The Korea Herald

[Joel Brinkley] Vetting Afghan aid recipients

If you were to read two new government reports on American aid to Afghanistan, you would come away first astounded and then utterly furious, just as I did. Ten years into the Afghan war, our government still heedlessly throws many billions of dollars at Afghan organizations that steal some of it and pass the rest off to militants who use it to kill American troops.The State Department, for example

Viewpoints June 20, 2011

[Joel Brinkley] Vetting Afghan aid recipients

[Margaret Carlson] Is Mr. Romney now Mr. Right for Republicans?

Mitt Romney has had the kind of smooth life that makes people want to trip him as he bounds up stairs two at a time. But he has become a steadying presence in a field of Republican presidential candidates who raise the blood pressure ― and not in a good way. At this week’s debate in New Hampshire, Romney was a mighty oak planted at center stage, with little saplings arrayed around him. In every Re

Viewpoints June 19, 2011

[Mohamed A. El-Erian] U.S.’s dangerous debt ceiling debate

NEWPORT BEACH ― It has been raised more than 70 times in the last 50 years, mostly without commotion. It must be raised again this summer if the United States government is to continue paying its bills on time. But now America’s debt ceiling has become the subject of intense political posturing and touch-and-go negotiations behind closed doors. And, obviously, the outcome has implications that go

Viewpoints June 19, 2011

[Mohamed A. El-Erian] U.S.’s dangerous debt ceiling debate

Dispel concerns before signing Hague Convention

When international marriages fall apart, how should cross-border disputes over child custody be handled?The Japanese government is in the process of formulating legislation in preparation for joining the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which sets international rules for settling such disputes.If Japan becomes a signatory to the convention, perhaps as soon as

Viewpoints June 19, 2011

[Peter Goldmark] Generation of weapons: small, smart, anonymous

A new generation of weapons is being born.They are small, smart and anonymous.There’s a company on contract to the Pentagon building a drone ― a remotely piloted air-going craft ― no bigger than a small bird. Another military contractor is developing an invisible mist to be sprayed on enemy individuals or vehicles, thus “painting and tagging” them to be recognizable electronically without their kn

Viewpoints June 19, 2011

[Laurence Kotlikoff] ‘Vouchercare’ is the right name for Medicare

There’s a lot in a name. Just ask the so-called pinkos from the 1950s, or any ethnic group denigrated with a nasty epithet. In our Medicare debate, the role of invective has been foisted upon the word “voucher.” If we want to get our government’s finances under control, it’s time we rehabilitated it. The use of the V-word screams “far right wing.” Its public utterance has become so dangerous that

Viewpoints June 19, 2011

[Noah Feldman] Praise the Arab Spring, prepare for the Arab Fall

For all the excitement about the twilight of the dictators, only two ― Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia ― have been officially knocked over since the start of the so-called Arab Spring six months ago. It isn’t even clear whether that count will reach three. Yemeni strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh is in neighboring Saudi Arabia for medical treatment after a bomb in his own

Viewpoints June 17, 2011

[David Ignatius] Emissaries, defectors, Libya puzzle

WASHINGTON ― The botched defection several months ago of Musa Kusa, Libya’s former foreign minister, illustrates the uncertain strategy that has plagued the NATO campaign against Col. Moammar Gadhafi. But even so, the Gadhafi regime is feeling enough pressure to send an emissary to Washington this week to explore a possible negotiated settlement. Kusa, a prominent member of Gadhafi’s inner circle,

Viewpoints June 17, 2011

[David Ignatius] Emissaries, defectors, Libya puzzle

India, Pakistan must cooperate for peace

To ensure its control over the government, the Pakistan army has always exaggerated the threats from India, often referred to as the No. 1 enemy. It has been able to secure billions of dollars from the U.S. ostensibly in the fight against terror. The Pakistani government has followed the policy of running with the hare and hunting with the hound. Although an ally of the U.S. in its fight against g

Viewpoints June 17, 2011

[Surin Pitsuwan] ASEAN as the heart of Asia

JAKARTA ― The Association of Southeast Asian Nations stands at a defining moment. Its member states are constantly being evaluated for their economic potential and desirability as a market for investments, goods, and services. At the same time, their effort to forge a community free from external intervention is shaping a new regional order based on common security and shared prosperity.In geopoli

Viewpoints June 17, 2011

[Surin Pitsuwan] ASEAN as the heart of Asia

[Editorial] Public sector corruption

A recent survey on the trends of corruption in the Korean public sector has found that 2010 was the worst year since 2000 in terms of businessmen’s perception of corruption among high-ranking government officials. According to the Korea Institute of Public Administration, 86.5 percent of the respondents said corruption was serious among senior public officials last year, the highest level since it

Editorial June 16, 2011

[Editorial] Aborted reform bid

A parliamentary bid for judicial reform appears to have foundered in the face of stiff opposition from prosecutors, judges and the presidential office. The special parliamentary committee that has grappled with the tough task of reforming the judicial system since February last year has decided to stop work this month, leaving most of the main issues on its agenda unresolved.The committee reached

Editorial June 16, 2011

[William Pesek] Goldman cools on economy ignoring ‘China years’

Just when we thought we’d seen everything from Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Thai prime minister has managed to clone himself. The genetic copy in question is Thaksin’s younger sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, who is running for his old job. If you think this sounds like the political version of a cheesy horror film, imagine how Thailand’s 68 million people feel. They’ve seen this one before and it d

Viewpoints June 16, 2011

[Peter Singer] Verifying truths of moral claims

OXFORD ― Can moral judgments be true or false? Or is ethics, at bottom, a purely subjective matter, for individuals to choose, or perhaps relative to the culture of the society in which one lives? We might have just found out the answer.Among philosophers, the view that moral judgments state objective truths has been out of fashion since the 1930s, when logical positivists asserted that, because t

Viewpoints June 16, 2011

[Peter Singer] Verifying truths of moral claims

Church-state clash will tell China’s future

“As a sensitive day known to all fell in this week, many brothers and sisters began to be restricted at home,” report the leaders of the Shouwang congregation, one of the largest unauthorized “house churches” in Beijing. “Some were told to report at their respective local police stations or neighborhood committees” that answer to the communist government.The “sensitive day” is June 4, the annivers

Viewpoints June 16, 2011

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