The Korea Herald

Ex-ADB official nominated as KHFC CEO

PeopleJul 24, 2011

Kim Kyung-ho, a former executive director of the Asian Development Bank, has been recommended as CEO of the Korea Housing Finance Corp.Last Friday, the Financial Services Commission recommended Kim and Cheong Wa Dae is reviewing whether to appoint him to the post. Kim Kyung-hoThe 58-year-old candidate, a senior public official, had held key posts including spokesman for the Finance Ministry before
[Nouriel Roubini] The eurozone makes its last stand

ViewpointsJul 24, 2011

NEW YORK ― The eurozone crisis is reaching its climax. Greece is insolvent. Portugal and Ireland have recently seen their bonds downgraded to junk status. Spain could still lose market access as political uncertainty adds to its fiscal and financial woes. Financial pressure on Italy is now mounting.By 2012, Greek public debt will be above 160 percent of GDP and rising. Alternatives to a debt restr
[Margaret Carlson] Pledging allegiance to the special interests

ViewpointsJul 24, 2011

Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman may be trailing the pack in the Republican presidential primary, but he is a leader in one important regard: Unlike his colleagues, Huntsman has refused to sign any of the special-interest pledges that are increasingly turning political office into an ideological straitjacket. Huntsman has been joined by Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty in rejecting one particularly o
[Editorial] Talks as a formality?

EditorialJul 24, 2011

The inter-Korean nuclear talks held in Indonesia on Friday were the first step toward the resumption of full-fledged, six-way talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program. It had previously been agreed that Pyongyang would talk first with Seoul and later with Washington before the six-way talks, stalled since December 2008, would resume.Given the affirmative assessment of the Friday talks by the S
[Editorial] Koreans overeducated

EditorialJul 24, 2011

Few would dispute that high school education is enough for the lowest two administrative positions on the one-to-nine scale. Nor would anyone deny that it does not take much formal education to sweep streets. But this common sense does not prevail in Korea, as shown by examples below.Last year, the Seoul metropolitan government selected 415 recruits to fill the vacant positions of grades eight and
[Emma Bonino] Could prospect of Italian collapse finally unite EU?

ViewpointsJul 24, 2011

ROME ― The euro contagion triggered by Greece’s sovereign-debt crisis has now infected Italy. Silvio Berlusconi’s government, together with a fiscally conscious opposition, managed to secure ― in only a few days ― parliamentary approval of a package of measures worth more than 50 billion euros, in order to restore market confidence in the soundness of Italy’s economic fundamentals.In the absence o
[Michael Smerconish] How Bachmann lost a young conservative

ViewpointsJul 24, 2011

Michele Bachmann, meet Ben Haney.In other circumstances, Ben could have been a real asset to your campaign. He’s a 28-year-old Republican with experience as a traveling advance man for John McCain and Sarah Palin in 2008. Ben was born and raised in the critically important suburbs of Philadelphia. Having taught government at a high school, Ben now runs his own real estate investment company and co
[M.J. Rosenberg] Israel: ‘Delegitimization’ is just a distraction

ViewpointsJul 24, 2011

Suddenly, all the major pro-Israel organizations are anguishing about “delegitimization.” Those who criticize Israeli policies are accused of trying to delegitimize Israel, which supposedly means denying Israel’s right to exist.The concept of delegitimization has been used as a weapon against Israel’s critics at least as far back as 1975, when then-U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Daniel Patr
China’s No. 1 fugitive sent back after 12 years

World NewsJul 24, 2011

BEIJING (AP) ― The fugitive at the center of a 12-year extradition court battle in Canada was returned Saturday to China, where he is accused of running a $10 billion smuggling ring that dealt in everything from cars to oil in a scandal touching the government’s highest levels. Chinese businessman Lai Changxing is escorted by Chinese authorities after he landed in Beijing on Saturday. (AFP-Yonhap
Protest marches converge on Spain’s capital

World NewsJul 24, 2011

MADRID (AP) ― Several hundred Spaniards angry about their country’s economic crisis protested on the outskirts of Madrid Saturday after spending about a month marching to the capital from their hometowns.The marchers set off from Barcelona and Bilbao in the north, Valencia in the east and Cadiz in the southwest on June 25. En route, they were joined by other people angry about Spain’s economic woe
Chavez returns from Cuba after chemo

World NewsJul 24, 2011

CARACAS (AP) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he soldiered through his first week of chemotherapy in Cuba with only minor discomfort but that a long process of additional treatment lies ahead as he confronts cancer.Chavez, 56, made an unannounced return to Venezuela late Saturday after spending a week in Cuba undergoing treatment. He strode away from the plane down a red carpet while troop
Herbie Hancock made U.N. culture ambassador

MusicJul 24, 2011

PARIS (AP) ― Jazz great Herbie Hancock wants his music to build bridges between cultures, a mission that fits perfectly with his new role as a U.N. cultural ambassador promoting peace through culture and education.The 71-year-old ― imbued with boundless energy, curiosity and cool-cat poise ―is a natural for the job. His “The Imagine Project” album is a multicultural potpourri featuring collaborati
Paris toasts await Evans

More sportsJul 24, 2011

GRENOBLE, France (AP) ― Cadel Evans seized the Tour de France yellow jersey in the next-to-last stage Saturday, all but giving Australia its first victory in cycling’s showpiece event and capping one of the most dramatic races in years.The two-time runner-up took the overall lead by overcoming a 57-second deficit to Andy Schleck of Luxembourg in the time trial.A red-eyed Evans choked up on the vic
Pettersen shaken up

GolfJul 24, 2011

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France (AP) ― An emotional Suzann Pettersen spoke Saturday of the devastation the twin attacks in Norway have had in her home country, honoring the victims with a black armband at the LPGA’s Evian Masters.The No. 3-ranked player in the world, talking moments after completing her third round, said she was deeply upset by Friday’s bombing and shooting deaths, calling them “the bigge
Section of ‘Hitler’s Wall’ sent to WWII Museum

CultureJul 24, 2011

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ― The gray, concrete, heavily scarred slabs that arrived at the National World War II Museum in the United States this week are more than just chunks of an old wall to historians.The slabs are part of Nazi Germany’s Atlantic Wall, a string of defenses ordered by Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler in 1940. The defenses, also known as “Hitler’s wall,” stretched 3,200 miles (5,150 kilometers