The Korea Herald

[David Ignatius] Assessing Syria’s ‘day after’

WASHINGTON ― U.S. policy toward Syria is caught between two conflicting imperatives: President Bashar al-Assad must go, and the killing must stop. Unfortunately, it’s probably impossible to have both. A more realistic formula is that Assad must go, and the killing will continue ― with the U.S. and its allies trying to limit collateral damage. Because the U.S. seeks Assad’s ouster, the Obama administration should focus more on “the day after” ― including the near-certainty that violence will pers

July 26, 2012

[David Ignatius] Assessing Syria’s ‘day after’

How the elite built America’s economic wall

For a century, incomes became increasingly equal across the U.S., as poor states such as Alabama caught up to rich places like California. Economists have long taught this history to their undergraduates as an illustration of the growth theory for which Robert Solow won his Nobel Prize in economics: Poor places are short on the capital that would make local labor more productive. Investors move capital to those poor places, hoping to capture some of the increased productivity as higher returns.

July 26, 2012

More shareholders reject executive pay plans

This is the last in a three-part series on corporate-governance issues. ― Ed.It is often said that social change can’t occur until what was seen as misfortune is seen as injustice. There is a corollary in the financial world. It says change can’t occur until what was seen as immaterial is seen as risky. That’s happening with executive compensation. Investors are recognizing that excessive pay for chief executive officers does more than shave a few cents off earnings; it also provides important c

July 26, 2012

[Itamar Rabinovich] The tipping point of Syrian crisis

TEL AVIV ― During World War II, Winston Churchill famously drew a distinction between “the end of the beginning” and “the beginning of the end.” That distinction is equally applicable to the unfolding Syrian crisis. Recent events ― the growing number of high-level defections from the regime’s leadership, the killing of three of President Bashar al-Assad’s most senior officials in a bomb attack, and the rebellion’s spread into Damascus itself ― suggest that, after a long period of gradual decline

July 26, 2012

[Itamar Rabinovich] The tipping point of Syrian crisis

[Park Sang-seek] Ideological issues for 2012 poll

Two main ideological foundations of South Korea, Western democracy and Western capitalism, have emerged as two biggest campaign issues in the presidential election. The people are divided on the meanings of these two constitutional orders. The conservatives maintain that since Western democracy is the political system of South Korea, any persons who advocate pro-North Korea policies are worshippers, if not agents, of North Korea and therefore they should either immigrate to North Korea or be sub

July 25, 2012

[Park Sang-seek] Ideological issues for 2012 poll

No need for heavy-handed war on leaks

Leaks of confidential government information are nothing new in Washington. But a recent spate of news stories about national security operations has emboldened advocates of new punishments for revealing classified information. Some of these latter-day “plumbers” would target not just the leakers but also journalists. At the risk of seeming to defend our own vested interests, we would caution against such an escalation in the war on leaks.At a recent hearing of a House Judiciary subcommittee, Re

July 25, 2012

Zombie directors should exit U.S. boardrooms

This is the second in a three-part series on corporate governance issues. ― Ed.When I testify before Congress about corporate governance, I like to watch the faces of the committee members when I explain the rules for electing corporate directors. “I know you, better than anyone else, understand what the word ‘election’ means,” I say. “Well, in the wacky world of public corporations, you win even if 99 percent of the shareholders vote against you.” Except for the fraction of cases where someone

July 25, 2012

[Meghan Daum] A TV couch potato and binge watching

I recently attended a lecture by a distinguished man of letters. A poet, novelist, playwright and literary critic, this man also edits journals, directs literary festivals, collaborates on documentary projects, teaches full time at a university and is raising a family. When an audience member asked how he managed to find the time for all these things, he said, “Everything I do is in the interests of making time for my true passion: watching TV.”He was addicted, he said, to “Damages”and“Downton A

July 25, 2012

[Meghan Daum] A TV couch potato and binge watching

[Kim Myong-sik] Has South Korean intelligence lost its way?

Media outlets these days are speculating on a young woman who frequently accompanies new North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on his on-the-spot guidance and encouragement visits to military and civilian installations. When she first appeared on North Korean TV, she was thought to be his sister, but it now looks more likely that she could be his wife or fiance.Asked about her identity, the state intelligence agency offers no clear answer. Although it was seven months ago at the time of Kim Jong-il’s

July 25, 2012

[Kim Myong-sik] Has South Korean intelligence lost its way?

Raise minimum wage to raise America

Time flies when you’re moving backward. With the federal minimum wage stuck at $7.25 an hour since July 24, 2009, workers now have less buying power than they did in 1997 at the start of the longest period in history without a raise.It took 10 years, from 1997 until 2007, to raise the minimum wage above $5.15. A worker would need $7.36 today to match the buying power of the $5.15 minimum wage in 1997.If you picture raising minimum wage as climbing a mountain, workers have fallen below the spot r

July 24, 2012

[Lee Jae-min] Chasing two targets in oil imports

The European Union’s imposition of tough sanctions against Iran starting from July 1 is really pushing Korea into a corner. One of the core elements of Brussels’ sanctions is to prohibit insurance companies in the EU from providing coverage for foreign tankers transporting oil shipments from Iran. As Korean tankers are insured or re-insured by big name insurance companies in Europe, this sanction is virtually halting Korea’s oil importation from Iran. No insurance simply means no seafaring. In 2

July 24, 2012

[Lee Jae-min] Chasing two targets in oil imports

Independent chairmen are smart investments

This is the first of three articles on corporate governance issues. ― Ed.We don’t let students grade their own exams, but we let CEOs chair their own boards. At 281 of the S&P 500 companies, the chairman is the current chief executive officer. At 38 of the 500, the chairman is a former executive or has some other connection to the CEO or company. And at 72 others, the chairman is listed as an independent outside director, yet a closer look too often reveals relationships that squeezed through lo

July 24, 2012

Undermining true welfare reform in the U.S.

The Obama administration has quietly issued new bureaucratic rules that overturned the popular welfare reform law of 1996. This illegal move completely undoes years of progress that helped millions of Americans.The 1996 reform replaced the old Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program with a program called Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). At the core of TANF were federal work standards that required able-bodied welfare recipients to work, prepare for work, or at least

July 24, 2012

[Kim Seong-kon] The power of a taxi driver

Sometimes a taxi driver can completely ruin or significantly upgrade a tourist’s impression of a country. When I was a British Council scholar at Oxford 20 years ago, my family and I had the chance to travel to Scotland by train. Upon our arrival at Glasgow Station, we took a taxi to check into the Hilton Hotel, which was reserved for us by the British Council. Although the Hilton was in close proximity to the train station, it was not until later that we realized this since we were foreign to t

July 24, 2012

[Kim Seong-kon] The power of a taxi driver

Escalator of success (next time use the stairs)

When I was a little kid, there was a game I used to play while out and about with my family. Every time we came upon an escalator, I’d run ahead and charge up it as fast as I could, just so I could then stand at the top and “pull” everyone else up by the moving handrail. When they joined me at the top, I’d proudly claim full responsibility. No one could escape being pawns in my victory if they were on that escalator. It was their own fault if they didn’t take the stairs.I was about 5 at the time

July 23, 2012

[David Ignatius] Bill due for central banks

WASHINGTON ― Because of the breakdown of political decision-making in the U.S. and Europe during the Great Recession, the burden of response has fallen largely on two big central banks: the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank. And down the road, they are going to pay for it. The balance sheets of these institutions have ballooned as they’ve pumped out cash ― adding so many new obligations that some economists worry the central banks may be sowing the seeds of the next financial crisis.

July 23, 2012

[David Ignatius] Bill due for central banks

It’s about time the U.N. helped the Syrian people

Assad’s regime should be finished. There have been numerous defections: a Syrian pilot, a brigadier general, and a high ranking diplomat. Assad’s grip on power has been crumbling. His regime even desperately lashed out by attacking a Turkish fighter jet. This is likened to a wounded animal that is taking vicious last bites before it dies. Meanwhile, the U.N. is doing pretty much nothing about ending his regime sooner. Instead, we are letting the regime inflict extraordinarily heinous crimes agai

July 23, 2012

China: A bubble to burst?

Every now and then, an army of experts goes around proclaiming the end of China’s economy. Since mid-July 2012, the new song is about China being a bubble and the bubble bursting. Giving the answers right away: Yes, China’s economy is weakening; Yes, there are troubling signals; No, China is not a bubble; No, the bubble is not bursting.What is wrong with China?Chinese economic authorities have revised their growth-forecast from 8 percent to 7.5 percent for the year 2012. This rate, taken for fac

July 23, 2012

U.S. campaign can’t match nastiness of yore

The U.S. presidential election, by some accounts, is sinking to record depths of negativity and nastiness, with unprecedented attacks on Wall Street, especially the private-equity industry. It’s enough to send the children inside. Except that it isn’t true. There are still more than 100 days to go, but so far the tone and tenor of the contest between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is tame by historical standards. The Republican candidate has said the preside

July 23, 2012

[Curtis S. Chin] Myanmar: Bubble or miracle?

BANGKOK ― Fifteen years ago this month, the world’s eyes turned to Southeast Asia and then to South Korea and across the Asia-Pacific region as what would become known as the Asian financial crisis unfolded, ending a period of business euphoria about the so-called Asian miracle. In Thailand, after a decade of economic growth averaging 9 percent per year, the bubble burst first, when the government was forced to float its currency in July 1997. The crisis spread, as the value of currencies and eq

July 23, 2012

[Curtis S. Chin] Myanmar: Bubble or miracle?