The Korea Herald

[David Ignatius] Obama’s friend in Ankara

Jun 13, 2012

ISTANBUL ― As President Barack Obama was feeling his way in foreign policy during his first months in office, he decided to cultivate a friendship with Turkey’s headstrong prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Over the past year, this investment in Turkey has begun to pay some big dividends ― anchoring U.S. policy in a region that sometimes seems adrift. Erdogan’s clout was on display this week as he hosted a meeting here of the World Economic Forum that celebrated the stability of the “Turkish
War in cyberspace and U.S. vulnerability

Jun 13, 2012

Reports that the U.S. and Israel have tried repeatedly over the years to derail Iran’s nuclear weapons program by using malicious computer codes to cause machines at the country’s Natanz nuclear facility to malfunction have lifted the veil of secrecy over the war unfolding on the world’s newest battlefield. The elaborately designed and executed series of cyber-attacks reportedly slowed Iran’s progress toward getting a bomb, but they also raise troubling questions about the United States’ own vul
Japan needs efforts, money to stop population decline

Jun 13, 2012

Japan has finally entered a period in which the population is decreasing substantially each year.How can the nation deal with this unprecedented situation and maintain social vitality? We need to realize Japan has entered a critical stage.The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has released the nation’s vital demographic statistics for 2011. The number of babies born last year hit a postwar low of about 1.05 million, while the number of deaths was about 1.25 million.It was the first time since th
The lesson of Wisconsin: OK for Obama, terrible for unions

Jun 13, 2012

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s victory in Tuesday’s recall election doesn’t mean President Barack Obama is going to lose his reelection bid ― or even that he will lose Wisconsin. But it clearly shows that organized labor is a seriously weakened political force that needs to reinvent itself for its sake and for the nation’s.The vote was widely billed as a preliminary skirmish in the November election between Obama and Republican Mitt Romney, but there is good reason to conclude that its predictive
[Kim Myong-sik] War dead returned to the nation

Jun 13, 2012

A U.S. soldier, seemingly traumatized from combat, is being consoled by his Korean comrade with a warm touch of his arm. A statue of this image was dedicated at the Yongsan compound of the U.S. Forces-Korea last week in memory of 135 personnel of the two allies who were killed in the line of duty along the Demilitarized Zone since the 1953 ceasefire.The monument honors 92 members of the USFK and 43 Korean soldiers who were called “KATUSA” or the Korean Augmentation to the U.S. Army. The mixed se
Greece’s euro exit won’t look anything like 2008

Jun 12, 2012

Seoul may be the most poignant place one could pick in Asia for a spectator seat at Greece’s economic implosion. South Korea’s crash in 1997 turned a regional financial crisis into a global one, as a Greek exit from the euro is sure to do. The difference might be that South Korea came back strong, while it’s hard to see how Greece could do the same. There’s another difference: What is happening in Europe has the potential to be far more disruptive to Asia than its own crisis was for the rest of
[Lee Jae-min] Final ending of Lone Star story

Jun 12, 2012

“A good ending makes everything good as well,” or so goes an old saying in Hebrew. The raucous relationship between the Korean government and Lone Star, a Texas-based private equity fund, perhaps shows the converse is also true: A bad ending makes everything ugly. With the PEF’s delivery of a “notice of intent” to the Korean government under the Korea-Belgium Investment Promotion Treaty on May 22, the relationship is now heading to a point of no return. Perhaps it has already crossed it. In the
English lessons for needy neighbors

Jun 12, 2012

What a pity that Koreans’ English language fluency is now effectively segregated by family income. I have been involved with ESL/EFL education for years, but rarely have I had the privilege of working with a young person of limited means. There are many thousands of English-speaking educators in Korea. I have no doubt that many would trade English lessons for Korean-language immersion or even a simple home meal. While some private tutors charge hefty fees, there are just as many English teachers
Is American economy healing fast enough?

Jun 12, 2012

NEWPORT BEACH ― Six internal factors suggest that the United States’ economy is slowly healing. For some observers, these factors were deemed sufficient to form the critical mass needed to propel the economy into escape velocity.While I hoped that they might be proven right, the recent stream of weak economic data, including May’s timid net job creation of only 69,000, confirmed my doubts. With this and other elements of a disheartening employment report now suddenly raising widespread worries a
Acquitting Egypt oppressors a major judiciary mistake

Jun 12, 2012

CAIRO ― “Bashar should abandon power and retire safely in Egypt. The general-prosecutor is murder-friendly,” a friend, referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, told me as we watched former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s trial in the Police Academy’s criminal court. Although Mubarak and his interior (security) minister, Habib al-Adly, were handed life sentences at the conclusion of their trials, the generals who ran Egypt’s apparatus of repression as deputy interior ministers were acqui
[Kim Seong-kon] Too much nostalgia is a disease

Jun 12, 2012

Koreans are an exceptionally nostalgic people. Instead of soaring into the future, Korean people often tend to indulge in the past, forever reminiscing about the “good old days.” As a matter of fact, the central theme of numerous Korean folksongs, pop songs and poems is almost always nostalgia, intensely missing one’s hometown, lover or friends who now only exist in memories. For example, “Gagopa (I Want to Go Home),” an all time favorite among Koreans, is filled with lyrics that evoke sweet mem
Catholics deny themselves wisdom of women

Jun 11, 2012

Mathematical certainty is elusive, but here’s a number that I can cite with absolute confidence: So far, 100 percent of the truly bad homilies I have ever heard at Mass have come from the male half of our species.Could women give bad homilies at Mass? Theoretically, of course. It just takes lack of preparation and a dearth of talent, and presto: a homily that puts the faithful to sleep or makes them want to run from the church, screaming. In fact, a lot of Catholics have already quietly run from
[Joseph E. Stiglitz] Counting the cost of inequality

Jun 11, 2012

NEW YORK ― America likes to think of itself as a land of opportunity, and others view it in much the same light. But, while we can all think of examples of Americans who rose to the top on their own, what really matters are the statistics: to what extent do an individual’s life chances depend on the income and education of his or her parents?Nowadays, these numbers show that the American dream is a myth. There is less equality of opportunity in the United States today than there is in Europe ― o
Which should come first ― your sanity or your job?

Jun 11, 2012

Last year it hit the newspapers that Korea had one of the highest suicide rates in the world. Experts scrambled to explain this phenomenon, but perhaps one of the foremost contributing factors to this statistic is that in Korea people tend to not seek or even shun therapy when dealing with distress. The reason for this is that employers can view your mental history in the interview process. Basically, you have two choices: seek help or remain employable. No one should have to make this choice, b
A Canadian’s take on MBC program on foreigners

Jun 11, 2012

“The highest result of education is tolerance.” (Helen Keller)I’m a permanent resident residing in Busan, South Korea.I came to South Korea in 1996 to take advantage of Korean people, especially women, and to generally be a bad influence upon Korean culture.My Korean wife is a victim of my trickery and my children are the result of our relationship. Wait a second, wrong story. I’m just waking up from my MBC-induced bad dream. If you watched “The Shocking Truth About Relationships with Foreigners