Corruption has been declared such an extraordinary crime in Indonesia that the state has established the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on top of the other two institutions with prosecutorial powers ― the Attorney General’s Office and the National Police ― and the Corruption Courts distinctly separate from the regular District Courts nationwide in an attempt to eradicate this acute and ingrained social illness.Still, various antigraft measures have apparently failed to prevent Indonesia

China is continuing to beef up its military. This is apparent from the country’s defense budget for 2012, which was made public at the opening session of the People’s National Congress on Monday.The country’s defense spending for this year totals about 670 billion yuan (about 8.7 trillion yen), up 11.2 percent over the previous year and the second-largest figure after that of the United States.China has maintained double-digit growth in defense spending since 1989, with the exception of 2010 whe

He did it again. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin won another presidential election. While the outcome was no surprise, neither was the controversy that greeted his victory. Despite Putin’s claim that he won “an open and honest fight,” the opposition has charged that the outcome reflects vote tampering and outright fraud. The growing antagonism of forces opposed to Putin will make the challenge of governing Russia ― already quite formidable ― even more difficult.The outcome of Sunday’s pres

Two terrestrial broadcasting networks, KBS and MBC, are embroiled in strikes by unionized reporters and other employees. A strike has just started at YTN, a 24-hour cable news channel. What the three broadcasters have in common is that their management is under the direct or indirect control of the government.Their chief executive officers are replaced each time presidential power switches hands from one political party to another. The change of management tends to put a spin, sometimes subtle a

The main opposition Democratic United Party and the minor United Progressive Party are moving to forge an alliance in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Watching their negotiations, one may wonder if the powerful, resurgent, center-left party is playing second fiddle to the smaller, more left-wing party.Before the talks started in February, it was widely anticipated that the UPP’s demand for concessions in nominations would be a major stumbling block to the proposed electoral alliance. But th

Gnothi Seauton ― In Greek, these words mean “know thyself.” Such was the inscription at the ancient Temple of Apollo, where people would visit the sacred Oracle. Moving on to present-day Korea, the Korean people indeed “know themselves.” Korea has a strong sense of national identity and pride, with the largely homogeneous Korean people being in no doubt with regard to their origins from Mongolian tribes and seen with the people’s determination to forge ahead for a better tomorrow and a general s

Credit the Obama administration with the patient pursuit of negotiations toward dismantling North Korea’s nuclear program. Once again it may all come to a frustrating impasse.Still, North Korea did announce Wednesday it would allow international inspectors into its Yongbyon nuclear complex and suspend nuclear weapons tests and uranium enrichment in anticipation of talks.The New York Times reports the latest round of contacts began last July with the U.S. offering 265,000 tons of food to get the

The World Bank report, “China 2030: Building a Modern, Hamonious and Creative High-Income Society,” which was released this week, stated that liberalizing interest rates according to market principles is a priority for China’s financial reforms over the next two decades, highlighting the dilemma facing the government. China’s banking system remains a highly regulated sector; policymakers set the interest rates, not the market and most of the large state-owned banks tend to offer credit facilitie

Protests against China’s forced repatriation of North Korean defectors are spreading in South Korea and abroad. The problem has been around for a long time but has never attracted as much domestic and global attention as it does now. Now that the ball has started rolling, it is incumbent on government officials, politicians, civic groups and celebrities participating in the protest movement to keep up the momentum. Especially, politicians on both sides of the aisle need to pull their weight to w

Tensions are mounting on Jeju Island as the Navy has started preparatory work for the construction of a naval base on the island amid vehement protests from the local government and environmentalists.On Wednesday, builders began demolition work on the construction site, removing parts of a rocky outcrop that environmental activists claim to have high geological value and therefore deserves preservation.Jeju Governor Woo Keun-min and other leading politicians of the island requested that the Navy

Earlier this week, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, visited President Barack Obama in the White House. The two met together with their national-security advisers for 90 minutes, then had a 30-minute chat alone, then moved to a lunch together with various high officials of their governments. Many words were exchanged during these meetings, but it turns out they all might have been superfluous. Netanyahu delivered his overriding message quite efficiently, and almost wordlessly, in t

The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition Democratic United Party are speeding up their processes of parliamentary nomination ― including the selection of nominees in certain electoral districts and the designation of certain other districts for primaries. Several more days will be needed to finalize the processes.Both parties have a set of criteria for nomination. They include loyalty to the party and popularity in electoral districts. No less important are connections to party leaders a