The Korea Herald

Watershed moment in Apple’s downfall?

Aug 30, 2012

From the look of it, life couldn’t be better right now for Apple Inc. The value of the Cupertino, California-based technology giant surpassed $600 billion in mid-August to become the world’s most valuable company. Last Friday Apple scored a major legal victory over its smart device market rival Samsung, with a California court finding several Samsung devices infringed on Apple patents. Apple was awarded $1.05 billion in damages. While $1.05 billion is a big number, it is trivial compared to the
Asian nationalism is dangerous development

Aug 30, 2012

The overlapping claim between South Korea and Japan over the Dokdo or Takeshima islands is moving towards uncharted water. The international community thinks that, as the two most important allies of the U.S. in the region, South Korea and Japan should know how to avoid creating an environment that augurs badly for strategic cooperation. That is not true. Worst of all, this tension is happening when their giant neighbor, China, is on a meteoric rise. In fact, if the quarrel continues unabated, i
[William Choong] A Konrad Adenauer model

Aug 30, 2012

August is that time of year when Japan has to grapple with its militaristic past. On Aug 15, 1945, the country suffered an ignominious defeat to Allied forces, marking the end of World War II in the Asia-Pacific.This year, however, Japan came under even more pressure, as Tokyo saw territorial disputes with South Korea and China over two groups of islands.Earlier this month, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak made a historic visit to the Dokdo islands ― a move challenged by Japan, which calls t
In Korea, it’s Ross Perot vs. Queen Elizabeth I

Aug 29, 2012

South Koreans may face a fascinating choice come December’s presidential election: Elizabeth I or Ross Perot? Park Geun-hye, the unmarried ruling-party candidate, touts the virgin queen who ruled England from 1558 to 1603 as a role model. Ahn Cheol-soo is the businessman most Koreans want to take her on. He’s Korea’s answer to Perot, the billionaire who 20 years ago ran as America’s most successful modern third-party candidate. So far, Ahn hasn’t said if he will run. Should he do so, he could st
[Hans-Werner Sinn] Judgment Day for the eurozone

Aug 29, 2012

MUNICH ― Europe and the world are eagerly awaiting the decision of Germany’s Constitutional Court on Sept. 12 regarding the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the proposed permanent successor to the eurozone’s current emergency lender, the European Financial Stability Mechanism. The Court must rule on German plaintiffs’ claim that legislation to establish the ESM would violate Germany’s Grundgesetz (Basic Law). If the court rules in the plaintiffs’ favor, it will ask Germany’s president not to
Democrats, GOP want to focus on different issues

Aug 29, 2012

ARCADE, N.Y. ― Kathy Hochul is a young, first-term Democratic congresswoman fighting for her political life in a solidly Republican district outside Buffalo, N.Y. Unlike most of that liberal state, this is Romney country; a poll last week showed the GOP candidate ahead of President Barack Obama in her district by a whopping 12 points.So how does Hochul hope to persuade Republican-leaning voters to cross partisan lines to send a Democrat back to Washington? One word: Medicare.“Here’s what they pr
Korea goes to Africa

Aug 29, 2012

The fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation took place last month in Beijing. The event reaffirmed China’s determination to become a privileged partner for the ongoing economic development of African countries. Now, Beijing’s rising influence in Africa prompted the attention of another emerging Asian economy, South Korea, which is looking at the African context with ever greater interest. “No matter how the international landscape may change, China will remain uncha
[Jeffrey D. Sachs] A global solutions network to save the planet

Aug 29, 2012

NEW YORK ― Great social change occurs in several ways. A technological breakthrough ― the steam engine, computers, the Internet ― may play a leading role. Visionaries, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela, may inspire a demand for justice. Political leaders may lead a broad reform movement, as with Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal.Our own generation urgently needs to spur another era of great social change. This time, we must act to save the planet from a human-i
Asia drug lockups too cruel to earn U.S. aid

Aug 28, 2012

The accounts call to mind 18th century insane asylums: patients confined against their will in dismal conditions, abused and subjected to experiments and unscientific treatments. Today’s inmates ― at least 350,000 ― are locked up, in China and Southeast Asia, just for using illegal drugs, or being suspected of it. Human Rights Watch recently released a paper detailing the practice of warehousing alleged drug users in China, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, adding to a stack of damning reports about t
[Daniel Fiedler] Lasting effects of child abuse

Aug 28, 2012

Last November the body of a mother murdered months earlier by her high school son was discovered. The body had been sealed in the bedroom of their apartment for eight months. The initial shock at the discovery was soon replaced by controversy over the abusive treatment the son had endured at the hands of his dead mother, an abuse that stemmed from her obsession over his student rank. Police investigation and testimony at trial revealed extensive abuse involving a seven iron and a resultant paral
U.S. taxpayers are gouged on mass transit costs

Aug 28, 2012

If the first segment of Manhattan’s Second Avenue subway opens on schedule in 2016, New Yorkers will be reminded that it was once “the line that time forgot” ― a project more than 75 years in the making, with no end in sight. It should be remembered for another failing as well: It will be one of the most expensive subways in the world. Tunneling in any dense urban environment is an expensive proposition, but the $5 billion price tag for just the first two miles of the Second Avenue subway cannot
Listen to what Iran is telling the world

Aug 28, 2012

In recent days, much attention has focused on signs from Israel that an attack on Iran’s nuclear installations may be imminent. Amid the flurry of analysis, little attention has gone to what Iran is telling the world about its views. We would do well to listen closely. The world should never become jaded, immune to the genocidal hatred spewed by leaders of a nation that is still treated as a full-fledged member of international institutions.On Aug. 17, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad procl
[Kim Seong-kon] Those looking for heroes find disillusionment

Aug 28, 2012

In hard times we want heroes. Struggling in a quagmire of relentless miseries, we desperately want heroes to materialize out of thin air and save us from our nightmarish dilemmas. Under oppression of the Roman Empire, for example, the Jewish people desperately hoped for the arrival of the Messiah who could deliver them from their miserable predicament. It is only natural that people await a superhero in times of crisis. Heroes, however, do not appear often. In our imaginations, therefore, we con
Citizen protests making an impact in China

Aug 27, 2012

The way the Chinese government is behaving right now, you’d almost think it had converted to democracy. Half a dozen times in recent weeks, government officials have backed down in the face of angry citizen protests ― canceling unpopular industrial projects, freeing wrongly imprisoned citizens or arresting one of its own for his reprehensible behavior.That’s not how a communist dictatorship is supposed to behave.The most notorious example involves Tang Hui from Yongzhou City in southern China. T
[David Ignatius] An enigma on foreign policy

Aug 27, 2012

WASHINGTON ― When reporters are writing stories and don’t yet have a necessary piece of information, they sometimes write “TK,” as in “to come.” I feel that way about Mitt Romney’s foreign policy. Other than his support for Israel and rhetorical shots at Russia and China, it’s a mystery what Romney thinks about major international issues and where he would take the country. Is Romney a neoconservative who has an idealistic vision of America transforming the world through military power and advoc