The Korea Herald

[William Pesek] Korea battens down hatches

ViewpointsSept 29, 2011

The threat of financial contagion isn’t always bad.Take South Korea, which is taking the hint from Europe’s fast-worsening sovereign debt crisis. It’s devising plans to cut its fiscal deficit next year and loudly publicizing the effort ― just in case credit-rating agencies get any ideas about downgr
[Sarah Chayes] Government by crime syndicate in Afghanistan

ViewpointsSept 29, 2011

The remarkable public confrontation between the Gandhi-like ascetic Anna Hazare and the government of India ― which came to a triumphant end last month with a glass of orange juice and a government promise to create a strong, independent anti-corruption agency ― is the latest manifestation of a worl
Flirting with justice

ViewpointsSept 29, 2011

After his first argument before Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, one prominent Southern lawyer was certain the Supreme Court would rule in his favor ― because, he said, she was “flirting” with him. The comment speaks volumes about the speaker, but it also says something about the person who weaved her w
[Ban Ki-moon] A global agenda for seven billion

ViewpointsSept 29, 2011

NEW YORK ― Late next month, a child will be born ― the 7 billionth citizen of planet Earth. We will never know the circumstances into which he or she was born. We do know that the baby will enter a world of vast and unpredictable change ― environmental, economic, geopolitical, technological and demo
[Editorial] Defense against recession

EditorialSept 28, 2011

The government’s budget plan for 2012, unveiled Tuesday, attempts to walk a fine line between improving government finances and stimulating economic growth. The plan puts priority on, among other things, improving fiscal soundness. It proposes to increase spending by 5.5 percent to 326.1 trillion wo
[Editorial] Back in crisis mode

EditorialSept 28, 2011

Cheong Wa Dae is back in crisis mode. President Lee Myung-bak instructed his aides Monday to switch the presidential office into emergency mode as global financial instability stemming from the fiscal woes in the eurozone has risen sharply in recent weeks. During the past two months, volatility in d
[Susan Crawford] Phone, Web clampdowns in crises intolerable

ViewpointsSept 28, 2011

Can U.S. citizens count on using the Internet and cell-phone networks to communicate in high-stress situations? The Federal Communications Commission is about to examine that question. Public interest and the law both require that channels stay open. At issue is the termination of cell-phone service
[David Ignatius] Admiral Mullen bids farewell

ViewpointsSept 28, 2011

WASHINGTON ― Talking to Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in his final week in the job, I found myself wondering if we are entering a “post-military” age, when our top officers understand that the biggest problems can’t be solved with military power. Time and again, v
[Robert Reich] Creating jobs by lowering wages

ViewpointsSept 28, 2011

Rick Perry and Mitt Romney can duke it out over who created the most jobs, but governors have as much influence over job growth in their states as roosters do over sunrises.States don’t have their own monetary policies so they can’t lower interest rates to spur job growth. They can’t spur demand thr
New ways to make money talk in campaign finance disclosure

ViewpointsSept 28, 2011

Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority decision last year in Citizens United, which allowed corporations to contribute unlimited sums toward electioneering, was controversial. But the court’s vision of campaign finance disclosure, which was endorsed by every justice except Clarence Thomas, was not. The
[Meghan Daum] Chick flick television

ViewpointsSept 28, 2011

Perhaps it’s been brought to your attention that this is a big week for retrograde representations of women on television. Monday last week marked the premiere of NBC’s “The Playboy Club,” a noir-ish look at Hugh Hefner’s flagship Chicago club in 1963, and Sunday saw the launch of ABC’s “Pan Am,” a
[Doyle McManus] The Republican Party’s hard-right tilt

ViewpointsSept 28, 2011

We’ve now seen three full-dress debates among the Republican politicians who want to be the next president of the United States, and here’s what we’ve learned:They all believe taxes are too high, even though federal taxes are lower as a percentage of the U.S. economy than any time in the last 60 yea
commentary-Pesek

ViewpointsSept 28, 2011

China as J.P. Morgan Might Have to Save World By William Pesek BloombergChina and the U.S. finally found something to agree on: Europe is doomed and might take the world’s two biggest economies down with it. Neither officials in Beijing nor Washington are actually using the “D word.” They don’t need
[Editorial] Hotel room shortage

EditorialSept 27, 2011

Many hotel projects are under way in Seoul amidst steady rise in tourist arrivals mainly from China and Japan. Meticulous planning with the help of tourism authorities is necessary to avoid a glut in accommodation facilities. Most important is securing middle-class hotels wanted by budget-conscious
[Editorial] Reactions to hallyu

EditorialSept 27, 2011

Massive number of tourists travelling between Korea and Japan and the popularity of hallyu dramas and K-pop singers in recent years have helped reduce the tension that existed between the peoples of the two neighboring countries for a century. So, we are puzzled, or just amused, at occasional report