The Korea Herald

[Kim Seong-kon] Embracing the world as home

Home evokes a sense of nostalgia in most people, regardless of whether it is the English “home” or the German “heimat.” The same is true for Koreans, who are attached to their “gohyang” and “goguk,” which mean “hometown” and “homeland,” respectively. When Koreans first meet, they often ask, “Where are you from?” or “Where is your hometown?” They tend to attach special meaning to their hometown and have a special affection for their homeland. Indeed, a Korean will never forget his hometown. When

Nov. 29, 2016

[Kim Seong-kon] Embracing the world as home

[Ralph De La Cruz] The weight of hate lifted with death of Castro

I never expected to cry when Fidel Castro died.Having been brought over from Cuba on a small boat when I was only four, I was too far removed. Too American. Besides, I’ve spent an adult lifetime resolved that the demon would not infect my soul. I would not allow him to make me angry. Wouldn’t let him affect my politics. Wouldn’t drink to his demise. Wouldn’t shed a tear upon his death.But I cried when my millennial daughter walked into the living room and told me, “Hey, Fidel Castro died.” The d

Nov. 29, 2016

[J. Bradford DeLong] Missing the Economic Big Picture

I recently heard former World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy paraphrasing a classic Buddhist proverb, wherein China’s Sixth Buddhist Patriarch Huineng tells the nun Wu Jincang: “When the philosopher points at the moon, the fool looks at the finger.” Lamy added that, “Market capitalism is the moon. Globalization is the finger.”With anti-globalization sentiment now on the rise throughout the West, this has been quite a year for finger-watching. In the United Kingdom’s Brexit refer

Nov. 29, 2016

[Lee Jae-min] The UN-condemned mandatory medical testing

Only her initials appear in the UN document, but we know she is a citizen of New Zealand. Her petition with a UN human rights body led to a finding of racial discrimination by Korea. She was one of the native English-speaking teachers working at a school in Korea. Each year, about 30,000 foreigners enter Korea to teach English on an E-2 visa. According to Korean laws, regulations and practice, these visa holders are required to take a medical examination, which includes a HIV/AIDS test, at a hos

Nov. 29, 2016

[Lee Jae-min] The UN-condemned mandatory medical testing

[Leonid Bershidsky] The songs we sang about Fidel Castro

Russian President Vladimir Putin was almost right when he said Saturday that the memory of Fidel Castro, Cuba’s revolutionary leader who died Friday night, would “always remain in the hearts of Russian citizens.” Thanks to my Soviet childhood and young adulthood, I’ll never forget Fidel, but my heart is not where I’ll store those memories.To Soviet Young Pioneers -- a youth movement of the Soviet Communist Party -- Cuba was a romantic legend, an example of how a tiny island can stand up to Ameri

Nov. 28, 2016

[Leonid Bershidsky] The songs we sang about Fidel Castro

[Clive Crook] A more perfect union needs both nationalism and globalism

Attaching labels to people is all the rage in the US. Current favorites include “nationalist” and “globalist.” Those designations aren’t much use -- and not just because people don’t like being labeled. The bigger problem is that the categories aren’t mutually exclusive. Moderate nationalist sentiment and outward-looking liberalism can overlap. In America, to be partly nationalist and partly globalist comes naturally. It’s what you’d expect of a nation of immigrants.Philosopher Isaiah Berlin cal

Nov. 28, 2016

What Park should do

As a teacher at a middle school for more than 20 years, I’ve always stressed to my students -- as well as to myself -- the importance of complying with miscellaneous rules such as “Don’t leave the school premises without permission” or “Be punctual.” I do so because I have a firm conviction that complying with the rules at school will serve as a foundation for my students’ democratic citizenship.The latest news reports involving President Park, however, have shaken my belief to its root that abi

Nov. 28, 2016

[Tyler Cowen] Cuba’s glum economic forecast

For all of my adult life I have been hearing that Cuba will blossom economically when Fidel Castro passes away. Now that time has come, but it seems Cuba will continue to struggle.At a superficial glance, the case for Cuban optimism is obvious. So many Cuban-Americans have impressed the world with their business skills and entrepreneurial drive. If comparable talents were let loose in Cuba itself, one might expect similar results, just as China, after dismantling the most inefficient parts of it

Nov. 28, 2016

[Tyler Cowen] Cuba’s glum economic forecast

What Trump should do about his business empire

Barack Obama was a senator, George W. Bush was a governor, Dwight Eisenhower was a general. The typical president-elect comes to the White House knowing how to cash a government paycheck.Then there is Donald Trump, the nation’s incoming entrepreneur in chief. Previous presidents have been wealthy or had business experience (Harry Truman ran a men’s clothing store), but it’s safe to say Trump’s shift directly from corner office to Oval Office is unprecedented. He is a globally active real estate

Nov. 28, 2016

Will conservatives in the GOP stand up to Trump?

Donald Trump is notable among recent Republican presidential nominees in his talent for alienating conservatives. Those who disowned him during the campaign include three former chairmen of the Republican National Committee, House members Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Justin Amash of Michigan, and commentators George Will, Charles Krauthammer and William Kristol.　It’s safe to say that four years ago, none of them could have imagined refusing to vote for the 2016 GOP presidential nominee. Trump

Nov. 27, 2016

[Trudy Rubin] Will Trump respect the press?

This Thanksgiving, when I’ve been musing on the many reasons I have to give thanks, my mind flipped back to a meeting I had in 2000 in the Kremlin with a top Russian official.Talking about Vladimir Putin’s plans for the presidency, the aide ticked off the number of major media outlets the Kremlin planned to seize from private owners, including national TV networks.Would Putin countenance any independent news outlets, I asked? “If we want any independent media, we will create it,” he answered, a

Nov. 27, 2016

[Trudy Rubin] Will Trump respect the press?

[Joel Mathis & Ben Boychuk]RedBlueAmerica: Is Donald Trump already running afoul of the Constitution?

Donald Trump won’t officially become president until January, but critics are already raising concerns that he is violating a constitutional clause meant to keep foreign countries from buying influence with US officials.The Emoluments Clause says US officeholders cannot accept presents, gifts or fees from any “king, prince or foreign state.” Yet reports suggest that foreign diplomats have been encouraged to stay at Trump’s new hotel in Washington, DC, where suites run up to $20,000 per night.Cou

Nov. 27, 2016

[Noah Smith] Investors pick the wrong people to manage their money

If you’re not good at something, the smart thing to do is go find a professional. If you’re sick and don’t know what you have, you go to a doctor. If the wiring in your house has a short circuit, you call an electrician. But does this approach work in investing?Probably not. Doctors and electricians have to prove their skill and training to get certified. Money managers don’t. For almost two decades now, the average hedge fund has delivered a lackluster return. Actively managed mutual funds gene

Nov. 27, 2016

[Noah Smith] Investors pick the wrong people to manage their money

[Dean Baker] Trump’s proposals would wreak environmental havoc

In the last two years, North Dakota has lost almost half its jobs in the oil and coal industries.The losses aren’t the fault of pesky environmentalists worried about groundwater contamination and global warming. They’re the result of collapsing world energy prices.The story of the North Dakota oil and gas industry captures the absurdity of President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to remove environmental restrictions on fossil fuel production.Apparently, he wants us to believe a boom in production wo

Nov. 27, 2016

[David Ignatius] Be thankful for Trump’s insincerity

Perhaps we should be thankful this week for Donald Trump’s insincerity. In a breathtaking fortnight of flip-flopping, he has reversed many of his most reckless and damaging campaign positions. 　The new Trump professes sympathy for people and ideas he disdained during the “vicious” campaign. He now admires President Barack Obama, doesn’t want to harm (let alone lock up) Hillary Clinton, is waffling on climate change, and thinks waterboarding might not work. Maybe he’ll even decide that the Trans-

Nov. 25, 2016

[David Ignatius] Be thankful for Trump’s insincerity

[Solomon Jones] Troubling shift in coverage of white nationalism

In the wake of Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election, the battle for the soul of America has begun.　It is playing out in boardrooms high above New York City, in off-the-record conversations between the president-elect, news executives and prominent reporters and on-air personalities.　Two such meetings took place this week. The first was with broadcast news executives and reporters at Trump Tower, and the second was with executives, editors and reporters at the New York Times.　Trump

Nov. 25, 2016

[Rachel Marsden] France needs a Trump of its own

PARIS -- Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once famously declared: “In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.”Or perhaps you should ask an independent entrepreneur.The ultimate man of action, international businessman and US President-elect Donald Trump, won the White House on a Thatcher-like platform of restoring free market economics and returning power to the middle and working classes. After the United Kingdom’s Brexit vote earli

Nov. 23, 2016

[Rachel Marsden] France needs a Trump of its own

[Robert J. Shiller] Donald Trump and sense of power

US President-elect Donald Trump campaigned in part on a proposal to cut taxes dramatically for those with high incomes, a group whose members often have elite educations as well. And yet his most enthusiastic support tended to come from those with average and stagnating incomes and low levels of education. What gives?Trump’s victory clearly appears to stem from a sense of economic powerlessness, or a fear of losing power, among his supporters. To them, his simple slogan, “Make America great agai

Nov. 23, 2016

Don’t back off from freedom of global trade

Campaigning is one thing. Governing, especially at the presidential level, is another. Some know this intuitively. Others learn in a hard school.Both major party presidential candidates this year came out against the complex trade pact called the Trans-Pacific Partnership. They knew that, especially for workers, and out-of-workers, in America’s heartland, free trade with other nations can seem like a fool’s bargain. These agreements with low-wage nations understandably look like an unfair deal t

Nov. 23, 2016

[Kim Myong-sik] What’s behind peaceful demonstrations at Gwanghwamun?

People expressed surprise and satisfaction when police announced that they had made no arrests during nationwide anti-Park Geun-hye demonstrations last weekend. A week earlier, 23 demonstrators were arrested, but most of them were released soon afterward and protests on the two previous weekends were markedly peaceful -- a big contrast to the usual violence that has characterized mass demonstrations here. 　One wonders how it was possible that the nation’s mode of public protests changed so drast

Nov. 23, 2016

[Kim Myong-sik] What’s behind peaceful demonstrations at Gwanghwamun?