The power succession in North Korea has reached its culminating point. Kim Jong-il, who died seven months ago, left his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, as the successor but appointed a number of high-ranking officials to mentor him and help ensure a smooth transition. Now the training wheels are being removed and the young Kim is about to show the world who he really is and what he is capable of.After six months of training in the driver’s seat, Kim Jong-un has decided that he is mature enough to rul

On June 29, one year ago, the National Assembly passed the revision of the Special Adoption Law, which gave more rights to adoptees, better protection to birth mothers, and greater protection of children’s rights. The law will enter into full force on Aug. 5.What changes are taking effect next week? It is not possible to give a definitive because the Ministry of Health and Welfare is still finalizing the decree and ordinance for the law application. However, from the draft published in March, it

A diplomatic row is brewing between Seoul and Beijing over the claims by Kim Young-hwan, a South Korean activist for North Korean human rights, that he was severely tortured by Chinese security officials during his 114-day detention in the neighboring country.China’s Foreign Ministry flatly denied the claims on Tuesday, saying that the Chinese authorities that handled the case conducted an investigation “according to the law” and protected the legitimate rights of Kim and three other arrested So

Domestic corporations are half-hearted about establishing workplace nursery facilities. Under the current Infant Care Act, a company operating a workplace with more than 500 regular workers or more than 300 female employees is required to operate a nursery. When the company is unable to run such a facility on its own, it may entrust care of the employees’ children to a nearby day care center or pay an infant care allowance to its employees. But more than half of domestic companies failed to meet

Until recently, it was hard to imagine that Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s scandal-prone former prime minister, might attempt another comeback. Now, sadly for Italy and Europe, he might. Italy’s prospects are troubled enough without the turmoil that a resurgence of the billionaire media mogul would stir. Berlusconi, 75, was out of favor when he left office in November, and his career in politics looked over. A busy retirement ― including defending himself on a charge of paying a minor for sex, which

While Mao Zedong was the founder of communist China, Deng Xiaoping was the architect of its economic miracle and great power resurgence. Even as China was going through spectacular economic growth during the 1980s and 1990s, Deng cautioned the country’s leaders to “bide your time and hide your capabilities.” The first part of his advice was spot on as China was navigating the difficult task of building and modernizing in an international environment not entirely favorable to the country. By conc

NEW YORK ― For years, climate scientists have been warning the world that the heavy use of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) threatens the world with human-induced climate change. The rising atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, a byproduct of burning fossil fuels, would warm the planet and change rainfall and storm patterns and raise sea levels. Now those changes are hitting in every direction, even as powerful corporate lobbies and media propagandists like Rupert Murdoch try to

People find it difficult to sleep these days, as the temperatures refuse to fall in the evening after the scorching daytime heat. These tropical nights are nondiscriminatory.Still, some might sleep more easily than others. Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon recently said to senior officials of the metropolis and metropolis-invested corporations: “The daily debt interest payments alone amount to 2.1 billion won. How does sleep come easy to you?” He made the remarks at a brainstorming session on debt, to w

It should not come as a surprise that KT, the nation’s second-largest mobile carrier, was a target of hacking. Hackers have recently stolen confidential information from so many corporations, ranging from the Educational Broadcasting System to GS Caltex and Hyundai Capital.What is shocking, though, is that KT had been kept in the dark for as long as five months. The police said a man, whose identity was withheld, developed a hacking program with his coworker in February and that they had since u

The worst drought in more than a half-century is gripping most of the U.S. Midwest and South, damaging crops and presaging higher food prices. Congress is deadlocked as it tries to pass a new farm bill, as it does every five years, amid demands for broad emergency assistance for the hardest hit areas. This impasse may be the best thing that one could hope for, considering the flaws in the proposed legislation. Instead of trying to adopt a new bill before its August recess, Congress should approv

The Los Angeles City Council voted last week to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in the city, the culmination of years of controversy over the sale of pot here. Meanwhile, in Oakland, a federal crackdown closed the nation’s largest dispensary amid protests and demonstrations. But authorities rarely seem to address the real issue about marijuana in California: Is it good medicine?Some proponents of medical marijuana argue that pot is “natural” and therefore better, or at least no worse, than le