[David Ignatius] Helping Venezuela off the ledge?

With Venezuela spinning into chaos and collapse, the Obama administration has pondered how to nudge the imploding nation toward political change -- without making Uncle Sam a target. The administration appears to have found the right formula this week. Secretary of State John Kerry announced Tuesday at a meeting of the Organization of American States that the U.S. would support an OAS plan for a “fair and timely” recall referendum that could replace the failing government of Venezuelan President

June 15, 2016

[Kim Seong-kon] ‘Angry Young Men’ in the 21st century

In the 1950s, a group of young British novelists and playwrights who were disillusioned with traditional British society depicted the frustrations of lower class people in their works. It was a time when Europe suffered a postwar economic recession, high unemployment, and extreme economic polarization. These defiant, subversive writers, who were marked by “impatience with the status quo, and refusal to be coopted by a bankrupt society,” demanded radical social change and wrote protest novels and

June 14, 2016

[Lee Jae-min] Illegal fishing in the West Sea

It has been some time now that Chinese fishing vessels have intruded on Korea’s exclusive economic zone. But the increasing intensity of illegal fishing has now reached at a tipping point and threatens the livelihood of small fishing towns along the west coast.Illegal fishing does not simply entail a maritime game of cat-and-mouse. Video footage shows fierce physical confrontations between maritime policemen and Chinese fishermen at the maritime border.As for the Chinese fishing boats, the Korea

June 14, 2016

[Shashi Tharoor] India’s deadly university entrance exams

In late April, a 17-year-old girl named Kriti Tripathi leaped to her death in Kota, India, shortly after passing the country’s examination for admission to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology. A week later, another Kota student, Preeti Singh, hanged herself, succumbing to her injuries after a few days. Singh’s was the ninth suicide by a student in Kota this year alone, and the 56th in the last five. All attended Kota’s “coaching institutes,” whose sole purpose is to prepare high scho

June 13, 2016

[Peter Singer] Should the world go to Rio?

When Rio de Janeiro was awarded the 2016 Olympic Games, the Zika virus had yet to reach Brazil. Now, after billions of dollars have been invested in preparing for the Games, Rio de Janeiro state has the second highest number of suspected Zika virus infections. Should the 2016 Summer Olympic Games be postponed or moved elsewhere?  This is a difficult decision, and the facts are still not clear enough. That’s why, last month, I joined 223 scientists, bioethicists, and public health experts in sign

June 13, 2016

[John H. Cha] Women Cross DMZ’s quest for Korean peace treaty

Women Cross DMZ, a venerable group of women made up of 30 international leaders, thinkers and activists, crossed the DMZ together in 2015. This was quite a remarkable feat, considering that they were assembled in Pyongyang, North Korea, where thousands of people cheered them on, and that they had traversed the world’s most fortified border southward into the arms of South Korean women waiting to greet them. They concluded the event with a promise to cross the DMZ a year later, this time, going f

June 12, 2016

[Ram Garikipati] Amending retail price maintenance rules

The Korea Fair Trade Commission is all set to take a decision on amending the “Guidelines for Review of Resale Price Maintenance” as the public comment period has just concluded.Resale price maintenance, or RPM, is a system in which the manufacturing firm determines and enforces the price at which distributors resell its products. Hence, it is also known as vertical price-fixing, price protection, or the practice of imposed prices.Until now, RPM has been deemed illegal in Korea, and companies th

June 12, 2016

[David Ignatius] The next president‘s Asian menace

Sometime over the next several years, the next U.S. president could confront a genuinely dangerous threat from a faraway place -- a North Korean missile that can hit U.S. territory with a nuclear warhead. Led by an impulsive and brutal young man, North Korea may pose the most direct nuclear risk to the United States. Kim Jon-un is a weak leader in every respect but one -- he pushes ahead relentlessly on a program to build missiles that can reach Guam and other American targets carrying miniaturi

June 12, 2016

[David Ignatius] The Omani back channel to Iran

One of the mysteries of Campaign 2016 is why the Iran nuclear deal has vanished as an issue. But a new book reveals some startling details about how the diplomacy with Tehran began in secret, long before reformers took power there, and the crucial role played by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.The diplomatic narrative is laid out in “Alter Egos,” by New York Times White House correspondent Mark Landler. He’s the first to disclose the full extent of the Omani “back cha

June 10, 2016

[Rachel Marsden] High-tech companies should invest in education, not immigration

Did you know that the multinational corporation Airbus Group has its own high school in France? It‘s one of the few private vocational schools left in the country. Why aren’t more high-tech industrial corporations running schools? Although such institutions aren’t without controversy, their proliferation could be the key to winning the global economic competition.Located in Toulouse not far from Airbus headquarters, Lycee Airbus selects students 15 to 18 years old based on written and oral admis

June 10, 2016