The Korea Herald

Who should win in the People vs. Apple?

Aug 29, 2011

With more than 27,000 iPhone users suing Apple over location tracking ...A man uses an Apple iPhone.Consumers bite backKorean users of Apple’s iPhone have filed a class action suit, arguing Apple had violated its customers’ right to privacy by tracking their locations, causing distress. A lawyer suc
Readers’ VOICE

Aug 29, 2011

On the Apple class-action suitWhen I read about the 27,000 South Koreans who’ve filed a joint lawsuit against Apple, contending that their right to privacy was infringed upon, I took it as a joke. iPhones have GPS built into them; many of their apps work on the assumption of a constant connection to
[David Ignatius] Another al-Qaida leader falls

ViewpointsAug 29, 2011

WASHINGTON ― The death of Atiyah Abd al-Rahman in an Aug. 22 drone attack in Pakistan may appear to be just another in the revolving-door fatalities among al-Qaida’s operations chiefs. But it was a crucial blow to the core group that once surrounded Osama bin Laden. Atiyah, as he was known to a
[Susan Crawford] U.S. falls behind in race toward open government

ViewpointsAug 29, 2011

When Brazil’s government buys anything from fighter jets to a fancy villa, details are available online within 24 hours. Such disclosures are a powerful way to combat corruption, and are a model for official openness that could inspire other nations. Brazil’s online portal started in 2004. Among its
[Editorial] Hyundai donations

EditorialAug 29, 2011

It is refreshing that the children of the late Hyundai Group founder, Chung Ju-yung, now operating top-level enterprises have made large donations amounting to 1 trillion won ($950 million) from their personal assets for social service programs. The charity moves by Chung Mong-joon of the Hyundai He
[Editorial] Crucial investigation

EditorialAug 29, 2011

With Seoul Education Superintendent Kwak No-hyun’s admission that he gave 200 million won to his former rival candidate Park Myung-gi in last year’s election, the prosecution will have no other choice but press charges of election law violation on Kwak, the champion of free school meals and an icon
[Virginia Postrel] How Jobs made business cool

ViewpointsAug 29, 2011

To understand the cultural significance of Steve Jobs, you have to go back in time: to before the iPad or iPhone or iTunes, before Apple Inc.’s comeback products made candy-colored plastics and iAnything cool, before Jobs got kicked out of Apple, even before the Macintosh hurled a sledgehammer at Bi
[Jack Goldstone and Charles Cadwell] Planning for new Libya in post-Gadhafi era

ViewpointsAug 29, 2011

Post-Gadhafi Libya brims with promise, but also with pitfalls. Blessed with low-sulfur oil, proximity to Europe, and recent strong economic growth, the country should be poised to move forward. But that’s only if the risks of tribal conflicts and the challenges of a very young population and regiona
[Simon Johnson] Behind euro, a crisis unfolds in slow motion

ViewpointsAug 29, 2011

Is the economic and financial situation in Western Europe largely under control, as many prominent Europeans contend? Or is it poised to move into a new and more difficult phase? The crisis feels unreal to some people in the same way that war felt phony to some Britons from September 1939 through sp
[David Ignatius] A rare look inside al-Qaida

ViewpointsAug 28, 2011

WASHINGTON ― Government officials refer to it blandly as the “SSE,” or Sensitive Site Exploitation. That’s their oblique term for the extraordinary cache of evidence that was carried away from Osama bin Laden’s compound the night the al-Qaida leader was killed. With the anniversary of the Sept.
[Ramin Jahanbegloo] Syria, Iran will only change if people unite as in Libya

ViewpointsAug 28, 2011

TORONTO ― When future generations look back, they will remember 2011 as the year of end of dictators in the Middle East and the Maghreb. Libya’s Muammar Gadhafi has now joined the Middle East parade of fallen despots. Practically nine months after Tunisia’s President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was oust
[Editorial] Mayoral by-election

EditorialAug 28, 2011

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon resigned Friday, taking responsibility for Wednesday’s invalidated free lunch referendum. With his prompt resignation, a by-election will be held on Oct. 26, setting the stage for another battle on welfare between the ruling Grand National Party and the main opposition Democra
[Editorial] External debt growth

EditorialAug 28, 2011

When the Bank of Korea released the latest data on Korea’s external debt last week, it had both good news and bad news. First the bad news. The nation’s foreign debt continued to increase in the second quarter, with the outstanding balance reaching $398 billion as of the end of June, a new record hi
[Gordon Brown] The eurozone’s cure should start with Germany

ViewpointsAug 28, 2011

LONDON ― I can well understand the defiant mood in Germany today as it grapples with the crisis engulfing the eurozone. German anger is obvious and well founded.Over the last 10 years, while Spain, Ireland, Portugal and others partied on low interest rates, the German people cut their wages, endured
[Noah Charney] Art theft, from the ‘Mona Lisa’ to today

ViewpointsAug 28, 2011

One hundred years ago, an Italian handyman named Vincenzo Peruggia stole the world’s most famous painting from the world’s most famous museum. Peruggia slipped out of a closet inside the Louvre in which he had hidden overnight, removed the “Mona Lisa” from the wall and retreated to a service stairca