Lawmakers of the National Assembly Defense Committee suggested in a roundtable with Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin Monday that the government consider exchanging the five Somali pirates captured in the Navy commandos’ raid on the Samho Jewelry Friday with the crew of the Geummi 305 now in captivity in Somalia. Minister Kim said it was a good idea, but we do not think so. Ruling and opposition party

Editorial Jan. 25, 2011

Korea lost two great women writers in less than three years. Park Wan-suh, who died of cancer Friday at the age of 79, will be buried in a Catholic cemetery in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, today. We are doubly saddened by her death as it so quickly followed the departure of Park Kyung-ri in May 2008. The passing away of the two Parks who were loved by their contemporaries not only as the writers of

Editorial Jan. 24, 2011

A group of opposition lawmakers left for Washington, D.C., Monday to stage a campaign against the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement which awaits ratification by the two countries’ legislatures. They are accompanied by some members of the radical Minjunochong (Korean Confederation of Trade Unions), a farmers’ association and a few other civic groups on the trip.These politicians include Rep. Chun Jun

Editorial Jan. 24, 2011

The Diet opens its ordinary session today. The results will greatly influence the fate of Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his Cabinet. By his recent Cabinet reshuffle, Kan has made it clear that he will give priority to unified reform of the tax system ― which would include a consumption tax hike ― and the social welfare system as well as to Japan’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a r

Viewpoints Jan. 24, 2011

When independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut announced Wednesday that he wouldn’t seek a fifth term, there was hardly a wet eye in the house. It’s hard to find anybody, conservative or liberal, who has nice things to say about Lieberman, who is so disliked in his home state that the threat of competition from a former pro-wrestling promoter was apparently enough to scare him away from the 20

Viewpoints Jan. 24, 2011

If a corporation is a “person” under the law, does it get the kinds of “personal privacy” protections real people enjoy ― just because the adjective personal derives from the noun person?AT&T claims it does.But if that’s what federal law means, it will be one more way in which corporate interests trump those of ordinary Americans.Here’s why: Corporations will be able to use the federal Freedom of

Viewpoints Jan. 24, 2011

On the most important domestic issues of the day, our two political parties don’t merely lay out competing arguments; they inhabit alternative realities.The chasm was apparent over the last few days as the House of Representatives churned relentlessly toward its vote to repeal President Obama’s health-care law. The two-day debate, carried out in a marathon series of two-minute speeches, remained c

Viewpoints Jan. 24, 2011

The 1987 constitutional amendment was primarily aimed at putting an end to military-backed dictatorships. With democracy fully restored now, few would dispute that this aim has been attained.But the downside is what many regard as a flawed governance system. It is generally agreed that the president, banned from seeking a second term in office, has no more than three years in which to effectively

Editorial Jan. 23, 2011

Is our political speech really more bitter and poisonous than it’s ever been?No, though it’s certainly more debased and lacerating than it was just a few short years ago. We’ve been through eras of bitterly expressed politics more often than we’d probably care to admit. The Federalists and anti-Federalists bickered ferociously. Contention over the Bank of the United States during the Jacksonian er

Viewpoints Jan. 23, 2011