The Korea Herald

[Meghan Daum] When being authentic requires hard work, focus

Aug 14, 2011

Want to be authentic? Good luck! These days it takes deliberate effort, focus, even a long-term commitment to change. This might sound surprising to those of you who associate authenticity with just being yourself, but misconceptions about authenticity abound, not least among them the idea that it c
[Jon Lee] Trust your employees

Aug 14, 2011

The following is a second personal letter to SCB Group CEO, Peter Sands, from Jon Lee, a management consultant, regarding the current disputes at SC First Bank. The first letter was published on July 27. ― Ed.Dear Mr. Peter Sands:I wrote to you two weeks ago in this newspaper column to provide you w
[Daniel Akst] Americans have Congress’ number

Aug 14, 2011

The American people believe all kinds of things. Three years ago, for example, a Harris Poll found that 71 percent believe in angels but only 47 percent believe in evolution.That’s not all. Skepticism on global warming has been increasing, and surprising numbers believe all kinds of nonsense about t
[Jonathan Weil] Where is the money to save banks?

Aug 12, 2011

Forget free-market fundamentals. What matters most to the capital markets now is whether the governments of the U.S. and western Europe have the will and the wherewithal to save the global financial system from disaster yet again. A healthy climate for the efficient allocation of capital, this
[Zhang Jie and Zhong Feiteng] The Asia-Pacific region poses multiple challenges

Aug 12, 2011

Defence communications between China and Japan were interrupted and bilateral ties became tense after a Chinese trawler collided with Japan Coast Guard ships in September last year near Diaoyu Islands. Despite the untoward development, China responded sympathetically, both at the government and nong
[Jasper Kim] Underbelly of the ‘Korean Wave’

Aug 12, 2011

Imagine a world where slavery, often involving underage and unsuspecting victims, is not only condoned, but legally enforced. This is not fiction, but fact, in one of Asia’ most prolific entertainment export-oriented country ― South Korea (Asia’s fourth largest economy and OECD member state) ― invol
[Editorial] No time for complacency

Aug 12, 2011

The combination of soaring consumer prices at home and the worsening global economic outlook has ostensibly added a further complication to China’s endeavor to keep economic growth on track while preventing overheating. As the world’s second largest economy, China will have no chance of maintaining
[Editorial] Taiwan cannot risk taking growing waistlines lightly

Aug 12, 2011

A local television news station reported on Monday that 42 percent of Taiwanese people over the age of 20 are considered overweight. The term “overweight” is somewhat subjective and depending on the person could range from having just an extra kilo or two to bordering on obesity. But the statistic i
[Tulsathit Taptim] Yingluck’s journey as Thai prime minister has begun

Aug 12, 2011

So, Episode III here we come.It has officially begun, with Yingluck Shinawatra vowing to bring back political peace and never to work for any particular person or group. If that sounds very familiar to you, it’s because Abhisit Vejjajiva made exactly the same pledges in late 2008. Out he has limped
[David Ignatius] Democracy challenged again

Aug 11, 2011

WASHINGTON ― Free markets, in theory, are supposed to be self-correcting. When they’re knocked off balance, changes in prices should gradually bring the system back to equilibrium. The same process of regeneration is supposed to operate with democratic political systems, too. What we have been
[Bob Ray Sanders] Where have all the leaders gone? Not to D.C.

Aug 11, 2011

My first visit to the U.S. Capitol was in 1971. From the moment I set foot in the place, I was captivated by its majesty.Although impressed with the building’s sheer beauty and grandeur, I was awed when I looked down to the floor of the Upper House from the Senate gallery and saw Sen. Edward Kennedy
[Park Sang-seek] Is multiculturalism a threat to the nation and the world?

Aug 11, 2011

Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik claimed in his online manifesto 2083 that multiculturalism is the core ideology of the left extremists he calls cultural Marxists. According to him, cultural Marxists include orthodox Marxists, suicidal liberals and capitalist globalists. He does not de
[Ron Klain] Obama shows high-stake gambling streak

Aug 11, 2011

Among the many misconceptions about Barack Obama is that he is cautious. In fact, it is hard to think of a modern president in recent times who has been more willing to take big risks, not because he is reckless, but because he is willing to suffer potential short-term setbacks to achieve a desired
[Aristides N. Hatzis] Lessons from Greece

Aug 11, 2011

For the past 18 months Greece has been the epicenter of the European sovereign debt crisis. Its enormous national debt (127 percent of GDP before the first bailout in May 2010, reaching 160 percent by the end of 2011) and its ever-expanding deficit (14 percent before the austerity measures) were so
[Simon Tilford] Eurobonds: Lifeboat for eurozone

Aug 10, 2011

LONDON ― The eurozone’s institutional weaknesses have been laid bare. The attempt to run a common monetary policy without a common treasury has failed. Investors do not know what they are buying when they purchase an Italian bond ― is it backstopped by Germany or not?We now know that the best credit