The Korea Herald

[Robert Fouser] South Korea’s proactive stance

Jun 1, 2018

The news that President Donald Trump had canceled the June summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shocked South Korea as it was getting ready for bed on May 24. The US leader’s sudden change of heart came two days after a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The news left South Koreans unsettled and searching for answers.The news that President Moon Jae-in held a sudden summit with Kim Jong-un in Panmunjom on Saturday May 26 surprised the nation and raised hopes that diplomacy an
[Leonid Bershidsky] Europe gets new privacy rules. Tech giants shrug

Jun 1, 2018

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation has been in effect for less than a week. It was always clear that a vast number of companies would comply in only the most perfunctory way, at least while the law was being tested. But the big tech companies, sure to face scrutiny, were expected to show a little more rigor. Instead, they appear to be hoping that they won’t get caught or that their lawyers will take care of any complaints.　Most consumers don’t have the time or expertise to c
[Kim Hyuk] What should South Korea do for a successful summit between US and North Korea?

May 31, 2018

In Korea, there is a saying, “good things are good.” This means that if two sides are in good faith in negotiation, it is better to set aside bothersome details in order to move on. The problems of this phrase are if a “good thing” is also understood as a good one by others and that the impact of untouched details can transpire someday. While President Moon was trying to find the intention behind Trump’s cancellation of the meeting with Kim Jong-un, it is also necessary for him to assess factors
[Anne Stevenson-Yang] Are US and China making the world safe for fraud?

May 31, 2018

China and the US are presenting themselves as exemplars of opposite models of political governance.China has laid out its vision for a rejuvenated nation: a socialist planned economy, built on data and analytics, that will displace market economies. The US is taking the opposite route: withdrawing government from the marketplace, deregulating the economy through executive orders, starving regulators of funds, and appointing agency heads with records of antagonism to their own agencies’ missions.
[Mark Bruzonsky and Bandy X Lee] No to Trump-Kim summit, yes to peace agreement

May 31, 2018

It does not make anyone comfortable to acknowledge the realities of an unstable, volatile, and attack-prone American president, but it is important to recognize those realities. He could not let go of North Korea’s uncertainties about a summit and had to cancel -- but then scheduled it back just as impulsively. His pattern of revoking invitations before he can be rejected, or to assault before what he perceives as an assault on him (or his image) has a chance to realize, is well-known.Yet, a his
[Anjani Trivedi] Race to autonomy may be won in China

May 31, 2018

Everybody wants autonomous vehicles now: It’s the auto industry’s way forward and Silicon Valley’s latest preoccupation. China is no different.　Alibaba Group Holding is testing self-driving cars in China, and Baidu started trials of autonomous technology last year. BMW AG earlier this month was the first foreign carmaker to get a license to test its offering in China. In mid-May, Shenzhen-based Roadstar.Ai LLC raised a record amount from Chinese investors.　Meanwhile, Tencent Holdings and bigger-
[Bloomberg] US needs better missile defense for new nuclear age

May 31, 2018

In the last few weeks, the world has become a measurably more dangerous place. The apparent collapse of the North Korea talks, US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear pact, Russia’s threat to shoot down US planes over Syria, and China’s placement of anti-ship and anti-air missiles on its manufactured islands in the South China Sea have all pushed the needle one tick closer to the unthinkable: nuclear war.　So now, more than ever, is the time to think about it -- and plan for it.　America’s primary dom
[Andrew Sheng] From industry 4.0 to finance 4.0

May 30, 2018

Most people are somewhat aware about the ‘fourth industrial revolution.’ The first industrial revolution occurred with the rise of steam power and manufacturing using iron and steel. The second revolution started with the assembly line which allowed specialization of skills, represented by the Ford motor assembly line at the turn of the 20th century. The third industrial revolution came with Japanese quality controls and use of telecommunication technology. The fourth industrial revolution, or f
[David Ignatius] Trump’s zig-zag course to Singapore

May 30, 2018

“Are you on the road or in the ditch?” That’s the question labor reporters used to ask about big contract negotiations back when I covered the United Steelworkers union 40 years ago in Pittsburgh -- and it’s the right one to pose now as US President Trump zigs and zags toward a summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Trump and Kim appear to be firmly back on the road to a June 12 meeting in Singapore, after a near-death experience last week. Trump sent his coy breakup letter last Th
[Mihir Sharma] China is proving to be expensive date for Pakistan

May 30, 2018

We’re about two months away from elections in Pakistan -- elections that are almost certain to be shrouded in controversy. And, worryingly for Pakistan, it appears that the economy is weakening, just in time for the instability that might follow from the country’s turbulent politics.　Under the outgoing government -- led till last July by Nawaz Sharif, three times prime minister -- the economy had appeared to be doing well. In fact, a new energy seemed to have infused Pakistan’s entrepreneurs and
[Letter to editor] A family month festival

May 30, 2018

May 6 was a special day for my family. We held a family month festival at our weekend farmhouse in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province. To commemorate the event, we erected a banner which read, “Celebrating the 1st Tree Peony Literary Festival in Honor of Peonggang Kim Jeong-kil.” Amid the festivities, the fragrant scent of tree peonies sprang from our garden.Our son declared the opening of the festival, and then told me to explain to the participants how I had come up with this idea. Here’s wha
[Christie Watson] Care is in short supply. Ask nurses

May 30, 2018

Betty was lying on a gurney in a hospital corridor. She was elderly, frail and shivering with cold. More than that, she was frightened and completely alone.　I took her temperature -- a low temperature being a sign of sepsis in the elderly -- but it wasn’t extreme. She’d been admitted with chest pain and she clutched her chest, starfishing her hand. Betty’s heart wasn’t diseased but it was broken nonetheless: Her husband had died a few weeks earlier of a heart attack. I suspect she hadn’t been ea
[Tim Culpan] Beijing’s Foxconn embrace has tinge of desperation

May 30, 2018

Just look at that list of investors in Foxconn Industrial Internet’s IPO.　It was obvious that Baidu, Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings would take minor stakes in the Foxconn Technology Group affiliate’s blockbuster Shanghai listing. Those three are in the bottom tier of cornerstone buyers anyway.　Leading the lineup is the Shanghai State Development & Investment, which is subscribing for 73 million shares, or 3.7 percent of those expected to be sold. Central Huijin Investment, China Rail
[Albert Hunt] Trump’s Korea blunder worse than it looks

May 29, 2018

US President Donald Trump thinks he’s a great negotiator, a brilliant bluffer whose gut instincts are so stellar that ignorance of history and refusal to deal with substantive complexities are irrelevant.　That’s why he bragged he’d win the Nobel Peace Prize for his genius in getting North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. Except, of course, it didn’t. It’s good his Singapore summit with Kim Jong-un was canceled. The larger picture in this and other major issues is how the American president
[Letter to the editor] Diplomacy not about winning

May 29, 2018

The 1987 summit between West-German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and East-German leader Erich Honecker in Bonn was criticized as a “victory for Honecker” by conservative West-German media.　Honecker had been invited years before by the previous West-German government, and Kohl had renewed the invitation. Honecker had long wanted to accept, but couldn’t get permission from Moscow. Though the GDR-government was increasingly more closed and inflexible in political and ideological terms than their Soviet o