The Korea Herald

[Nouriel Roubini] Fragile and unbalanced in 2012

NEW YORK ― The outlook for the global economy in 2012 is clear, but it isn’t pretty: recession in Europe, anemic growth at best in the United States, and a sharp slowdown in China and in most emerging-market economies. Asian economies are exposed to China. Latin America is exposed to lower commodity prices (as both China and the advanced economies slow). Central and Eastern Europe are exposed to the eurozone. And turmoil in the Middle East is causing serious economic risks ― both there and elsew

Dec. 22, 2011

[Nouriel Roubini] Fragile and unbalanced in 2012

Smart marketing put Dec. 25 on the calendar

This Christmas, whether you celebrate the arrival of Santa Claus, the birth of Jesus Christ or the chance to eat Chinese food and see any movie you want, spare a thought for Pope Liberius. He’s the man responsible for setting its date as Dec. 25. And his probable reasons for doing so should give pause to the holiday’s most devout champions and its shrillest critics. Ever wonder why some Christian holidays, such as Easter, Ash Wednesday and Ascension Day, are “movable feasts,” changing around the

Dec. 22, 2011

Kim’s death, Mother Nature colored stormy 2011

If Asians got together to name a person of the year, someone who brought surprise, intrigue and economic impact to the region, the choice would be obvious: Mother Nature. From earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand to floods in the Philippines and Thailand to Chinese droughts to volcanic eruptions in Indonesia, this was a year overrun by nature’s fury. Food shortages and the effects of climate change challenged governments and inflation rates as rarely before. Other forces of nature, meanwhile, ra

Dec. 22, 2011

Kim Jong-il, Vaclav Havel: Two leaders a world apart

According to his obituary in the Los Angeles Times, North Korean strongman Kim Jong-il hired a personal sushi chef from Tokyo and a personal pizza chef from Italy even as his country suffered through a famine that killed as many as 2 million of his people. He kept a library of 20,000 movies for his own entertainment although ordinary citizens could be sent to prison camps for watching South Korean or American movies. He beat back economic reforms and led North Korea’s economy to the brink of col

Dec. 22, 2011

Endorse the nuclear test ban

STOCKHOLM/MEXICO CITY ― Indonesia’s parliament has just taken a historic step, one that makes the planet safer from the threat of nuclear weapons. The importance of Indonesia’s decision to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty cannot be overstated. This is a golden opportunity for the remaining eight countries to endorse the CTBT, enabling it to come into legal effect.For the five decades following World War II, a nuclear test shook and irradiated the planet on average every nine days

Dec. 22, 2011

N. Korea: Absurd, cruel, tragic and dangerous

As if the world did not face enough uncertainty at the end of 2011, we received the news on Sunday night that North Korea’s Kim Jong-il died. As is common for the sadly surreal nation, the information came wrapped up in confusing and absurd non-details, with reports indicating the 69-year-old died of exhaustion on a train.North Korea, and the newly defunct Kim of the sinister Kim dynasty, have given comedians much to joke about. And they have sparked a great deal of creativity among intelligence

Dec. 21, 2011

[Robert Reich] The real cost of Wall Street

Wall Street is its own worst enemy. It should have welcomed new financial regulation as a means of restoring public trust. Instead, it’s busily shredding new regulations and making the public more distrustful than ever.The Street’s biggest lobbying groups have just filed a lawsuit against the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, seeking to overturn its new rule limiting speculative trading in food, oil and other commodities.The Street makes bundles from these bets, but they have raised costs

Dec. 21, 2011

[Robert Reich] The real cost of Wall Street

Exploiting Kim’s death for diplomatic goal

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il drove his country deep into starvation and isolation while stockpiling cognac and fine foods for himself and his friends. He also threatened the world with a growing nuclear arsenal.He won’t be missed.Now Kim’s youngest son, Kim Jong-un, a 20-something cipher with no military experience and a four-star general’s rank, steps onto the stage.There’s speculation that the untested Kim will provoke a crisis to prove his chops and rally the military around his fledglin

Dec. 21, 2011

North Korea isn’t less of an enigma after Kim

The premature death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il leaves behind a Shakespearean cast of characters who may not play the roles the late dictator had assigned to them.Kim may have had a stroke in 2008, but his health more recently seemed stable. Observers felt his third son, Kim Jong-un, designated 15 months ago as the heir-apparent, would likely have several years to grow into the role.Instead, the elder Kim’s death at age 69, reportedly from a heart attack, now means the rest of the world,

Dec. 21, 2011

[Meghan Daum] The ‘hot mess’ of politics

A delightfully useful and versatile term has been floating around a lot lately: “hot mess.” Usually it refers to a person, often (but not always) a woman, whose behavior is exceedingly self-destructive but who remains exceedingly compelling nonetheless. (Type “hot mess” into Google and names such as Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and Charlie Sheen make a strong showing.)On the surface, hot mess is derogatory, not to mention a nifty way of shaming and objectifying someone at the same time. But the

Dec. 21, 2011

[Meghan Daum] The ‘hot mess’ of politics

[Peter Singer] Death of one’s own as a decision made at the end of life

PRINCETON ― Dudley Clendinen, a writer and journalist, has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a terminal degenerative illness. In the New York Times earlier this year, he wrote movingly both of his current enjoyment of his life, and of his plan to end it when, as he put it, “the music stops ― when I can’t tie my bow tie, tell a funny story, walk my dog, talk with Whitney, kiss someone special, or tap out lines like this.”A friend told Clendinen that he needed to buy a gun. In the United States

Dec. 21, 2011

[Peter Singer] Death of one’s own as a decision made at the end of life

[Daniel Fiedler] Slander and coffee shop gossip

Korean slander law is surprisingly different from that of the United States, and surprisingly easy to violate. In both countries the underlying rationale is to prevent defamatory statements about an individual being made to a third party. However, that is where the similarity ends and the differences begin. While in the United States the elements of slander will vary depending on the public nature of the individual and the information, the offense is, at its simplest, the oral communication of a

Dec. 20, 2011

[Daniel Fiedler] Slander and coffee shop gossip

Twitter a reason for optimism on North Korea

May Day 1979. Kim Il-sung Square, Pyongyang, North Korea.Some 50,000 of my closest Korean friends and I thronged the plaza as dancers of all ages, dressed in traditional joseon-ot of many colors, swayed and swung to ancient Korean folk tunes.The international holiday for workers was celebrated in what was then ― and today even more so ― one of the last bastions of communism in the world.In one circle of 50 or so people, I clung to the hand of a pretty young woman as we spun round like Ferris whe

Dec. 20, 2011

A wrong turn in terror fight

The White House said last week that President Obama will sign a controversial $662 billion defense authorization that permits indefinite detention without trial for some terrorism suspects and broadens the authorization for the use of force against people and groups “associated” with al-Qaida anywhere in the world. It’s the wrong choice.The bill, which passed the House Wednesday and the Senate on Thursday, is being advertised as a compromise with the administration, and indeed it includes provis

Dec. 20, 2011

Engaging the new North Korean hermit-in-chief

With the death of Kim Jong-il, the world is both a better and a more dangerous place. Better, because over his nearly two-decade rule of North Korea, Kim Jong-il killed or brutalized millions of his countrymen, illicitly spread nuclear technology and stoked regional tension and conflict. More dangerous, because Kim’s heir apparent, his son Kim Jong-un, is untested and unknown. Rumor has it that Kim Jong-un likes American basketball and expensive sneakers. He may be 28, or he may be 29. He may sp

Dec. 20, 2011

[Kim Seong-kon] One exam decides your future

Recently, a high school student’s parents made newspaper headlines by appealing to Seoul National University to cancel their son’s admission, granted through the early decision program, so that he could apply to other universities. Newspaper reports said that the student’s teacher had urged him to apply for admission to SNU to boost the high school’s reputation. But the student encountered a problem: According to rules and regulations, those who are admitted to a university by an early decision

Dec. 20, 2011

[Kim Seong-kon] One exam decides your future

Kim makes world scary place even in death

If there is a reason famous people die in threes, imagine the lively debates Vaclav Havel, Kim Jong-il and Christopher Hitchens are having in eternity’s waiting room. Havel had long been on the Nobel Peace Prize short list for his role in bringing democracy to Czechoslovakia and central Europe. Were there an award for the opposite feat, destabilizing the world and playing a role in the deaths of millions, North Korean leader Kim would win easily. And the indefatigable Hitchens would be there to

Dec. 20, 2011

America Inc. must fight and live with China hackers

Chinese hackers have redefined the concept of room service: In one recent attack, they infiltrated an Internet service provider to some of the world’s leading hotels, potentially gaining access to millions of confidential messages of traveling executives, as well as to the victims’ corporate networks. The electronic theft of proprietary information from U.S. companies has reached the level of grand larceny on a national scale. One declassified government estimate put the value of information sto

Dec. 19, 2011

[Yoo Byung-chang] Encounter of two great patriots

In memory of Park Tae-joon, founder and former chairman of POSCOThere are no coincidences when something is desperately needed. Some supernatural force decides what must be done and designs the path for achieving it. This higher power knows who is prepared to sacrifice his life for the greater good and what is needed for him to accomplish his goal.Nothing is free, nor does it come easy.The encounter between late President Park Chung-hee and late POSCO chairman Park Tae-joon 65 years ago was one

Dec. 19, 2011

[Yoo Byung-chang] Encounter of two great patriots

Bank reform needs unlimited liability for owners

Any discussion of financial regulation and its chronic failures should start with a simple, jarring truth: It’s impossible to outregulate a banker. Each crisis in the financial sector brings calls for new rules, which take hold after much political jostling. Then we are supposed to sleep easier, certain that this time we are protected. We never are. Fresh rules are like antibodies, and banking ― much like viruses ― keeps evolving to outwit the regulations. Financial incentives tilt hugely in ban

Dec. 19, 2011