North Korea’s brushes with Disney tend to be less than magical. The Kim Dynasty’s first foray to the place where dreams come true ended in a nightmare. In 2001, the brother of leader Kim Jong-un tried to enter Japan to visit Tokyo Disneyland. His Dominican Republic passport and lack of Spanish skills piqued the interest of customs officers, and was an endless source of embarrassment for their Dear Leader father, Kim Jong-il, who died in December. Eleven years after his brother’s attempted visit

President Lee Myung-bak told his senior secretaries that his was a “morally perfect administration” and that, as such, it “should not permit even the tiniest blemish.” He made the remarks in reference to corruption allegations against some of his aides on Sept. 30 last year.It was not clear whether he actually believed in his administration’s moral supremacy or intended his remarks to be mere political rhetoric. But a stern-faced senior presidential secretary, emerging from a meeting presided ov

The central bank’s latest decision to cut its base rate by 25 basis points came as a surprise to the financial market, which, given its governor’s earlier remarks, had anticipated a continued freeze. When the rate was frozen at 3.25 percent for the 13th consecutive month in June, the governor said it did not mean any change in the central bank’s policy of raising the rate to the proper level at a time deemed suitable.Many had anticipated the central bank would keep the rate intact this month aga

Testifying before a Senate committee a few months ago, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lamented that America was “in an information war, and we are losing that war.” This week, she blew a fuse at the “Friends of Syria” meeting in Paris, saying that Russia and China should “pay a price” for not supporting regime change in Syria.Here’s a thought: How about using the power of truth to get things done rather than cover and manipulation?Russia and China aren’t following America’s script for o

Small and midsize companies account for 90 percent of domestic enterprises, and are a huge potential source of technological and human capital. We hope they will play a significant role in kick-starting the economy.A panel of the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry formed to investigate the future of small and midsize businesses recently announced its proposals for revitalizing this sector. The panel’s report compiled the views of workers at small and midsize companies including managers, femal

Bolstering public trust in banks is once again on the agenda following the Libor inter-bank rates scandal now spreading in the Western banking industry. When will banks that are too big to fail ever learn?A prime banking failure from the drying up of credit, after balance sheets were gutted on reckless bets, was exposed as a result of the derivatives fiasco of 2008. Companies were left stranded. Joblessness rose, asset values fell. Trust in banks hit the depths. It raised this poser: Of what use

Health care reforms put forward by U.S. President Barack Obama have passed constitutional scrutiny. In an anxiously awaited, bitterly divided 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the week before last that the bulk of the bill, put into law in 2010, can go into effect.The decision upholds the most important piece of social legislation put forward in the United States for decades, but in a sad commentary on the static perspective of many Americans, the overwhelming majority of the commentaries

The parliamentary dismissal of the arrest motion for a ruling party lawmaker suspected of bribery is shameful for both of the major parties, which pledged to give up privileges given to legislative members.The dismissal is expected to make voters more cynical and distrustful of the parties, especially the ruling Saenuri Party, whose members worry about its possible negative impact on the prospects of their candidate winning the presidential election in December.Rep. Chung Doo-un, a three-term Sa

In contrast to sluggish domestic consumption, a growing number of Koreans have been traveling abroad, spending large amounts of money in foreign shops, resorts and other tourist attractions.Local travel agencies, which sold a record number of overseas tour packages for the first half of this year, expect the sales to increase at a more rapid pace during the summer holiday season.The number of people on the subscription list of their July-August package trips abroad rose by nearly 10 percent from

Public health professionals have warned about drug-resistant tuberculosis for years. Now comes news out of India and China to feed the concern. Doctors in India have documented more than a dozen cases of TB so tenacious, it responds to no known drug. This is a scary proposition in a country where 2 million of the world’s 9 million annual TB cases occur and where malnutrition, overcrowding and a weak health system create a hotbed for the often-fatal disease. Conventional drug resistance is also t

In the first of what is likely to be a series of confrontations between Egypt’s new elected leader and the country’s armed forces, President Mohamed Morsi has called for a parliament disbanded by the generals to return to work, pending the election of a new representative body under a yet-to-be-written constitution. As with much about Egypt’s transition from autocracy to democracy, the controversy over the legitimacy of the People’s Assembly is overlaid with legal issues. The Islamist-dominated