Watching Greece slide into chaos from 6,000 miles away is painful. Asia, after all, was the last region to experience what Europe may be about to endure. Asia’s implosion in 1997 toppled leaders, touched off riots, set back living standards a decade or more and tarnished the International Monetary Fund’s reputation. Expect similar developments as Europe’s grand monetary experiment cracks. Asia and

Two new innovations of our foreign service are being prepared. One is designed to help recruit personnel with the ability and integrity required to advance Korea’s national interests in the global community. The other is designed to correctly evaluate the performances of diplomats posted overseas. A bill for the establishment of the National Foreign Service Institute (NFSI) passed the National Ass

It is an improvement if the current chaebol bashing by politicians of both the ruling and opposition camps signifies their independence from corporate influences. It is rather less reassuring, however, if our lawmakers choose the targets for their verbal assaults as a political ploy to chase votes. Grand National Party members have become harsher in their criticism of conglomerates for making prof

A hypothetical letter from the Western-educated daughter of China’s next paramount leader:To: Comrade Xi JinpingFrom: Your daughterRespected Father,As you prepare to assume the leadership role in China, I write to share with you thoughts on the global situation and China’s role that I have gained here in my studies at Harvard University.The financial tornado of 2008 and ensuing economic difficulti

How far student speech has come since Mary Beth and John Tinker and Christopher Eckhardt wore black armbands to school in Des Moines to protest the Vietnam War and got suspended as though they were common hooligans.Now, online-savvy teens get in trouble for rudely mocking their elders on social networking sites, and the ensuing court battles rattle and redefine free-speech boundaries.In Tinker v.

Many Americans probably wonder why President Obama didn’t call for a bigger troop pullout from Afghanistan.Having recently returned from Afghanistan and Pakistan, I think he could have made a stronger case for his decision to bring home only 10,000 troops by the end of this year. (The rest of the 33,000 “surge” troops he has deployed will return no later than September 2012, with a full transition

 

 

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Korea is celebrating Canada’s 144th birthday with a poolside party in the Grand Hyatt Seoul’s JJ Garden on Thursday.There will be delicious food, including Canadian pork, beer and wine, and a raffle with two grand prizes of a round trip to Vancouver on Korean Air. The event runs from 6-9:30 p.m. Tickets are 70,000 won each for members or 75,000 won for guests, a

Gwangju International Center is holding its summer session of Korean language classes starting July 9.The classes take place until Aug. 25. The classes are either twice a week on weekdays from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or on Saturdays.Saturday courses are at the same time, and there are extra reading classes on Saturday at 1:40-2:40 p.m. The days of the weekday schedule depend on level. The course

Club After will play host to a different kind of dance this weekendHome Soil Theater will present “I am the Pilot in Command,” an experimental dance theater performance that explores our ability to control our lives, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Music will be provided by Seoul-based DJ J-Path. To get to Club After, walk along the road opposite the Hamilton Hotel and take the first left. Turn ri