Whichever of the top three candidates is elected as the next president, the administration is likely to be significantly expanded. The three candidates ― Park Geun-hye of the ruling Saenuri Party, Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party and independent candidate Ahn Cheol-soo ― all favor a big government and make no bones about expanding it. This is disturbing in light of Parkison’s law ― that bureaucracies tend to get bigger even when no conscious efforts are made to expand t

Korea is set to make its third and final attempt to launch a satellite using the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1, a carrier rocket developed with the assistance of Russia. If weather conditions allow, the KSLV-1, also called the Naro-1, will blast off from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, on the southwestern coast of the nation, Friday afternoon to put a science satellite into orbit 302 kilometers above the earth. All necessary pre-launch preparations and checks have been made, except a final dry-

For a long time, it has been possible to overlook Turkey’s human rights failures. After all, the country was making remarkable progress after starting from a very hard place. Now, however, ignoring such failures is no longer possible. A 53-page report released Oct. 22 by the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists is the most detailed on Turkish media freedoms to date. It makes for shocking reading. As of Aug. 1, Turkey was holding at least 76 journalists in jail, the report found, while pro

The outbreak of fungal meningitis has exposed more than one dangerous weakness in the U.S. drug supply network. The need for better oversight of large-scale compounding pharmacies might be the most glaring; it was such a facility that produced the moldy steroid injections that have caused, at last count, 23 deaths and 297 illnesses. Yet the outbreak also calls attention to the growing problem of drug shortages. A shortage in the generic form of the steroid injection may have encouraged health-ca

It goes without saying that South Korea has to deal resolutely with any unprovoked security threat from North Korea. It has every right to retaliate against a North Korean attack many times more, as it promises. Failure to do so would make the South Korean military look like a paper tiger, encouraging bolder hostilities from the North.But North Korea’s latest threat to launch an artillery strike against the Imjin Pavillion in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, was a different situation. It was a response

Only a month is left until registration starts for presidential candidates. Park Geun-hye is set to register with the National Election Commission as the standard-bearer of the ruling Saenuri Party on Nov. 25 or 26.However, it is not clear yet who will register as Park’s main adversary ― Moon Jae-in of the main opposition Democratic United Party, the popular, independent Ahn Cheol-soo, or both. Moon and Ahn, who have promised to make a deal on who of the two will represent the opposition, have y

For years now, thanks to deregulation, a lot of people have been cutting their electric bills by signing up with suppliers who charge less than the local utilities, Commonwealth Edison and Ameren Illinois.Cities and counties have started to get in on the act, cutting deals to buy power in bulk for their residents and small businesses. About 200 communities across the state have made such deals.The savings have been substantial. ComEd and Ameren locked in long-term electricity contracts that made

Does size matter? When it comes to U.S. banks, the answer is increasingly yes. Limiting banks’ size is a rare example of agreement among prominent Democrats and Republicans, who complain equally that U.S. banks have grown too big, too complex and too risky. They also agree that big banks benefit unfairly from an implicit government guarantee despite the authority Congress gave regulators in the Dodd-Frank Act to dismantle troubled banks. (Does anyone really believe Washington would let JPMorgan

For the world economy, caught between an unfolding eurozone debt crisis and a looming U.S. fiscal cliff, that China’s economy has slowed for a seventh straight quarter appears to be cause for concern. Yet the world’s second largest economy is actually offering reasons for some much-needed confidence that it can continue to drive the global economy, despite the fact that its 7.4 percent GDP growth in the third quarter from a year earlier represents the first time the official target has not been

The presidential campaign has focused primarily on the economy and domestic issues, with foreign policy receiving relatively little attention ― especially if it doesn’t involve the tumultuous Middle East.One foreign policy issue that shouldn’t be ignored is arms control. The president in 2013 ― whether it’s Barack Obama or Mitt Romney ― will have an opportunity to use arms control to make the United States and the world safer.With the New START arms deal now in force, the strategic nuclear balan