The Korea Herald

[Andrew Polk] One-man rule isn‘t good for the economy either

China’s defenders are putting an optimistic spin on the country’s tilt toward one-man rule. Now that President Xi Jinping has set himself up to remain in power indefinitely, they suggest, he will have the runway to see through painful but necessary economic reforms that have long been resisted by various actors within China’s political system. In other words, even if last weekend’s scrapping of term limits for the presidency dooms hopes for political liberalization, it increases the prospects fo

March 1, 2018

[Andrew Polk] One-man rule isn‘t good for the economy either

[Andrew Malcolm] Forget sanctions and red lines. Fight cyber attacks with cyber retaliation

Perhaps you’ve noticed in recent weeks a marked increase in talk about the mounting threats of malicious cyber activity to our national security, intellectual property, critical infrastructure operations and even our election systems.　The Justice Department on Feb. 16 announced indictments of 13 Russian organizations and individuals for meddling in the 2016 election. Apparently the accused sought to foment divisions in American society largely through social media.　At the time their fake account

March 1, 2018

[Andrew Malcolm] Forget sanctions and red lines. Fight cyber attacks with cyber retaliation

[Howard Davies] Crypto hawks and doves

A few days ago, President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela announced that his government had launched a new state-sponsored cryptocurrency called the petro. He claimed that $735 million worth of the new currency had already been sold, though observers are skeptical, unless state entities have been obliged to buy them. Even they will find it hard to do so, however, as the technology platform on which the petro will be traded has not yet been confirmed.International demand for the petro will not be hel

March 1, 2018

[Leonid Bershidsky] Journalist killings challenge Europe’s idea of itself

The time has come to ask whether membership in the European Union is still a quality assurance seal for democracy and the rule of law among member states. The bloc has clearly failed to enforce its stated values on its periphery. Any additional expansion can only dilute them further.　On Monday, Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend Martina Kusnirova were found murdered -- shot with a single bullet each -- in the town where they lived near Bratislava. Kuciak had investigated alleged tax

March 1, 2018

[Karin Klein] The real problem with Happy Meals

It’s not about the food. What McDonald’s is really selling to children is the party. The package with puzzles just for them. The games. In some places, the playgrounds. And most of all, the toys.　The fast-food giant must be basking in its latest public-relations victory. By announcing recently that it was taking cheeseburgers and chocolate milk off its Happy Meal menu, it looked like a chain that cared about childhood obesity, while not really changing a thing. That’s right: Cheeseburgers and ch

Feb. 28, 2018

[Adam Minter] Xi shouldn’t be the only one to keep working　

Xi Jinping can hold off on retirement planning for a few more years, now that China’s Communist Party has announced a proposal to eliminate a 10-year, two-term limit for China’s presidency. That sets up the powerful 64-year-old Xi to remain in office well into his golden years. He shouldn’t be the only one.　Set aside for a moment the question of whether China is wise to usher in one-man rule. The fact is that retirement age limits for other Chinese are a drag on China’s economy and the governmen

Feb. 28, 2018

[Eric Planey] Thank you PyeongChang and Korea

On behalf of the people of the United States, I would like to say thank you, South Korea! 　Now I really do not have any formal capacity to say thank you on behalf of my country, but it needs to be said. Your hosting of the Winter Olympics, and the hospitality you showed the country and the world, was perfect timing. Especially for a United States that needed a collective pause, if not another Miracle on Ice. 　For those of you who do not know, the late 1970s until the beginning of 1980 were not e

Feb. 28, 2018

[Kim Myong-sik] Warning: MeToo movement here may turn political

An inappropriate comment has been made on the ongoing movement against sexual harassment and assault in the workplace. Kim O-joon, a podcast host, said that the MeToo campaign was a scheme to divide and attack liberal supporters of the Moon Jae-in government.He may have drawn the idea from the fact that the targets of the social media accusations of sexual outrage include some celebrities in the literary and drama worlds, who are on the left of Korea’s political spectrum. Appearing in the news t

Feb. 28, 2018

[Kim Myong-sik] Warning: MeToo movement here may turn political

[Robert J Fouser] The meaning of March 1

Tomorrow marks the 99th anniversary of the March 1 Movement during the darkest hours of Japanese colonial rule. On the afternoon of that day, 33 leaders of the independence movement gathered in Jongno in Seoul and proclaimed Korea’s independence from Japan. The movement quickly spread to cities and town across the peninsula. About 2 million people took part in the movement, making up 10 percent of the Korean population at the time. Overwhelmed by the size of protests, Japanese authorities used m

Feb. 27, 2018

[Robert J Fouser] The meaning of March 1

[Kim Seong-kon] Things Seoul, Beijing, Tokyo and Washington should know

Recently in his blog titled “South Korea: The Unappreciated Ally,” my colleague Gregg A. Brazinsky posted three important issues regarding the Korean Peninsula. One of them was Washington’s misconception of South Korea. While mentioning South Korea’s emergence as a global economic leader, he wrote, “Unfortunately, it is not always treated as one by the United States. Washington has never completely abandoned the patron state mentality that was born decades ago when the country was completely dep

Feb. 27, 2018

[Kim Seong-kon] Things Seoul, Beijing, Tokyo and Washington should know

[Christopher Balding] At next Olympics, focus on fans

It has become a widely accepted tenet of modern economics that markets are flawed and need fixing by experts to engineer desired outcomes. At the Winter Games in PyeongChang, which just concluded, the International Olympic Committee appeared to take this conviction to extremes, trying to fill stands through highly restricted, targeted and convoluted ticket sales. The process arguably produced more empty seats than the bitter cold, lack of interest, or fear of North Korea did. Organizers of the 2

Feb. 27, 2018

[Justin Fendos] Don’t forget the Paralympics

As South Korea basks in the afterglow of its second successful Olympic Games, it is important to note that another, equally special event is taking place soon after: the Paralympics. The first official Paralympics were held in Rome in 1960 with about 400 athletes competing from 23 countries in Summer Games such as track and field. The original idea behind the Paralympics was to honor and commemorate war veterans who had been wounded in combat. Unknown to most Koreans, the 1988 Seoul Olympics wer

Feb. 27, 2018

[Noah Feldman] China now faces the downsides of dictatorship

China’s nearly 30 year experiment with time-limited government is officially coming to an end. The Chinese Communist Party has suggested amending China’s constitution to allow President Xi Jinping to serve more than two five-year terms. Considering that the party rules the country, and Xi rules the party, that means two things: The constitution will be amended. And Xi is going to be president for life, much like Mao Zedong or Deng Xiaoping.　From the standpoint of communism, this result isn’t ter

Feb. 27, 2018

[James Stavridis] ‘Low-yield’ nukes are a very high threat

In his brilliant book tracing the origins of the First World War, “The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914,” Christopher Clark says, “The protagonists were sleepwalkers, watchful but unseeing, haunted by dreams, yet blind to the reality of the horror they were about to bring into the world.” 　As the prestigious Munich Security Conference wrapped up over President’s Day weekend, the pervading feeling of many longtime observers is that we are again sleepwalking toward a conflict nobody wa

Feb. 26, 2018

[James Stavridis] ‘Low-yield’ nukes are a very high threat

[Erwin Chemerinsky] Three gun control myths that are killing American kids

The murder of 17 students and teachers in Parkland, Florida, should cause all of us to ask, how many people must die before this country finally adopts meaningful gun control laws.　This, of course, is just the latest of so many instances of gun violence. They all share one feature in common: a disturbed man with a military-style semiautomatic weapon killing a large number of people in minutes.　Action to decrease gun violence is long overdue. Each year, more than 30,000 people in the United State

Feb. 26, 2018

[Stephen Mihm] Amazon’s labor-tracking wristband has a history

Amazon recently received patents for an “ultrasonic bracelet” that tracks workers’ movements. Pitched as a labor-saving device, they monitor how efficiently workers fill orders as well as giving them positive “haptic feedback” -- a little vibration -- as they reach for the correct bins, reducing unnecessary motion.　If this sounds a bit like planning to turn humans into robots, you are not alone; the news prompted a minor hysteria. However frightening, though, it’s hardly new. In fact, several lo

Feb. 26, 2018

[Hal Brands] America’s leaderless foreign policy has hit a dead end

Independent counsel Robert Mueller has indicted 13 Russians for waging information warfare against the US by tampering with the American electoral process in 2016. Sadly but predictably, America’s commander-in-chief did not respond by rallying his country to meet the threat. Rather, President Donald Trump went out of his way to dodge the question of Russian interference.　This episode has a broader significance: It gives the lie to the idea that the US can have a constructive foreign policy while

Feb. 26, 2018

[Hal Brands] America’s leaderless foreign policy has hit a dead end

[Los Angeles Times] Grocery bags and takeout containers aren’t enough. It’s time to phase out all single-use plastic

Faced with an unholy tonnage of chip bags, soda bottles, takeout containers and other disposable plastic items flowing into our landfills and our waters, winding up in wildlife, drinking water and food, policymakers in California have tried reining in plastic waste bit by bit. For example, more than 100 cities have adopted restrictions on polystyrene takeout containers, and the state has banned single-use plastic grocery bags.　Considering the magnitude of the problem, however, this item-by-item,

Feb. 26, 2018

[Bandy X. Lee, Jeffrey D. Sachs] Trump’s war psyche and world peace

When Donald Trump took office early last year, many pundits believed that he would settle into his presidency and pivot to normality. But a large number of America’s mental health experts didn’t see it that way. They warned that Trump evidently suffers from a mental impairment that would worsen under pressure, possibly leading him to launch a war, even a nuclear war. And now, with the dangers of a Trump-led war with North Korea or Iran rising, the world needs to head off America’s president befo

Feb. 25, 2018

[Bandy X. Lee, Jeffrey D. Sachs] Trump’s war psyche and world peace

[Park Sang-seek] Two threats to world peace: New Cold War and tribalism

If we look at the world map, we can see that the Eurasian continent and North America are getting involved in a new type of cold war, while the African and Latin American continents are getting mired in increasing tribal conflicts and the Arab world in intensifying religious sectarian fights. Consequently, humanity suffers from the new Cold War, tribalism and religious conflicts simultaneously. In a sense, humanity suffers more from these new conflicts than the old Cold War.In the new Cold War R

Feb. 25, 2018

[Park Sang-seek] Two threats to world peace: New Cold War and tribalism