The Korea Herald

[Jeffrey Frankel] A flock of black swans

CAMBRIDGE, Massachussetts ― Throughout history, major political and economic shocks have often occurred in August, when leaders have gone on vacation believing that world affairs are quiet. Consider World War I’s outbreak in 1914, the Nazi-Soviet pact in 1939, the Sputnik launch in 1957, the Berlin Wall in 1961, and the failed coup in Moscow of 1991. Then there was the Nixon shock of 1971 (when the American president took the dollar off the gold standard and imposed wage, price, and trade contro

Aug. 23, 2012

[Jeffrey Frankel] A flock of black swans

A prayer to Putin: Liberalize before it’s too late

Just months ago, few people in or outside Russia had heard of Pussy Riot, a marginal group of feminist performance artists. The country’s opposition movement was a disorganized and apparently spent force. Foreign leaders and global pop stars such as Madonna and Paul McCartney had little to say on the independence of courts in Moscow. That all changed because of the trial that ended Friday with the conviction of three Pussy Riot members, on charges of hooliganism and inciting religious hatred. Th

Aug. 22, 2012

[Ma Jian] The show trial of the century

LONDON ― The trial, conviction, and suspended death sentence of Gu Kailai, the wife of purged Chinese leader Bo Xilai, has called into question not only China’s legal system, but the very unity of the Communist Party leadership.Let us begin with the many questions raised at the trial. For starters, Gu claimed that she killed the British businessman Neil Heywood only to protect her son. But, given Gu’s power as Bo’s wife, she could have had someone like Heywood jailed or expelled from China at th

Aug. 22, 2012

U.S. should support circumcision at home

The U.S. government is justifiably proud of its leadership abroad funding male circumcision as a way to prevent HIV infections. The president’s AIDS relief program boasts of having provided more than 1 million circumcisions in 14 African countries. The record of government support for male circumcision within the U.S., however, is nothing to crow about. More and more states (18 so far) are dropping Medicaid coverage for routine infant male circumcision, contributing to a decline in rates from 79

Aug. 22, 2012

[Heo Mane] Why is South Korea’s missile range limited?

Missile range limits to South Korea need to be revised as soon as possible. North Korea has constantly developed its missile capabilities by extending its range, while South Korea has been prevented from catching up with its rival. The Pyongyang regime launched a long-range missile, the Kwangmyongsong-3, in April, but failed as it crashed into the West Sea a few minutes after liftoff. Though Pyongyang said it meant to put a satellite into orbit, it broke the U.S-North Korea agreement that it wou

Aug. 22, 2012

[Heo Mane] Why is South Korea’s missile range limited?

[Kim Myong-sik] Examining Japan’s untenable ‘Takeshima’ claim

As a Korean, it may be hard to make an impartial comment on the escalating dispute between Korea and Japan over the territorial rights to Dokdo. Basically, we Koreans do not consider the Dokdo issue a symmetrical controversy because Korea has had “effective control” over the group of islets in the East Sea for more than six decades. No one believes that there can be any change to it.Yet, it should be worthwhile to examine what logic the Japanese have developed to support their claim on “Takeshim

Aug. 22, 2012

[Kim Myong-sik] Examining Japan’s untenable ‘Takeshima’ claim

Is Israel’s rush to strike Iran based on U.S. politics?

Israeli officials are warning they might have to launch an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, perhaps even before the U.S. presidential election in November. Israel’s concerns about a nuclear-armed Iran are well-founded, but this speeding up the timeline on a potential strike is ill-judged. What is the sudden urgency? Nobody has been able to point to a recent game-changing event in Iran. Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., was asked Wednesday by Bloomberg News whether it was tied to

Aug. 21, 2012

[Lee Jae-min] Sign in the way you please?

Signatures on paper have almost disappeared in shops in Seoul, with digital signatures taking their place. Digital signing is convenient and quick. But one may have noticed a difference between the two: In the conventional paper format, the signer and sales clerk apparently take the procedure more seriously than when its digital. Oftentimes I have a sales clerk who hits the “ok” button on his or her cash register in the middle of my putting my signature on the pad, which basically terminates the

Aug. 21, 2012

[Lee Jae-min] Sign in the way you please?

For stability’s sake, reform money funds

The crisis in the euro area is a reminder that threats to financial stability are never far away. While progress has been made on financial reform over the past two years, more must be done to ensure that the financial system is robust enough to absorb shocks and still provide the credit needed for economic growth and job creation. A glaring vulnerability exists with money-market mutual funds. I believe changes along the lines proposed by Mary Schapiro, the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Ex

Aug. 21, 2012

Old wounds cripple new Korea-Japan ties

A few weeks ago, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak made a historic visit to the Dokdo islands, sparking howls of protests in Japan, which calls the islands Takeshima.The visit highlights one thing: A dispute has become really bad when those involved deny that there is a dispute in the first place.For its part, Seoul insists that the islands ― located 87km from the nearest South Korean territory and 158km from the nearest Japanese land ― is an “integral part of Korean territory”.Its Ministry o

Aug. 21, 2012

[Kim Seong-kon] Watch your language!

Language reflects the culture from which it is derived and developed. It mirrors the customs, emotions and psychology of the people who speak the tongue. English, for example, is known to be a highly rational language that does not allow logical fallacies, inconsistency or incoherency. If you write grammatically incorrect sentences or contradict yourself in the same paragraph, your writing will immediately lose its validity and credibility. British and American college students’ term papers, for

Aug. 21, 2012

[Yuriko Koike] Japan fiscal crisis comes of age

TOKYO ― Has Japan’s political paralysis finally lifted? The recent agreement, after a long debate, between the government and leading opposition parties to double the consumption tax ― from 5 percent to 8 percent in 2014, and then to 10 percent in 2015 ― suggests that it has. But there is a real risk that the government will mistake this measure for the end of the reform process. In fact, it is ― or should be ― only the beginning.By virtually any measure, official Japanese debt is the highest in

Aug. 20, 2012

[Yuriko Koike] Japan fiscal crisis comes of age

Social security council must be launched soon

To ensure the long-term sustainability of the nation’s social security system, constructive discussions must be held on the matter.The Democratic Party of Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito have agreed on the establishment of a “national council to revamp the social security system.”Under the Social Security System Reform Promotion Law, which will go into force shortly, the council will not exist longer than one year from the date of the enforcement of the law.However, some LDP

Aug. 20, 2012

Afghan shake-up portends divided future

In a raucous session that brought lawmakers to blows this month, the Afghan parliament passed a no-confidence vote against the country’s top security officials: the ministers of defense and interior. With Afghanistan struggling to take on more challenging pieces of its own defense burden from international troops, the decision came as an ill-timed surprise. Just as surprising was President Hamid Karzai’s quick agreement that the two should go.It is always hazardous to claim to see through the co

Aug. 20, 2012

Uzbekistan deserves better

Not long after I spoke out against a massacre of mostly peaceful protesters in Uzbekistan in 2005, I was arrested by government security services and taken away. I was drugged, beaten, falsely accused of directing the uprising, charged with financial crimes and sentenced to 14 years in prison. There I was put to work in a brick factory, and my health deteriorated.During the brutally cold January of 2008, as a punishment for political prisoners, three other inmates and I were put for five freezin

Aug. 20, 2012

[Andrew Sheng] Central banking no longer august profession

Central banking used to be an august profession ― highly respected, almost revered, mainly because they looked after everybody’s money. But now that Wall Street can print more money than God, and the Fed and European Central Bank are still printing money to keep their economies from deflating, central bankers have lost their god-like status. Every year in August, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas would host an event in Jackson Hole for central bankers and key thinkers about money to debate the

Aug. 20, 2012

[Andrew Sheng] Central banking no longer august profession

[Peter Singer] The real abortion tragedy

MELBOURNE ― In the Dominican Republic last month, a pregnant teenager suffering from leukemia had her chemotherapy delayed, because doctors feared that the treatment could terminate her pregnancy and therefore violate the nation’s strict anti-abortion law. After consultations between doctors, lawyers, and the girl’s family, chemotherapy eventually was begun, but not before attention had again been focused on the rigidity of many developing countries’ abortion laws.Abortion receives extensive med

Aug. 19, 2012

[Peter Singer] The real abortion tragedy

Ethanol in gas tanks makes food cost more

Record-high corn prices should be sending a clear message to policy makers in Washington: Requiring people to put corn-based fuel in their gas tanks is a bad idea. Since 2005, the U.S. government has mandated that gasoline contain ethanol, almost all of it derived from corn. The policy, ostensibly aimed at reducing the country’s dependence on foreign oil and at improving the environment, has been a bonanza for farmers. Land planted with corn soared by a fourth after Congress passed the Energy In

Aug. 19, 2012

Russians hold an election in cyberspace

Russia’s opposition, notorious for its lack of organization, has devised an innovative way to choose legitimate leaders: a primary election held mainly on the Web.Some of the biggest names in the Russian Internet ― including Web guru Anton Nosik and Ilya Segalovich, a co-founder of Yandex, the search engine that tops Google in Russia ― are working to get the technology ready for an Oct. 7 vote. The aim is to elect a coordinating council of 45 people who can organize rallies, speak for the broade

Aug. 19, 2012

Maine lobster tastes best with dash of supply side

History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as lobster. Or so you might think from reading this summer’s news in Maine, which speaks volumes, or crates, about the farcical nature of North American trade policy. First, to the dark side of the story, which involves, if not a tragedy, a tragically long dispute over the lumber trade. For decades, the U.S. has been alleging that Canada unfairly holds down the price of timber for its producers, squeezing out the noble U.S. lumberman, hurting his in

Aug. 19, 2012