The Korea Herald

[Ban Ki-moon] The power to terminate poverty

ViewpointsOct 6, 2011

NEW YORK ― Growing up as a child during the Korean War, I knew poverty first hand. I saw it around me every day; I lived it. One of my earliest memories is walking up a muddy track into the mountains to escape the fighting, my village burning behind me and wondering what would happen to my family an
Tiny Qatar’s big plans may change U.S. policy

ViewpointsOct 6, 2011

Qatar, a country of fewer than 2 million people set on a peninsula smaller than Connecticut, seems an unlikely candidate to become a regional power. Yet with little fanfare and less warning, tiny Qatar has emerged as one of the Middle East’s most influential states. As the U.S. struggles to understa
[Naomi Wolf ] The worst places in the world to be a woman

ViewpointsOct 6, 2011

OXFORD ― The top and the bottom of the list of countries in Newsweek’s recent cover story, “The 2011 Global Women’s Progress Report,” evoke images of two different worlds. At the top of the list ― the “Best Places to be a Woman” ― we see the usual suspects: Iceland and the Scandinavian countrie
[Shlomo Ben Ami] Has Palestine won battle at U.N.?

ViewpointsOct 6, 2011

TEL AVIV ― The somber spectacle of Israel’s isolation during the United Nations debate on Palestinian statehood marks the political tsunami that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s critics warned would arrive if Israel did not propose a bold peace initiative. But, more importantly, the speeches at t
[Editorial] Local fiscal prudence

EditorialOct 5, 2011

Fiscal prudence is not just demanded of the central government. The need to maintain fiscal soundness also applies to metropolitan, provincial and municipal governments. Local debt is no less serious than national debt, on which public attention has been mainly focused until recently.But some of the
[Editorial] Take steps toward change

EditorialOct 5, 2011

Rep. Sohn Hak-kyu has withdrawn his offer to resign as chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party over the party’s failure to put up a candidate for the Oct. 26 mayoral by-election. He reversed his earlier decision at the request of the party’s lawmakers.Indeed, his resignation would not solve
Yemen drone strike shows careful balance of U.S. policy

ViewpointsOct 5, 2011

The killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born radical Muslim cleric, by a drone strike in Yemen was a minor U.S. victory that raises major questions about the evolving fight against global terrorism. These include: How important was al-Awlaki? Is the U.S. justified in targeting its own citizens
[Joseph E. Stiglitz] Spend more to cure the economy

ViewpointsOct 5, 2011

NEW YORK ― As the economic slump that began in 2007 persists, the question on everyone’s minds is obvious: Why? Unless we have a better understanding of the causes of the crisis, we can’t implement an effective recovery strategy. And, so far, we have neither.We were told that this was a financial cr
A win-win strategy for the Palestinians

ViewpointsOct 5, 2011

Everyone knows that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ bid for statehood through the U.N. Security Council will fail. Even if the Palestinians get the nine votes needed, the United States will veto it. And yet the strategy is brilliant. Why? Because the Palestinians win even if they lose
[William D. Cohan] Getting rich from others was never easier

ViewpointsOct 5, 2011
[Joel Brinkley] U.N. can’t save dissidents, but it can give them a voice

ViewpointsOct 5, 2011

UNITED NATIONS ― Listening to dissidents from around the world speaking at a conference here, you come away thinking there has to be a school somewhere for evil, vicious despots. From Africa to Asia, Europe to Latin America, the gambits these men use to quash dissent sound remarkably similar, state
[Editorial] Sole opposition candidate

EditorialOct 4, 2011

When lawyer-civic activist Park Won-soon declared his candidacy for the Seoul mayoral by-election a month ago, his approval rate hovered around 5 percent. When he won the endorsement of Ahn Cheol-soo, a wildly popular social critic and software businessman, Park’s approval figure shot up close to 50
[Editorial] Rage on Wall Street

EditorialOct 4, 2011

Protests on Wall Street in New York, now in their third week, are growing in size. But the political and financial institutions they denounce show little sign of listening to them. A small group of college students started the demonstration on Sept. 17. They were joined by unionists, other students,
U.S. Supreme Court tests strength of rights

ViewpointsOct 4, 2011

In the term that began Monday, the Supreme Court will address issues as diverse as the limits of copyright law, the appeals process for owners of wetlands regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency and whether the government of California can order reductions in Medi-Cal reimbursements. It is
[Lee Jae-min] KORUS FTA enters home stretch

ViewpointsOct 4, 2011

At long last, the 51-month marathon is about to finish. The runners are passing the main gate of the stadium and entering the final stretch. Fifty-one months and three days have passed since the trade ministers of the two countries signed the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement in Washington on June 30,