The Korea Herald

[Nouriel Roubini] Scary oil poses risk in global economy

ViewpointsMar 18, 2012

NEW YORK ― Today’s fragile global economy faces many risks: the risk of another flare-up of the eurozone crisis; the risk of a worse-than-expected slowdown in China; and the risk that economic recovery in the United States will fizzle (yet again). But no risk is more serious than that posed by a further spike in oil prices.The price of a barrel of Brent crude, which was well below $100 in 2011, recently peaked at $125. Gasoline prices in the U.S. are approaching $4 a gallon, a damaging threshold
Lessons for NATO from Libya

ViewpointsMar 16, 2012

NATO’s intervention in Libya one year ago helped to avert a humanitarian catastrophe and created the conditions for Libya’s citizens to end Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi’s dictatorship. The military operation highlighted important improvements in European leadership since the Bosnian debacle in the 1990s, but the conditions underlying the Libya mission’s success cannot be counted upon to exist again in the future. Indeed, NATO’s accomplishment in Libya risks obscuring persistent weaknesses in Europ
Online videos signal shift in accessibility of media

ViewpointsMar 16, 2012

Ever since the popularization of the Internet, people have been forecasting the end of old media such as the printed newspaper. The popular analysis points to the fatal inadequacy of outdated technologies to collect and deliver content as well as to a changed advertisement revenue model that favours online media. The recent rapid successes of two videos, one locally and one globally, however, show that a true digital revolution in the media might stem less from a technological standpoint but fro
Nuclear power must be part of Japan’s future

ViewpointsMar 16, 2012

The effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant have made energy policy more important than ever.The government must utilize lessons from the nuclear crisis to improve the safety of nuclear reactors. It is an urgent task for the government to allow resumption of idle reactors after confirming their safety as part of its efforts to avert a power crisis.Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda declared at a press conference on Su
[Chi Fulin] Better distribution of income

ViewpointsMar 16, 2012

China should work out a comprehensive income distribution reform package as soon as possible to promote sustainable, fairer and more balanced development of its economy and society.The income distribution reform, one that is closely related with China’s overall social reform and development, is already receiving a great deal of attention. Whether or not some breakthroughs will be achieved in this area will produce decisive influences on the country’s consumption-based economic transformation, wh
Time to come up with a Plan C for Afghanistan

ViewpointsMar 16, 2012

President Obama has long been criticized by Republicans for his purportedly inadequate zeal in pursuing the war in Afghanistan. He was criticized sharply from the right for his plan to draw down troops over three years; too fast, they said.So it’s ironic that Obama now finds himself defending that timetable against GOP critics who want to pull out more quickly in the wake of news that a U.S. soldier allegedly massacred at least 16 civilians.“We’re risking the lives of young men and women in a mi
[Editorial] Irritating turf war

EditorialMar 16, 2012

Prosecutors and police are at each other’s throats again, this time over the investigation of a prosecutor who was accused of verbal assault and abuse of power by a police officer.The case involves a police officer in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, who filed a complaint in January against a prosecutor in Changwon, the seat of the provincial government, for insulting him and abusing his power in directing and supervising the investigation of a private waste treatment company.The police offic
[Editorial] Exemplary lawmakers

EditorialMar 16, 2012

Rep. Kim Moo-sung of the ruling Saenuri Party and Rep. Park Sun-sook of the main opposition Democratic United Party are a rare species in Korean politics. They recently set shining examples of self-sacrifice in the ongoing election candidate nomination process, attracting praise from the media as well as fellow politicians.Rep. Kim is a political heavyweight who has been elected four times from a district in Busan, a traditional stronghold of the ruling party. The party’s candidate recommendatio
Jakarta’s House of traitors

ViewpointsMar 16, 2012

It is perhaps the loss of public faith in Indonesia’s House of Representatives that explains why the harder it seeks to boost its image, the more it disappoints its constituents. The House has gradually distanced itself from the public for whom it is supposed to fight and defend.The tall fence surrounding the House compound is merely evidence of a gap separating the elites inside and the masses outside to whom they are indebted, as without their votes the political bigwigs would never have accum
[David Ignatius] Rattling Iran’s weak power link

ViewpointsMar 15, 2012

WASHINGTON ― At the end of another week of near-constant talk about war with Iran, here’s one counterintuitive possibility: The Obama administration, in its eagerness to deter an Israeli strike, has committed itself to a pressure campaign that, if pursued vigorously, could eventually lead to regime change in Iran. President Obama’s pledge of escalating economic, political and other pressure on Iran goes to that regime’s weak link. For the mullahs’ greatest vulnerability is their political struct
The double-edged health care debate in U.S.

ViewpointsMar 15, 2012

There’s a seeming paradox in the way Americans view the health care law that President Barack Obamaand the Democrats passed two years ago this month.Most people tell pollsters they like the parts of the law that have gone into effect: health insurance for people with pre-existing conditions, a clause that allows children to stay on their parents’ health plans until the age of 26 and discounts for prescription drugs on Medicare. And, as time goes by, Americans seem less worried that the law will
Iceland’s big trial is a travesty of justice

ViewpointsMar 15, 2012

Everybody is polite and formal at the trial of former Icelandic Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde, which began last week inside a historic mansion in the capital, Reykjavik. Yet the atmosphere is tense, and the stakes are high. In the fall of 2010, a narrow majority in Iceland’s parliament decided to charge Haarde with criminal negligence before and during the collapse of all three major Icelandic banks in early October 2008. The trial is politically driven ― the vote to hold it fell largely along p
P.M. Netanyahu could be bluffing in Iran standoff

ViewpointsMar 15, 2012

Whenever I’m in the Middle East, I find myself, sometimes within hours of arrival, more susceptible to the appeal of elaborate conspiracy theories. Perhaps it’s the air, or the (lack of) water, but what sounds outlandish in the U.S. doesn’t seem nearly so far-fetched here. I’m not referring to conspiracy theories drawn from the swamps of Sept. 11 delusion-mongering, or from the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” or, alternatively, from the “Protocols of the Lunatics Who Believe Barack Obama Is a
[Peter Singer] Fatter air passengers will have to be charged more

ViewpointsMar 15, 2012

MELBOURNE ― We are getting fatter. In Australia, the United States, and many other countries, it has become commonplace to see people so fat that they waddle rather than walk. The rise in obesity is steepest in the developed world, but it is occurring in middle-income and poor countries as well.Is a person’s weight his or her own business? Should we simply become more accepting of diverse body shapes? I don’t think so. Obesity is an ethical issue, because an increase in weight by some imposes co
[Editorial] Proportional nominees

EditorialMar 15, 2012

As the political parties wind up their selection of candidates for the parliamentary district elections, they have started the process of nominating candidates for election through proportional representation. The ruling Saenuri Party announced its list of 549 applicants. The main opposition Democratic United Party is accepting applications.Here again, there are do’s and don’ts the parties will have to keep in mind if they are to live up to the spirit of proportional representation and avoid rep