In Korea, autumn is ― more accurately, used to be ― called the season for reading for its pleasantly cool weather and extended night hours. Around this time of year, many events and programs were arranged by the news media and publishers to encourage people to read more books to deepen their thinking and improve their quality of life.In recent years, however, the intellectual description of autumn has hardly been heard of and efforts to boost the season for reading have dwindled. This fall, it s

Pictures of Japanese ministers and politicians visiting a war shrine in Tokyo this week remind us again of the deep-seated historical obstacle to building a friendly partnership among Northeast Asian neighbors whose ties have already been frayed over rekindled territorial disputes.Two cabinet members and 67 parliamentarians paid respects at Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 2.5 million war dead including 14 convicted Class A war criminals from World War II, Thursday, a day after opposition party lea

The lobby of Tokyo’s majestic Imperial Hotel was people-watching central last weekend. Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, whisked by with 20 television cameras in tow. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble zoomed by moments later with even greater hysteria. Next came Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan, Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa, Indian Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram and other notables on hand for the IMF’s annual meeting. Amid

A government plan aimed at preventing large corporations from poaching skilled workers from small and medium-sized enterprises has sparked controversy.In a bid to stem the brain drain plaguing SMEs, the Ministry of Employment and Labor is set to unveil a guideline on compensation that big businesses will be required to pay SMEs for recruiting their core employees. The scheme is intended to address the free rider problem of large companies hiring away workers for whom SMEs have invested in traini

It was unfortunate that a Chinese fisherman was killed on Tuesday during a Korean Coast Guard raid on Chinese boats fishing illegally in South Korean waters in the West Sea.The fisherman was hit by a rubber bullet fired by a Korean Coast Guard officer, who felt threatened as Chinese fishermen wielded deadly weapons such as hacksaws and knives to stop the Coast Guard from seizing their boats.The Seoul government allowed Coast Guard commandos to fire rubber bullets against Chinese fishermen early

The battle to save the euro turns on one question: Can large governments, notably Italy and Spain, get their debts under control? Because they are in a monetary union, they can’t take the easy way out by devaluing their currencies to make their obligations smaller and exports cheaper relative to those of other countries. Instead, they have to make painful budget cuts and slash workers’ wages to restore their competitiveness ― moves that, in the short term, can make their debts less manageable by

How should a student respond when he or she becomes the object of bullying?Philippine Psychiatric Association spokesperson Dr. Babes Arcenas, in an interview with another paper, said that those who are bullied should stand their ground the first time the act of intimidation or harassment occurs: “The first time it is done, show that you can fight back. You have to show that you are in control because if they see you crying, they will think they have power over you. You should be able to tell the

The surprising increase of year-on-year exports in September may have eased some worries about Taiwan’s economic condition, but so far the government still does not have a concrete plan for stimulating the economy. In the past, Taiwan’s government devoted sizeable resources to one particular industry ― electronics, making it the engine for economic growth.Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited is one successful example of this strategy. This model, however, may not be suitable for so

The government’s irresponsible attitude toward nuclear power generation is becoming clear. It seems that the government does not want to pursue concrete steps to reduce and eventually end the nation’s reliance on nuclear power despite its new long-term energy policy under which it is supposed to utilize all the available policy resources to achieve “zero operation” of nuclear power plants in the 2030s. This attitude is exemplified by its readiness to accept the resumption of the suspended constr

The ruling and opposition parties, crafting pledges for the upcoming presidential election, are moving to rein in the prosecution, which exercises near absolute power in legal proceedings against criminal suspects. The parties share with the public a belief that criminal justice cannot be properly administered without reforming the prosecution.Their desire to subject the prosecution to greater control reflects the growing public distrust in the law enforcement agency, which has often been denoun

Park Won-soon, who was elected Seoul mayor last year, will now have to make a choice between two of his key election promises ― cutting the city’s debt by 7 trillion won ($6.5 billion) and the building of 80,000 low-rent homes, both by 2014. That is the conclusion of a recent report on the metropolitan government’s finances.According to the report commissioned by the metropolitan government, Seoul had a debt of 18.7 trillion won at the end of last year ― not a small sum by any measure. No less t

Benjamin Netanyahu is so eager to see Mitt Romney elected president that he’s making a fool of himself.For the last couple of weeks, the Israeli prime minister has been the featured player in a Republican-sponsored TV ad playing in Florida. It shows excerpts from Netanyahu’s United Nations speech last month in which he tacitly attacks President Obama for his failure to set a clear red line for Iran’s nuclear program.“The world tells Israel: ‘Wait, there’s still time,’” he says. “And I say, wait