The Korea Herald

[David Ignatius] CIA cover erodes trust in vaccines

May 31, 2012

WASHINGTON ― As an intelligence operation, it must have seemed like pure genius: Recruit a Pakistani doctor to collect blood samples that could identify Osama bin Laden’s family, under cover of an ongoing vaccination program. But as an ethical matter, it was something else. The CIA’s vaccination gambit put at risk something very precious ― the integrity of public health programs in Pakistan and around the globe. It also added to the dangers facing NGOs in a world that’s increasingly hostile to A
Egyptian voters send message to Islamist party

May 31, 2012

CAIRO ― Last week, Egyptian voters delivered a stunning setback to the Islamist candidate for president, who had anticipated an electoral triumph so great that it would catapult his movement to power throughout the Middle East.True, Mohammed Morsi, the standard-bearer of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice party, won the most votes out of a field of 13 in Egypt’s first free presidential elections. But, despite the Brotherhood’s organizational talents, Morsi collected only around a quart
Romney has few fresh ideas on foreign policy

May 31, 2012

Choosing a worthy president and commander in chief is not a casual task for voters.Those laboring to compare and contrast President Obama and Mitt Romney on war and foreign policy have a vexing assignment.Obama’s record invites approval and stirs frustration at the same time. He is working to leave Afghanistan, but not fast enough. He recently won support from NATO on a 2014 departure date to follow handing over security responsibilities to Afghan forces in 2013.To its credit, the Obama White Ho
Korea and APEC: Changing education paradigms

May 31, 2012

This past week South Korea hosted the APEC education summit in Gyeongju ― a certain nod to Korea’s recent rise in the international arena with events such as the 2010 G20 summit and the nuclear summit hosted last month. Korea is making waves in respect to its educational system with statements of affirmation from such luminaries as U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and U.S. President Obama. There are naysayers from within the “trenches” of Korean education who challenge this grand rhetoric, how
[Andrew Sheng] London whale justifies Volcker rule

May 31, 2012

While everyone out East were mesmerised by the Bo Xilai mystery, another enigma has been unravelling out West, involving a London whale. On May 10, JPMorgan announced trading losses of $2 billion, the resignation of the head of its chief investment office and the departure of Bruno Iksil, the London-based French trader who made such large and some say fearless bets in synthetic credit default swaps (CDS) that he was also nicknamed the London whale, Voldemort (the wizard nemesis of Harry Potter)
[Park Han-Il] The real blue ocean is off the coast

May 30, 2012

May 31 is Ocean Day, instituted in memory of Admiral Jang Bo-go. On this day we think about the value and meaning of the sea while remembering Jang, who established Cheonghaejin Base to advance Silla’s sea trade with Asian countries.The sea has been the stage of glory and disgrace for many countries and peoples in world history. Those who held sway over the sea ruled the world, and the maritime power of a country meant its national power. Originally the Korean people held affection for the sea.
[Lee Jae-min] One treaty, two interpretations

May 30, 2012

When a government negotiates and signs a treaty, lay people have one simple question: how would it affect me? With a little bit of elaboration, the question then can be further divided into two different categories of retrospective queries and prospective ones.A good example of a prospective query is whether I, as an individual, can refer to the treaty as a basis to bring a claim in domestic court on my own accord. This has been one of the key issues in the context of free trade agreement negoti
Is there anybody who can solve school problems?

May 30, 2012

While I studied at teachers’ college, I dreamt of being a good teacher who played a small part in making our society better, and I also wanted to enjoy my free time reading English literature. I vividly remember how elated I was when I became an English teacher at a public school. However, my teacher’s life was very different from what I had expected. I was too busy to talk about a better society while working with accumulated paperwork and teaching textbook English for exams. I could not even f
Korea ― Asia’s rising star

May 30, 2012

Japan’s economy has been in a deep funk for two decades. China is in desperate need of a new economic and political model. And yet Korea keeps going from strength to strength, and is on track to overtake Japan’s income per capita.Korea’s economic catch-up has been nothing short of miraculous. Its income per capita has jumped from less than 20 percent of Japan’s four decades ago to 90 percent today. The catch-up vis-a-vis the U.S. is equally impressive ― from about 10 percent of U.S. income per c
[Kim Myong-sik] KAIST chief should have got out while going was good

May 30, 2012

KAIST President Suh Nam-pyo should have left the university when he finished his first four-year term in 2010. If he had done so, he would by now be enjoying the peace of retired life back in Boston, or research at MIT, even though some of the innovations he initiated at KAIST might have fizzled out. “Leave the stage while they applaud” is appropriate advice not only to entertainers but to all public figures. Applause subsides after some time, and if the performer still remains on the stage, he
Korea and APEC: changing education paradigms

May 30, 2012

This past week South Korea hosted the APEC education summit in Gyeongju -- a certain nod to Korea’s recent rise in the international arena with events such as the 2010 G20 summit and the nuclear summit hosted last month. Korea is making waves in respect to its educational system with statements of affirmation from such luminaries as U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and U.S. President Obama. There are naysayers from within the “trenches” of Korean education who challenge this grand rhetoric, ho
[David Ignatius] On Iran, more time for negotiations

May 29, 2012

WASHINGTON ― It’s a classic case of brinkmanship bargaining: Iran and the West, each seeking to squeeze concessions from the other side, have decided to continue their nuclear negotiations on June 17, a few weeks before a punishing new round of sanctions takes effect. The deadlock was described at the conclusion of Thursday’s negotiating session in Baghdad by Catherine Ashton, the EU’s chief diplomat and the West’s spokesperson: “It is clear that we both want to make progress, and that there is
Ten reasons to believe in European Union

May 29, 2012

PARIS ― The euro, many now believe, will not survive a failed political class in Greece or escalating levels of unemployment in Spain: just wait another few months, they say, the European Union’s irresistible collapse has started.Dark prophecies are often wrong, but they may also become self-fulfilling. Let’s be honest: playing Cassandra nowadays is not only tempting in a media world where “good news is no news”; it actually seems more justified than ever. For the EU, the situation has never app
Success in enabling trade in a changing world

May 29, 2012

Global trading patterns have become increasingly intertwined. So too has global prosperity. Rather than products or services simply originating in one country and being sold in another, value is often added by many countries involved in complex supply chains. This means that one country’s success in enabling trade not only plays a significant part in its own overall competitiveness, and by association, prosperity, but also has implications for the competitiveness of other countries. Moreover, si
Is government propaganda resurgent in U.S.?

May 28, 2012

Did you hear about the new bill that would allow the U.S. government’s official overseas information agency to rebroadcast its content onto American TV and radio? The bipartisan Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012 was introduced in Congress last week by Reps. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) and Adam Smith (D-Washington), both of whom are presumably dissatisfied with their satellite TV package and think more government-produced content would go down better with an after-work beer.Not really. As Thornb