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[Chon Shi-yong] From the queen to the spoiler

ViewpointsApr 14, 2016

President Park Geun-hye used to be called the “queen of elections,” having led her conservative party to victory in most crucial elections since 2004. Things like her personal charm, older generations’ fond memories of her father and mother and southeasterners’ favoritism combined to earn her the nickname. Wednesday’s general election deprived her of the title overnight. The queen turned out to be the biggest spoiler of the ruling party’s campaigns. Voters hand out verdicts every election, and t
G7 commits to total abolition of nuclear arms

ViewpointsApr 14, 2016

It is highly significant that the Group of Seven major powers — including the three nuclear powers of the United States, Britain and France — issued a clear message to pursue the eradication of nuclear weapons, doing so from a city flattened by the atomic bomb.The G7 adopted the Hiroshima Declaration on Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation at its foreign ministers’ meeting in Hiroshima.“The people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki experienced immense devastation and human suffering,” the declaratio
Hong Kong’s youth power

ViewpointsApr 14, 2016

Hong Kong is an indisputable part of China, so think the Chinese. A new political party has been launched by young students who orchestrated the 2014 pro-democracy protests against mainland China. The new political party intends to campaign for a fresh referendum that will decide Hong Kong’s future and also its possible independence from the mainland. Hong Kong enjoys many freedoms, civic and political that are unheard of and unimaginable in the mainland. Chinese authorities viewed the earlier s
[Raul Palabrica] China’s struggle for recognition

ViewpointsApr 14, 2016

What would you do if you were the richest person in your community and you had issues with your neighbors on property rights?　If you were emotionally stable or did not have a chip on your shoulder, you would reach out to them to come up with a win-win solution to your conflict.　If you were emotionally challenged or harbored feelings of insecurity, you would perform acts that show your superiority or your neighbors’ weakness in relation to your strength. Like a bully, you may even use force or in
[Tulsathit Taptim] Thai connections in Panama Papers

ViewpointsApr 14, 2016

It requires financial genius to stash mountains of money in tax havens, as revealed by the Panama Papers, but it probably takes greater intellect to defend the offshore hidey-holes. The Anti-Money Laundering Office all of a sudden has a tightrope to walk following reports of Thai connections in the leak that is rocking the world.The names of 16 Thais have been found listed among the huge trove of documents revealing individuals and entities from countries around the globe who set up secret offsh
[Jeffrey Frankel] The domestic threat to U.S. leadership

ViewpointsApr 14, 2016

U.S. President Barack Obama has racked up a series of foreign-policy triumphs over the last 12 months. But one that has gained less attention than others was the passage last December of legislation to reform the International Monetary Fund, after five years of obstruction by the U.S. Congress. As the IMF convenes in Washington, D.C., for its annual spring meetings from April 15-17, we should pause to savor the importance of this achievement. After all, if the United States had let yet another y
[Kim Seong-kon] Calling for modern Renaissance men and women

ViewpointsApr 12, 2016

There is a Korean saying: “To find water, concentrate on digging one well at a time.” It means we need to become professionals and specialists, not shallow amateurs. But times have changed. These days, we need people who can dig as many wells as possible in order to benefit many people. Indeed, the present age calls for open-minded men who have a global perspective rather than parochial views, and erudite men who have wide perception rather than men of narrow specialties.We need Renaissance men
[Robert J. Fouser] Does Korea need an upper house?

ViewpointsApr 12, 2016

Today marks the 20th time that Koreans have gone to the polls to vote for members of the National Assembly. Since the founding of the Republic of Korea in 1948, elections for the National Assembly have been the most regular of all elections. From 1971 to 1987, presidential elections were suspended and elections for local government offices were held for the first time in 1995. National Assembly elections, by contrast, have been held regularly every three to five years, though voter fraud and int
[Editorial] Mounting suspicions

EditorialApr 12, 2016

The Government Public Ethics Committee has launched its probe of senior prosecutor Jin Kyung-jun, who is facing questions over his stock trading gains worth more than 10 billion won ($8.6 million).It is a mercy that the state has not hushed up the allegation involving his possible exploitation of corporate insider information. At the same time, a concern is that the committee has no right to summon key figures of game developer Nexon, whose stocks were traded by the prosecutor.While some figures
[Editorial] Continued doldrums

EditorialApr 12, 2016

Korean businesses are pinning their hopes on reaching some type of agreement at a meeting between the OPEC and non-OPEC members in Doha on April 17. If the oil producers reach a consensus on an output freeze, Korea may be a beneficiary, as the nation is an export powerhouse in petrochemical products.Although an increase in crude prices has many positive effects, some industries will also have to bear a heavier burden in procuring raw materials. This divided sentiment reflects the desperate situa
[Francis Wilkinson] The ambition of Bernie Sanders

ViewpointsApr 12, 2016

Ambition is the most consistent, yet variable, component of public life. Lincoln and FDR had it, and that was good. Benedict Arnold and Joseph McCarthy had it, too. And that turned out very bad.Bernie Sanders is not often described as an ambitious man. But you don’t run for mayor of your city without a dash of ego and drive. You don’t leverage that position into a congressional seat without wanting more. And no one ends up a U.S. senator without the gnawing, often insatiable, hunger peculiar to
[Guy Verhofstadt] Europe’s rule-of-law crisis

ViewpointsApr 12, 2016

From the rubble of two world wars, European countries came together to launch what would become the world’s largest experiment in unification and cooperative: shared sovereignty. But, despite its impressive achievements over the decades, the European project now risks disintegration.An unresolved financial crisis, a refugee crisis, a deteriorating security environment and a stalled integration process have created throughout Europe a toxic, unstable political environment in which populism and na
[David Ignatius] Military leaders GOP could draft for president

ViewpointsApr 12, 2016

As Republicans head toward what could be a stalemated convention, they might recall how the party healed itself in 1952 in what was known as the “winter of discontent.” The Republicans drafted a military leader, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, as their presidential candidate.The looming showdown between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz is a potential “train wreck,” to quote my colleague Charles Krauthammer. Neither front-runner seems likely to have the 1,237 delegates needed for a first-ballot victory. If e
U.S. man due to die because he is black

ViewpointsApr 11, 2016

Duane Buck was convicted in 1997 of murdering his ex-girlfriend and a male friend. After a Texas jury determined that he was likely to pose a continuing danger to society, it sentenced him to death. How did the jury conclude that he posed a future threat (a finding that state law requires as a condition for imposing the death penalty)? Simple: Buck is black and, according to a psychologist who testified at the sentencing hearing, race is one of a number of “statistical factors” that can be used
[Andrew Sheng] Casting light from the shadows

ViewpointsApr 11, 2016

In solving mysteries, the detective Sherlock Holmes used to say that “once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”We have been so used through our conventional training to look for keys under the light of the lamp at night that we often forget to look in the shadows.We live in an age when we base all decisions on what statisticians produce as “facts and numbers.” The trouble with statistics is that all measurements are subject to errors and o