The cost of issuing Korea’s sovereign debt declined in December as market jitters eased over geopolitical tensions prompted by North Korea’s latest provocations, data showed Wednesday.The spread on dollar-denominated currency stabilization bonds dropped to 90 basis points last month, down from 114 basis points reported in November, according to the data provided by the Finance Ministry.The decreas

Undoubtedly, one of the last things an incumbent president would like to hear of is his lapse, be it ongoing or imminent, into lame-duck status. Who would? Actually, President Lee Myung-bak was previously quoted as saying there would be no such thing until his last day in office.But it is a matter of time before a rapid decline in the presidential power manifests itself in various forms. It usuall

The cost of renting a home is going through the roof. But top economic policymakers do not appear to be much concerned about the rise in rent. They are either ignoring what has developed into a crisis or are ill-informed about it.According to a survey of housing-price trends by Kookmin Bank, rents rose an average 0.2 percent throughout the nation during the week ending on Jan. 3. The bank said the

This year can be the year in which electric cars make headway in attracting a large number of customers who want to buy a vehicle that has no gas emmissions over a vehicle that runs on fossil fuels. But many problems must be overcome before electric cars become a transportation mainstay. Nissan kicked off fierce competition in electric car sales with the December launch of the Leaf, a five-door ha

Cigarette makers do a lot more than shred tobacco and roll it up in thin sheets of paper. A December report by the surgeon general’s office outlined a host of changes that tobacco companies have made over the years to render smoking easier to start and harder to quit. For instance, vents and other filter designs make the smoke feel less harsh even though it does the same damage. A bigger, quicker

When most Americans hear the words “public lands” they think of our national parks or national forests or perhaps even our national wildlife refuges. Yet, what might surprise them is that the largest category of our publicly owned land is administered by a little-known agency, the Bureau of Land Management, with a big mandate ― taking care of 400,000 square miles, an area nearly four times the siz

“You say you want a revolution,” the Beatles sang in a song that was released in the year that students across Europe famously took to the streets to protest against the established order.It may not quite be 1968 all over again. Even so, there is a whiff of youthful rebellion in the air. Young people across the region have been staging angry demonstrations in the last few months as government aust

Violence isn’t endemic to America. Gun violence is.The tragic killings of six people including a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl and serious injury to Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson this weekend underscored this tragic reality. Gun murders occur in other developed countries, not with anywhere near the frequency.There are almost 300 million guns in America, a third of the

PHILADELPHIA ― Following the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D.-Ariz., Saturday in Tucson, many people asked: Did the violence of U.S. political rhetoric have anything to do with this? Did a gunman try to kill Giffords because there is so much toxic language, such hate in our political discourse? And if our discourse is toxic, what should change in the way we talk, the way we disagree?No one