Anyone with half a brain knows that bolstering the middle class is critical to securing the future of the U.S. It’s a matter of national self-interest. Setting aside the misery of poverty for a minute, the rich need a skilled middle-class workforce to make their businesses successful or they won’t stay rich for long. Skills, of course, require education, which is why it’s nutty that Republican House members want to cut Pell grants and are making unreasonable demands in the debate over preventing

Viewpoints April 30, 2012

May is the best sightseeing season in Northeast Asia. The economic rise of China pushes the tourism market in the region to an explosive growth. Combining these two factors, a tourism rush is expected across the region in the coming weeks. Yet, we have a sense of unease about the state of readiness in this particular service sector.These days, the Japanese, Chinese and South Koreans are thronging to each other’s tourism resorts and large cities, joined by American, European and Southeast Asian t

Editorial April 30, 2012

Conscience tells us that active military service to defend the nation is more than a duty ―it is the privilege of healthy Korean men. So, it is dismaying to hear people talk about the “privilege” of being exempted from military service for various reasons. Further puzzling is the fact that this privilege is officially recognized for persons who “raised the national prestige” with outstanding results in international sports and arts competitions.The idea behind this peculiar system practiced for

Editorial April 30, 2012

Are the French getting their Tea Party on? That’s what an outsider looking at the country’s first-round presidential voting results might have been led to believe. But, as with many things French, the reality is tres compliquee.The weekend vote knocked out all but the two candidates long expected to square off in the May 6 final: Socialist Francois Hollande (28.6 percent) and incumbent center-right President Nicolas Sarkozy (27.2 percent). This isn’t the story, though. The most striking news is

Viewpoints April 29, 2012

It might seem a daunting challenge to determine which of the world’s repressive nations offers the least-free news media. We have so many to choose from ― Iran, North Korea, Belarus ...But you may be surprised by the unanimity among organizations that study such things, like Reporters Without Borders, a French group. The consensus choice is Eritrea, a tiny nation most people cannot even pinpoint on a map.Eritrea, a desperately poor desert state about the size of Pennsylvania, lives in an ugly ne

Viewpoints April 29, 2012

Singapore’s decision to pledge $4 billion loan to the International Monetary Fund to help troubled economies must be seen as part of a broader international effort. It is necessary because, as a trading nation, Singapore is critically dependent on the health of the global economy. Should Europe’s crisis deepen, it could also spread far beyond the region. Singapore’s contribution is therefore an investment made in enlightened self-interest. Even if the funds are drawn down, the money will remain

Viewpoints April 29, 2012

The war between Korea and Japan over the name of the sea separating the two countries is shifting into a new phase as the International Hydrographic Organization, the global authority on the names and locations of seas and oceans, has delayed a decision on the naming dispute to 2017.The IHO held a general meeting in Monaco to update its publication dubbed “Limits of Oceans and Seas,” a document considered the most authoritative when it comes to oceanic boundaries and names. Better known as S-23,

Editorial April 27, 2012

Each year, the National Tax Service launches a special tax probe on self-employed professionals suspected of underreporting their incomes. In 2010, it zeroed in on 150 luxury businesses, such as plastic surgery clinics, skincare clinics and beauty parlors.Wrapping up its two-year-long probe, the tax office announced on Tuesday it has collected a total of 100.2 billion won in back taxes from the businesses. The investigation result is disturbing as it suggests rampant tax evasion among people eng

Editorial April 27, 2012

Much of the beef, pork or chicken we eat contains small amounts of antibiotics. The drugs are fed to animals so they can thrive in the crowded, often-fetid factory farms that dominate U.S. meat and poultry production. But giving animals a steady diet of these medicines has contributed to the increase of antibiotic-resistant bugs that can pose grave risks to humans. This isn’t news to the Food and Drug Administration, which has known since the early 1970s about the misuse of antibiotics in agricu

Viewpoints April 27, 2012

Taiwan claims sovereignty over two archipelagoes in the South China Sea. They are the Spratlys and Pratas, with troops being stationed on an island of each archipelago. The Spratly Island where some 100 Coast Guardsmen are deployed is known as Taiping Island, or “Peace Island,” though it isn’t quite peaceful any more.The vernacular China Time Magazine reported in a scoop last Friday that two Vietnamese armed patrol vessels came so close to Taiping on March 22 as to compel the Coast Guard Adminis

Viewpoints April 27, 2012

The escalation of tension between Sudan and its newly independent neighbor South Sudan has showed no sign of easing this week, feueling deep concern among the international community.Both sides should exercise the utmost restraint and refrain from making reckless moves. Khartoum and Juba should understand it serves neither side’s interests if a full-scale war breaks out between them.U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday strongly condemned the recent aerial bombardments in South Sudan by t

Viewpoints April 27, 2012

Whether center-right Nicolas Sarkozy or socialist Francois Hollande is elected in the French presidential run-off, the outlook for the nation does not look promising. Neither has enthused the electorate, as indicated in their first-round vote which was less than the 30 percent total cast against them by right- and left-leaning voters. But what either of them will be forced to do to win on May 6 is of interest well beyond Europe ― and that is worrying. Both look beholden to voters of the extreme

Viewpoints April 27, 2012