Samantha Power used to be best known for her tour-de-force book, “A Problem From Hell,” in which she correctly accused the United States of willfully ignoring genocide in Rwanda, Cambodia, Bosnia and elsewhere.“Despite graphic media coverage,” she wrote, “American policymakers” are “extremely slow to muster the imagination to reckon with evil.”Now Power sits in the Obama White House, a senior staffer on the National Security Council. She’s watching along with everyone else in Washington as Syria

Viewpoints Nov. 21, 2011

“Meok-twi” meaning “eat and run” in the soju table language is often used to describe foreign investors making hefty profits before closing their operations in Korea. The new coined word appears in newspaper headlines and Internet blogs these days pointing at the Lone Star Fund over its sale of the Korea Exchange Bank after a long court battle and tussle with financial regulators.Lone Star, a Texas-based private equity fund, landed in Korea along with some other foreign buyout capitals during th

Editorial Nov. 21, 2011

While the political arena is touch-and-go over the Korea-U.S. FTA bill, an independent lawmaker is creating a farce by suing a comedian for defaming lawmakers in general in a popular TV program. Rep. Kang Yong-suk, 41, elected from Mapo, Seoul, has a convoluted reason for filing a criminal complaint with the Seoul prosecution against Choe Hyo-jong last week. The legal action came immediately after he was found guilty of “collective libel” by the Seoul Appellate Court for his remarks concerning w

Editorial Nov. 21, 2011

During the worldwide depression of the mid-1930s, the poet and Islamic modernist Muhammad Iqbal, often called Pakistan’s spiritual founder, wrote a poem dramatizing the inadequacies of Western political and economic systems. Democracy and capitalism had empowered a privileged elite in the name of the people, Iqbal felt. But he was not much fonder of Marxism, which was then coming into vogue among anti-colonial activists across South Asia and the Middle East: But what’s the answer to the mischief

Viewpoints Nov. 21, 2011

Both in the real world and in the corridors of power, the consensus is that the congressional supercommittee will fail to compromise this week on how to close the country’s multi-trillion-dollar federal budget deficit and, as a result, a series of cuts, totaling $1.2 trillion, will automatically kick in. Many people believe this failure to act will short-circuit what little hope exists for an economic recovery. And it will be yet another demonstration of the inability of our political parties to

Viewpoints Nov. 21, 2011

If we call the 20th century the age of physics and chemistry, the 21st century will be the age of biotechnology. Since Dr. James Watson and Dr. Francis Crick discovered the DNA double helix in 1953, biology has made great progress. Nowadays, so-called biotechnology can clone a life form in addition to manipulating genes. Since the first cloned sheep Dolly came into being in 1996 in Britain, also in Korea, a cloned cow Youngrongie and a cloned dog Snuppy have been “born” in succession.Moreover, K

Viewpoints Nov. 20, 2011

We cannot overemphasize the importance of enhancing the productivity of small and medium-sized companies. Currently, Korea faces an explosion in welfare demands. With its limited budget, the government can hardly meet this challenge. The most effective solution to this problem is to create more jobs, since the best welfare program is a job. In Korea, SMEs account for 90 percent of employment. Hence, to create more jobs, the first step is to boost the job creation potential of SMEs. SMEs can crea

Editorial Nov. 18, 2011

Since January, the government has been waging an uphill battle to bring down the prices of retail petroleum products. Its efforts culminated earlier this month when the Ministry of Knowledge Economy announced a plan to convert 10 percent of Korea’s gas stations ― 1,300 outlets ― into discount gas stations by 2015. The scheme is aimed at infusing competition in the domestic market, which the ministry thinks is being dominated by a cartel of four refiners ― SK Energy, GS-Caltex, S-Oil and Hyundai

Editorial Nov. 18, 2011

The Occupy Wall Street that is happening now in New York resembles a familiar episode that I witnessed in Seoul. As Yogi Berra said, this is like dj vu all over again!When my long stay in Seoul on a project started in the beginning of 2008, the new administration was elected but had not yet taken the office. The Korean democracy at work allowed a smooth transition to the new government, with befitting joyous ceremonies.Shortly after the new government was sworn in, some major shifts in policies

Viewpoints Nov. 18, 2011

It is essential for Japan to pursue strategic diplomacy with the United States and China if effective international rules are to be worked out to ensure peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda met with U.S. President Barack Obama in Honolulu Saturday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and explained to him a government plan to submit to Okinawa Prefecture within this year an environmental assessment report on the planned

Viewpoints Nov. 18, 2011