It will be a long while before the ultimate legal fate of former President Lee Myung-bak is determined, as the fight between the prosecution and Lee is almost certain to continue to the Supreme Court. 　The first round of the battle is set to start Thursday, when the court arraigns Lee at the prosecution’s request to detain him on a total of 18 charges. The court’s decision may set the tone for the upcoming legal fight between prosecutors and Lee and his defense attorneys. 　Whatever decision the

In recent years, productivity growth in developed economies has been stagnating. The most prominent explanations of this trend involve technology. Technological progress is supposed to increase economies’ productivity and potential growth. So what’s going on?Harvard’s economist Martin Feldstein has argued persuasively that productivity growth is actually higher than we realize, because government statistics “grossly understate the value of improvements in the quality of existing goods and servic

China and Russia have lurched toward dictatorships of one-man rule, raising concerns about a new Cold War in the 21st century.　Xi Jinping was re-elected unanimously as China’s president on Saturday, and the following day, Russian President Vladimir Putin won another landslide election victory. Earlier, the rubber-stamp Chinese parliament approved a constitutional amendment that lifts presidential term limits, meaning Xi can stay on indefinitely. Putin is starting his fourth nonconsecutive six-ye

 In 1967, riots erupted in cities throughout the United States, from Newark, New Jersey, to Detroit and Minneapolis in the Midwest -- all two years after the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles exploded in violence. In response, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed a commission, headed by Illinois Gov. Otto Kerner, to investigate the causes and propose measures to address them. Fifty years ago, the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (more widely known as the Kerner Commission), issue

In Beijing sits Xi Jinping, the Red Emperor. His project is to make totalitarianism work. Already in complete control at home, his global influence increases by the day. Other nations are falling over each other to pay tribute to the People’s Republic.　Beijing does not impose its political model on others, but demands something else: silence. If you want to collaborate with China, you are not allowed to say anything unfriendly. Crossing the regime risks retribution or expulsion.　After the Nobel

Former South Chungcheong Province Gov. An Hee-jung on Monday underwent questioning by prosecutors over allegations of sexual violence against his aides. On Sunday, Lee Yoon-taek, a famous director and playwright, was grilled by police for a second straight day over allegations he habitually committed sexual misconduct against 16 people, including actresses. The public attention given to the cases, and the seemingly never-ending news stories about similar misdeeds by those in power, show that the