The Korea Herald

[Jonathan Bernstein] Trump’s know-nothing tour de force

I was going to write about something else today, but frankly I just can‘t work around what Donald Trump has said in multiple interviews released in the last few days. You should really see the full interviews, or at least the excerpts I’m linking to, but here‘s the gist:- He told the Economist he invented the use of “priming the pump” with regard to the economy. It’s probably most associated with Franklin Roosevelt, and even if Trump meant “came upon it” rather than “came up with it” it‘s remark

May 15, 2017

[Other view] Russian meddling? Seeing is believing

If Americans wanted to view photos of Wednesday’s meeting between President Donald Trump, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, they had only one source to turn to: the Russian government. The Oval Office meeting reportedly was arranged at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s request, and Trump was all too eager to oblige.It seems the White House press office was so worried about potentially bad optics, American journalists were banned from the usual photo o

May 14, 2017

[Max Boot] French are smarter

Americans have a long and ignoble tradition of telling jokes about the French. Old chestnuts such as “I’m selling a French rifle: Never shot, dropped only once” became popular again in 2003 when the French -- wisely as it turns out -- refused to join their US allies in the invasion of Iraq. The House of Representatives cafeteria even renamed french fries as “freedom fries.”　Turns out the joke’s on us.　The American electorate in November chose as our president an international laughingstock who i

May 14, 2017

[Andres Oppenheimer] Trump’s Mexico bashing helps leftist candidate

The race for Mexico’s 2018 presidential elections has drawn zero interest in the United States so far, but it should be in the headlines. Thanks to President Trump’s fake claims about Mexico, the country may soon elect its first populist leftist president in recent memory.　The latest polls show that Trump’s Mexico bashing has had the predictable effect of creating a nationalist backlash in Mexico, which is helping leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador climb steadily in the polls for the

May 14, 2017

[Ann McFeatters] Not a dictatorship ? yet

Keep telling yourself: The US does not live in a dictatorship. The US does NOT live in a dictatorship.　Even though President Donald Trump gave his daughter and son-in-law top White House jobs, ensuring they get richer, and promised visas to rich investors.　Even though Trump is running roughshod over consumer protection laws, environmental protection laws, civil rights laws, long-standing treaties and relationships with allies.　Even though Trump’s proposed tax code changes would benefit him perso

May 14, 2017

[Michael Schuman] Xi’s big road is going to be bumpy

As they’ve guided China’s remarkable economic ascent over the last four decades, the country’s leaders have largely been content to focus on raising incomes and building factories. They’ve steered clear of messy international entanglements that could undermine economic progress, and with it the public support that keeps them in power.Over the past decade, of course, a richer, more confident China has attempted to assert greater global influence. President Xi Jinping has boldly presented himself

May 14, 2017

[Michael Schuman] Xi’s big road is going to be bumpy

[Michael Schuman] China has world’s biggest productivity problem

Just about everybody assumes that China will overtake the US as the world’s indispensable economy. One factor, however, could slow its seemingly relentless march and cast doubt on China’s prospects for becoming an advanced economy: faltering productivity.Sure, China is advancing daily in wealth, technology and expertise. But nothing is inevitable in economics. As costs rise and the labor force shrinks due to Beijing’s decadeslong “one-child” policy, China will need to squeeze a lot more out of e

May 14, 2017

[Adam Minter] China’s hidden pollution

Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping directed his government to build a new city for the “millennium to come.” It would rise on rural land about 60 miles south of Beijing, guided by the principles of “ecological protection and green development.” And it would become a model for a new kind of urban expansion.It was an attractive vision. Over the next few weeks, however, reports emerged of vast pollution in and around Xiongan, the area Xi hopes to develop. That’s no surprise: China’s four-deca

May 12, 2017

[David Ignatius] The Comey debacle only magnifies the Russia mystery

President Trump’s abrupt firing of FBI Director James B. Comey will intensify focus on the issue Trump has been so eager to dismiss -- his knowledge of contacts between Michael Flynn and other associates and Russia.　White House arguments that Trump sacked Comey for mishandling the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails are implausible, but no more so than some of the arguments the Trump team has made about Flynn’s firing in February. Sources say the White House has been talking about firing C

May 12, 2017

[Other view] Macron takes power with serious problems to fix

On Sunday, French voters expressed both frustration with the current situation and good sense. They elected centrist Emmanuel Macron as president by a two-to-one margin over Marine Le Pen of the extreme right-wing National Front.Their frustration was shown in that the final two candidates were not from France’s two traditional parties, the Republicans and the Socialists. Some 11 percent of voters cast blank or deliberately spoiled ballots. Turnout among the 47 million eligible voters was lower t

May 12, 2017

[Mihir Sharma] China repeats West’s mistakes in Pakistan

When President Xi Jinping announced in 2015 that China would pump $46 billion worth of investments into Pakistan, the recipients of his largesse seemed less surprised than one might have expected. The military and political elites of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan have long extracted aid from outside powers in return for keeping a lid on things at home. As far back as April 1948, barely eight months after independence, Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan assured Pakistani military commanders that

May 11, 2017

[Noah Feldman] Comey’s firing is a crisis of American rule of law

It’s not a constitutional crisis. Technically, President Donald Trump was within his constitutional rights Tuesday when he fired FBI Director James Comey. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is part of the executive branch, not an independent agency. But the firing did violate a powerful unwritten norm: that the director serves a 10-year, nonrenewable term and is fired only for good cause.Only one director has ever been removed from office involuntarily: President Bill Clinton fired Director Wil

May 11, 2017

[Noah Feldman] Comey’s firing is a crisis of American rule of law

[Los Angeles Times] Trump shuts door on refugees

In the first few days of the Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security stopped sending investigators overseas to interview refugees seeking asylum in the United States. That was, in effect, a cold stop on processing new applications. The face-to-face interviews are a required part of the vetting process to ensure that potential immigrants pose no risk to American public safety or national security.　Freezing those resettlements -- most of which had already been vetted and approved

May 11, 2017

[Lee Jong-soo] Khrushchev, Trump, Cuba and North Korea

The nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula is headed into a confrontation reminiscent of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. What is the most important lesson for the current crisis from that most dangerous confrontation of the Cold War? The Cuban crisis did not lead to a nuclear war for two main reasons. First, the United States responded to the Soviet deployment of missiles in Cuba -- a provocation by Nikita Khrushchev, the then-Soviet leader, and Fidel Castro, the then-Cuban leader -- with the rig

May 11, 2017

[Park Sang-seek] South Korea-US alliance should be re-examined

On April 27, President Donald Trump said that South Korea should pay for the cost of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system and that he intends to renegotiate or terminate the US-South Korea free trade agreement. A few days later he said that he would be honored to meet Kim Jong-un, praising him as a man who is quite smart. Trump may continue to demand that South Korea share more burden militarily and economically. His North Korea policy may also confuse all parties directly

May 11, 2017

[Park Sang-seek] South Korea-US alliance should be re-examined

[David O. Friedrichs] Let’s set a maximum wage for CEOs

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the CEOs of the 100 largest US companies received average pay raises of 6.8 percent, more than offsetting cuts many corporate leaders took in 2015.　Donald Trump was elected president in part by promising that he would “drain the swamp” of establishment interests and look out for the millions of ordinary Americans who have lost jobs and futures due to the actions of Wall Street and corporate executives.　The Trump administration now wants to scrap O

May 11, 2017

[Other view] Indonesia slips: Blasphemy conviction for political figure bodes ill

An Indonesian court has sentenced Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, the loser in the governor’s race in Jakarta, to two years’ imprisonment for blasphemy against Islam. Known as Ahok, he is a Christian of Chinese ethnicity, a double minority in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority state. His sentence represents a setback for the country’s reputation and future as a moderate, secular democracy.Indonesia’s political contests are vigorous, but generally reasonable in nature. This is fortunate consi

May 11, 2017

[Chong Lip Teck] The negative impact of fake news in Malaysia

Fake news spread during the presidential election of the United States caught global attention last year. The fake news went viral and shocked the public. United States President Donald Trump’s victory has even been regarded by some as the outcome of fake news.If fake news or rumors had an impact on the US presidential election, similar cases have also occurred in Malaysia. Although the situation and magnitude of the cases are not comparable to the US, it is enough to show the abuse of fake news

May 10, 2017

Let Middle Eastern allies help win the drone war

Selling weapons is and should be a fraught enterprise, even for the world’s biggest arms supplier. Yet the US is making it needlessly difficult for its allies to purchase armed drones -- with potentially dangerous consequences for both.　A bipartisan group of 22 members of the House of Representatives is urging the State Department to approve a sale of armed drones worth up to $1 billion to Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Given the vital support these nations give to the fight against terror

May 10, 2017

[Kim Myong-sik] Most difficult presidential task: National security

Moon Jae-in enters the Blue House with the heaviest presidential task ever: protecting the security of the nation’s 50 million people under the worst possible circumstances. He has to do this with 41 percent of popular support and only 119 seats in the 299-member legislature. 　The unsuccessful presidential candidates have done their best during the short two-month campaign and are poised to be possible strong contenders for the next presidency. Dispirited though they might be now, they might acc

May 10, 2017

[Kim Myong-sik] Most difficult presidential task: National security