The Korea Herald

[David Ignatius] How quick to exit in Afghanistan?

ViewpointsDec 23, 2011

KABUL, Afghanistan ― Gen. John Allen insists that there is “no daylight” between him and President Obama about policy for continued troop withdrawals from Afghanistan next year. That may be technically true, but a political battle is brewing over the future pace of the U.S. military drawdown here. Allen, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, says the White House hasn’t given him any timetable for further cuts after September 2012. That’s when the last of the 30,000 “surge” troops Obama di
Global community must prepare for unstable N. K.

ViewpointsDec 23, 2011

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, the general secretary of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, died Saturday.After the death of his father, Kim Il-sung, he struggled for 17 years to maintain the reclusive country’s regime. News of the dictator’s sudden death flashed around the globe, after the fact was hidden for two days.It is inevitable that North Korea, a country with a father-son political succession system, will become more unstable for a while.What will the regime be like under the rule of
Time enough to determine who’s responsible

ViewpointsDec 23, 2011

For the tremendous physical and emotional damage it has wrought, “Sendong” is one for the books.But there will be time enough for blame after the dead are buried and the missing are found, whether breathing or rendered extinct, in the storm-stricken areas of Mindanao. For now, let sorrow and the ceremony of mourning take their course. Let those suddenly bereft of loved ones and earthly possessions find the strength to come to grips with their loss and, though inconceivable for the moment, to go
North Korea at a crossroads

ViewpointsDec 23, 2011

The death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on Saturday, reported by Pyongyang’s special broadcast from noon Monday, could destabilize the isolated communist country as well as all of the Korean Peninsula. Events unfolding in the North Korean leadership must be watched carefully to prepare for possible deterioration of regional stability.Kim, reported to have suffered a stroke in 2008, died of a heart attack on his train due to “great mental and physical strain caused by his uninterrupted field
[William Choong] Provocations over rapprochement?

ViewpointsDec 23, 2011

Following the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, the 2004 film Team America, which had portrayed Kim as a lonely and insane dictator, began trending on the Internet. A popular clip being circulated is that of Kim singing, Broadway-style, in the opulent surroundings of his palace. “I’m so ronery (sic),” he sings, saying that the world does not appreciate his “grand prans (sic).”This state of affairs now applies to his heir apparent Kim Jong-un, who is reported to be his late 20s and a newc
[Editorial] New North Korea policy

EditorialDec 22, 2011

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s sudden death has further increased the uncertainty on the Korean Peninsula. Yet it has also provided an important opening for the two Koreas to end the hostility and pursue peace and mutual prosperity. To grab this rare opportunity, the Seoul government needs to recalibrate its North Korea strategy.Inter-Korean relations have remained deadlocked for years, especially following the North’s provocations against the South last year ― the destruction of the Navy’s C
[Editorial] Korea-China hotline

EditorialDec 22, 2011

The government’s response to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s death has exposed some glaring problems. One such problem concerns the failure of the nation’s main spy agency to detect Kim’s death before Pyongyang’s state media announced it on Monday.The National Intelligence Service had no clue to Kim’s death for two days, revealing its serious lack of capability to gather intelligence on North Korea. The agency’s intelligence lapse kept President Lee Myung-bak in the dark about the grave situat
U.S. gets new chance to engage North Korea

ViewpointsDec 22, 2011

Hours after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s death on Saturday, news reports out of Seoul said Pyongyang had agreed to suspend its enriched uranium nuclear weapons program.This was a sign that denuclearization talks, stalled since April 2009 when North Korea pulled out, could resume. It was a key demand of the United States before it would agree to the resumption of talks.The agreement, struck between North Korean and U.S. negotiators in talks in Beijing last Thursday and Friday, included 240,0
[Nouriel Roubini] Fragile and unbalanced in 2012

ViewpointsDec 22, 2011

NEW YORK ― The outlook for the global economy in 2012 is clear, but it isn’t pretty: recession in Europe, anemic growth at best in the United States, and a sharp slowdown in China and in most emerging-market economies. Asian economies are exposed to China. Latin America is exposed to lower commodity prices (as both China and the advanced economies slow). Central and Eastern Europe are exposed to the eurozone. And turmoil in the Middle East is causing serious economic risks ― both there and elsew
Smart marketing put Dec. 25 on the calendar

ViewpointsDec 22, 2011

This Christmas, whether you celebrate the arrival of Santa Claus, the birth of Jesus Christ or the chance to eat Chinese food and see any movie you want, spare a thought for Pope Liberius. He’s the man responsible for setting its date as Dec. 25. And his probable reasons for doing so should give pause to the holiday’s most devout champions and its shrillest critics. Ever wonder why some Christian holidays, such as Easter, Ash Wednesday and Ascension Day, are “movable feasts,” changing around the
Kim’s death, Mother Nature colored stormy 2011

ViewpointsDec 22, 2011

If Asians got together to name a person of the year, someone who brought surprise, intrigue and economic impact to the region, the choice would be obvious: Mother Nature. From earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand to floods in the Philippines and Thailand to Chinese droughts to volcanic eruptions in Indonesia, this was a year overrun by nature’s fury. Food shortages and the effects of climate change challenged governments and inflation rates as rarely before. Other forces of nature, meanwhile, ra
Kim Jong-il, Vaclav Havel: Two leaders a world apart

ViewpointsDec 22, 2011

According to his obituary in the Los Angeles Times, North Korean strongman Kim Jong-il hired a personal sushi chef from Tokyo and a personal pizza chef from Italy even as his country suffered through a famine that killed as many as 2 million of his people. He kept a library of 20,000 movies for his own entertainment although ordinary citizens could be sent to prison camps for watching South Korean or American movies. He beat back economic reforms and led North Korea’s economy to the brink of col
Endorse the nuclear test ban

ViewpointsDec 22, 2011

STOCKHOLM/MEXICO CITY ― Indonesia’s parliament has just taken a historic step, one that makes the planet safer from the threat of nuclear weapons. The importance of Indonesia’s decision to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty cannot be overstated. This is a golden opportunity for the remaining eight countries to endorse the CTBT, enabling it to come into legal effect.For the five decades following World War II, a nuclear test shook and irradiated the planet on average every nine days
[Editorial] Condolences to N. Korea

EditorialDec 21, 2011

South Korea has offered condolences to North Korea over Kim Jong-il’s death in the manner it apparently considered most appropriate. This should settle the dispute over whether or not the South should express condolences to the North.The South Korean government directed its condolences to the North Korean people, not to the North Korean government or Kim’s successor ― his youngest son. By doing so, President Lee Myung-bak’s administration appeared to be aiming at appeasing conservatives, who wer
[Editorial] Investor confidence

EditorialDec 21, 2011

The South Korean financial markets plunged on the news about North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s sudden death on Saturday. They did so with good reason. One of the investor concerns was undoubtedly the possibility of a power struggle breaking out in North Korea in the aftermath of Kim’s death and an ensuing calamity spilling over into the South.When his death was announced two days later, on Monday, South Korea’s benchmark stock index lost 3.43 percent, or 63 points, and closed at 1,776.93. The Ko