The Korea Herald

[Kim Seong-kon] What ‘Tender Buttons’ teaches us

Professor Neil Schmitz has been teaching Gertrude Stein’s “Tender Buttons” for the past 40 years. Recently, during the English Department reunion at the State University of New York at Buffalo, Professor Schmitz once again gave a talk on “Tender Buttons” to his students he taught 40 years ago. “Thank you so much, Professor Schmitz,” said a former student of Schmitz’s after the talk, now an old man with frosted grey hair, “‘Tender Buttons’ changed my life forever. It was worth coming here today.”

April 24, 2012

[Kim Seong-kon] What ‘Tender Buttons’ teaches us

Climate inaction will block economic growth

More than two dozen countries, including China, France, Korea, Mexico, Russia and the United States, face potential leadership transitions this year. A central factor determining the outcomes of these events is the prospect for more jobs and incomes. A topic not on the political radar, however, is climate change. Yet, it should be ― because our growing understanding of climate science and economics warns us that sustaining people’s well-being, in large and small economies, hinges on confronting

April 23, 2012

Hunger striker becomes Russia’s opposition hero

Demoralized as the Russian capital’s protest movement may be, there are still plenty of angry people out in the hinterlands. They have less to lose than well-fed Muscovites, and president-elect Vladimir Putin has yet to figure out how to handle them.In the southern provincial capital of Astrakhan, population 520,000, a soft-spoken, bespectacled historian named Oleg Shein has emerged as the new hope of the opposition. As of this writing, he has been on hunger strike for more than a month, putting

April 23, 2012

[David Ignatius] The dark side of China’s rise

WASHINGTON ― The Bo Xilai affair offers a reality check for anyone who’s worried that a rising China will supplant the United States anytime soon: First, the Chinese know that the scandal is just the tip of an iceberg of corruption menacing the country; and second, the leadership in Beijing understands that the scandal could have been much messier if the White House hadn’t kept quiet the past two months. The story surrounding Bo, the deposed party chief in the southern city of Chongqing, is so

April 23, 2012

[David Ignatius] The dark side of China’s rise

Software Engineers Will Work One Day for English Majors

Which of the following describes careers in software engineering? A. Intellectually stimulating and gratifying. B. Excellent pay for new bachelor’s degree grads. C. A career dead-end. The correct answer (with a “your mileage may vary” disclaimer) is: D. All of the above. Although the very term “coding” evokes an image of tedium, it is an intellectually challenging activity, creative and even artistic. If you like puzzles and are good analytically, software development may be your cup of tea. You

April 23, 2012

E-book overkill: Justice trustbusters should‘ve left Apple and book publishers alone

The Justice Department filed suit last week against Apple Inc. and two major book publishers, Macmillan and Penguin Group USA, accusing them of colluding in 2010 to raise the prices of e-books. Three other publishers that were investigated -- Hachette, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins -- agreed to a settlement, which Sharis A. Pozen, the acting director of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, said “will begin to undo the harm caused by the companies‘ anticompetitive conduct, and will r

April 23, 2012

Hunger Striker Oleg Shein Becomes Russia‘s Opposition Hero

Demoralized as the Russian capital’s protest movement may be, there are still plenty of angry people out in the hinterlands. They have less to lose than well-fed Muscovites, and president-elect Vladimir Putin has yet to figure out how to handle them.In the southern provincial capital of Astrakhan, population 520,000, a soft-spoken, bespectacled historian named Oleg Shein has emerged as the new hope of the opposition. As of this writing, he has been on hunger strike for more than a month, putting

April 23, 2012

It‘s climate inaction that will block economic growth

More than two dozen countries, including China, France, Korea, Mexico, Russia and the United States, face potential leadership transitions this year. A central factor determining the outcomes of these events is the prospect for more jobs and incomes. A topic not on the political radar, however, is climate change. Yet, it should be -- because our growing understanding of climate science and economics warns us that sustaining people’s well-being, in large and small economies, hinges on confronting

April 23, 2012

[Yuriko Koike] North Korea’s teachings of a ghost

TOKYO ― At 7:39 a.m. on April 13, North Korea fired a missile (which it called a satellite launch) in the face of opposition from almost the entire international community. In a perverse way, the world got its way, because the vehicle exploded a minute after takeoff, its debris falling harmlessly into the sea.North Korea typically goes silent after such episodes: “failure” does not exist in its political lexicon, so it cannot be reported or discussed. The country’s media routinely meets any fail

April 23, 2012

[Yuriko Koike] North Korea’s teachings of a ghost

Technology can keep publishers from perishing

A few years ago, according to the Justice Department, publishers decided on a strategy to fight the grave and gathering menace posed to their business model by the rise of digital books: They would meet about it. “These meetings took place in private dining rooms of upscale Manhattan restaurants,” says the department’s complaint in its antitrust lawsuit. Later meetings took place in Europe, though presumably not at the Paris Chipotle. The case will turn on whether the publishers were meeting to

April 23, 2012

Why fairness is essential for growth

Get ready for the tax wars.President Obama wants to raise taxes on the rich, setting a minimum tax rate of 30 percent on millionaires (the so-called “Buffett Rule,” named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who says it’s unfair that he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary).Mitt Romney, the presumed Republican presidential candidate, wants to lower taxes on the rich. He supports the House Republicans’ plan to cut the highest tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent, thereby reducing the

April 22, 2012

One people, two very different Koreas

North and South Korea played their own distinctive games of power politics last week. The processes of leadership selection were enacted almost simultaneously, a coincidence that defined them so sharply as to provide a classroom lesson on the differences between the two systems.North Korea got all the publicity, not all of it because of the long-range missile it insisted on firing in the face of warnings to cease and desist. There was also the huge outpouring in Pyongyang for the centennial of t

April 22, 2012

The future of the Korean legal services industry

The recent Korea-U.S. FTA has not only resulted in a discussion of the pros and cons of such an agreement but a debate regarding the entrance of major international law firms into the Korean legal marketplace. What will be the impact on Korean law firms now that the major U.S. and European law firms announced they will soon open offices in Korea? Most of the international law firms have offices in Hong Kong, Singapore or Shanghai besides the U.S. and Europe and it is questionable if such firms t

April 22, 2012

Korea-U.S. FTA as opportunity for logistics providers

On March 15, Korea’s free trade agreement with the U.S entered into effect. While public opinion in Korea on the benefits of this agreement is still unsettled, Korean industries like electronics, pharmaceuticals and autos look forward to benefit as they expect an increase in imports and exports between the two countries. Various logistical changes have been implemented in Korea to cope with the effects of the FTA. For example, Korean based airlines like Korean and Asiana Airlines have introduced

April 22, 2012

[Gordon Brown] Education Without Borders

LONDON ― Every child has a right to an education. Yet millions of children are living in countries where that right is systematically violated as a result of armed conflict. It is time for the international community to stop this state of affairs by getting serious about its responsibility to protect education in all countries, irrespective of the barriers created by armed conflict.Education seldom figures in media reporting from conflict zones. Yet the effects are devastating. In eastern Democr

April 22, 2012

[Gordon Brown] Education Without Borders

Chinese elite’s foreign ties pose risks

The downfall of former Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai has thrown the spotlight on China’s political elite and their increasing foreign connections.Bo’s political fate was sealed after his wife Gu Kailai was named as a suspect in the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood, who had business ties with the family and helped Bo’s son gain admission to prestigious schools in Britain.Unlike the cloistered China of yesteryear, many top Chinese politicians and their families now have overseas links. F

April 20, 2012

[Dominique Moisi] France’s election by default

PARIS ― Rousseau versus Hobbes: on the cover of the French magazine Philosophie, the two leading contenders in France’s upcoming presidential election, the incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy and the Socialist candidate Francois Hollande, are dressed up accordingly. “The real presidential contest” according to the magazine, pits the consensual and contractual vision of Rousseau (Hollande) against the violent “every man is a wolf to his fellow man” vision of Hobbes (Sarkozy).Philospophie’s take on the Fren

April 20, 2012

[Dominique Moisi] France’s election by default

New worst-case scenario for once in 1,000 years

A panel of the Cabinet Office announced late last month that if a megaquake occurs in the Nankai Trough, a tsunami higher than 20 meters may hit 23 municipalities in six prefectures stretching from Kanto to Shikoku on Japan’s Pacific side. The prediction represents a worst-case scenario that happens once in 1,000 years.It may be difficult to build perfect defense against such a massive earthquake and tsunami; but, both the central and local governments must make utmost efforts to minimize damage

April 20, 2012

Realistic discussions needed on restarting nuclear reactors

Discussions on whether to restart the Nos. 3 and 4 reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture appear to have strayed off course.How should the government ensure a stable power supply, a basic requirement for people’s daily lives? We want the government to figure out realistic measures on this issue in a cool-headed manner.Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and other ministers concerned recently held meetings during which they worked out new safety standards for

April 20, 2012

[Yayan G.H. Mulyana] Action plans for developing nuclear safety and security

In a letter from 1939 to then U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt, in the wake of Germany’s pursuit of uranium-based weapons, Albert Einstein advised the president to secure a supply of uranium ore for the U.S. and expedite the country’s nuclear experiment. Through a series of processes, Einstein’s advice led to the Manhattan Project, which conducted the first nuclear-bomb test. But after knowing that the use of nuclear bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki had caused unprecedented horror in terms

April 20, 2012

[Yayan G.H. Mulyana] Action plans for developing nuclear safety and security