Korea had a string of successes last week on the international stage. It was selected Saturday to be home to the Green Climate Fund, a U.N. fund launched in 2011 to help fight global warming by funneling money from developed to developing countries. A day earlier, Korea won the right to host the next biennial meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity at the end of its 11th session in Hyderabad, India. On Thursday, the country was elected as a non-permanen

The issue of how to coordinate investigative authority between the prosecution and the police is resurfacing as major presidential candidates have expressed their intent to address it as part of campaign pledges to reform the prosecution.For the past decades, the two powerful agencies have been at the loggerheads over whether to allow the police independent investigative rights. The latest clash came last year when a parliamentary committee on judicial reform pushed to revise the code of crimina

Another allegation of rape by American servicemen in Okinawa last week has reignited anti-U.S. protests by Okinawans and resentment throughout Japan. Okinawa Gov. Kazuhiro Nakaima called for more severe measures than in the past. Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto noted the severity of the allegation. Vice Foreign Minister Shuji Kira lodged a protest with U.S. Ambassador John Roos, who promised cooperation and renewed effort “to earn the trust of the Okinawan people and the people of Japan.”Earni

For more than three decades, China has been courting its neighbors to the south. Enticing the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations into closer cooperation has been a top goal of Chinese foreign policy since the days of Deng Xiaoping, and it has brought great rewards. In 2010 the two sides entered into a free-trade agreement that created one of the world’s largest integrated markets. But now, with its aggressive attitude on demarcation lines in the South China Sea, China risks

South Korea’s election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the years 2013-14 is another manifestation of its growing influence on the global stage. The Security Council is the most powerful U.N. organ. It is entitled to make legally binding decisions on issues related to international peace and security. Only the council can authorize military action or economic sanctions against a country that threatens global peace or engages in acts of aggression.As such, a se

North Korea has started to drop tax bombs on South Korean companies operating in the Gaeseong industrial complex in the North.According to reports, Pyongyang has recently imposed corporate income and business taxes totaling $160,000 on eight of the 123 South Korean companies in the complex.Of the eight firms, one was slapped with $87,000 while another was levied $30,000. One company has already paid about $20,000 in taxes to the North.Pyongyang has also told 21 companies to submit various docume

PARIS ― The people of France have spoken on the subject of the U.S. presidential election. Naturally, you couldn’t care less about what anyone else (let alone the French) thinks about you or your electoral choices, right?The French aren’t particularly interested in appearing too keen on America, either. A Harris Interactive poll found that 66 percent of respondents either care little about the U.S. presidential race or not at all. However, should a gun be put to their head mid Gallic shrug, 88 p

By now, “Gangnam Style” has become part of the pop culture lexicon. The infectious song by South Korean singer Psy broke the Guinness world record for “most likes” on YouTube. The video has been watched nearly 425 million times and has inspired flash mobs and parodies by lifeguards, Ivy leaguers and hot moms.If you haven’t heard of “Gangnam Style,” you’ve probably spent the last month orbiting in outer space.Or perhaps you live above the 38th parallel, in North Korea.North Korea is as isolated a

Mark Twain said there was no difference between someone who did not read and one who could not read. The same goes for manufacturing. A country that does not manufacture isn’t unlike a nation that cannot.There is much talk in the U.S. these days to bring back manufacturing jobs for energizing the stagnant economy. But, how? The malaise that has gripped the manufacturing sector shows no sign of abating. Can this be remedied?I was drawn to Korea when I advised one of the largest conglomerates of t