East Asian Capitalism: Diversity, Continuity, and ChangeEdited by Andrew Walter and Xiaoke Zhang(Oxford)Two scholars recently compiled a collection of academic papers about East Asian capitalism and its evolving patterns against the backdrop of regional and global market integration and periodic economic crises since the 1980s.The volume consists of a total of 12 writings on a variety of issues regarding capitalism in the region, focusing on China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines,

Global AsiaFall 2012(East Asia Foundation)The latest edition of “Global Asia,” a quarterly journal published by the East Asia Foundation, features seven articles on soft power, smart power and public diplomacy in Asia.“While economic and military power continue to dominate perceptions of geopolitical influence and shape the contours of traditional diplomacy, the idea that nations must also resort to soft power and public diplomacy in order to advance their interest has taken hold in much of the

Cardinal Walter Kasper, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity of the Roman Catholic Church, will receive an honorary doctorate from Suwon Catholic University on Friday, the school announced Thursday. The priest will lecture on “The Current Situation of the Roman Catholic Church” after receiving the honorary degree at the university. This is the first time the clergyman is receiving a degree from a university in Asia. Cardinal Kasper is known for his efforts t

News reports have surfaced that the musical performer and judge of tvN’s “Korea’s Got Talent” Kolleen Park may be the younger sister of the alleged American hit woman Kelly Soo Park, dubbed in the U.S. the “female 007.”Kelly is currently awaiting trial in Los Angeles for the 2008 murder of 21-year-old aspiring actress and model Juliana Redding. She was arrested in 2010 on suspicion of beating and strangling Redding to death with her bare hands in the victim’s apartment. It is alleged that doctor

Tea is an essential part of Chinese culture just as wine is in the western hemisphere. Just as sommeliers in the West select wines that best match particular dishes, Chinese tea sommeliers help people find suitable teas to enhance their tea-tasting experience. “The role of a sommelier is like that of an educator who lets you know about tea ― the true essence of tea. The reason there are sommeliers is that they help you understand the truth about the tea itself and understand the best part of it,

Shanghai, home to Michelin-starred and sophisticated modern restaurants, is a center of Chinese culinary culture. One of the city’s fine dining restaurants, Whampoa Club, situated in the glamorous Huangpu district, is introducing classic Shanghainese tastes in Korea this week. The restaurant’s executive chef Alan Zhou, along with five chefs and a tea sommelier, are visiting Korea for the first time to recreate the tastes and environment of Whampoa Club Shanghai at The Shilla Seoul’s Chinese rest

The National Library of Korea on Wednesday said that it has digitalized more than a dozen books owned by a noted French scholar of Korean studies more than a century ago and indexed the content of hundreds more. The books will help local scholars as well as the public study the history, costumes as well as geography of the Joseon Dynsty (1392-1910), the NLK said. According to the state-run library, 421 volumes of old Korean books were found at College de France in 2010.  Among them were 254 book

Cites France’s return of Korea’s Uigwe books as good example of cooperationAn Italian expert on cultural heritage repatriation on Tuesday praised the inter-governmental cooperation between Korea and France in sharing ownership of disputed historical books and moving forward to a new future. He also called for an internationally shared understanding in heritage repatriation and cooperation in cases involving illegally obtained cultural properties.“I think it was a win-win situation for both count

NEW YORK (AP) ― Beyonce will take the stage at the halftime show of the American football championship Super Bowl on Feb. 3, 2013, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, a source told The Associated Press.The source spoke on condition of anonymity because that person wasn’t authorized to publicly reveal the information. The official announcement is expected Wednesday, the source said.Beyonce, whose pop and R&B hits include “Crazy in Love,” “Irreplaceable’’ and “Single Ladies (Put a Ring

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) ― Georgia’s most famous football star, who played in Italy for the past dozen years, was nominated Tuesday to become the energy minister in the new government. Kakha Kaladze, who was with Milan from 2001 to 2010 and spent the past two years at Genoa, was nominated by Bidzina Ivanishvili, whose opposition coalition won the Oct. 1 parliamentary election. Ivanishvili, who will become prime minister, presented his future Cabinet on Tuesday. The candidates still need to be appro