China has emerged as a major world power. The country’s emergence from obscurity into planned modernization has surprised many. The introduction of a market economy has released the Chinese people’s previously-repressed desire for material wealth, while giving them the means to attain it as well. Would China have been able to achieve the same economic progress under a non-Communist regime, say und

Viewpoints July 26, 2011

The following is a personal letter to SCB Group CEO, Peter Sands, from Jon Lee, a management consultant, for resolving current disputes at SC First Bank in Korea. ― Ed.Dear Mr. Sands,This letter is written in the hope that it can help resolve the current stalemate situation in Korea ― which is detrimental to everyone involved the longer it drags on.I write to you directly as you hold the key to re

Viewpoints July 26, 2011

Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman may be trailing the pack in the Republican presidential primary, but he is a leader in one important regard: Unlike his colleagues, Huntsman has refused to sign any of the special-interest pledges that are increasingly turning political office into an ideological straitjacket. Huntsman has been joined by Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty in rejecting one particularly o

Viewpoints July 24, 2011

Remedying discrimination against nonregular workers has emerged as a burning issue as political parties are competing to win their hearts and minds to ensure victory in next year’s parliamentary and presidential elections. Irregular workers are a political force to be reckoned with. As of March, they accounted for 5.77 million or 33.8 percent of the nation’s 17.06 million paid workers. When daily

Editorial July 22, 2011

The Youido Institute, the think tank of the ruling Grand National Party, has released a report to outline a new vision for the party. The document, unveiled Wednesday, signals the beginning of a major debate within the ruling party over the revision of its platform in preparation for the general and presidential elections slated for next year. Thus far, the GNP’s vision has been “the advancement o

Editorial July 22, 2011

A few years ago my old boss, David Laventhol, had an extended conversation with Rupert Murdoch about newspapers. It was after some sort of big-deal journalism dinner, and they talked long after the tired waiters wished they’d go. David had a storied career in newspapers. He helped invent the Style section of the Washington Post when he was a young editor there. He was editor and publisher of Newsd

Viewpoints July 21, 2011

Bill Clinton put his finger on a distressing aspect of the U.S. jobs situation in a recent television interview. The former president remarked that openings are being filled at only half the rate of previous recessions, even though current unemployment is much higher. He stressed the bleak outlook for job-seeking construction workers and the need for retraining and skills development.He has a poin

Viewpoints July 21, 2011

Suddenly that $3 trillion of currency reserves looks like a bad idea. Make that very bad for China, as investors display an obvious preference for yen over dollars. That the IOUs of a debt-ridden, aging, politically adrift nation smarting from a huge earthquake and nuclear crisis seem safer than U.S. Treasuries says it all. Many investors still see China’s monster currency stash as a strength. The

Viewpoints July 21, 2011

Michele Bachmann, the Minnesota congresswoman and Republican candidate for president, is making a muscular showing in the polls. She is telegenic. She is clever. Some of her Republican opponents worry she may be unstoppable. But never fear, oh Republican opponents of Michele Bachmann: I’ve devised a fail-safe way to bring her to a state of cognitive paralysis. This method will require some travel

Viewpoints July 20, 2011

It’s really past time for Korea Railroad Corp. to stop the operations of its problem-ridden bullet trains and make a comprehensive safety check. This year alone, KTX high-speed trains have stopped 36 times for various reasons, including derailment and equipment malfunctions. This is an unmistakable sign that something is seriously wrong with Korail’s high-speed trains. In a latest incident that to

Editorial July 20, 2011

On Aug. 15 last year, President Lee Myung-bak proposed the introduction of a unification tax to secure the funds that would be needed to finance reunification with North Korea. Given that the North is, for all intents and purposes, an economic basket case, it is impossible to dispute the need for the South to prepare for reunification. But this does not necessarily mean that the public would welco

Editorial July 20, 2011

In the 1960s, young Americans questioned social traditions one after another, ringing in the feminist movement and celebrating sexual freedom. Today they have become the divorced generation. While the overall divorce rate in the U.S. has declined over the past 20 years, it has doubled for Americans aged 50 and over. Today, more than one in three in this category has ended a marriage. No doubt, the

Viewpoints July 20, 2011