The Korean currency is strengthening fast, pushing the exchange rate to below the level of 1,100 won per U.S. dollar. In the past, such a rapid gain would have invited intervention immediately. A strong won was an anathema to top Korean economic policymakers, who wanted to generate high rates of growth by promoting exports.But the government does not even hint at intervening in the market, be it v

Imagine for a moment that every single person living in the city of San Jose, Calif., plus an additional 150,000 or so, just up and left. Vanished. Poof. Gone. Leaving their homes, business buildings and factories behind.That is, in effect, what has happened to the city of Detroit, according to 2010 U.S. Census data. The city that boasted 1.8 million residents in 1950, and was the nation’s economi

Stop for a moment. Look around you and make a note of this time and place, because years from now you will want to remember where you were when 2011 happened.Moving along the path of human events, we have reached a fork in the road, a turning point in history. We don’t know what lies ahead.As this is written, the United States has ― most reluctantly ― entered another war in the Middle East, ostens

Korea’s per capita income recovered to the $20,000 level last year on the back of robust economic growth and the Korean currency’s gain against the U.S. dollar. According to the Bank of Korea, the nation’s per capita gross national income registered $20,759 in 2010, an increase of $3,566 over the previous year. Korea first crossed $20,000 in 2007 when its GNI per capita reached $21,695. But it dro

As expected, flames of anger have flared up in Busan and Daegu following the government’s decision on Wednesday to scrap President Lee Myung-bak’s election pledge to build an international airport in the southeastern part of the nation. In Busan, infuriated lawmakers of the ruling Grand National Party resolved to promote the relocation of Gimhae International Airport to Gadeok Island on their own.

The unfolding crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is, of course, not just a problem for Japan alone.The future of the peaceful use of nuclear energy around the world rests with how effectively this country can cope with the situation.Because of a nearly unimaginable natural disaster ― a devastating earthquake and ensuing colossal tsunami ― the Fukushima plant’s reactors, which were c

When “Tik” Root’s parents saw him off for junior year abroad in Damascus, they never imagined he’d wind up in a Syrian prison.But Tik, who’s pursuing Middle East studies at Vermont’s Middlebury College, where his parents are professors, disappeared March 18. He was last seen walking near a mosque where protests had broken out. His father, Tom, told me the Syrian Interior Ministry has confirmed it

Proposed dam on the Mekong should not go ahead until all social and environmental concerns are addressedInternational pressure is mounting as 263 non-governmental organizations from 51 countries step up their campaign to get Thailand to cancel the proposed Xayaburi Dam on the Mekong River’s mainstream in northern Laos. In a recent letter sent to the governments of Laos and Thailand, the NGOs urged

The military in Burma may or may not be ready for meaningful and inclusive dialogue with the opposition as it handed over power on March 30 to the government elected last November. If it were so inclined, it could simply respond to the offer that pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi made last weekend for talks to clear up “misunderstandings.” Even after the new, nominally civilian government take

Taiwanese women are known for delaying marriage or seemingly choosing to stay single, depending on how you look at it. The average age of marriage for women in 2009 was 30 to 31. In 2010, 31 percent of women above the age of 15 were single, an all-time low for marriage, especially compared to the 7.3 percent of unmarried women in 2007.The largely single status of Taiwan’s most popular female enter