The Korea Herald

[Lee Jae-min] Nonbinding, amicable procedure does not just bark, it bites, too

A dispute settlement proceeding between two states usually conjures up the image of stern-faced judges in robes under tightly controlled timeframes, and most importantly, a legally binding judgment with a serious penalty. This is very important, and many disputes go down this path. In the meantime, a notable new trend is forming. Nonbinding dispute settlement procedures that seek an amicable solution are making inroads into new treaties and agreements. This is, so to speak, a state-to-state vers

Dec. 25, 2018

[Lee Jae-min] Nonbinding, amicable procedure does not just bark, it bites, too

[Noah Smith] How China could blow its exploits

In a recent column, I observed that by many measures, China is the world’s largest economy. This means a number of benefits will now flow to China that used to go to the US and Europe. Chief among these is agglomeration, or the tendency of businesses to seek out the biggest markets and the densest concentrations of economic activity. Being the center of the global economy really does have value.　But nothing is certain, especially in realms as complex as economics and politics. China’s vast size

Dec. 24, 2018

[Noah Smith] How China could blow its exploits

[David Ignatius] Loyal soldier reached his limit

During the past year, Defense Secretary James Mattis has sometimes seemed to be running the Pentagon with clenched teeth. He kept quiet when President Trump made decisions that Mattis thought were wrong; he sat steely-eyed in White House meetings, refusing to indulge in the idolatry toward Trump of other cabinet members. He argued for the policies he thought were right and kept his mouth shut when he lost.But on Thursday night, something snapped, and the unflappable Mattis did something that’s r

Dec. 24, 2018

[David Ignatius] Syria withdrawal a risky mistake

President Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to pull American troops from Syria is riskier than it looks. It ends a low-cost, high-impact mission and creates a vacuum that will be filled by one of a series of bad actors -- Iran, Russia, Turkey, Islamic extremists, the Syrian regime -- take your pick, they’re all dangerous for American interests in the Middle East. Trump’s withdrawal from northeast Syria will end a campaign that was never really seen or understood by the American people. It was a sma

Dec. 23, 2018

[David Ignatius] Syria withdrawal a risky mistake

[Ben Boychuk] Missing Dad and taking stock this Christmas

This will be the second Christmas holiday without my father. Although I miss him every day -- we used to talk on the phone, like clockwork, at 9:30 every morning -- I think I miss the cantankerous old coot the most on the big holidays.Dad could be -- how to put this? -- difficult. I’m in the opinion-writing business. Most things are debatable. My father was in the certainty business. An engineer by trade and disposition (if you’ve ever known an engineer, you’ll know what I mean), he liked things

Dec. 23, 2018

[Editorial] Mattis’ resignation

The resignation of US Defense Secretary James Mattis, announced by US President Donald Trump last week, has increased concerns about growing uncertainty over the future of the South Korea-US alliance and Washington’s approach to North Korea.Retired four-star Gen. Mattis is considered to have kept Trump in check, preventing the president from making impulsive decisions that might have pushed the Korean Peninsula to the verge of a full-scale military conflict or unraveled the bilateral alliance be

Dec. 23, 2018

[Park Sang-seek] 10 major world issues in 2018

I have selected the following 10 events as major issues in 2018:1. Growing populism and nationalism 2. Denuclearization of North Korea3. Tribalism in Africa and racism in Western Europe4. Worsening global warming and pollution5. Continuing Muslim sectarian conflicts in the Middle East6. Rapid globalization and technological change in the world7. Massive migration of people from developing countries to developed countries8. A cold war between the US and China (Cold War II)9. Global strengthening

Dec. 20, 2018

[Park Sang-seek] 10 major world issues in 2018

[Eli Lake] Trump courts catastrophe in Syria

President Donald Trump is on the verge of making a spectacularly bad decision. The White House is soon expected to announce its plans to remove the 2,000 US troops now serving in northeastern Syria.This is not totally unexpected. Trump ran for president in part on the idea of smashing the Islamic State group, but he also said there was no point in trying to stabilize the country after the terrorists were defeated. Since getting elected, he has regularly signaled that its time for US forces to le

Dec. 20, 2018

[Cass R Sunstein] Must-reads of 2018: Poker, politics and, yes, Bob Dylan

Most lists of the year’s best books reflect the personal tastes of those who produce them. This list is different. It’s entirely objective. What unites these five books is that nothing is rote or by-the-numbers about them. Each of them crackles with a kind of demonic energy.“A Crisis of Beliefs: Investor Psychology and Financial Fragility,” by Nicola Gennaioli and Andrei Shleifer.What caused the financial crisis of 2008? What’s likely to cause future crises? Gennaioli and Shleifer offer an origi

Dec. 19, 2018

[Kim Myoung-sik] Top objectionables in Moon’s policy thrust in 2018

As the year’s end draws near, people tend to be more contemplative, looking back on and appraising what happened in 2018, the second year of President Moon Jae-in’s leftist rule. In my own journalistic perception, there was a rapid buildup of disappointment with the president and his staff during the year mainly in reaction to the two major directions of policy thrusts, one designed to improve workers’ lives and the other to settle wrongdoings by past powers. Key economic measures misfired, and

Dec. 19, 2018

[Kim Myoung-sik] Top objectionables in Moon’s policy thrust in 2018

[Mihir Sharma] China should remember its friends

Nobody can know if, when Deng Xiaoping launched his strategy of “Reform and Opening Up” 40 years ago, even he could have predicted the near-miraculous transformation of the Chinese economy that would follow. In the years since, hundreds of millions have been lifted out of abject poverty and into the ranks of the global middle class; China’s industrial heartland became the workshop of the world; and it has muscled its way into the first ranks of global powers.Yet the tone with which Chinese Commu

Dec. 19, 2018

[David Ignatius] Studies show Russia used internet to perfect its dark arts

Imagine American politics for a moment as a laboratory experiment. A foreign adversary (let’s call it “Russia”) begins to play with the subjects, using carrots and sticks to condition their behavior. The adversary develops tools to dial up anger and resentment inside the lab bubble, and even recruits unwitting accomplices to perform specific tasks. This 21st-century political dystopia isn’t drawn from a “spec script” that just landed in Hollywood. It’s a summary of two reports on Russia’s Intern

Dec. 19, 2018

[David Ignatius] Studies show Russia used internet to perfect its dark arts

[Huma Yusuf] Accepting refugees makes sense

The number of people living outside their country of birth is more than 250 million.Over 10 percent of these are refugees, distinct from migrants in that they are fleeing war or persecution, and by international law cannot be forcibly returned to their home countries. Around 1.4 million of these, primarily Afghans, reside in Pakistan (the overall number of Afghans in Pakistan is closer to 3 million).Recently, acknowledging the scale of global displacement, the majority of UN member states adopte

Dec. 19, 2018

[Kim Seong-kon] What makes a democratic, advanced country?

How do you differentiate a democratic, advanced country from a totalitarian, underdeveloped one? According to political scientists, there are almost always political prisoners in an underdeveloped, totalitarian country. On the other hand, in a democratic, advanced country, you cannot arrest your political opponents and throw them into jail at will. Running a country is different from running a military operation that allows you to terminate your enemy with extreme prejudice. Indeed, advanced cou

Dec. 18, 2018

[Kim Seong-kon] What makes a democratic, advanced country?

[Mary Sanchez] Time for Republicans to make peace with LGBTQ rights

Perhaps it was all those holiday wishes for “peace on earth” and “goodwill to mankind” that crept into the mind of retiring Sen. Orrin Hatch.In his farewell address to Congress last week, the Utah Republican floated an idea at odds with a large part of his party’s base, among whom Evangelical Christians are disproportionately represented.Hatch, a Mormon, said religious conservatives could make peace with affirming the equal rights of LGBTQ Americans.“Pluralism shows us a better way,” he said, ac

Dec. 18, 2018

[Robert J. Fouser] Candlelight Revolution two years later

Two years ago, hundreds of thousands of people holding candles filled Gwanghwamun in support of impeaching then-President Park Geun-hye. The National Assembly voted to impeach Park on Dec. 9, 2016, and the Constitutional Court voted to remove her from office on March 10, 2017. Park was removed from office, and a special election was held on May 9, 2017, which resulted in a sweeping victory for Moon Jae-in. From the impeachment to the election, then-Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn served as acting p

Dec. 18, 2018

[Robert J. Fouser] Candlelight Revolution two years later

[Naresh Koirala] ‘Gold is waste that’s adorning us’

Recently, I walked through New Road after nearly a decade. Much of what I saw was no different from what it was like 10 years ago -- unruly traffic, pedestrians jostling to navigate crowded sidewalks, trash piled up at curbside. Assorted shops catering to consumers’ every need -- from sweets to shoes, from computers to clothes. The only noticeable change was in the number of gold jewelry shops. They had multiplied manifold. They were bigger and swankier too. This spurred a number of questions. W

Dec. 18, 2018

[Jeff Kosseff] How the US Congress might still break the internet

Civil liberties activists in the United States long warned that the federal government must adopt “net neutrality” requirements that prevent broadband companies from charging websites for prioritized access to their lines or risk the loss of freedom and openness online. Yet the US Federal Communications Commission repealed Obama-era net neutrality regulations a year ago, and the internet did not break.Unfortunately, there is a growing movement in Washington to change a technology law that has re

Dec. 18, 2018

[Slawomir Sierakowski] Germany still playing defense against EU, US

An old joke among non-Americans is that they, too, deserve a vote in US presidential elections, given how central that office is to their lives. When Germany’s Christian Democratic Union met this month to select a new leader, Europeans probably felt the same way.Not only is the CDU Germany’s largest party; it is also the largest in the European Union. At its recent congress in Hamburg, the word “Europe” was uttered constantly, with most speakers declaring a sense of responsibility for what happe

Dec. 17, 2018

[Slawomir Sierakowski] Germany still playing defense against EU, US

[Stephen L. Carter] Don’t let Boy Scouts of America go bankrupt

The Boy Scouts of America is not exactly confirming reports that it’s considering bankruptcy, but it’s not exactly denying them either. It’s hard to see how the organization has much choice. The many lawsuits it is facing because of abuse by adult leaders is in any case likely to deplete the group’s resources.The accusations against the Boy Scouts are horrific, and if they’re true, the organization ought to be made to suffer. But I hope it doesn’t die. There’s simply no other group that does wha

Dec. 17, 2018