The Korea Herald

[Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney] College path: Expensive, but a smart investment

ViewpointsAug 25, 2011

The 3 million Americans who graduated from high school last spring have had to grapple with a big decision: whether to continue with their educations this fall. In today’s economic climate, a growing number of families are questioning the value of higher education. Will an investment in college pay
[David Ignatius] An uncertain Arab transition

ViewpointsAug 24, 2011

WASHINGTON ― U.S. intelligence analysts, like most American observers, have often referred to the process unfolding in the Middle East as the “Arab Spring,” with its implicit message of democratic rebirth and freedom. But some senior analysts are said to have argued for a more neutral term, such as
[Albert R. Hunt] Super PACs line their coffers for 2012 battle

ViewpointsAug 24, 2011

Mike Toomey, Bill Burton and Edward Conard: Each of these men is a close ally of one of the would-be next presidents of the United States. All three insist they have no involvement in their close associates’ campaigns. That’s because they’re helping direct so-called Super PACs ― Burton for President
[Editorial] End of Geumgang tours?

EditorialAug 24, 2011

The project of sending South Korean tourists to a scenic resort in North Korea, suspended since July 2008, is now at the risk of being put to an end as Pyongyang is confiscating South Korean assets in Mount Geumgang on North Korea’s east coast.North Korea, which said on Monday it was legally disposi
[Editorial] Soaring household debt

EditorialAug 24, 2011

Alarm bells are set off each time the central bank announces data on household debt. But little action has been taken to curb its growth, and the action that has been taken has had little impact. Nothing else explains why household debt has been snowballing.The potential threat that soaring debt was
[Yuriko Koike] The final days of Col. Gadhafi

ViewpointsAug 24, 2011

BENGHAZI ― The endgame in the Libyan conflict has at last arrived. Much of Libya’s capital is now in insurgent hands, with the rebel army itself entering from all directions.The military impotence of forces loyal to Col. Muammar Gadhafi ― visible for a week ― had been matched by the regime’s growing
[Frida Ghitis] Hoping for winds of Middle East peace

ViewpointsAug 24, 2011

Nobody expected a quick happy ending, but the depths to which the Middle East peace process has fallen, and the degree to which American influence has collapsed, are nothing short of astounding.Just three years ago, a deal between Israelis and Palestinians seemed tantalizingly close. Today, politica
[Nathan Rice] Crimes against women

ViewpointsAug 24, 2011

A recent article suggesting that women-only subway cars would help curb the problem of crimes against women in the subway is misguided. The points raised before are quite valid. It is discriminatory towards men. According to the report, 1,192 incidents were handled last year, which is estimated to b
[Thomas Klassen] Korea needs to retire mandatory retirement

ViewpointsAug 24, 2011

Mandatory retirement at a very young age, often in the mid 50s, is a defining feature of Korean workplaces. After being forced to retire so early, workers face a long period of low paying and precarious employment either in self-employment or contract work. Not surprisingly, Koreans have working liv
[Lee Jae-min] FTAs and trade remedy measures

ViewpointsAug 23, 2011

Import restrictions are detested by trade agreements. The purpose of such agreements, most notably FTAs, is to dismantle trade restrictions between the signatories. There is one important exception to this general rule: raising an import barrier against unfairly traded goods is permitted. Unfai
[Margaret Carlson] Obama vacation easy to criticize, hard to read

ViewpointsAug 23, 2011

A lot of perks come with being U.S. president. You’re whisked here and there so that your feet barely touch ground. Heads of state pay their respects. There’s no such thing as a dropped call. You have parties and someone else cleans up. But there’s one perk that almost everyone else gets that you do
[Editorial] Lessons from Libya

EditorialAug 23, 2011

The collapse of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s iron-fisted regime appeared imminent on Tuesday as rebels took control of most of Tripoli and seized two of the leader’s seven sons. Rebels briefly celebrated their victory in Green Square, the symbolic heart of Gadhafi’s dictatorial rule.Gadhafi still
[Editorial] Vote on welfare populism

EditorialAug 23, 2011

Today, Seoul citizens express their views on the controversy over school lunches in a referendum. They are asked to choose between two opposing schemes ― a free-lunch-for-all-students plan supported by the main opposition Democratic Party versus an alternative program from Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon tha
[Kim Seong-kon] Of human touch and the computer

ViewpointsAug 23, 2011

We now live in a world where our lives are unwittingly controlled by computers. In fact, computers are so ubiquitous that we cannot imagine a world without them. Wherever you go, you will encounter a computer ― at schools, workplaces, stores, and airports, just to name a few. Our wellbeing prac
[Myung Oak Kim] Focus on quality of meals

ViewpointsAug 23, 2011

The special poll in Seoul on Wednesday is the culmination of a bitter and bizarre political fight that has little to do with what is best for children and lots to do with the future direction of Korea’s elections. Opposition Democratic Party members, who control the Seoul Metropolitan Council and th