The Korea Herald

[Meghan Daum] Mob on Marcus Bachmann advised to stick to facts

Jul 26, 2011

Marcus Bachmann, the husband of GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, is having a bad month. Not only is his counseling clinic under attack for offering gay conversion therapy, he’s being pursued by an angry mob. Composed of gay activists, comedians, left-leaning bloggers and members of the alternative media, this mob is not only angry about Bachmann’s “pray the gay away” ideas, it’s growin
[Kim Seong-kon] ‘Global mix’ and hallyu’s popularity

Jul 26, 2011

Why is hallyu (or the “Korean wave”) so popular these days? Why hasn’t “joonglyu” (the “Chinese wave”) or “illyu” (the “Japanese wave”) swept across the world, while hallyu continues to spread throughout not only Asia, but also Europe and Latin America? These are the questions one may ask while witnessing the enormous popularity of Korean movies, television dramas and pop songs overseas. Recently
[Chung Dooeum] Jiang Jieshi and Chinese Communist Party

Jul 26, 2011

China has emerged as a major world power. The country’s emergence from obscurity into planned modernization has surprised many. The introduction of a market economy has released the Chinese people’s previously-repressed desire for material wealth, while giving them the means to attain it as well. Would China have been able to achieve the same economic progress under a non-Communist regime, say und
[Jon Lee] What SC First Bank needs to do to resolve disputes

Jul 26, 2011

The following is a personal letter to SCB Group CEO, Peter Sands, from Jon Lee, a management consultant, for resolving current disputes at SC First Bank in Korea. ― Ed.Dear Mr. Sands,This letter is written in the hope that it can help resolve the current stalemate situation in Korea ― which is detrimental to everyone involved the longer it drags on.I write to you directly as you hold the key to re
[David Ignatius] Point at which the center roars

Jul 25, 2011

WASHINGTON ― It was Ed Miliband, the British Labor Party leader, who posed the haunting question in Wednesday’s parliamentary debate about the phone-hacking scandal: “Why didn’t more of us speak out about this earlier?” Miliband blamed political intimidation by Rupert Murdoch’s press empire: “The answer is, of course, what we all know and used to be afraid to say: News International was too powerf
Republicans grandstand in theater of the absurd

Jul 25, 2011

A British parliamentary committee hearing into the transgressions of media baron Rupert Murdoch offered a surprising Benny-Hill pie-in-the-face moment on Tuesday. But the day’s Academy Award for legislative farce still went to the U.S. House of Representatives.By a margin of 234 to 190, House Republicans rammed through a bill labeled “Cut, Cap and Balance,” the purpose of which is to Starve, Gut a
[Park Sang-seek] War between American and Chinese soft power

Jul 25, 2011

Chinese President Hu Jintao presented China’s foreign policy doctrines and strategies at the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party of China on July 1. Actually, it was a summary of the section dealing with Chinese foreign policy in his speech at the 17th Party Congress in 2007. Hu has elaborated on Chinese foreign policy on many other occasions. The key word for Chinese foreign policy is “a harm
[Jeffrey Scott Shapiro] Tabloids don’t deserve the First Amendment

Jul 25, 2011

The FBI opened an inquiry late last week into Rupert Murdoch’s media empire amid allegations that British reporters tried to access cellphone messages and records of Sept. 11 victims. Rep. Peter T. King, R-N.Y., among the members of Congress who sought the investigation, wrote to FBI Director Robert Mueller, citing news reports that reporters attempted to obtain phone records of victims through br
[Doyle McManus] Doomsday doubters and the debt-ceiling debate

Jul 25, 2011

President Barack Obama says that if Congress doesn’t raise the debt ceiling by Aug. 2, the consequences will be dire. A long list of economists and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce agree. Even the Republican leader in the U.S. Senate agrees.But there’s also another view.Many House Republicans ― even those who believe the debt ceiling must be raised ― aren’t buying the doomsday scenario. And they’re no
[Nouriel Roubini] The eurozone makes its last stand

Jul 24, 2011

NEW YORK ― The eurozone crisis is reaching its climax. Greece is insolvent. Portugal and Ireland have recently seen their bonds downgraded to junk status. Spain could still lose market access as political uncertainty adds to its fiscal and financial woes. Financial pressure on Italy is now mounting.By 2012, Greek public debt will be above 160 percent of GDP and rising. Alternatives to a debt restr
[Margaret Carlson] Pledging allegiance to the special interests

Jul 24, 2011

Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman may be trailing the pack in the Republican presidential primary, but he is a leader in one important regard: Unlike his colleagues, Huntsman has refused to sign any of the special-interest pledges that are increasingly turning political office into an ideological straitjacket. Huntsman has been joined by Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty in rejecting one particularly o
[Emma Bonino] Could prospect of Italian collapse finally unite EU?

Jul 24, 2011

ROME ― The euro contagion triggered by Greece’s sovereign-debt crisis has now infected Italy. Silvio Berlusconi’s government, together with a fiscally conscious opposition, managed to secure ― in only a few days ― parliamentary approval of a package of measures worth more than 50 billion euros, in order to restore market confidence in the soundness of Italy’s economic fundamentals.In the absence o
[Michael Smerconish] How Bachmann lost a young conservative

Jul 24, 2011

Michele Bachmann, meet Ben Haney.In other circumstances, Ben could have been a real asset to your campaign. He’s a 28-year-old Republican with experience as a traveling advance man for John McCain and Sarah Palin in 2008. Ben was born and raised in the critically important suburbs of Philadelphia. Having taught government at a high school, Ben now runs his own real estate investment company and co
[M.J. Rosenberg] Israel: ‘Delegitimization’ is just a distraction

Jul 24, 2011

Suddenly, all the major pro-Israel organizations are anguishing about “delegitimization.” Those who criticize Israeli policies are accused of trying to delegitimize Israel, which supposedly means denying Israel’s right to exist.The concept of delegitimization has been used as a weapon against Israel’s critics at least as far back as 1975, when then-U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Daniel Patr
[David Ignatius] Plotting a post-Assad road map

Jul 22, 2011

WASHINGTON ― As the Obama administration steps up its support for regime change in Syria, the Arab Spring is moving into what could be its hottest phase. The puzzle is how to help the Syrian opposition gain power without foreign military intervention ― and without triggering sectarian massacres inside the country. For months, as protests mounted in Syria, President Obama waited to see if Bashar al