The Korea Herald

[David Ignatius] A compelling plan for Iran talks

May 15, 2012

WASHINGTON ― Let’s assume the signals from the White House and Tehran are reliable, and that Iran is serious about an agreement to remove its existing stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium from the country and stop producing more. What happens then? This question of “next steps” in the Iran nuclear talks is important, because neither side is likely to commit to the first set of “confidence-building” measures“ unless it knows where the process is heading. Iran feels it has been tricked in the
Can cleaner cookstoves help save the world?

May 15, 2012

Did the slick animations in the Girl Effect video that’s been viewed 3.6 million times compel you to buy soccer cleats for a South African girl? Maybe Matt Damon persuaded you to invest in Water.org so you can supply clean water and toilets to the world’s poor. Perhaps you’ve bought something (RED) to fight AIDS? If you haven’t, you’ve missed out on a big trend. Overseas development assistance is going private. More and more, private charities, foundations and nongovernment organizations are joi
When there is no evidence

May 15, 2012

The British government are deploying missile launchers across London and have posted the Royal Navy’s largest ship in the Thames as part of the security for the Olympic Games to respond to a terrorist attack although there is no evidence that such an attack will take place.For the record, I would like to say that if there is a terrorist attack in the U.K. during the Olympics it will be far from the sporting event where there is no security buildup. Terrorists act in this way to remind us that th
About Okinotorishima

May 15, 2012

Japan has touched off strong opposition from its neighbors by promoting an unreasonable project aimed at maximizing its maritime profits. The main point of the project is to acquire an exclusive economic zone and continental shelves based on Okinotorishima, a coral reef about 1,740 km south of Tokyo, which is only 70 centimeters above the surface of the sea. The EEZ that Japan is about to declare through Okinotorishima is 430,000 square kilometers, which is even wider than the nation’s total lan
Newest Kennedy may renew family’s franchise

May 15, 2012

For more than half a century, the Kennedys were a force in U.S. politics. Their dominance began with John F. Kennedy’s 1960 presidential run and lasted until the death of Senator Edward M. Kennedy in 2009. The family’s return as a major political presence isn’t imminent; it may not be that far off, though. A candidate for a Massachusetts seat in the U.S. House of Representatives is Joseph P. Kennedy III, the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy and a grandnephew of the president and the senator. He’s r
[Kim Seong-kon] Living in Korea tough but hopeful

May 15, 2012

When I gave a talk at the State University of New York at Buffalo a few weeks ago, I briefly mentioned my father’s turbulent personal history. During the Japanese occupation, he was arrested by the Japanese police on the charge of being a non-conforming, anti-Japanese political dissident who owned Marx’s “Das Kapital.” He was found guilty and consequently had to spend six months in prison. After the liberation, my father decided to become an interpreter and worked for the U.S. Military Governmen
Europe can save union for 320 euros per German

May 14, 2012

Europe’s chaotic political landscape is doing an excellent job of exposing a fundamental flaw in the euro area: the lack of a mechanism to revive growth in hard-hit economies. Recent elections in Greece, France and Italy, where anti-austerity candidates made major gains, have demonstrated the failure of policies that seek to solve the euro area’s debt problems through spending cuts and tax increases alone. Economic strife has brought Greece to the brink of a political breakdown and exit from the
[Noeleen Heyzer] Shock-proofing Asia’s economies

May 14, 2012

BANGKOK ― Uncertainty and volatility have quickly become the “new normal” of the global economy. For several reasons, this turbulent external environment poses the most significant threat to Asia-Pacific growth in 2012.One of this environment’s main features is the ongoing weakness of major developed economies. The expected V-shaped global recovery, from the depths of the 2008 financial crisis, proved short-lived. The world economy entered a second stage of crisis in 2011, owing to eurozone’s so
A fundamental solution to adoption problems

May 14, 2012

Korea was very poor when the Korean War ended in 1953. It was the second poorest country in the world at that time. So, the government carried out overseas adoption for orphans and children dying of starvation as a national policy with the intention of keeping those children alive. The government’s adoption policy is still going on without change. About 1,000 children are being adopted to foreign countries each year. Absolute poverty was the fundamental reason for adoption until the 1970s. Recen
For Volcker rule, JPMorgan’s $2 billion loss says it all

May 14, 2012

It’s never polite to say I told you so, but JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s $2 billion trading loss has proponents of a tougher proprietary trading ban saying . . . well, you know what. JPMorgan’s admission is a shocker. The bank said the losses resulted from errors, sloppiness and bad judgment, which top bank executives didn’t know about or understand until it was too late. On Wall Street and around the globe, JPMorgan was a standard-setter for risk management. If regulators can’t trust JPMorgan to get
[Yannos Papantoniou] Requirements for steering clear of the euro precipice

May 14, 2012

ATHENS ― Renewed turbulence in the eurozone bond market underlines the need to reappraise the policies now being pursued in order to overcome Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis. Indeed, the recent election results in France and Greece, reflecting a much broader anti-austerity mood, leave Europe’s authorities with little choice.The European Union, the European Central Bank, and private-sector lenders have spent more than 1 trillion euros over the past two years, but the eurozone remains in no better
Mad cow reason to change rules, not swear off beef

May 13, 2012

The discovery last month of a case of mad-cow disease in California could be taken as good news. The cow in question was found at a rendering plant, where spent animals are sent for processing into leather, soap, cosmetics and pet food. Tests detected the illness before slaughter. There was never any chance that meat from the cow would enter the human food chain. Cattle futures prices, which initially plunged, are higher now than before the announcement. Agriculture officials say the animal was
[Robert B. Reich] Omnipresent tinderbox societies

May 13, 2012

On May 1, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit its highest peak since December 2007. But April’s jobs report was a disappointment ― only 115,000 new jobs were created. At least 125,000 are required each month just to keep up with the growth of our working-age population.What’s going on?Shares are up because corporate profits are up, and profits are up largely because companies have figured out how to do more with less.One of the most striking legacies of the Great Recession has been the decline
How Korea’s achievement can inspire India

May 13, 2012

India and Korea are two flourishing democracies in the modern world. There is much in common, although not very obvious, in the social and cultural spectrum. In the past, Indian culture, especially Buddhism, inspired Korean society in a big way. However, today things are different. Korea has leapfrogged economically, as well as socially, way ahead of India, while India is struggling. A role reversal has taken place and today it is Korea that can inspire India in many ways.What Korea has achieved
Austerity takes a hit in Europe

May 13, 2012

Political upheaval in Europe reached a new apex over the weekend when French voters threw out their incumbent president and Greeks gave the heave-ho to the ruling parliamentary coalition. The results suggest that a new consensus is emerging in Europe in favor of more economic stimulus, but they also call into question the continent’s ability to agree on a plan to keep its fiscal problems from spreading uncontrollably.European leaders had agreed to a series of pacts that would rescue Greece and o