The Korea Herald

[Eli Lake] John Bolton makes the case for hunting witches

Usually when someone analogizes the US government’s current campaign against Russian influence to the Red Scare of the 1950s, it’s meant as a cautionary device. Let’s not go back to black lists and “un-American activities.”　Last week, however, National Security Adviser John Bolton reached back to this era to describe in earnest what the US intelligence community believes it’s up against. In an interview with the conservative radio host Mark Levin, Bolton described the kind of Russian and foreign

Aug. 13, 2018

[David Ignatius] Pompeo tries to be the disruptor’s diplomat

When Mike Pompeo became secretary of state on May 1, he advised his new colleagues at Foggy Bottom, “I want the State Department to get its swagger back.” The State Department doesn’t really do “swagger,” but career officials say morale has improved from the rock bottom level it reached with his predecessor, Rex Tillerson.Pompeo, a boisterous ex-congressman, seems to be keeping his own swagger tendencies in check at State. His watchword so far has mostly been a version of “Keep your mouth shut.”

Aug. 12, 2018

[David Ignatius] Pompeo tries to be the disruptor’s diplomat

[Noah Smith] Trump is right: China should stop stealing the US’ best ideas

Suppose a Chinese electric car maker wants to win market share by selling cars with the best cutting-edge battery technology. How does it get that technology? It can hire some engineers, build a lab and try to develop it in-house. It can partner with a university research lab to create it. Or alternatively, it can buy an American company that already has the technology.　The latter move might be profitable for both the acquirer and the target, but it can stifle a whole ecosystem from developing a

Aug. 12, 2018

[Noah Smith] Trump is right: China should stop stealing the US’ best ideas

[Michael Schuman] A US-China divorce would be ugly

A financial adviser I know, Frank Astorino, says nothing destroys wealth like divorce. That’s a warning China and the US should keep in mind as they intensify their trade war. If they continue down the road they’re on, an economic separation between the world’s two-largest economies is a very real possibility. And the costs would likely exceed any marital spat in history.　Sure, there’s always a chance that Donald Trump and Xi Jinping could renew their friendship and hash out a deal. But if they

Aug. 12, 2018

[Andy Mukherjee] How to end Japan’s deflation? Abolish cash

Monetary medicine in Japan is keeping the economy alive, but with nasty side effects. The search for a new cure should begin with a simple question: What if the Bank of Japan were to throw out its money-printing presses?　Instead of pushing more yen into an economy that has already absorbed a threefold increase in cheap central-bank funds in five years without any sign of the much-awaited 2 percent inflation, maybe it’s time to abolish cash altogether.　While previous BOJ chiefs were rightly blame

Aug. 12, 2018

[Kay Coles James] Nation in turmoil must choose civility

In 1961, I participated in what a Richmond, Virginia, newspaper called “one of the most ambitious experiments in race-mixing the South had seen.” With the nation in turmoil, 25 other black students and I helped integrate an all-white junior high school.　Outside the school, we faced angry crowds determined to prevent us from getting a quality education in peace. Inside, we were constantly afraid of being confronted by the white toughs who took special joy in threatening us black kids. We were jus

Aug. 12, 2018

[David Ignatius] As China’s military masters artificial intelligence, why are we still building aircraft carriers’

Will the Pentagon, with its 30-year planning cycle for building ships, still be launching aircraft carriers in 2048 -- even though they’re highly vulnerable to attack today?That’s an example of the military-modernization questions that kept nagging participants at last weekend’s gathering of the Aspen Strategy Group, which annually brings together top-level current and former national-security officials, along with a few journalists, to discuss defense and foreign policy. This year’s focus was o

Aug. 9, 2018

[David Ignatius] As China’s military masters artificial intelligence, why are we still building aircraft carriers’

[Eli Lake] Trump’s sanctions miss a chance to help Iran’s protesters

In light of the recent demonstrations in Iranian cities, one might think the Donald Trump administration would want to link Monday’s re-implementation of sanctions to the struggles of Iran’s freedom movement. 　After all, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last month detailed the corruption of the current regime in Tehran in a speech at the Reagan Library in California. In May, the Treasury Department implemented sanctions against Evin Prison, the dungeon where many demonstrators and activists end up

Aug. 9, 2018

[Andrew Sheng] Rethinking social progress in 21st century

What do we mean by social progress? That is the theme explored by the International Panel on Social Progress, a group of over 300 academics, including Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen. After four years of work, their report was finally published last month by Cambridge University Press, with a useful summary at www.ipsp.org.　 The definition of social change or progress is never neutral or value free, since different societies have diverging views on what constitutes a good or just society. As the repo

Aug. 8, 2018

[Andrew Sheng] Rethinking social progress in 21st century

[Jakarta Post] Strengthening ASEAN

Today ASEAN celebrates its 51st anniversary amid various changes both in the region and the world that may affect the grouping’s dream of achieving a peaceful and prosperous community.　Internally, ASEAN member states are still struggling to finish all the work required to reach One Community based on One Vision and One Identity. Compared to the European Union, widely considered to be the holy grail of regional integrity, ASEAN is much more diverse, not only in its cultures but especially the pol

Aug. 8, 2018

[Kim Seong-kon] Teaching Korean literature in US

South Korea has been drawing attention around the world thanks to its miraculous economic success, internationally acclaimed electronic products by Samsung and LG, and the enormous popularity of K-pop. Korean boy bands EXO and BTS are currently all the rage in the US. The news that Han Kang’s “The Vegetarian” won the prestigious Man-Booker International Award also prompted about 400 articles on Korean literature by various international media outlets. Recently, Pyun Hye-young, too, was in the sp

Aug. 7, 2018

[Kim Seong-kon] Teaching Korean literature in US

[Lee Jae-min] Start small, think big on cooperation with NK

Maybe it was just an honest mistake. A typical “rules of origin” confusion or infraction. Origin faking or laundering is not new to customs officials at the border, so importers may have believed that the coal shipments really originated from Russia. The low price and unusual loading port (Kholmsk, Sakhalin) may not have been sufficient to raise a red flag for the importers and the government.Coal arrived at Korean ports and was put into the stream of commerce. This took place last October.What

Aug. 7, 2018

[Lee Jae-min] Start small, think big on cooperation with NK

[David Ignatius] Path from Pyongyang to Washington leads through Seoul

Koreans have a saying that helps explain the recent upbeat exchanges between Washington, Seoul and Pyongyang: “Say pretty things to hear pretty things.” Beyond the Trump White House, there remains much skepticism that North Korea will ever give up its nuclear weapons. Recent leaks about North Korea’s continuing efforts to build its nuclear and missile arsenal underline this concern that President Trump made a sucker play in Singapore. But the public rhetoric from Washington and Pyongyang is warm

Aug. 6, 2018

[David Ignatius] Path from Pyongyang to Washington leads through Seoul

[Anjani Trivedi] Japan Inc. needs to pay for performance

Almost three decades ago, the Texan oilman T. Boone Pickens attempted to charge into a Japanese boardroom. He had accumulated around one-third of the company -- worth almost $1 billion at the time -- yet a seat at the table eluded him. There was nothing to force the directors to accept him.　Japan Inc. has come a long way since Pickens took on Koito Manufacturing, a supplier of parts to Toyota Motor. Backed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic revival plan and corporate governance reforms, act

Aug. 6, 2018

[Park Sang-seek] Why does globalization strengthen nationalism?

When globalization began to accelerate in the 1990s, globalists rejoiced and predicted that globalism would eventually weaken nationalism, and international organizations, particularly the UN, would become more powerful. However, such optimism has turned out to be a naive dream. Nation-states have become more vital and powerful, while within nation-states ethnic or religious minority groups have become more assertive of their identity and have often sought to establish a separate state. In the c

Aug. 5, 2018

[Park Sang-seek] Why does globalization strengthen nationalism?

[Lionel Laurent] Keeping tabs on all the (French) president‘s men

As political scandals go, the “Benalla” affair that has gripped France since Le Monde broke the story on July 18 is certainly no Watergate. But it does point to a combination of unbridled executive power and secrecy in French politics that might make even Capitol Hill blush. Considering Emmanuel Macron’s waning popularity and relatively low public trust in government, an overhaul of the rules is overdue.　The outrage over footage of presidential aide Alexandre Benalla, donning a police helmet (he

Aug. 5, 2018

[Kim Kyung-ho] Substantial, not conceptual, growth

In a meeting with his senior policy advisers last week, President Moon Jae-in said economic policies pursued by his administration fitted into the concept of inclusive growth.If efforts are exerted with confidence, he said, inclusive growth, through which a people-oriented economy takes root and the benefits of growth are shared evenly, would be made possible.His remarks, which came with pledges to pay more heed to speeding up deregulation and structural reforms, invited criticism from oppositio

Aug. 2, 2018

[Kim Kyung-ho] Substantial, not conceptual, growth

[David Fickling] Trump’s madman theory of trade negotiations won’t win

Let’s make a deal: I’ll sell you a can of soda for a dollar.Actually, scratch that, $2. Or maybe I’ll give it to you for free.　On second thoughts, you can have a chocolate bar for $2. But you have to give me a liter of soda in return.　It’s not hard to see from the real world why we don’t like to deal with unpredictable negotiators. When a counterparty’s objectives are unclear and her gambits contradictory, we tend to give up on her.So what’s going on with the US government’s attempts to improve

Aug. 2, 2018

[Kim Myong-sik] Looking for just, comfortable civil-military relations

A US Marine honor guard, holding a case wrapped in the UN flag in both arms, steps out of a military cargo plane and walks to a US Army sergeant major in full dress. The noncommissioned officer stoops forward, receives the case and then approaches one of several vans lined up nearby. US Army, Navy and Air Force honor guards follow one after the other to deliver the small coffins to the vehicles on the ground. Hundreds of service persons salute to the silent procession only accompanied by taps pl

Aug. 1, 2018

[Kim Myong-sik] Looking for just, comfortable civil-military relations

[Tim Culpan] Trump’s tech tariffs are awesome, for Southeast Asia

Donald Trump may well be the best thing that’s happened to Southeast Asia’s humble electronics industry in quite a while.Relatively small, and frankly not as sexy as their North Asian cousins, makers of components and devices with factories dotted around the region may get some time in the spotlight thanks to the US administration’s decision last month to levy an additional 25 percent import tax on 818 separate items from China.　The assembly of name-brand gadgets like Apple’s iPhones tends to gr

Aug. 1, 2018