The Korea Herald

[Michael Boskin] Watching China’s new leaders

STANFORD ― Political leadership transitions typically signal either a change in direction or continuity. But the mere prospect of such a transition usually postpones some important political decisions and freezes some economic activity, pending the resolution of the accompanying uncertainty.China’s decennial leadership transition, culminating at the Chinese Communist Party’s 18th Congress, is a case in point. And, while many will remember when a Chinese leadership transition was a political and

Viewpoints Nov. 22, 2012

[Michael Boskin] Watching China’s new leaders

[Dominique Moisi] China and the American dream

PARIS ― China may be just a few years away from becoming the world’s leading economic power, and America’s strategic centrality may be on the wane (certainly, no one speaks of the United States today as the world’s “hyperpower”). But America still makes people dream, and its emotional hold on the world remains unique.In this sense, last week brought two victories: not just Barack Obama’s over Republican challenger Mitt Romney in the presidential election, but also the victory of America’s democr

Viewpoints Nov. 21, 2012

[Dominique Moisi] China and the American dream

Korea must act to stop parental kidnapping

A week ago Saturday I traveled to my former residence in Namwon to pick up my two children, Richard and Andrew. As usual the children were not waiting for me and I knew that once again my ex-wife was violating the court agreement. This two week pattern of violation has been an unfortunate part of my life since the divorce became final in May of 2011. In that time I have grown very accustomed to her repeated violations of the court agreement on visitation and custody. I had also grown very used t

Viewpoints Nov. 21, 2012

Attacks on reporters show need to improve journalists’ safety

Well over 100 journalists have been killed so far this year ― the highest number since the International Press Institute began keeping count of journalists’ deaths in 1997. All across the world ― from Africa, Asia and Europe, to the Middle East and Latin America ― journalists continue to be systematically and brutally targeted because of their work. Some are caught in the crossfire while reporting on conflict, but most are targeted by criminal groups and individuals who want to prevent informati

Viewpoints Nov. 21, 2012

[Shashi Tharoor] The emerging world’s education imperative

NEW DELHI ― Official delegations from the world’s nine most populous developing countries just met in New Delhi to discuss a subject vital for their countries’ futures: education. The meeting of ministers and others from Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan, known as the E-9, is the latest in a series of encounters held every two years to fulfill the pledge of “education for all” by 2015.The E-9 account for 54 percent of the world’s population, 42.3 pe

Viewpoints Nov. 21, 2012

[Shashi Tharoor] The emerging world’s education imperative

[Editorial] Legislative populism

With the presidential election less than a month away, lawmakers of the ruling and opposition parties are rushing to pass populist bills to capture votes. Their reckless abuse of legislative power should be stopped as it will not only waste taxpayers’ money but give rise to unnecessary social conflicts. Last week, lawmakers on the National Assembly’s Committee on Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs approved a bill to recognize taxis as public transportation and entitle taxi companies to more fi

Editorial Nov. 20, 2012

[Editorial] Trilateral FTA talks

The trade ministers of South Korea, China and Japan have declared the launch of official negotiations on a three-way free trade agreement on the sidelines of a regional summit in Cambodia. It has been six months since the top leaders of the three neighboring countries agreed to start talks on the FTA within this year during a trilateral summit in Beijing in May. Until only recently, it was reported that the start of the negotiations would be delayed to next year due to the heightened tension bet

Editorial Nov. 20, 2012

[Harold Brown] America’s trouble with China

WASHINGTON ― Xi Jinping, China’s newly anointed president, made his first visit to the United States in May 1980. He was a 27-year-old junior officer accompanying Geng Biao, then a vice premier and China’s leading military official. Geng had been my host the previous January, when I was the first U.S. defense secretary to visit China, acting as an interlocutor for President Jimmy Carter’s administration.Americans had little reason to notice Xi back then, but his superiors clearly saw his potenti

Viewpoints Nov. 20, 2012

[Harold Brown] America’s trouble with China

Obama turns to place where economy grows

Barack Obama’s trip to Myanmar is a gift from the photo-opportunity gods. The sight of the U.S. president standing beside political-prisoner-turned-Nobel- laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon will be a heart-warming moment for a world yearning for good news. The most remarkable thing about Obama’s first trip abroad since his re-election is his itinerary. During the four-day journey that starts tomorrow, Obama will bypass China as well as such staunch Pacific allies as Australia, Japan and South K

Viewpoints Nov. 19, 2012

[David Ignatius] Recipe for a witch hunt

WASHINGTON ― Washington superlawyer Joseph Califano once passed a message to a client being grilled by a congressional committee that read: “Keep cool in Kabul.” That phrase has a certain piquancy now, but Califano simply wanted to calm the witness, slow the process a bit and get everyone to chill out. The “keep cool” advice seems especially useful now that Washington’s latest set of scandals is entering the phase of congressional investigation, righteous political indignation and public penance

Viewpoints Nov. 19, 2012

[David Ignatius] Recipe for a witch hunt

Obama, Congress must cooperate

Congressional gridlock is dead. Long live constructive bipartisanship in our nation’s capital.Well, that’s not reality ― yet. But it’s encouraging that President Barack Obama and other leaders in Washington are talking more about shared sacrifices needed to deal with the country’s real priorities.They include working together to reduce the deficit and reform entitlements by making sound compromises that cut spending and raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans.During his press conference Wednesda

Viewpoints Nov. 19, 2012

[Brahma Chellaney] America’s unhinged ‘pivot’

NEW DELHI ― President Barack Obama’s first foreign trip since winning a second term highlights Asia’s new centrality to America’s economy and security. But Obama’s Asian tour also underscores the main question about American policy in the region: Will the United States’ “pivot” to Asia acquire concrete strategic content, or will it remain largely a rhetorical repackaging of old policies?The United States, quick to capitalize on regional concerns triggered by China’s increasingly muscular self-as

Viewpoints Nov. 19, 2012

[Brahma Chellaney] America’s unhinged ‘pivot’

[David Ignatius] Charting a post-Petraeus era

WASHINGTON ― So it turns out that the top brass at the CIA had an inbox of secrets of the all-too-human, sexual variety. Titillating, unquestionably. But what about the other secrets ― the intelligence secrets that are the agency’s reason for existence? How are they doing on this score? When the uproar passes over the personal misjudgments of Gen. David Petraeus, the country will be left with this question of intelligence goals and missions. And here’s where an overlooked problem of the Petraeus

Viewpoints Nov. 18, 2012

[David Ignatius] Charting a post-Petraeus era

International citizens in Seoul support Obama

The incumbent U.S. President Barack Obama narrowly won a majority of the popular vote against the Republican challenger Mitt Romney, 50.6 percent to 47.9 percent. However, he won a commanding majority among the fast-growing Latino (71 percent) and Asian populations (73 percent), along with African-Americans (93 percent), according to New York Times exit polls. In other words, he swept groups representing the “Global South” or “Majority World” regions of Latin America, Africa and Asia. According

Viewpoints Nov. 18, 2012

National English Ability Test needs upgrading

Last year, the Korea Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation released a report on the achievement and tasks of English education policies focused on practical English. According to the report, more than 90 percent of elementary school students and their parents, 86 percent of middle school students and their parents, and 76 percent of high school students and their parents said that a balanced education of four skills ― reading, listening, speaking and writing ― would enhance students’ ability to

Viewpoints Nov. 18, 2012

Articles by Yu Kun-ha