The Korea Herald

[Barak Barfi] Rebuilding the ruins of Gadhafi

Dec 29, 2011

TRIPOLI ― With the creation of a new government, Libya’s leaders should finally be able to focus on organizing the transition from the authoritarian state that they inherited to the more pluralistic one they envisage. But are they really able and willing to achieve that goal?In the United States, the debate on Libya has focused on what steps its government should take next. Senator Robert Menendez argues it “must move quickly to embrace democratic reform,” while international development special
China, India and Brazil are on the rise as West stagnates

Dec 29, 2011

Here’s a trend to watch in the coming year: the rise of new economic powers.China, India and Brazil are in the ascendancy, as the economies of United States, Europe and Japan continue to stagnate.China and India are the two most populous countries in the world, together having about 37 percent of the world’s population.With 780 million workers, China has the world’s largest workforce. India is in second place, with 478 million. Both countries together have about 40 percent of the planet’s workfo
[Meghan Daum] Christopher Hitchens gets the last laugh

Dec 29, 2011

As fans of the late Christopher Hitchens cycle through the five stages of grief, it’s interesting to see which of his opinions can still inspire the kind of anger that is unlikely to ever fade into acceptance. There are, of course, the obvious candidates: his characterization of Bill Clinton as “a rapist” or his vilification of Mother Teresa as “a fanatic, a fundamentalist, and a fraud.” There is also his oh so chivalrous shout-out to the Dixie Chicks, whom he called “fat slugs” (or “slags” or “
[Manana Kochladze] Greening European house bank

Dec 29, 2011

BRUSSELS ― Over the past four years, the European Investment Bank ― the European Union’s house bank ― has loaned 48 billion euros ($62 billion) to energy projects around the world. Indeed, the EIB lends more to the energy sector than to any other, except transport (and its 72 billion euros total loan portfolio in 2010 made it a bigger lender than the World Bank).Investment on this scale can help countries worldwide to make vital progress on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions at a time when politi
The entitlement mentality: Not just a fiscal threat

Dec 28, 2011

Christmastime is a season of gratitude. Whether it’s because we reflect upon the birth of the Christ child or the blessings of the past year, the holiday often prompts a sense of appreciation and thankfulness, as well as the tradition of gift-giving.And this year, the season of giving and receiving gifts comes in sharp contrast to a succession of months pervaded with a sense of entitlement.An entitlement mentality ― a sense of being owed something for nothing ― settles in when people interpret w
[Yuliya Tymoshenko] Holiday season for me as prisoner

Dec 28, 2011

LUKYANIVSKA PRISON, KYIV ― It has been said that there are no atheists in a foxhole. Here, after my show trial and four and a half months in a cell, I have discovered that there are no atheists in prison, either.When, despite unbearable pain, you are interrogated ― including in your cell ― for dozens of hours without a break, and an authoritarian regime’s entire system of coercion, including its media, is trying to discredit and destroy you once and for all, prayer becomes the only intimate, tru
Americans need better care instead of more care

Dec 28, 2011

A silver lining in the dark cloud of the deficit reduction supercommittee’s failure is that it gives Americans another chance to do the right thing to control health care costs. To save money, we must move beyond administrative fiat and put patients first.The problem is illustrated by the “sustainable growth rate” legislation to control physician payments by Medicare. The sustainable growth rate has been repeatedly countermanded by Congress, an issue that might have been addressed by the superco
Ivy League grads choose teaching over Wall Street

Dec 28, 2011

We are witnessing the decline and fall of the investment-banking profession as we have known it for the past 40 years. The evidence is everywhere. The increasing regulations on Wall Street ― as required by the Dodd-Frank law and still being written by the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission and others agencies in the U.S. and Europe ― will require the remaining companies to increase their capital, curb their risk-taking and reduce t
[Park Sang-seek] Kim regime: Absolute monarchy or totalitarian regime?

Dec 28, 2011

When I read a Korea Herald report on North Korean defectors’ reactions to Kim Jong-il’s death, it made me wonder how I would react to it if I were born and living in North Korea.One defector says, “When Kim Il-sung died, we were bawling our eyes out and cried till our throats bled. But when I look at the videos of people crying now, there isn’t as much genuineness behind their tears.” Another defector says that there is a huge difference between the death of the two: “It’s like heaven and earth.
[William Pesek] Japan’s crisis adds to inflation pressure

Dec 27, 2011
In defense of Wal-Mart, or at least its heiress

Dec 27, 2011

In cultural commentary about the American economy, one company at a time always seems to be the goat. Everything it does is interpreted as evil. In the 1950s, it was General Motors. GM’s CEO, Charles “Engine Charlie” Wilson, became a national figure of ridicule for telling a congressional committee, “What’s good for General Motors is good for America.” Except that he actually said, “For years I thought that what was good for the country was good for General Motors and vice versa” ― which is quit
[Lee Jae-min] WTO accession: Here comes Russia

Dec 27, 2011

One of the major missing pieces has been finally inserted into the big puzzle picture of the World Trade Organization. At the eighth Ministerial Conference in Geneva from Dec. 15-17, Russia was accepted by the WTO as a new member of the global trade body, ending Moscow’s 18-year bid since 1993 involving changes and amendment of more than 300 laws and regulations. Russia has been the only major country that has been left outside the global trade body.Approval of Russia’s accession was hailed as o
Envoy’s plight reflects decline of U.S.-Pakistan ties

Dec 27, 2011

The scary decline of relations between the United States and Pakistan ― the world’s most dangerous nuclear-armed country ― is illustrated by the perilous plight of one man.Husain Haqqani was, until recently, the savvy and energetic Pakistani ambassador to Washington, dubbed by Bloomberg “the hardest working man in DC.” His job was thankless: trying to maintain ties between two countries that deeply distrust each other.Pakistan’s military disliked Haqqani because of his long-standing opposition t
One exam shouldn’t decide your future

Dec 27, 2011

Kim Seong-kon in “One exam decides your future” wrote an interesting piece in this paper last Wednesday (Dec. 21). Whilst sympathetic to the view of the writer, there was a hint that creative education was somehow linked to the “foreign” issue and that, yet again, Koreans are having to adapt to the external whims of foreigners. I would like to add a few reflections. On meeting President Obama earlier last month, President Lee in classic Korean style “complained” that the problem with Koreans is
How the insurance industry tried to ban Christmas

Dec 27, 2011

In December 1908, the insurance industry declared war on Christmas. The New York Board of Underwriters issued an announcement to every client of every fire-insurance firm in the city.It read:Your attention is hereby respectfully called to the fact that the introduction about the premises of Christmas green, harvest specimens and other inflammable materials, such as cotton, to represent snow, and the like, and the use of moving picture machines, introduces additional hazard not contemplated by th