The Korea Herald

[Joel Brinkley] Iran’s support of Syria backfiring

ViewpointsOct 2, 2011

As the brutal Syrian uprising stumbles into its seventh month, Iran’s leaders are spinning and darting like a wobbly top. They realize that President Bashar al-Assad’s continuing slaughter of his own people is not only costing thousands of innocent Syrian lives, but also eviscerating Iran’s reputati
Obama’s unwise campaign against Palestinian statehood

ViewpointsOct 2, 2011

President Obama is staging an unwarranted diplomatic battle against the Palestinian attempt at statehood recognition through U.N. membership.In his speech to the United Nations on Sept. 21, Obama opposed the Palestinian bid for membership without giving any good reason.“Peace will not come through s
Mahmoud Abbas: A humble moment in history

ViewpointsOct 2, 2011

Global Viewpoint: Mr. President, how did you feel at the moment you stood before the General Assembly? At that historic moment as you stood there, how did you feel personally?Mahmoud Abbas: I felt that we are really witnessing an historic event, that we are before a just and right demand, namely tha
[Park Sang-seek] U.N. International Day of Peace: How to build peace?

ViewpointsOct 2, 2011

No person and state on earth opposes peace, but humanity has never enjoyed permanent peace since it appeared on the globe. Scholars all over the world have never ceased to write on war and peace. All religions have been constantly preaching peace, and great world political leaders have vowed to keep
[Editorial] No leniency on sex crimes

EditorialSept 30, 2011

A box-office hit based on the true story of sex crimes against disabled students by their brazen teachers has turned the nation into a seething cauldron of anger.The film, titled “Dogani,” which means a crucible or cauldron in English, depicts a real case that took place at Inhwa School, a special e
[Editorial] New outlets for medicines

EditorialSept 30, 2011

The government is set to submit a bill to the National Assembly to make cold medicines and fever reducers available at supermarkets and convenience stores. Currently these products are sold only at licensed drug stores.The bill is a follow-up to a government plan announced in June, which is intended
[Michael Boskin] Time running out for Europe to choose on recovery

ViewpointsSept 30, 2011

PALO ALTO ― Europe is suffering from simultaneous sovereign-debt, banking, and currency crises. Severe economic distress and political pressure are buffeting relationships among citizens, sovereign states, and supranational institutions such as the European Central Bank. Calls are rampant for surren
[David Ignatius] Caution fills Obama’s playbook

ViewpointsSept 30, 2011

WASHINGTON ― It was painful to watch President Obama recently at the United Nations, backing away from the goal of Palestinian statehood he had championed when he took office. The best that could be said was that it was a bit of foreign-policy realism, acknowledging the political and strategic fact
Time for Ozawa to tell his side of the story

ViewpointsSept 30, 2011

The guilty ruling handed down to three former aides to Democratic Party of Japan strongman Ichiro Ozawa over political funding irregularities clearly establishes their criminal responsibility by the judiciary. Given this, Ozawa has an extremely heavy responsibility to assume as a politician over the
Transparent gains

ViewpointsSept 30, 2011

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III’s first official trip to the United States achieved something more than the obligatory ceremonial visit of a new president to a key ally and a reaffirmation of the historical, geopolitical and economic ties. Although there was no one-on-one meeting between him
[Zhou Hong] World would benefit from a longer-lasting global order

ViewpointsSept 30, 2011

One of the amazing new phenomena of the rapidly changing past few decades is the change in power configuration of today’s world compared to 20-30 years ago. The fall of the Berlin Wall not only ended the Cold War, but also, or even more significantly, combined the “two world markets” into one.
The storm over disaster aid in the United States

ViewpointsSept 29, 2011

Some 13 percent of Americans approve of how Congress is doing its job, while 83 percent disapprove. Nearly 22 percent of Americans say the country is on the right track; 72 percent say no, the country is on the wrong track.If you were a member of Congress, these averages of recent survey results fro
[Editorial] Hong’s Gaeseong visit

EditorialSept 29, 2011

Rep. Hong Joon-pyo, chairman of the ruling Grand National Party, is visiting the South Korean industrial complex in Gaeseong, North Korea, on Friday. He says his visit is aimed at learning about the difficulties South Korean companies have at the complex, adding that helping to resolve those difficu
[Editorial] Better late than never?

EditorialSept 29, 2011

The prosecutors’ office is described as a semi-judicial agency. In other words, the office is granted a great degree of freedom in prosecuting criminal cases, if not the kind of uninhibited independence as is guaranteed to the court in the process of adjudication. What the prosecutors’ office has re
[Robert Shiller] Great debt scare in U.S., Europe

ViewpointsSept 29, 2011

NEW HAVEN ― It might not seem that Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis and growing concern about the United States’ debt position should shake basic economic confidence. But it apparently has. And loss of confidence, by discouraging consumption and investment, can be a self-fulfilling prophecy, causing t