The Korea Herald

[Editorial] Chung Un-chan episode

Chung Un-chan, 62, is an honorable and noble man in the Shakespearean sense, having served as president of Seoul National University for four years and as prime minister under President Lee Myung-bak for a year. An economist with doctorate from Princeton University, Chung now heads a commission dedicated to promoting shared growth between large and small businesses. After a rather short experience

Editorial March 22, 2011

[Editorial] Targeting Gadhafi

After three days of on-and-off airstrikes on Libyan targets, the United States and European nations uniting in military actions against Moammar Gadhafi’s repressive rule are apparently confused about their immediate goal. A cruise missile attack on Gadhafi’s residential compound late Sunday exposed a lack of strategic coordination. The missile that flattened an administrative building in Gadhafi’s

Editorial March 22, 2011

[Lee Jae-min] New concept for action against genocide

Although we live in an age of abbreviation, few people will have heard of the term “R2P.” I did not have any clue when I first heard it, I have to confess. R2P stands for “Responsibility to Protect.” This is a new concept raised by the international community after having observed the ugly failure of the international community to take appropriate actions during genocides in Rwanda and former Yugo

Viewpoints March 22, 2011

[Lee Jae-min] New concept for action against genocide

[Kim Seong-kon] Funny and embarrassing Konglish

Foreigners often point out that there are many awkward English expressions on Korean street signs, temple guideposts and restaurant menus. Surprised by the numerous mistakes, foreign residents and tourists may wonder if Koreans have invented their own version of English. The truth is that when composing something in English, Koreans tend to rely extensively on the Korean-English dictionary, which

Viewpoints March 22, 2011

[Kim Seong-kon] Funny and embarrassing Konglish

Japan’s crises call for clear command structure

The government’s measures to deal with the disasters caused by the March 11 earthquake have lagged from the beginning. The Prime Minister’s Office must rebuild its crisis management system as soon as possible.Extensive physical damage is not the only characteristic of the Tohoku Pacific Offshore Earthquake. The multiple disaster situation includes a wide variety of problems, such as the nuclear pl

Viewpoints March 21, 2011

[David Scheffer] Keeping Gadhafi on a leash

On Thursday evening the U.N. Security Council hit the right target when it authorized a no-fly zone over Libya, as well as “all necessary measures” against loyalist forces of Moammar Gadhafi. With the tide recently turning against the rebellion, the no-fly zone and airstrikes against advancing armor and troops are needed more than ever to protect millions of Libyan civilians and help deter the atr

Viewpoints March 21, 2011

[Editorial] Safe roads

The National Police Agency has designated low-speed driving areas at 61 locations to protect pedestrians. In these “safe life road” zones in urban districts, the maximum speed of vehicles will be limited to 30 kilometers per hour. To enforce the low-speed limit, speed bumps will be installed and the surface of the road will be raised at crosswalks.As the police have confirmed traffic accidents red

Editorial March 21, 2011

[Editorial] Attack on Gadhafi

“Reiterating the responsibility of the Libyan authorities to protect the Libyan population and reaffirming that parties to armed conflicts bear the primary responsibility to take all feasible steps to ensure the protection of civilians …” said U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 adopted last week.In compliance with this responsibility, the international community is using military force to help

Editorial March 21, 2011

[Thitinan Pongsudhirak] Thai voters in yellow and red set for crucial elections

BANGKOK ― After three consecutive years of deadly street protests, Thailand has arrived at the point where it will need to hold new elections, as the current term of its national assembly expires this December. Indeed, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has indicated that he will call for the dissolution of the lower house by the first week of May. This follows a parliamentary no-confidence motion,

Viewpoints March 21, 2011

[Thitinan Pongsudhirak] Thai voters in yellow and red set for crucial elections

[Editorial] Volcanic eruption?

Pyongyang has repeatedly proposed to hold inter-Korea talks only to be rebuffed by Seoul. The latest proposal is to discuss a potential volcanic eruption on Mount Baekdu, a dormant volcano on North Korea’s border with China.On Thursday, Pyongyang called for talks with Seoul on the possibility of volcanic activity resuming at Mount Baekdu ― discharging hot magma and spewing ash and gases. It propos

Editorial March 20, 2011

[Editorial] Japan and prices

Japan’s devastating disasters are pummeling the Korean currency. The weak Korean won will raise the prices of imported commodities, which will work their way down to consumer prices. Moreover, political instability in the Middle East is pushing up oil prices.All these developments will accelerate increases in consumer prices. The threat to price stability is being renewed at a time when housewives

Editorial March 20, 2011

Trapping National Public Radio of the U.S.

Did National Public Radio get a raw deal when an executive was secretly taped making indiscreet political comments about conservatives, provoking calls from Republicans to cut off its federal funding? Could be. It turns out that the unedited video ― according to Glenn Beck’s website “The Blaze” ― shows “questionable editing and tactics” designed to misrepresent executive Ron Schiller’s attitudes.I

Viewpoints March 20, 2011

[Jay Winter] The birth of the Muslim Brotherhood

To understand the Muslim Brotherhood, and to assess its role today in a shifting Middle East, it is necessary to first examine the forces that led to the organization’s birth. And that takes us back to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire during World War I.The Ottoman Empire had been, before World War I, the strongest and most visible face of Islam in the world. At its height in the 16th and 17th c

Viewpoints March 20, 2011

[Andrew Sheng] Economic impact of disaster in Japan

I was at an IMF conference on capital flows in Bali when the Japanese earthquake and tsunami occurred. As the tragedy unfolded over the weekend, it became clear that the crisis was complicated by nuclear considerations. All of our sympathies and condolences go with our Japanese friends as they go through this terrible natural disaster, possibly larger than the Kobe earthquake. When the Year of the

Viewpoints March 20, 2011

[Andrew Sheng] Economic impact of disaster in Japan

[Meghan Daum] NPR needs a backbone

Oh, NPR, won’t you please state your game? Are you liberal? Are you neutral? Are your employees secret socialists? Do their screensavers feature slideshows of Noam Chomsky? Do your office Christmas parties serve only free-range eggnog? Do your parking lots offer preferred spaces for vehicles with “Free Tibet” bumper stickers?Yes? No? Tell us, NPR!Was former fundraising executive Ron Schiller repea

Viewpoints March 20, 2011

Articles by 최남현