The Korea Herald

[Lee Jae-min] No rest for a busy country

In the heat of the welfare-enhancing policy exploration, at the earliest starting from next year, workers may have one more day off if a public holiday falls on Saturday or Sunday. There are 15 official public holidays in Korea at the moment, and each year 3-4 days on average fall on weekends with no compensatory days off given. Under this system of “letting the chips fall where they may,” the actual number of holidays changes every year and having the full benefit of 15 holidays becomes quite u

Viewpoints Aug. 20, 2013

[Lee Jae-min] No rest for a busy country

Pope Francis as CEO

By any standard Pope Francis’ Brazil trip was a great success. Enthusiastic crowds clogged the routes of the papal motorcade and reportedly more than a million people were present for the pope’s final Mass on Copacabana beach. The media no less than Catholic pilgrims seemed enchanted by the new pontiff and his appeals for dialogue, conciliation and social justice.For this pope, who presents himself above all else as a pastor and teacher, the achievements of this first international foray must be

Viewpoints Aug. 20, 2013

[Kim Seong-kon] Therapy reveals cultural gulf in mental health

Americans are well known to seek clinical therapy when they encounter psychological problems. In fact, American culture, as well as the social system, encourages people to seek therapy for all kinds of issues. For example, if you have an uncontrollable temper, you may be directed to anger management classes. If you have issues with your spouse, you and your spouse will be advised to try marriage counseling. If you are a widow or widower grieving over a deceased spouse, you may be told to try the

Viewpoints Aug. 20, 2013

[Kim Seong-kon] Therapy reveals cultural gulf in mental health

[Frida Ghitis] No winners in Egypt’s chaos

It’s nothing short of heartbreaking to remember those heady moments of early 2011, when hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of Egyptians converged on Tahrir Square and stunned even themselves by ending a three-decade-old dictatorship.Gone are the illusions of unity and brotherhood. Gone are the dreams of a smooth, relatively peaceful transition to a democratic system that would make Egyptians proud of their country and command admiration from the rest of the world.Today, the blood-soaked str

Viewpoints Aug. 19, 2013

[Frida Ghitis] No winners in Egypt’s chaos

Vaping may be hazardous to your health

“Mind if I vape?” The question may become more common as electronic cigarettes become more popular. The answer, however, remains elusive. Etiquette aside, the health effects of inhaling nicotine vapor (hence the term) are largely unknown. More research is clearly needed, but in the meantime, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has to start regulating e-cigarettes. U.S. consumers will spend $1 billion on battery-powered smokes this year, 10 times more than they did four years ago. Are e-cigaret

Viewpoints Aug. 19, 2013

U.S. goodies-for-abuse program needs to stop

There’s a grade-school-level international game being played. It’s like the one you played as a kid when you would have a friend punch you as hard as possible in the stomach to see how long you could keep a fake smile plastered on your face. “Oh, THAT didn’t hurt AT ALL! Hit me harder, you wimp!” That, right now, is America ― and it needs to stop.Let’s take two recent beneficiaries of the goodies-for-abuse program: Russia and Pakistan.Russia apparently doesn’t feel that granting asylum to Nation

Viewpoints Aug. 19, 2013

North Carolina takes perilous lurch to the right

North Carolina is channeling Alabama and South Carolina when it comes to the best economic, social and political model for a U.S. Southern state. For more than half a century, North Carolina has been progressive on education and public investments, and pro-business ― witness the celebrated Research Triangle between Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill and the financial center in Charlotte ― with less racial strife than other Southern states. As Republicans took full control of the state government in

Viewpoints Aug. 19, 2013

[Park Sang-seek] Two different views of armistice 60 years on

This year the two Koreas have celebrated the 60th anniversary of the armistice of the Korean War for different reasons and different purposes.The countries that made military and nonmilitary contributions to the U.N. Command, particularly South Korea and the U.S., wanted to remind the international community that their participation in the Korean War was the first international effort to make the U.N. a true collective security body and to affirm that the use of force by any individual state or

Viewpoints Aug. 19, 2013

[Park Sang-seek] Two different views of armistice 60 years on

Why U.S. workers are getting short-changed

A spate of one-day strikes by fast-food workers has renewed the focus on the abysmal pay for so many at the bottom of the U.S. labor market. Amid all the discussion, a theme keeps cropping up: Labor’s share of national income has plunged while corporate profits have climbed to record highs.The numbers are telling. After peaking in the early 1980s at about 66 percent, U.S. workers have seen their share of the national pie decline to about 58 percent, the lowest since at least the end of World War

Viewpoints Aug. 15, 2013

[Ma Jian] Bo’s trial not to end the scandal

LONDON ― After a year of unexplained delay, the trial of Bo Xilai, the former Communist Party secretary of Chongqing municipality, is finally about to begin. Bo faces three charges: corruption, bribery, and abuse of power. But his real offense is that he challenged the Chinese Communist Party’s way of doing things. Moreover, his wife’s conviction of the widely publicized murder of British businessman Neil Heywood has severely embarrassed the CCP.When the court finally convicts Bo ― and he is cer

Viewpoints Aug. 15, 2013

[Ma Jian] Bo’s trial not to end the scandal

[Editorial] Reality check for Park

It took less than a day for Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok to come up with a revised tax reform plan after President Park Geun-hye sent the original version back to the drawing board.Park told officials Monday to start again from scratch as the ministry’s proposal triggered a massive outcry from middle-income taxpayers. The plan proposed to collect more taxes from workers with annual income of 34.5 million won or more.On Tuesday, Hyun briefed the leaders of the ruling Saenuri Party on the amended

Editorial Aug. 14, 2013

[Editorial] Heat wave

The sweltering heat wave shows no signs of letting up, forcing the nation to continue its all-out struggle to avoid a major power shortage.For weeks, temperatures have remained at an unusually high level across the nation. In some areas, including Ulsan and Gimhae in South Gyeongsang Province, the mercury rose to 40 degrees Celsius, setting new highs. The relentless heat wave pushed electricity consumption to levels far exceeding those forecast by power authorities, threatening to cause serious

Editorial Aug. 14, 2013

With so many job openings, why so little hiring?

An odd puzzle is taking shape in the labor market: Over the past three years, the number of job openings has risen almost 50 percent, but actual hiring has gone up by less than 5 percent. Companies are advertising a lot more jobs, in other words, but not filling them. To get some sense of how significant this is, consider that if, since June 2010, hiring had risen a third as much as advertised jobs have (rather than only a 10th), and nothing else were different, job creation would be roughly 500

Viewpoints Aug. 14, 2013

[Graciana del Castillo] Leveling Afghan playing field

NEW YORK ― Afghanistan’s security and political situation remains plagued by uncertainty, stemming from the withdrawal of United States and NATO combat troops, the upcoming presidential election, and the stalled peace negotiations with the Taliban. Recognizing that continued economic insecurity will exacerbate this perilous situation, the government has announced a new package of economic incentives aimed at attracting foreign direct investment. The package includes the provision of land to indu

Viewpoints Aug. 14, 2013

[Graciana del Castillo] Leveling Afghan playing field

Jeff Bezos could be good for journalism

I used to live in Washington, D.C., and I worked at The Washington Post. Now I live near Seattle and work at The Seattle Times in a building just next door to Amazon.com’s sprawling complex.Those facts add up to just a few degrees of separation for the journalists and non-journalist friends curious about my thoughts about Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos’ purchase of the Post.Sorry, but I have no insights beyond speculation. Bezos, a private guy anyway, is not walking around the South Lake Unio

Viewpoints Aug. 13, 2013

Articles by Yu Kun-ha