In refusing to strike down a race-conscious admissions plan at the University of Texas at Austin on Thursday, the Supreme Court did more than uphold an affirmative action program. Just as important, it struck a much-needed blow for judicial modesty.The justices showed an awareness that others might know better than they do. We could use a lot more of that.The crucial part of Justice Anthony Kennedy’s majority opinion came toward the end. “Considerable deference is owed to a university,” he wrote

Viewpoints June 27, 2016

The contempt that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump express for each other will continue to play out in vitriolic sound bites. But their profound differences on what to do about the economy and the struggling middle class are far more important.“This election will be won by whichever candidate convinces middle-class voters they are better for their jobs and future prospects,” says Stephen Moore, a Heritage Foundation economist and Trump adviser.“This is about whether economic forces hollow out th

Viewpoints June 27, 2016

South Korea’s financial market has faced widening uncertainty from Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. Its stocks and currency, which suffered a sharp drop in value on Friday, are likely to show extraordinary volatility over the next few trading sessions.There is a possibility that the two main indexes will be further hit by Britons’ majority vote for Brexit.However, simultaneously, chances are the benchmark KOSPI will bounce back rapidly in the coming weeks. Despite the big external

Editorial June 26, 2016

Britain has Brexited, choosing populism and over pragmatism, insularity over inclusion -- and leaving the world transformed and deeply worried.The rising tide against immigration has Trumped integration (pun intended, of course). It’s a script that Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, easily could have penned, were it not for the U.K.’s own version of nationalistic bombast and one of the standard bearers for Brexit -- former London Mayor Boris Johnson. Johnson and other Brexit leade

Viewpoints June 26, 2016

If Donald Trump continues to implode, Hillary Clinton will win simply by being the presidential candidate who isn’t Trump.But the prospect of a President Trump is so terrifying that Clinton shouldn’t take any chances. The latest matchup polls show her about six points ahead — a comfortable but not surefire margin.What else can Clinton offer other than that she’s also experienced and would be the first woman to hold the job? So far, she’s put forth a bunch of respectable policy ideas. But they’re

Viewpoints June 26, 2016

I ate dog just once, and it was an accident. A Chinese scrap metal dealer with whom I’m friendly invited me to a fancy hot pot restaurant in Chongqing. As the waitress delivered bowl after bowl of dunkable vegetables and raw meats for cooking at our table, I pointed to one and asked: “What’s this?” My friend’s answer, in heavily accented English, sounded like “duck.” It tasted like a meaty hair ball.As the magnitude of my mistake sank in, I thought of Yulin, the southern Chinese town infamous fo

Viewpoints June 26, 2016

North Korea test-fired what appeared to be two mid-range ballistic missiles Wednesday. The communist country managed to fly its intermediate-range ballistic missile for some hundred kilometers for the first time.While the first launch was deemed to be a failure, the second projectile’s flight, while well short of the 500 kilometer suspected minimum flight range of the Musudan, was assessed to have managed to sustain flight for a significant range.As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has clarified,

Editorial June 23, 2016

A lawmaker from the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea has raised the issue of abbreviating the unit of currency, and some of his colleagues are supporting his proposal for a redenomination.Rep. Choi Woon-yeol of the Minjoo Party said that it is the right time to start negotiating among lawmakers on whether to redenominate the currency. His suggestion indicates that the 20th National Assembly needs to take the initiative in garnering social consensus on the currency unit overhaul.The optimum

Editorial June 23, 2016

The middle classes that quake at the thought of gore and fascist hordes seem incorrigibly sanguine about a possible nuclear confrontation in South Asia with both India and Pakistan vying to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group.It is always baffling, isn’t it, to see the yawning difference in our responses in South Asia to a gathering communal threat, for instance, as opposed to the catastrophic prospect of nuclear annihilation? Only recently, Pakistan toggled between public outcry and terrified whis

Viewpoints June 23, 2016

Lack of knowledge on environmental issues is blamed for lenient verdicts given by Indonesian courts to those deemed responsible for the destruction.Enforcement of the law against those who commit environmental crimes in Indonesia has proved to fail as a deterrent. A series of trials of corporations held responsible for devastating and widespread forest and land fires last year ended in an anticlimax, sending the worrying message that burning forests is permissible.The recent acquittal of Frans K

Viewpoints June 23, 2016