The Korea Herald

[Doyle McManus] Is global chaos the new normal?

Aug 3, 2014

It’s a chaotic world out there. But we’d better get used to it; this may be the new normal.The Middle East is in flames, not only Gaza but Syria, Iraq and Libya as well. Russia is massing troops on the border of Ukraine. Central Africa is a mess, as are Afghanistan and Pakistan. Parts of Mexico and Central America are ruled by criminal gangs and drug cartels. And those are merely the crises big enough to command front-page attention.“This is historically unprecedented,” former national security
Israel needs to destroy Hamas’ ability to terrorize

Aug 3, 2014

WASHINGTON ― Though Israel should never carelessly ignore U.S. pressure, it nevertheless must resist current U.S. efforts to impose a cease-fire on the Israel-Hamas conflict while Israel remains besieged by rockets and tunnels.To be sure, the United States has provided Israel with vital military, economic and diplomatic support since its founding after World War II and, without bedrock U.S. support, Israel could become dangerously isolated.This time, however, Jerusalem must accept the growing fr
Who’s hogging China’s skies?

Aug 3, 2014

Over the course of the last decade I’ve flown between Shanghai and Beijing dozens of times with only one on-time arrival to show for it. It’s an absurd and miserable record, but one that ― data confirm ― others share. According to a June 2013 survey of 35 major international airports, Beijing and Shanghai were the worst and second worst, respectively, with only 18.2 percent and 28.72 percent of flights leaving on-time.Who’s to blame for this sorry state of affairs? China’s ever-growing ranks of
[Leo Michel] Impact of Scotland’s secession

Aug 1, 2014

Novelist and longtime Scotland resident J.K. Rowling did not mention national security issues when she recently donated 1 million pounds ($1.71 million) to the Better Together Campaign, which wants Scottish voters to reject the independence option in the Sept. 18 referendum. Rowling ― creator of Harry Potter and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft ― did emphasize the economic downsides of a divorce from the rest of the United Kingdom. But if her funds and celebrity status help “no” voters carry the da
Steering ICT revolution to benefit all

Aug 1, 2014

BERKELEY, California ― Ten years ago, the world emerged from the dot-com bust and started to look more soberly at the Internet’s potential. While speculative greed and fear of missing out might have overplayed the short-term outlook, the Internet’s immense longer-term prospects were never in doubt. I, and other optimistic economists, assumed that free information and communication would herald an era of rapid productivity growth and improved wellbeing ― to a greater or lesser extent ― for everyo
[David Ignatius] John Kerry’s big blunder

Jul 31, 2014

WASHINGTON ― Secretary of State John Kerry has made a significant mistake in how he’s pursuing a Gaza cease-fire ― and it’s not surprising that he has upset both the Israelis and some moderate Palestinians. Kerry’s error has been to put so much emphasis on achieving a quick halt to the bloodshed that he has solidified the role of Hamas, the intractable, unpopular Islamist group that leads Gaza, along with the two hard-line Islamist nations that are its key supporters, Qatar and Turkey. In the pr
Increasing irrelevance of corporate nationality

Jul 31, 2014

“You shouldn’t get to call yourself an American company only when you want a handout from the American taxpayers,” President Obama said last week.He was referring to American corporations now busily acquiring foreign companies in order to become non-American, thereby reducing their U.S. tax bills.But the president might as well have been talking about all large American multinationals.Only about a fifth of IBM’s worldwide employees are American, for example, and only 40 percent of GE’s. Most of
Feeding the poor in a rich country

Jul 31, 2014

The scorching noon sun made it a brilliant day to be out in Tokyo’s Ueno Park.All around, children were romping happily with their families, soaking up the first rays of summer. Some, like me, were making their way to Ueno Zoo, Japan’s oldest and most famous zoo, at the end of the park.But I wasn’t heading there to admire the pandas or gawk at the giraffes. Instead of going through the zoo gates, I took a sharp right down a parallel path.It was shadier here, under the generous canopy of trees su
[Kavi Chongkittavorn] Tenuous new relations in Asian diplomacy

Jul 31, 2014

The Dongwha Duty Free Shop in the Gwanghwamun district in downtown Seoul is regularly thronged with visitors from China, some of the 4 million who now visit South Korea annually, making it the top foreign tourist destination for Chinese travellers.At a nearby information centre, officials from the Korea Tourism Organisation answer questions in Chinese, now so widely used that it has replaced English as the second language at Incheon International Airport.The relationship between the two countrie
Taiwan officials attach more importance to personal matters than policies

Jul 31, 2014

Taiwan’s cabinet has lost two ministers in less than two weeks. Like many of their predecessors, they have resigned for personal reasons rather than the failure of their policies.And very often these personal reasons have been allegations about extramarital affairs. The resignation of Pan Shi-wei as labor minister Thursday illustrates this: he decided to vacate his position after a tabloid magazine alleged that he was having an affair with his personal secretary.The resignation of Chiang Wei-lin
[Yang Sung-jin] Heartless facts, truthful lies

Jul 30, 2014

Well, it’s been a quiet week in Lake Soul, my hometown, out on the edge of the peninsula.This is, I’m fairly confident, not a lie or a cheap rip-off of the opening line of “A Prairie Home Companion,” a radio show that I’ve enjoyed listening to over the years.It’s been a quiet week in every aspect. The body of Yoo Byung-eun was finally found, the very source of all evil, whom some politicians believe was responsible for the sinking of the Sewol ferry in April. Other key figures also turned themse
The trauma of France’s Jews

Jul 30, 2014

PARIS ― “Death to the Jews!” In Paris and other French cities, the hate-filled words ring out. Attacks on synagogues have taken place for the first time since the Dreyfus Affair at the end of the nineteenth century. In suburban areas near Paris, such as the town of Sarcelles, known for its climate of religious and ethnic tolerance, groups of young people have deliberately targeted Jewish properties.Faced with the spectacular rise of anti-immigrant populism in France, and now with anti-Zionist de
[James Steinberg] Reassurance and resolve in East Asia

Jul 30, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. ― As territorial frictions involving China and many of its neighbors persist in the East and South China Seas, the United States needs a clearer regional strategy. America must simultaneously uphold its interests and alliance commitments and avoid counterproductive confrontation, or even conflict.Doing so will be difficult, especially because it is not clear whose claims to the region’s disputed islands and outcroppings should be recognized, and the U.S. has no intention of tryi
Why Europe depends on America today

Jul 30, 2014

“The Great War” and “The war to end all war” proved to be neither. The conflict that would bleed to death some of Earth’s proudest empires ― while killing 16.5 million soldiers and civilians ― later would be christened World War I to distinguish it from the next, even deadlier slaughter. WWI also created a precedent and an image: If you wonder why Europe today relies on the U.S. and not, say, Brazil or China to help protect Ukraine, the answer traces back a century, to one battle in which Americ
‘Black sites’ conspiracy became a black hole

Jul 30, 2014

“On the general issue of so-called black sites, we have not and will not confirm any purported locations. The overriding point, however, is that this program no longer exists.”That was the White House reaction, as it brushed aside questions about a landmark ruling by the European Court of Human Rights, one of the world’s preeminent human rights tribunals. The decision came last week in a case my colleagues and I brought against Poland, where our client, Abu Zubaydah, had been imprisoned and tort