in an exhibit in Fort Worth, Texas.“Caravaggio and His Followers in Rome” opened Sunday at the Kimbell Art Museum. The exhibit, which runs through Jan. 8, features 10 works by Mich