The Korea Herald

[David Ignatius] What good foreign policy looks like

The pathway to compromise is never easy to find, at home or abroad, but it was visible in Colombia this week in the peace agreement that ended a 52-year guerrilla war. What opened this route was good political leadership. President Juan Manuel Santos asked Colombians who had suffered from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) insurgency to forgive those they regarded as terrorists. FARC’s leader, Rodrigo Londono, asked for forgiveness, in turn, “for the pain we have caused in this wa

Sept. 30, 2016

[David Ignatius] What good foreign policy looks like

Korean finless porpoise should be designated as natural monument

Have you heard of the Korean local finless porpoise, or “Sanggwaengi” in Korean?The small-sized marine mammal -- which goes by the zoological name neophocaena phocaenoides – does not have a pointed muzzle and a dorsal fin. It also looks like it is smiling because of the lifted corners of its mouth.Its habitat extends from North Korea to Bohai bay in China but most of the Korean finless porpoises inhabit the South and Yellow seas around the Korean Peninsula. Some of the earliest recorded descript

Sept. 30, 2016

Korean finless porpoise should be designated as natural monument

A general assembly in the generals’ shadow

The leaders of Thailand and Myanmar made the same promise at the United Nations General Assembly last week -- to promote and protect human rights. It was interesting to hear the same pledge from one country that’s gone from military to civilian rule and another that’s moved in the opposite direction, but the reaction has to be the same regardless: Hope that they aren’t merely paying lip service to a noble international goal. Aung San Suu Kyi, who swept to power in Myanmar’s election earlier thi

Sept. 29, 2016

[FS Aijazuddin] China has become an unmistakable omnipresence

Hinkley Point is China’s Hong Kong in the UK. More than a century ago, Britain established itself on the tip of China’s mainland, converting a drowsy island into a powerhouse of commerce. More than a century later, Theresa May’s government has approved the establishment of a new sort of powerhouse - a 3,200 megawatt nuclear plant on the coast of southwest England. The colonisation of Great Britain has begun.Ironically, Theresa May had as much choice as the Chinese once did when they ceded Hong K

Sept. 29, 2016

[FS Aijazuddin] China has become an unmistakable omnipresence

[Daniel Gordis] Curtain drops on Israel’s founders

Shimon Peres’ death Wednesday struck a deep and sad chord for Israelis. They never united behind Peres the politician, who served as prime minister twice without being elected. They came to revere him, however, when he served as president.When the 93-year-old Peres was hospitalized two weeks ago after a severe stroke, it evoked a greater response than the final chapters of other countries’ leaders because he was the “last man standing” -- the last of the iconic group of men and women who surroun

Sept. 29, 2016

[Daniel Gordis] Curtain drops on Israel’s founders

[David Ignatius] Hillary Clinton reassured a fearful world

Watching Monday night’s presidential debate from a country that has been bankrupted by populist economic ideas was instructive: Argentina’s experience shows that good countries can make very bad political decisions that have lasting costs.Visiting here with Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew was also a reminder of how intently the rest of the world is following this year’s U.S. election campaign. American power remains a basic ordering principle of global life, however much Uncle Sam is maligned. So w

Sept. 29, 2016

[Ramesh Ponnuru] Trump‘s strengths didn’t help him this time

Donald Trump had plenty of moments Monday night that would have disqualified any other candidate in a presidential debate: bragging about getting through a discrimination investigation “with no admission of guilt”; saying he had not “given lots of thought” to NATO; noting that he often took advantage of laws; taking pride in having paid no taxes some years; and referring to the man in the White House as “your president.”　But you could have compiled a similar list in nearly any fortnight of the T

Sept. 28, 2016

[Elizabeth Drew] Why is US presidential election nip and tuck?

Many people around the world are probably wondering why Hillary Clinton -- who is obviously more prepared and better suited for the American presidency than her opponent, Donald Trump -- isn’t waltzing to victory. Many Americans share the world’s bewilderment.National opinion polls may well continue to fluctuate until the election on Nov. 8. But Trump has been closing in on Clinton in recent weeks, even threatening to catch up with her in the Electoral College vote, where the Democrats’ control

Sept. 28, 2016

[Kim Myong-sik] Internal enemies threaten Korea’s future

Kim Ji-ha is known more for his satirical poems “Five Bandits” and “Rumors” from the 1970s than for the works he produced after he changed his course to something beyond resistance against oppression. 　He surprised readers and critics by showing a shift of social views with a 1992 commentary on the death of a student protester. It was published by conservative daily Chosun Ilbo under the title, “Now quit the rituals of death!” Kim then engaged in advocating respect for life in humanity and natur

Sept. 28, 2016

[Kim Myong-sik] Internal enemies threaten Korea’s future

[Lee Joo-hee] Do women make better leaders?

Last month, the election of Rep. Choo Mi-ae to steer the main opposition party on Aug. 27 brought on a handful of news articles that highlighted on her gender. Some even anticipated what her “chemistry” would be like with the nation’s female president.Staging the climax to such gender-oriented commentaries was the ruling Saenuri Party, whose spokeswoman Rep. Kim Hyun-ah said, “It is hoped that (Choo) will take on a delicate attitude like that of a mother to prioritize everyday economy over polit

Sept. 28, 2016

[Lee Joo-hee] Do women make better leaders?

EU’s free-trade advocates need to speak up

It’s entirely unsurprising -- expected, really -- for the anti-global European left to oppose a trade deal with America. But with Canada?The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, painstakingly negotiated over seven years, would cut trade barriers between Europe and the world’s 10th-largest economy. Unlike the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the European Union and the US (which is all but dead), CETA has been signed and ready to go for some time. Thankfully, Europe’s

Sept. 28, 2016

[Jonathan Bernstein] Trump takes bait, hooks self on TV

The entire 90-minute debate Monday night was a demonstration that Donald Trump doesn‘t have the temperament to be president. Hillary Clinton was prepared -- she always is -- and she baited Trump early and often. And Trump got caught each time. He also hooked himself, including in at least two exchanges with moderator Lester Holt (who did an excellent job, allowing both candidates to talk). Here are some examples.In Clinton’s very first response to Trump, about trade, she managed to work in that

Sept. 28, 2016

[Ira Helfand & Robert Dodge] The nuclear question

A growing chorus of politicians and national security experts have questioned whether it would be safe to have Donald Trump’s finger on the nuclear button. But are they asking the right question?　In an open letter, 50 leading Republican national security experts warned that Trump possesses “dangerous qualities in an individual who aspires to be president and commander in chief, with command of the US nuclear arsenal.”　Or, as Hillary Clinton put it in her speech accepting the Democratic nominatio

Sept. 27, 2016

[Kim Seong-kon] Possible side effects of the anticorruption law

As the anti-graft law, which is commonly referred as the Kim Young-ran law, is enforced as of today, millions of Koreans are worried and even scared of the newly implemented law that will affect their lives in one way or another. Not only government officials but also professors, teachers and journalists are being extremely cautious in order not to violate the new law and inadvertently end up being a criminal. In fact, the fear escalates exponentially when it’s realized that the newly enforced l

Sept. 27, 2016

[Kim Seong-kon] Possible side effects of the anticorruption law

[Stephen L. Carter] Good schools, bad ones and ugly ways we rank them

There is a certain tragic irony in the fact that a crackdown on US colleges with low graduation rates was announced during the very week that the Times Higher Education Supplement published its annual list of the world’s best universities. The coincidence provokes the thought that there is too much of this going on.By “this” I mean the constant effort in higher education to sort the best from the not-best, and the best among the best from the best, and the best among the best among the best from

Sept. 27, 2016

[Robert J. Fouser] The problem with third parties

The US presidential election campaign has entered the final sprint toward Election Day in November.The two major party candidates, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, are the most disliked candidates in recent memory. Two minor party candidates, the Libertarian Party’s Gary Johnson and the Green Party’s Jill Stein, are together projected to drain about 10 percent of votes from major party candidates, the highest percentage since 1992. Polls show that the major party candidates

Sept. 27, 2016

[Robert J. Fouser] The problem with third parties

[Christopher Ryan Maboloc] Social media wars

The introduction of web 2.0 has provided a platform for the instant interface of millions of people. But it has also created a new kind of culture -- the culture of hate. Most cybercitizens are prejudiced against each other. We have become morally judgmental of our fellow human beings.Avatars have replaced the real identities of individuals who are now soaked in a hegemonic online world so defined by an oppressive standard of beauty that maliciously subjugates millions of unknown mortals. The ta

Sept. 27, 2016

Immigration’s reality vs. Trump’s rhetoric

Sometimes the best response to overheated political rhetoric is one of those dull if worthy white papers issued with alarming regularity by Washington think tanks and research organizations. So it is with two recent reports on immigration, both useful in correcting Donald Trump’s statements on the subject.A Pew Research Center report, released this week, confirms previous findings: The number of undocumented immigrants in the US peaked in 2007 before dropping sharply -- with more undocumented Me

Sept. 27, 2016

[Robert J. Fouser] The problem with third parties

The US presidential election campaign has entered the final sprint toward Election Day in November.The two major party candidates, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, are the most disliked candidates in recent memory. Two minor party candidates, Libertarian Party’s Gary Johnson and Green Party’s Jill Stein, are together projected to drain about 10 percent of votes from major party candidates, the highest percentage since 1992. Polls show that the major party candidates are par

Sept. 27, 2016

[Jeffrey Frankel] Voting for a better US political system

The American political train has gone off the rails, and it seems farther than ever from getting back on track. There has been a lot of finger pointing, with commentators blaming issues like gerrymandering, rising economic inequality, the campaign finance system and unbalanced journalism. But the public cannot address these genuine flaws in the system directly. What they can do is tackle another fundamental problem: low voter turnout.The beauty of democracy is that, if people vote, they can effe

Sept. 26, 2016