The Korea Herald

Korea’s Stephen Hawking wins W3.8b in suit

PeopleMay 19, 2011

Lee Sang-mook, a professor at Seoul National University, has won 3.8 billion won ($3.47 million) in compensation from Ford for the 2006 car accident that left him paralyzed.Lee and a group of students were on a geological research trip to Death Valley, California, when his Ford overturned and the roof collapsed. The accident killed one of his students and left Lee paralyzed. Lee Sang-mook, profes
Shriver reveals her pain over scandal

PeopleMay 19, 2011

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― He’s one of the most famous people on the planet, a two-term governor of California, a movie star and a former world champion bodybuilder with a profile so huge that just one name, Arnold, instantly identifies him to almost everyone.Yet somehow, for more than a decade, Arnold Schwarzenegger managed to keep an incredible secret from the public and his wife, prominent former TV jo
Gaga proves star power, again

PeopleMay 19, 2011

Pop singer outranks Oprah Winfrey to top Forbes celebrity power listFlamboyant pop singer Lady Gaga ousted U.S. media mogul Oprah Winfrey to top this year’s Forbes celebrity power list released on Wednesday.Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, moved up four positions from last year to claim the top spot in Forbes’ annual “The Celebrity 100” 2011 list that measures power by entertainment-re
[Editorial] Conflict resolution

EditorialMay 19, 2011

The nation has recently experienced severe conflicts between local governments over the location of state-promoted projects such as the science-business belt, an international airport in the southeastern region and the relocation of LH Corp., a state-run property development agency. The sites for these projects have all been chosen but the government needs to tackle the following challenges to pre
[Editorial] Improved prowess

EditorialMay 19, 2011

It is encouraging that Korea’s national competitiveness ranking keeps rising. According to Switzerland-based IMD, Korea placed 22nd among the 59 countries surveyed in the World Competitiveness Yearbook for 2011. That is the highest spot Korea has taken since IMD started to evaluate the competitiveness of major countries in 1997. Korea climbed in the IMD global rankings for the third consecutive ye
Finally, a big fish on Wall Street is hooked

ViewpointsMay 19, 2011

A federal jury last week answered a challenge that armies of government regulators and enforcement officials largely have ignored: The jurors convicted a major Wall Street financial figure for crimes committed during the sleaziness that led to the 2008 financial collapse.Raj Rajaratnam, 53, once the manager of the Galleon Group, one of the largest hedge funds in the world, was convicted Wednesday
[Barbara Shelly] ‘Ruined’ health industry is making massive profits

ViewpointsMay 19, 2011

Who would you figure to be America’s highest-paid CEO?Someone from the tech industry, maybe. Or bioscience. Or petroleum. And to be sure, some sweet compensation packages and bonuses are to be had in those fields.But according to Forbes, America’s highest paid chief executive officer hails from the industry that President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are roundly accused of trying to de
It’s time to shift to Plan B for PIIGS

ViewpointsMay 19, 2011

NEW YORK ― The countries known collectively as the PIIGS ― Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain ― are burdened with increasingly unsustainable levels of public and private debt. Several of the worst-hit ― Portugal, Ireland, and Greece ― have seen their borrowing costs soar to record highs in recent weeks, even after their loss of market access led to bailouts financed by the European Union
[Trudy Rubin] Is bin Laden’s death the start of change?

ViewpointsMay 19, 2011

Will the killing of Osama bin Laden really be “a game-changer” in the Afghan war?Defense Secretary Robert Gates said it may be. And this is the big question I’ll be exploring on a trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan.Will bin Laden’s demise speed the U.S. troop exit? My gut tells me it will make a difference, but not as big as Congress and a war-weary public would like.The state of play in Afghanistan
France’s reform anchors laws in constitution

ViewpointsMay 19, 2011

PARIS ― A new and important acronym has entered the French political lexicon: QPC, which stands for the rather austere-sounding “Priority preliminary ruling on the question of constitutionality.” Under QPC, which was part of the constitutional reforms that France implemented in July 2008, any citizen involved in legal proceedings can now contest the constitutionality of a legislative provision.Thi
Experts strive to preserve submerged ancient rock drawing

CultureMay 19, 2011

The University of Ulsan on Thursday launched a research center devoted to preserving a prehistoric rock drawing submerged underwater in the city. Leading geologists, chemists, folklorists and other experts are taking part in the institute for Bangudae rock carving, the National Treasure No. 285.The group will conduct research and other activities to prevent the ancient artwork from being further d
[Matthew Lynn] IMF needs a different type of leader

ViewpointsMay 19, 2011

It couldn’t have come at a worse moment. A bailout of Portugal was being completed. Greece was tottering on the edge of a default. And where was the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, the man meant to be guiding the world economy through this chaos?Dominique Strauss-Kahn was in a cell in New York’s Rikers Island jail, awaiting his next court hearing on charges of sexually assaul
Michael Govan dreams big for L.A. County Museum of Art

TheaterMay 19, 2011

LOS ANGELES ― Michael Govan, the director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, crouched in the pit of a stone quarry in Riverside, California Wearing black jeans and a brown sports coat, he dragged a finger through the sandy floor to draw the northern edge of the LACMA campus.On a key spot in his ad-hoc map, he placed a granite stone the size of an orange, meant to represent a rugged 340-ton b
Brazilian woman is world's oldest person: Guinness

PeopleMay 19, 2011

Brazilian Maria Gomes Valentim, 114, poses for a photo in Carangola, in Brazil's Minas Gerais state. Gomes Valentim is the world's oldest living human, Guinness World Records said Wednesday. (AP-Yonhap News/Guinness World Records)RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) - A Brazilian woman has elbowed out an elderly American as the oldest person in the world, the Guinness organization said Wednesday.Maria Gomes Valen
Moon Hee-jun meets his lady luck

TheaterMay 19, 2011

Former K-pop group leader’s first musical ‘Audition’ brings out his witMoon Hee-jun is one of the latest to join the line of idol stars-turned-musical actors. An official from EDA entertainment, producer of musical “Audition” which Moon is currently starring in, however, hinted that the singer does not like being questioned on the matter. Meeting at Art-one Theater in Daehangro, central Seoul, two