The Korea Herald

The Radiators put up last show at New Orleans’ jazz fest

MusicMay 9, 2011

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ― On the final day of this year’s New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, fans camped out early Sunday to get a great spot to hear the closing day set of The Radiators ― one of the city’s funkiest blues rock bands ― who have been closing the fest along with the Neville Brothers for years.The band ― keyboardist Ed Volker, guitarists Dave Malone and Camile Baudoin, bassist Reggie Scan
[Editorial] Lee’s Europe tour

EditorialMay 9, 2011

President Lee Myung-bak began his European tour meeting with German leaders Monday. With few pressing issues on hand, other than how to increase economic cooperation using the just-ratified Korea-European Union Free Trade Agreement, Lee’s week-long trip through Germany, Denmark and France will be a respite from the headaches at home complicated by a by-election defeat, falling approval ratings and
[Editorial] ‘Kimchi Chronicles’

EditorialMay 9, 2011

Koreans love kimchi so much that they want global citizens to enjoy the unique side dish, which they do not hesitate to identify with the Korean culture itself. The people who make the world’s biggest ships, best color TV sets and cell phones, and increasingly reliable automobiles have wondered why Korean food had to be rated below Thai and Vietnamese, let alone Chinese or Japanese.So, they are th
It’s time to reduce U.S. role in Afghanistan

ViewpointsMay 9, 2011

The American mission in Afghanistan changed with two quick shots from a Navy SEAL last Sunday.The calls for reflection on the nature of the war on terror with the death of Osama bin Laden have merit. Al-Qaida and its leader were the reasons behind 100,000 U.S. troops facing daily dangers.In a world without bin Laden, the terror war could be as legitimately staged in Somalia, Yemen or Iran.Even bef
Federal employees are not part of the problem

ViewpointsMay 9, 2011

Even though the threat of a government shutdown is over for now, the federal services that Americans depend on are still at risk of disappearing.House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s proposal to reduce the deficit by gutting $375 billion from the federal government in the next 10 years would severely threaten the important work of the nation’s federal workforce.As would the recommendations put forth b
[David Ignatius] Quarrel between top leaders in Tehran

ViewpointsMay 9, 2011

WASHINGTON ― When there’s political upheaval in Tehran, it’s often interwoven with the explosive question of possible outreach to the United States. And that may be the case with a recent feud between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The key figure in this dispute is Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, Ahmadinejad’s former chief of staff and said to be his choice as successor in
[Albert R. Hunt] Obama’s Abbottabad bounce may prove short-lived

ViewpointsMay 9, 2011

The cardinal sin of political prognostication is static analysis.A short weekend ago the emerging wisdom was that President Barack Obama’s reelection was in peril. The House Republican whip, Kevin McCarthy of California, perhaps the most politically attuned elected member of his party, was saying that while he always believed Republicans would have a good year in 2012, he now thought it was likely
[William Pesek] China needs to upgrade economic software

ViewpointsMay 9, 2011

Mark Zuckerberg shouldn’t lose too much sleep about China’s Facebook beating him to Wall Street.Renren Inc. is the first social-networking website to go public in the U.S., raising $743 million with which founder Joseph Chen can tap China’s 1.3 billion people. China is a market Facebook Inc. has yet to friend and the U.S. equity market is a place Zuckerberg has yet to tread.Here’s the thing, thoug
[Joseph E. Stiglitz] The IMF’s switch comes at right time

ViewpointsMay 9, 2011

NEW YORK ― The annual spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund was notable in marking the fund’s effort to distance itself from its own long-standing tenets on capital controls and labor-market flexibility. It appears that a new IMF has gradually, and cautiously, emerged under the leadership of Dominique Strauss-Kahn.Slightly more than 13 years earlier, at the IMF’s Hong Kong meeting in 1
Michelin Guide to release Korea edition in France

BooksMay 9, 2011

Michelin Guide, an internationally renowned travel guide, will release its Green Guide Korea edition in French on May 17, the Korea Tourism Organization said Monday.The KTO reached an agreement with Michelin Guide in April last year to publish the Korea edition. A group of reporters collected information on major tourist sites, cultural and historical sites, accommodation and restaurants in Korea
Samsung’s art museums back in full force

TheaterMay 9, 2011

Rodin Gallery reopens as PLATEAU, kicks off first exhibition in three yearsJust as Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee has started to show up at Samsung offices on a regular basis, the group’s art sector is getting ready to engage more in the local art scene. Rodin Gallery, one of the three art museums run by Samsung, reopened with a new name, PLATEAU, last week in its original place in Taepy
Remote Indian state hooked on Korean wave

May 9, 2011

IMPHAL, India (AFP) ― When separatist rebels in the remote Indian state of Manipur banned Hindi movies a decade ago, they had little idea it would trigger a cultural invasion from a country more than 2,000 miles away.But when Bollywood was forced out, the Koreans moved in.In the markets of the state capital Imphal, shops are packed with DVDs of South Korean films and television soap operas, as wel
Park confident ahead of worlds

More sportsMay 9, 2011

Korean swimming star Park Tae-hwan has revealed his confidence for the upcoming 2011 world championships, despite his disappointing results two years ago. Since the 2010 Asian Games, Park has trained with Australian coach Michael Bohl in Brisbane, Australia. He returned home Sunday for a weeklong break before gearing up for the world championships in Shanghai in July.Fresh from his overseas traini
Kim to pitch PyeongChang Winter Olympic bid to IOC

More sportsMay 9, 2011

South Korean figure skating star Kim Yu-na will make a pitch to International Olympic Committee members next week for Pyeong-Chang’s 2018 Olympics bid, the bid committee announced Sunday. The figure skating champion has been working with PyeongChang’s 2018 bid committee as a member of the bid’s athletes committee and she will make her debut presentation for the city’s bid campaign at the IOC techn