It seems obvious that President Park Geun-hye proposed amending the Constitution in the belief that it would help divert political and public attention away from the scandals that have been engulfing her presidency. Nevertheless, the reversal of her position is good for the nation. As expected, Park’s proposal to amend the Constitution within her term of office that ends in early 2018 was met with mixed reactions -- from outright rejection by the main opposition party and enthusiastic support fr

Editorial Oct. 25, 2016

Just over a year ago, Tesla sent out a software update to its cars that made its “Autopilot” features available to customers, in what the company called a “public beta test.” In the intervening 12 months, at least one customer died while the Tesla was in autopilot mode. Cars have crashed, regulators have cracked down, and the headlines proclaiming that “Self-Driving Cars Are Here” were replaced with Tesla’s assurances that autopilot was nothing but a particularly advanced driver-assist system.Gi

Viewpoints Oct. 25, 2016

If developed countries acted rationally, and in the interest of electorates that understood how their tax money is spent, they would set their public-pension retirement age at or above 70. But most developed countries have retirement ages below this mark, and, despite some progress, it will be decades before they catch up. In the meantime, Western welfare states will remain financially unviable, economically sickly, and politically strained.Demographic aging is the social and economic equivalent

Viewpoints Oct. 25, 2016

In less than three weeks, either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump will be elected president of the United States -- and if it feels like we’ve already heard enough about sexism and misogyny, get ready: The next four years are going to be filled with bitches, bimbos and nasty women.And that may be the best thing for women since the 19th Amendment.This ugly campaign has pushed our country, once again, to talk -- with uncomfortable words -- about how men treat women. But unlike other moments that ha

Viewpoints Oct. 25, 2016

When smoking costs more, more people quit. That’s why higher cigarette taxes are almost always good policy, for smokers and the public health, too.There’s a catch, though -- and it’s one that voters in four states should keep in mind as they consider ballot initiatives next month to raise cigarette taxes: Sin taxes work only if they’re high enough.Voters in California, Colorado and North Dakota are being asked to raise state taxes to well over $2 a pack. Then there’s Missouri, where voters will

Viewpoints Oct. 25, 2016

While the government is set to unveil measures to curb spiraling apartment prices in the coming weeks, the issue of officials’ private interests during decision-making procedures has been at the center of public attention.Citizens question neutrality and fairness as well as the efficacy of the coming anti-speculation measures. They cite the recent data on some high-ranking officials’ property holdings in the affluent Gangnam district in Seoul.The district that includes the Gangnam, Seocho and So

Editorial Oct. 24, 2016

Remembering the late Muhammad Ali, New York Times reporter Robert Lipsyte described how the boxer stood for civil rights and social justice as a brash young champion and was gradually morphed by the media and his admirers into “something of a secular saint, a legend in soft focus” by the time of his death.It’s also an apt description of what the scholar Cornel West has described as the “Santa Clausification” of another “legend in soft focus,” the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Reduced to a collecti

Viewpoints Oct. 24, 2016

As the conflict in Syria rages on, refugee migration into Europe continues. Most of the debate around the immigration crisis focuses on security. But there’s another related issue receiving far less attention: Who’s actually paying for the migrant wave?　No one seems to want to talk about the spiraling cost of mass migration here in Europe. The number of asylum-seekers doubled to 1.2 million last year, according to Eurostat figures. Last year, Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper es

Viewpoints Oct. 24, 2016

Democracy requires dignity to sustain itself.This shouldn’t surprise. The ruling system that democracy replaced had been divinely chosen; the royals had God-given dignity, with all the trappings. For democrats to compete, they had to prove first that the electoral rabble could govern its passions and temper its prejudices, and next that their leaders would be chosen from the highest common denominator, not the lowest.Democratic dignity is mutual dignity. That requires mutual respect and somethin

Viewpoints Oct. 24, 2016

UNESCO, the United Nations organization supposedly in charge of education, science and culture, has passed many insane resolutions in the past. But its latest vote to essentially deny Jewish and Christian ties to Jerusalem has reached new heights of political madness.Fortunately, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UNESCO’s own director Irina Bokova and other top UN officials have distanced themselves from the Oct. 13 Palestinian-backed resolution, which effectively denies Judaism and Christianity

Viewpoints Oct. 24, 2016

Afghanistan government military and police forces trained and equipped by the United States are finding themselves increasingly challenged by the Taliban outside the capital, Kabul.The Obama administration’s theory in Afghanistan and Iraq is that their militaries’ forces can be strengthened to the point that US forces can be withdrawn without their governments being overrun by their enemies. In the case of Afghanistan, it’s the Taliban; in Iraq, the Islamic State.In Iraq, the theory is being tes

Viewpoints Oct. 24, 2016