[Newsmaker] 25 years of fall of Berlin Wall

BERLIN― Germany marks 25 years since the euphoric fall of the Berlin Wall Sunday with more than a million people expected to join tributes, festivities and an open-air party with freedom icons and rock stars.Chancellor Angela Merkel leads commemorations for those killed trying to flee communist East Germany, ahead of a giant festival to celebrate the peaceful revolution that ended Europe’s Cold War division on Nov. 9, 1989.Merkel, 60, who grew up under the repressive eastern regime, said in her

World NewsNov. 9, 2014

[Newsmaker] Mia Love, the Obama of the Republican Party?

LOS ANGELES ― Even her name is media friendly. Mia Love instantly became the darling of the Republican Party on Wednesday, after being elected as its first black female member of Congress ― and she is a Mormon to boot.She has also rapidly drawn comparisons with Barack Obama, not least since she wowed her party’s 2012 national convention with a tale of rags-to-political-riches, much like the young Senator Obama did in 2004.“Many of the naysayers out there said that Utah would never elect a black

World NewsNov. 6, 2014

[Newsmaker] After midterm loss, Obama must re-energize

WASHINGTON ― Six years after sweeping into the White House on the slogan “Yes We Can,” Barack Obama, whose Democratic party has lost control of both houses of Congress, must now find a new can-do spirit.Floundering in the polls and shunned by his own party’s candidates, as Obama moves into the final two years of his term his presidency seems a world away from the promise of his 2008 campaign.In Tuesday’s midterms Republicans seized control of the Senate and reinforced their majority in the House

World NewsNov. 5, 2014

[Newsmaker] Ban stirs up local presidential politics

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is sending ripples through the country’s political arena without lifting a finger. Ban has said nothing about what he will do after his term ends, but he was picked as the favorite presidential contender here, with nearly 40 percent of the respondents supporting him in a recent survey. In comparison, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon ― another potential favorite ― received 13.5 percent support, while Saenuri Party chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung was given 4.9 percent suppor

PoliticsNov. 4, 2014

[Newsmaker] Telecoms face penalty over iPhone subsidies

South Korea’s three telecommunications companies are expected to again face punitive measures by communications regulators for allegedly providing subsidies over the legal limit for Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.The new iPhone created a stir as soon as it hit Seoul last Friday, with die-hard Apple fans waiting in long lines in front of telecom retail stores in the wee hours to get their hands on the device.SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus saw the new iPhone as an opportunity to shake things up in the t

TechnologyNov. 3, 2014

[Newsmaker] New U.S. envoy faces daunting challenges

Fortified by expertise, experience and the trust of top U.S. leadership, Ambassador Mark Lippert is tasked with helping achieve the strategic refocus toward Asia in the face of daunting foreign policy challenges and volatile security dynamics. The former chief of staff to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel touched down in Seoul last Thursday for a three-year term, succeeding Sung Kim, who is widely expected to soon become new deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific Affairs. He w

Foreign AffairsNov. 2, 2014

[Newsmaker] Janet Yellen era set to begin

WASHINGTON ― When the Federal Reserve announced the end of its landmark bond buying program Wednesday, it also signaled the start of something else: The Janet Yellen era.Officially, Yellen has been Fed chair since February. But the phase-out of the bond-buying stimulus program Yellen inherited from her predecessor, Ben Bernanke, truly marks her inauguration. She can now begin to fully stamp her influence on the central bank.With the job market showing steady gains, Yellen must now grapple with t

World BusinessOct. 30, 2014

[Newsmaker] New iPhones set to hit Korean shelves

The worldwide craze over the new iPhones will hit the South Korean market on Friday when the iPhone 6 and its variant the 6 Plus go on sale here. This time, the so-called iPhone effect will have a more significant impact on the Korean smartphone market than ever, according to industry watchers. The first round of preorders was filled last Friday by the mobile carriers SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus in less than 30 minutes.It is estimated that the total number of preorders will reach at least 80,000

TechnologyOct. 29, 2014

[Newsmaker] Legendary rock star Shin Hae-chul dies

Iconic ’90s rock musician Shin Hae-chul, 46, was pronounced dead at 8.19 p.m. Monday at the Asan Medical Center in southern Seoul following a massive heart attack on Oct. 22, which left the singer in a comatose state for five days. Although it was previously reported that doctors were unsure of what caused the singer’s heart to suddenly fail, according to a statement from Shin’s agency, KCA Entertainment, the cause has now been determined to be the result of widespread infection in the intestine

PerformanceOct. 28, 2014

[Newsmaker] Brazil’s Rousseff, who held on for new term

BRASILIA ― President Dilma Rousseff, a former leftist guerrilla once imprisoned and tortured by Brazil’s military regime, upheld her reputation for toughness in a hard-fought campaign that won her a new term Sunday.Rousseff, Brazil’s first woman president, won a second four-year term in a tight runoff election against business-world favorite Aecio Neves.Rousseff, 66, is known as a no-nonsense manager with a commanding grasp of even the smallest policy details who upbraids her ministers in public

World NewsOct. 27, 2014

[Newsmaker] Medical establishment a casualty of Ebola

PARIS ― Beyond the human tragedy of the Ebola epidemic unfolding in west Africa, the crisis is claiming a collateral victim: trust in the medical order.The biggest casualty is the reputation of the U.N.’s World Health Organization, which analysts fault for foot-dragging and misjudgements.Also under assault are Big Pharma, the West’s aid policies in Africa and public faith in the rich world’s lavishly funded health systems. “Failures in leadership have allowed a preventable disease to spin out of

World NewsOct. 26, 2014

[Newsmaker] KB Financial chief came up the hard way

By picking one of its former executive members as the new chairman, KB Financial Group made it clear that it is determined to end its deep-rooted leadership strife. It has also proclaimed that it will no longer welcome government meddling in its personnel management.On Wednesday, KB Financial Group’s chairman nominee recommendation committee said it had named Yoon Jong-kyoo, former chief financial officer of the company, as the sole candidate for the currently empty chairman post.Yoon outran Cit

Oct. 23, 2014

[Newsmaker] Park, Saenuri at odds over constitutional revision

Conflict between President Park Geun-hye and her party has escalated, with Cheong Wa Dae publicly firing back at the party chief, after he attempted to open a discussion on constitutional revision.On Tuesday afternoon, a high-ranking official at Cheong Wa Dae criticized Saenuri Party chairman Kim Moo-sung, charging that the remark he made last week was calculated, not a mistake.“We believe that the chairman of the party didn’t make the comment by mistake,” the official told reporters. “Bringing

PoliticsOct. 22, 2014

[Newsmaker] Rubber duck enthralls despite Lotte debate

A giant yellow rubber duck sitting on Seoul’s Seokchon Lake has captured the hearts and minds of thousands of South Koreans, while carrying the hopes of a local retail giant trying to dampen public fears over a controversial construction project in a posh Seoul neighborhood.Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman’s rubber duck, weighing seven tons with a concrete anchor and pontoon that supports it, arrived at the Seoul lake last week in time for the opening of Lotte World Mall, a disputed high-rise deve

World NewsOct. 21, 2014

[Newsmaker] Concert accident refocuses parties on safety

Public safety has once again gripped the National Assembly with the recent ventilation shaft accident making the ruling and opposition parties hone in on related issues.On Friday, grates covering a ventilation shaft collapsed under the weight of people watching a K-pop performance in Techno Valley in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. The accident killed 16 people, and injured 11, eight of whom are said to be in critical condition. Main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy’s interim leader R

PoliticsOct. 20, 2014

[Newsmaker] Vent shafts accidents waiting to happen

The innumerable ventilation shafts around the country may be accidents just waiting to happen, with no regulations to ensure their structural integrity. With thousands of ventilation shafts, covered by metal grates, located in Seoul alone, their construction is subject to almost no safety regulation, often leaving it up to the construction companies to build according to their internal regulations. The related construction regulation simply states that the ventilation outlet should be located 2

Social AffairsOct. 19, 2014

[Newsmaker] Why did N.K. chief join inter-Korean talks?

The appearance of North Korea’s military spy chief Kim Yong-chol at rare inter-Korean military talks on Wednesday has left many observers wondering what message Pyongyang wanted to convey through sending the hawkish figure.Some analysts argued that the head of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, well-known for spearheading provocations against the South, attended the talks to show Pyongyang’s resolve to reconcile and improve cross-border relations.Others said that the appearance of the spy chief

North KoreaOct. 16, 2014

[Newsmaker] Ebola infections may hit 10,000 a week: WHO

GENEVA ― The World Health Organization said Tuesday the Ebola infection rate could soon reach 10,000 a week as world leaders prepared to hold talks on the crisis at the United Nations.WHO assistant director general Bruce Aylward, describing his figures as a working forecast, said the epidemic “could reach 5,000 to 10,000 cases per week by the first week of December.”The latest death toll is 4,447, from 8,914 recorded infection cases, Aylward said as the worst-ever Ebola outbreak spirals in the t

World NewsOct. 15, 2014

[Newsmaker] Tirole honored for firms' market power study

PARIS ― French economist Jean Tirole is a master of game theory and industrial organization, who on Monday added a Nobel prize to a gleaming heap of honors for his work.The 61-year-old was hailed by the Nobel Economics Prize jury as “one of the most influential economists of our time” for his analysis of big companies, market power and regulation.The professor at the Toulouse School of Economics has long been tipped as a potential economics laureate, an award that has been largely dominated by e

World NewsOct. 14, 2014

[Newsmaker] Homeplus faces torrid Assembly audit

Homeplus, one of South Korea’s largest grocery chains, will have to explain during a parliamentary inspection what seems like an intentional leakage of its customers’ private information to third parties.Its alleged wrongdoings come at a time when public criticism is growing against the country’s weak security protection systems, following a series of information theft, leaks and monitoring.Homeplus executives, including chief executive Do Sung-hwan, as well as its multinational owner U.K.-based

TechnologyOct. 13, 2014