The Korea Herald

[Editorial] Mercy killing

Children cry watching the TV news as a dozen piglets and their mother are shown being dumped into a hole in a farm in a foot and mouth disease-infected area. Internet users are saddened to read the diary of a young man in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, who had to kill and bury 121 cattle because a truck that visited his farm the day before was found to have earlier stayed in a confirmed FMD-infected pla

Viewpoints Jan. 18, 2011

[Kim Seong-kon] American counterparts to the seven enigmas of Korea

Reading my recent column, “Seven enigmas of Korea to Westerners,” Ogan Gurel, a medical doctor who had been affiliated with Harvard and Columbia until recently joining Samsung, sent me feedback in which he insightfully compared the Korean enigmas with American culture. As for the first enigma concerning candlelight vigils, Dr. Gurel writes: “There were no candlelight vigils when Ronald Reagan died

Viewpoints Jan. 18, 2011

[Kim Seong-kon] American counterparts to the seven enigmas of Korea

[Editorial] Desperate North

The downfall and flight of Tunisian President Ben Ali last week sent a warning to autocratic rulers in the Middle East and elsewhere. Kim Jong-il in faraway North Korea is a certain candidate for dethroning by popular revolt and signs of the regime’s desperation can be seen during the first weeks of the New Year.After making pleas to South Korea for the resumption of dialogue almost every other da

Editorial Jan. 17, 2011

[Editorial] End of hard lives

Two old women whom the international media had called “former comfort women for the Japanese imperial army” died last week, ending their long hard lives. The deaths of Kim Seon-yi at a hospital in Ulsan on Thursday and Im Jeong-ja in Masan on the same day left 76 women of similar experiences alive. Kim was 83 and Im was 89.Last year, which marked a century since Japan’s annexation of the Joseon Ki

Editorial Jan. 17, 2011

[David Ignatius] South Asian tinderbox getting hotter

NEW DELHI ― Everything is going right these days for India, except for one big problem: They’re living next to a Pakistan that is coming apart politically, and Indian leaders insist with a tone of resignation that there’s nothing they can do about it. Starting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, top Indian officials know that their booming democracy is endangered by the growing chaos across the bo

Viewpoints Jan. 17, 2011

[David Ignatius] South Asian tinderbox getting hotter

[Nouriel Roubini] Global risk and reward in New Year

NEW YORK ― The outlook for the global economy in 2011 is, partly, for a persistence of the trends established in 2010. These are: an anemic, below-trend, U-shaped recovery in advanced economies, as firms and households continue to repair their balance sheets; a stronger, V-shaped recovery in emerging-market countries, owing to stronger macroeconomic, financial, and policy fundamentals. That adds u

Viewpoints Jan. 17, 2011

[Nouriel Roubini] Global risk and reward in New Year

Japan, Korea must boost security cooperation

The time is ripe for Japan and South Korea to enhance the quality of their security cooperation, without confining it to the field of defence exchanges.Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa and his South Korean counterpart Kim Kwan-jin agreed in their meeting on Jan. 10 in Seoul that the two countries would work more closely, given a series of military provocations by North Korea and other destabilisi

Viewpoints Jan. 16, 2011

[William Pfaff] China’s military might poses questions

PARIS ― Robert Gates’ official visit to Beijing, probably the last before he leaves the office of U.S. secretary of defense, was a frustrating affair, distinguished by China’s reiteration of its warnings that Washington must not sell arms to Taiwan, a demand that the United States has never accepted.The Chinese enlivened Gate’s visit with a display of their new J-20 fighter, which is claimed to be

Viewpoints Jan. 16, 2011

[William Pfaff] China’s military might poses questions

[Bennett Ramberg] Israeli options on Iran nuclear program

LOS ANGELES ― Revelations in former President George W. Bush’s recently published memoirs show that he declined an Israeli request to destroy Syria’s secret nuclear reactor in the spring of 2007. While the revelation may appear merely to be a historical footnote, more profoundly it raises new uncertainty about whether Israel now thinks that it can rely on the United States to apply military force

Viewpoints Jan. 16, 2011

[Bennett Ramberg] Israeli options on Iran nuclear program

[Editorial] Immigration

Korea was designated an “aging society” in 2000, the year in which those aged 65 or older accounted for more than 7 percent of its total population for the first time. The demographic group, which grew to 10.7 percent in 2009, is projected to break though the 14 percent mark in 2018, pushing Korea into an “aged society.”The transition from an aging society to an aged society, which is accelerating

Editorial Jan. 14, 2011

[Editorial] Rate raise

Nothing is more appropriate than the “better late than never” idiom in evaluating the central bank’s latest rate increase.As the global financial crisis was setting in three years ago, the Bank of Korea slashed its benchmark rate on several occasions ― from 5.25 percent in August in 2008 to a historic low of 2 percent in February 2009. But it took post-crisis action at a snail’s pace, despite warn

Editorial Jan. 14, 2011

[Shashi Tharoor] India at the U.N. Security Council

NEW DELHI ― Indian diplomacy began 2011 with election to the chair of the U.N. Counter-Terrorism Committee, a body of some importance to the country (and one which many thought India might not be asked to lead, given its strong feelings on the issue). Coming in the wake of India’s record margin of victory in the race for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council, this news confirms India’s stan

Viewpoints Jan. 14, 2011

[Shashi Tharoor] India at the U.N. Security Council

[Editorial] Japan’s new adults must think, act globally

Today (Jan. 10) marks Coming-of-Age Day, when 1.24 million people born in 1990 start a new chapter in their life. We hope they will take a firm first step into adulthood while retaining their self-awareness and recognizing their responsibility as adults.Nevertheless, many of them will be apprehensive about what their future holds amid the job market’s “ultra-ice age” caused by the protracted anemi

Viewpoints Jan. 14, 2011

[Editorial] Procedural diplomacy

During his preview of Indonesia’s 2011 foreign policy, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa rightly highlighted the demanding schedule of the next 12 months. As chair of ASEAN for 2011, Indonesia will host more than 300 meetings at various levels. The meetings will cover various areas of cooperation of the 10-member grouping, including trade, investment and defense. Mingled among the multiple ASEAN

Viewpoints Jan. 14, 2011

[Chen Weihua] Double standards of Western companies

For months, the West has been attacking China for tightening control of its rare earth exports. The assault is likely to escalate, as China recently announced it would slash its rare earth export quota by 37 percent for the first half of 2011. China is also introducing more stringent environmental standards for the rare earth industry, which are likely to send many small businesses in the industry

Viewpoints Jan. 14, 2011

[Chen Weihua] Double standards of Western companies

Articles by 최남현