The Korea Herald

[Omar Ashour] The West needs to protect Libyans

ViewpointsMar 1, 2011

LONDON ― “I am a glory that will not be abandoned by Libya, the Arabs, the United States, and Latin America ... revolution, revolution, let the attack begin,” said the self-described King of African Kings, Dean of Arab Leaders, and Imam of all Muslims, Colonel Moammar Gadhafi. The statement summarizes the Libyan regime’s extremely repressive response to the popular uprising against Gadhafi’s 42-ye
[Kim Seong-kon] How to improve English proficiency

ViewpointsMar 1, 2011

My recent column, “Crisis of the university English department,” drew a considerable amount of feedback from foreigners, visiting or living in Korea, who are keenly interested in the problems surrounding English education in Korea. Michael Haenel, a German documentary filmmaker who recently visited local Korean high schools for filming wrote me about his experience with the Korean students he met:
Who’s writing the script in the Middle East?

ViewpointsMar 1, 2011

If we could write the script for the events unfolding in the Middle East, peaceful demonstrators would overwhelm the dictators, who would quickly agree to democratic transitions without bloodshed.The newly liberated countries would proclaim, with universal approval, a future of tolerance, peace and friendship at home, among people of different tribes, religions and beliefs, at home as well as abro
Uprisings possible without the Internet

ViewpointsMar 1, 2011

It is not immediately obvious, but nearly all street protests involve only a minuscule proportion of a country’s population. None of the high-profile protests in recent memory, whether in Bahrain, Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Iran or Moldova, have involved even 1 percent of the people.The 300,000 Egyptians, for instance, who descended on Tahrir Square in Cairo represent just 0.4 per cent of the country’
[Editorial] N.K. threats

EditorialFeb 28, 2011

North Korea released dual warnings of retaliation against the South over the weekend, one about the floating of balloons containing leaflets and basic supplies and the other about the Key Resolve/Foal Eagle joint exercise with the U.S. military. The messages from the North Korean military used extreme words such as “turning Seoul into a sea of fire” with their nuclear and missile powers.The Key Re
[Editorial] Religion and state

EditorialFeb 28, 2011

Some in the Korean Protestant churches may believe that they scored a major victory in their campaign against a legislative move to introduce Islamic bonds or “sukuk” here as parties have dropped a bill aimed to exempt various taxes on the special type of loans originating in the Arab world. But is that so?When we observe the recent actions by religious groups concerning political and social issue
Bold actions needed to send Gadhafi packing

ViewpointsFeb 28, 2011

The response of the United States and the international community to the atrocities committed by Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi against his people has been frustratingly slow and ineffectual.While President Obama and other world leaders have dithered, the slaughter waged by Gadhafi’s mercenaries has claimed the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of peaceful protesters on the streets of Tripol
Obama’s budget plan doesn’t go far enough

ViewpointsFeb 28, 2011

President Obama’s proposed federal budget is far too large.In public statements it has become obligatory to make a smoke cloud about fiscal responsibility, and Obama has done that. “Let’s invest in our people without leaving them a mountain of debt,” he said.The mountain is already there. As a percentage of the gross domestic product, the mountain of debt is now the highest since the Truman admini
[Tom Juravich] U.S. recovery might need public-sector unions

ViewpointsFeb 28, 2011

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is wrong. The way to fix his state’s fiscal crisis isn’t by destroying public-sector unions and the half-century tradition of collective bargaining among teachers and state employees.Walker argues that given the growing state deficit, there is no other choice than to slash the wages and benefits of public-sector workers whose compensation, he suggests, far exceeds t
[David Ignatius] Will Syria become more democratic?

ViewpointsFeb 28, 2011

DAMASCUS, Syria ― The rise and fall of a protest demonstration here recently shows that Syrians share the yearning for dignity that’s sweeping the Arab world ― and also illustrates why President Bashar al-Assad so far hasn’t been threatened by this tide of anger. Here’s what happened on Feb. 19, according to accounts provided separately by a Western diplomat and a Syrian official: A policeman insu
[Meghan Daum] A town brimming with opportunities

ViewpointsFeb 28, 2011

Several years ago I participated in a public “debate” about the exigent matter of whether Los Angeles was better than New York or vice versa. I put “debate” in quotes because it was more like a reading followed by 20 minutes of lethargic sparring. The event was called something like “New York vs. L.A.: Which Is Better,” and people had actually shown up to watch as if they might learn something. My
[Albert Hunt] Mideast without despots needs different U.S. surge

ViewpointsFeb 28, 2011

With a rapidity that would have been unimaginable only a month ago, oppression in the Middle East ― Tunisia, Egypt and now, hopefully, Libya ― is on the run. Whatever the short-term challenges, what emerges will probably be better than the old dictatorial regimes.That’s different than proclaiming that democracy and freedom have arrived. Creating a representative political system of self-rule in th
[Editorial] Illegal capital outflow

EditorialFeb 27, 2011

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office indicted on Thursday the head of a doll exporting company on charges of illegally siphoning off personal assets worth 94.7 billion won overseas and evading taxes totaling 43.7 billion won.The businessman, identified only by his surname Park, was suspected of having shifted his assets abroad for nine years since 2000 using his subsidiary in Hong Kong,
[Editorial] Win-win index

EditorialFeb 27, 2011

Korea is probably the first country in the world to develop an index to measure how large corporations treat their small subcontractors. On Wednesday, the Commission on Shared Growth for Large and Small Companies disclosed a draft plan to introduce the so-called “win-win index.”If enforced as planned, the index is expected to provide a turning point in transforming trade practices in the domestic
Vigilantism’s fundamental moral errors

ViewpointsFeb 27, 2011

Political fanaticism fosters moral relativism. That’s the lesson we should all learn from the gruesome case of Shawna Forde, the Arizona anti-immigrant vigilante who was recently convicted lof two counts of first-degree murder.Prosecutors argued that Forde and two accomplices killed 29-year-old Raul Junior Flores and his 9-year-old daughter, Brisenia, in a botched robbery attempt meant to raise mo