The Korea Herald

[Robert Park] (2): Baekbeom would free NK’s political prisoners

“In every way, I reject dictatorial rules and tendencies. I shout to our compatriots. Be careful lest we find ourselves under a dictatorship. I shout that we should build a nation in which each individual among our people enjoys freedom of speech to its fullest and things are done according to opinions of our entire people. ... A nation that is as wide as the earth and as free as the sky.”- Kim Koo (1876-1949), “My Wish”As evidenced by the above citation from Baekbeom’s 1947 statement of politi

Sept. 4, 2017

[Robert Park] (2): Baekbeom would free NK’s political prisoners

[Christopher Balding] China realizes need for foreign companies

China is increasingly desperate for foreign investment. Yet foreign companies are less and less interested in what it has to offer. How this problem gets resolved may be one of the most important questions facing China’s economy.After China joined the World Trade Organization, in 2000, overseas investors couldn’t wait to jump in. Foreign direct investment grew at an annualized rate of 10.8 percent from 2000 to 2008. Enticed by China’s market size and development capacity, companies were willing

Sept. 3, 2017

[Dallas Morning News] Want to help American workers? NAFTA, not protectionism, is the way to go

There are reasons to be optimistic this Labor Day. The unemployment rate is low, at 4.3 percent. Hundreds of thousands of new jobs are being created every month. Second-quarter gross domestic product was revised up to 3 percent.That said, economic anxiety still lingers. President Donald Trump, trying to ease that anxiety, talks tough about the North American Free Trade Agreement and the possibility of implementing tariffs. While it sounds good -- what American doesn’t want to boost US manufactur

Sept. 3, 2017

[Leonid Bershidsky] Travel barriers are worst of new Cold War

The latest loop in the escalation of US-Russia hostilities is probably the dumbest and the most damaging: The two countries are introducing de facto travel restrictions for each other’s citizens, choking off the friendliest, most human channel of communication between them. It’s the biggest step back into the Cold War era that the two governments have taken yet.The State Department has stopped issuing visas in Yekaterinburg, Vladivostok and St. Petersburg, a response to Russian demands for drast

Sept. 3, 2017

[Leonid Bershidsky] Travel barriers are worst of new Cold War

[Ann McFeatters] How about that infrastructure plan?

Suppose the US all stood up at exactly the same minute, from Maine to Hawaii, and shouted at the top of our lungs: infrastructure!Would it make any difference? Not likely.You-know-who would probably be tweeting about how badly he is treated, and we’d all be ignored. Again.As danger, misery and heartache in the form of Hurricane Harvey plague those we love in Texas and Louisiana, we hear again and again that if aging reservoirs, pot-holed roads, outmoded drains and weathered water treatment plant

Sept. 3, 2017

[Robert Park] (1): Baekbeom and NK human rights

“It is definitely not good politics to interfere too much with the individual’s life. ... That it is extremely unnatural and dangerous to drag people along by orders of a single individual or of a few is all too well proven by the misfortunes that befell Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.” - Kim Koo (1876-1949), “My Wish”A “chinilpa” (collaborationist with Imperial Japan) he wasn’t. Neither was he especially fond of the monarchy which antedated Japan’s stealthy routing of Korea, having been judged

Sept. 3, 2017

[Robert Park] (1): Baekbeom and NK human rights

[Faye Flam] Americans are a little too relaxed about nukes

North Korea’s advancing nuclear weapons program isn’t the only news to unnerve arms-control experts this summer. A new survey has revealed that Americans are surprisingly willing to make a first nuclear strike -- and kill millions of civilians abroad.The survey casts doubt on the power of what experts call the “nuclear taboo,” said Stanford University historian David Holloway, author of “Stalin and the Bomb.” The idea, or hope, behind the concept is that it’s not just luck that humans haven’t dr

Sept. 1, 2017

[Faye Flam] Americans are a little too relaxed about nukes

[Jay Ambrose] For America’s sake, Trump must be his best self

You can only blow so much air in a balloon before it bursts, a concept President Donald Trump needs to master.One night, he gives a thoughtful, well-ordered, substantive speech on Afghanistan, but then what happened in Phoenix? At a political rally, he reverted to his worst self, a ranting, raving juvenile.His harangue was largely about criticisms of how he responded to the racist, neo-Nazi, KKK, alt-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and he was right on some points. But it was essentiall

Sept. 1, 2017

[Lisa Richardson] A black daughter of the Confederacy corrects history

As monuments to the Confederacy are swept away from public spaces, white supremacists, neo-Nazis and the president of the United States have been fretting over the so-called attack on history, presumably their history. Their white history.Attack, assault, erasure, destruction — well, truth and justice in the face of denial and dissembling can certainly feel like that. But there is no such thing as whites-only history, there never was, not even with regard to the Confederacy.Like millions of Afri

Aug. 31, 2017

[Michael Schuman] China’s car sector needs a shakeup

China’s SUV specialist Great Wall Motor Co. may, in the end, never get its hands on Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s Jeep division. But expect more and more Chinese automakers to seek out foreign acquisitions. The Chinese government has long dreamed of creating a globally competitive car industry, and having Chinese automakers purchase established companies and brands would seem one obvious way to accomplish its goal.Unless the government rethinks its own industrial policies, however, the strategy

Aug. 31, 2017

[Michael Schuman] China’s car sector needs a shakeup

[Paul J. Ferraro] Start preparing for the next Hurricane Harvey

My heart goes out to the people who have borne the brunt of Hurricane Harvey and still face continued flooding and a long recovery. As a nation, we need to be better prepared for such catastrophic floods so as to mitigate their widespread damage and loss of life. Harvey’s 50 inches of rain in a few days might be unusual, but extensive flooding with its subsequent property damage and loss of life is not.It’s time to stop using the words “unprecedented” or “one in a pick-your-large-number-year flo

Aug. 31, 2017

[Maxwell King] Even if Trump were gone, forces he represents would still be here

Let’s be blunt about it: President Trump is inspiring fascism in America. And it is terribly important that we name it.What he says, and what he does, is making this evident to most people, especially the fascists themselves. This is not just true since the terrible violence in the recent demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia. It has been increasingly true since the days of his candidacy, as he has encouraged those forces in America that promote racism, ethnic hatred, violence and white sup

Aug. 31, 2017

[Kim Young-sun] Korea’s ‘Look South Policy’

Two weeks after his inauguration, President Moon Jae-in unprecedentedly sent a special envoy to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He also announced that his government would bring its relations with ASEAN up to the level of the four major powers -- the US, China, Japan and Russia. While such efforts are on the rise, we may still ask, what is exactly the Korean government’s vision and strategy toward ASEAN?　Pursuing mutual and sustainable prosperity, increasing people-to-people exchange

Aug. 31, 2017

[Kim Young-sun] Korea’s ‘Look South Policy’

[Mihir Sharma] India and China dial back heat

As summer reached the high Himalayas this past June, one corner of the mountains turned hotter than expected. On a small plateau called Doklam, close to where the India-China border meets the tiny kingdom of Bhutan, two of the largest armies in the world faced off against each other. Chinese soldiers, convinced they were on Chinese territory, had brought equipment to extend a road; Indian soldiers, who viewed the land as disputed, blocked the earth movers. For three months, the armies camped jus

Aug. 30, 2017

[Mihir Sharma] India and China dial back heat

[Noah Feldman] Police have to protect both people and free speech

When black-clad anti-fascist protesters broke through police barricades Sunday afternoon and swarmed a peaceful rally in Berkeley, California, law enforcement stood aside and let them. City police Chief Andrew Greenwood explained the decision with a rhetorical question: “Does it make sense,” he asked, “to get into a major use of force over a grassy area?”With all due deference to police expertise, things are not that simple. Violent protesters who cross barriers and disrupt peaceful protest are

Aug. 30, 2017

[Kim Myong-sik] Ask for sweat, blood instead of handing out sweets

The wet, sultry summer is finally over and above us are high, blue skies filled with cool, crisp air. Salaried workers are looking forward to a long Chuseok holiday, which could be the longest ever if the seemingly most generous government ever inserts a onetime holiday into the October calendar. That gift is expected for the first Monday of the month, which will link the previous weekend to the Oct. 3 National Foundation Day and the official three-day Korean Thanksgiving holiday to then be exte

Aug. 30, 2017

[Kim Myong-sik] Ask for sweat, blood instead of handing out sweets

[Dan K. Thomasson] Trump fails to cut losses in Afghanistan while succumbing to military persuasion

Just as actor Tom Hanks said “there’s no crying in baseball” in “A League of Their Own,” there’s also no victory in Afghanistan. It’s a zero-sum game.Somehow, I think Donald Trump understands this despite his announced decision that he isn’t ready to give up on the longest war in US history -- a decision that will require additional troops and estimates of financial outlay of more than $800 billion on top of the $1 trillion already spent as a direct and indirect result of 17 years of US presence

Aug. 30, 2017

[Christine Flowers] The shameful pardon of man who was ugly face of law enforcement

I spent some hours this week trying to prevent a deportation. I wasn’t successful. It happens, the law must be followed and sometimes the clock runs out. I get it, and I have mental calluses.The immigration officer I dealt with in Philadelphia was a truly decent man. He tried, while following the law, to be compassionate and dispassionate at the same time. He did his job, but showed immense respect to the poor fellow who is now a continent away.There are very good, professional men and women on

Aug. 30, 2017

[Robert J. Fouser] Trump could still win re-election

Under President Donald Trump, politics in the US takes odd turns almost daily. In his need to control the political narrative, the president makes contradictory tweets and statements that keep politicians off balance. One day, he appears disciplined and “presidential”; the next day he appears petty and impulsive. Nobody knows what is doing or what he will do, which is creating a spreading sense of unease about his presidency.The recent barrage of tweets attacking Republican leaders in Congress,

Aug. 29, 2017

[Robert J. Fouser] Trump could still win re-election

[Mac Margolis] Brazilian politicians dance around reform

“Two steps here, two steps there”: When storied singer Elis Regina purrs the honeyed Brazilian bolero, lovers tingle. When deft politicians take up their familiar two-step, voters know that democracy is in for a hit. So it has been in recent weeks as national lawmakers have finally begun to overhaul Brazil’s discredited political system.It’s about time. With 35 registered political parties -- 28 of them with seats in congress -- Brazil is home to one of the most convoluted and politically fragme

Aug. 29, 2017