The Korea Herald

Celebrity economist rushes to save India

The first time I met Raghuram Rajan, the Indian economist couldn’t sit still. It was over coffee in Bangkok in November 2008, less than two months after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. imploded and almost took the global financial system down with it. Rajan had become a big draw by then, having warned as early as 2005 that a crash was coming. On that day in Thailand, he had a more local crisis on his hands: The hotel’s WiFi was out. “I’ll be back ― I need to make a call and make sure the world eco

Viewpoints Oct. 14, 2012

[Eli Park Sorensen] The uncanny minds that play on our sensitivities

Most people have experienced receiving an uncanny phone call from an excessively loquacious person ― only to discover, usually after a few moments, that one is listening to an automated voice advertising some product. In his essay “On the Psychology of the Uncanny” from 1906, the German psychiatrist Ernst Jentsch suggested that feelings of anxiety often emerge in cases where we have difficulties discerning whether an entity is an automaton or human consciousness. “The life-size machines that per

Viewpoints Oct. 14, 2012

[Eli Park Sorensen] The uncanny minds that play on our sensitivities

[Editorial] Allegations against Roh

Which side is telling the truth, the ruling Saenuri Party or the main opposition Democratic United Party? The two parties are confronting each other over the allegations that former President Roh Moo-hyun made remarks gravely detrimental to national interests during his summit with Kim Jong-il on Oct. 3, 2007.The allegations were put forward by Chung Moon-hun, a Saenuri lawmaker who worked at Cheong Wa Dae as presidential secretary for unification affairs between 2009 and 2010.During a parliamen

Editorial Oct. 12, 2012

[Editorial] Ties with Myanmar

Myanmar President Thein Sein’s visit to Seoul earlier this week highlighted the importance the Southeast Asian country attached to expanding its ties with South Korea. The Myanmar leader came here to reciprocate President Lee Myung-bak’s visit to Naypyidaw in May. The top leaders’ exchange of visits indicates deepening relations between the countries ― a development that must be painful to North Korea, as Myanmar has long been one of Pyongyang’s allies.Myanmar embarked on a path of political and

Editorial Oct. 12, 2012

Chavez shows ‘elected autocrat’ isn’t oxymoron

Hugo Chavez is something of a challenge to the worldview of many rich-country observers. His election victory this week has given him, health permitting, a new six-year term as Venezuela’s president. He’s the leading elected autocrat in Latin America and maybe the world. “Elected autocrat” is a confusing category. According to the model that prevailed for decades after 1945, there are really just two kinds of state: free and unfree. Democracy, good. Autocracy, bad. Chavez represents a third way,

Viewpoints Oct. 12, 2012

[David Ignatius] A revolt’s extremist threat

ALEPPO, Syria ― Leading the fight in Sakhour on the eastern side of this embattled city is the Tawafuk Battalion of the Free Syrian Army. It reports to a new coordinating body known as the Military Council, according to Mustafa Shabaan, the acting commander of Tawafuk. But wait a minute: A young fighter named Thaer tells me there are six or seven other battalions fighting in Sakhour, too, in what many claim is the decisive battle for Aleppo. Who commands these disparate fighters? And what about

Viewpoints Oct. 12, 2012

[David Ignatius] A revolt’s extremist threat

[Joseph E. Stiglitz] Monetary easing and growth

NEW YORK ― Central banks on both sides of the Atlantic took extraordinary monetary-policy measures in September: the long awaited “QE3” (the third dose of quantitative easing by the United States Federal Reserve), and the European Central Bank’s announcement that it will purchase unlimited volumes of troubled eurozone members’ government bonds. Markets responded euphorically, with stock prices in the U.S., for example, reaching post-recession highs.Others, especially on the political right, worr

Viewpoints Oct. 11, 2012

[Joseph E. Stiglitz] Monetary easing and growth

[David Ignatius] Face to face with a revolution

ALEPPO, Syria ― A red-faced fighter named Faisal arrives at the forward headquarters of the Free Syrian Army pleading for weapons. He’s just come from the front line in a neighborhood called Sakhour, which has been under attack by the government’s forces for three weeks. As he shouts at his superiors, you can hear the thunder of incoming artillery about a half mile away. Faisal rages that his men are dying and he needs rocket-propelled grenades to fight the tanks of President Bashar al-Assad’s a

Viewpoints Oct. 10, 2012

[David Ignatius] Face to face with a revolution

[Harold Brown] Syria’s turmoil poses toughest challenge yet

WASHINGTON, DC ― More than any of the previous events in the Arab Spring, Syria’s turmoil has presented serious difficulties for Western policymakers. Just as Syria comprises a more complex society than the other Arab countries currently in the throes of political transition, so, too, are its external relations more complex. As a result, any attempt at decisive military intervention would be not only difficult, but also extremely risky.Syria’s leading role in Lebanon, even after withdrawing its

Viewpoints Oct. 10, 2012

[Harold Brown] Syria’s turmoil poses toughest challenge yet

[Editorial] Leadership test for Park

Where is the ruling Saenuri Party headed? Looking at the suicidal in-party fighting, many supporters of the conservative party must be feeling that it is on the path to defeat in the December presidential election. One factor fueling the worsening conflicts is resentment among the party’s lawmakers who are not included in the campaign team for its presidential candidate, Park Geun-hye.The recent drop in Park’s approval ratings led a group of young lawmakers to demand an overhaul of the party’s l

Editorial Oct. 9, 2012

[Editorial] Refocus on growth

As it is increasingly becoming clear that the Korean economy is headed for a prolonged period of slow growth due to the global economic slump, the nation should refocus on economic growth and make concerted efforts to keep the economy running. The nation’s economy is already under the influence of the sputtering global economy. In the World Economic Outlook released Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund cut its growth estimate for Korea this year to 2.7 percent. Its previous forecast, announc

Editorial Oct. 9, 2012

Romney’s debate win doesn’t make it 1980 again

Mitt Romney’s winning performance in last week’s presidential debate has reinforced his campaign’s belief that this election parallels the one in 1980: In troubled times, Republicans inevitably defeat an unpopular Democratic president. While Romney gets to hit the reset button after President Barack Obama’s desultory display, he’d better not count on the 1980 analogy. Ronald Reagan’s victory over Jimmy Carter wasn’t inevitable; it was earned, with some help from outsiders. The environment was fa

Viewpoints Oct. 9, 2012

[Daniel Fiedler] Suicide for justice

Last week a 61-year-old woman jumped from her fifth floor apartment to her death. Her act was, once again, the last desperate attempt by a crime victim in South Korea to obtain justice. Her sad tale started when she checked into a hospital last year and was raped by a 27-year-old man who worked at the hospital. After she reported the rape to the police the young man failed a lie detector test and the case proceeded to court. However, last month the court released the accused, reasoning that as t

Viewpoints Oct. 9, 2012

Turning Iran’s currency crisis into a revolution

Amid the usual hyperbolic conspiracy theories, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said something incisive in a televised address last week: that the West is waging economic “war” against Iran. He’s right, and the Iranian rial’s death spiral is the first clear sign that we’re on a path to victory. The 40 percent drop by the rial against the dollar since late September is a symptom of larger woes: oil exports are at 1 million barrels a day, down from 2.2 million last year; quarterly oil revenue

Viewpoints Oct. 9, 2012

From bitterness to grace: Comfort women and the Korean ‘han’

Koreans have many things to be proud of. South Korea rose from the ashes of civil war to become an economically advanced democracy. Its companies (e.g., Hyundai, Samsung) and celebrities (e.g., Psy) stride on the world’s stage. However, outside observers are less enamored with a widespread cultural trait, termed “han,” which describes a keen sense of sadness, victimhood and injustice. As described by Korean-American sociologist Jon Huer, han can “be inflicted on the Korean people by a foreign po

Viewpoints Oct. 9, 2012

Articles by Yu Kun-ha