The Korea Herald

[Kim Seong-kon] Korean vs. American universities

Aug 30, 2011

As someone who has taught at both Korean and American universities, I know there are some interesting differences between the two higher educational institutions. In Korea, for example, most high school students seem to believe that a college degree is imperative in order to climb the ladder of soci
[Daniel Fiedler] Child abuse and the failure of South Korean courts

Aug 30, 2011

In November 1991 South Korea ratified the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Since that ratification, the South Korean government has enacted a variety of laws to protect children from abuse and exploitation, the centerpiece law being the Child Welfare Act. More recently Korea b
[Albert R. Hunt] Changing Vietnam yearns for closer U.S. embrace

Aug 30, 2011

Pham Binh Minh, whose father fought to force the U.S. out of Vietnam, is working fervently to elevate the interest and involvement of his country’s former enemy. Vietnam wants a U.S. presence for economic reasons and as a balance to China, the regional superpower. Minh is the new foreign minister; h
[David Ignatius] Another al-Qaida leader falls

Aug 29, 2011

WASHINGTON ― The death of Atiyah Abd al-Rahman in an Aug. 22 drone attack in Pakistan may appear to be just another in the revolving-door fatalities among al-Qaida’s operations chiefs. But it was a crucial blow to the core group that once surrounded Osama bin Laden. Atiyah, as he was known to a
[Susan Crawford] U.S. falls behind in race toward open government

Aug 29, 2011

When Brazil’s government buys anything from fighter jets to a fancy villa, details are available online within 24 hours. Such disclosures are a powerful way to combat corruption, and are a model for official openness that could inspire other nations. Brazil’s online portal started in 2004. Among its
[Virginia Postrel] How Jobs made business cool

Aug 29, 2011

To understand the cultural significance of Steve Jobs, you have to go back in time: to before the iPad or iPhone or iTunes, before Apple Inc.’s comeback products made candy-colored plastics and iAnything cool, before Jobs got kicked out of Apple, even before the Macintosh hurled a sledgehammer at Bi
[Jack Goldstone and Charles Cadwell] Planning for new Libya in post-Gadhafi era

Aug 29, 2011

Post-Gadhafi Libya brims with promise, but also with pitfalls. Blessed with low-sulfur oil, proximity to Europe, and recent strong economic growth, the country should be poised to move forward. But that’s only if the risks of tribal conflicts and the challenges of a very young population and regiona
[Simon Johnson] Behind euro, a crisis unfolds in slow motion

Aug 29, 2011

Is the economic and financial situation in Western Europe largely under control, as many prominent Europeans contend? Or is it poised to move into a new and more difficult phase? The crisis feels unreal to some people in the same way that war felt phony to some Britons from September 1939 through sp
[David Ignatius] A rare look inside al-Qaida

Aug 28, 2011

WASHINGTON ― Government officials refer to it blandly as the “SSE,” or Sensitive Site Exploitation. That’s their oblique term for the extraordinary cache of evidence that was carried away from Osama bin Laden’s compound the night the al-Qaida leader was killed. With the anniversary of the Sept.
[Ramin Jahanbegloo] Syria, Iran will only change if people unite as in Libya

Aug 28, 2011

TORONTO ― When future generations look back, they will remember 2011 as the year of end of dictators in the Middle East and the Maghreb. Libya’s Muammar Gadhafi has now joined the Middle East parade of fallen despots. Practically nine months after Tunisia’s President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali was oust
[Gordon Brown] The eurozone’s cure should start with Germany

Aug 28, 2011

LONDON ― I can well understand the defiant mood in Germany today as it grapples with the crisis engulfing the eurozone. German anger is obvious and well founded.Over the last 10 years, while Spain, Ireland, Portugal and others partied on low interest rates, the German people cut their wages, endured
[Noah Charney] Art theft, from the ‘Mona Lisa’ to today

Aug 28, 2011

One hundred years ago, an Italian handyman named Vincenzo Peruggia stole the world’s most famous painting from the world’s most famous museum. Peruggia slipped out of a closet inside the Louvre in which he had hidden overnight, removed the “Mona Lisa” from the wall and retreated to a service stairca
[Malcolm Sparrow] An e-ripoff of the U.S.

Aug 28, 2011

A Los Angeles jury recently convicted a local pastor and his wife of fraudulently claiming $14.2 million from Medicare. The culprits recruited parishioners to help run fake durable medical equipment companies, and spent the proceeds on expensive cars and other luxuries. Assistant U.S. Attorney Gener
[Michael Broning] U.N.: Which Palestinian state?

Aug 26, 2011

JERUSALEM ― Israelis and Palestinians are preparing for a showdown at the United Nations in September, when the Palestinian leadership will ask for recognition of a Palestinian state within the borders that existed before the Six Day War in 1967 (when Israel seized control of Jordanian-occupied terr
[William Pesek] Banker suicides offer clues in a bellwether

Aug 26, 2011

If our world has any place that acts like a financial early warning system, it’s South Korea. With high short-term debt levels and little to cushion it from destabilizing global events, Korea is often the first of the top 15 economies to zig, zag or hit an economic wall. At the moment, events on the