Sheryl Sandberg created a national firestorm earlier this year when she said women should “Lean In” aggressively to maximize their careers. The $64,000 question, though, is how realistic is that for most women?Not every woman is like Sandberg, who is the Harvard-educated chief operating officer for Facebook. Not many men either, for that matter. She gained $821 million from shares that vested in 2012 and received an additional $25.6 million in stock. And that’s not all. She also had a base salar

Viewpoints May 28, 2013

President Obama’s speech last week on the future course of America’s 11-year-old war against al-Qaida was long overdue.Never before has he offered the public such a detailed explanation of his anti-terrorism strategy. In part, that’s surely because so much of it was officially secret ― but also because the public hasn’t demanded a position more nuanced than “tough on terrorism.”The president did three big things in his speech Thursday at the National Defense University in Washington. He argued t

Viewpoints May 28, 2013

They say there is no such thing as bad publicity. Ireland might beg to differ, having been at the center of a U.S. Senate hearing on Apple Inc.’s tax accounting practices at a time when the European Union is working hard to crack down on tax evasion. On May 21, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee for Investigations dug into Apple’s tax activities in deep and gory detail. Their findings show that Ireland has been at the very center of Apple’s success in tax avoidance. Using information provided by

Viewpoints May 27, 2013

No one needs a lean-in movement like Japan’s women. I had this conversation in Tokyo 12 years ago with Sheryl Sandberg, long before she joined Facebook Inc. and wrote her book on female empowerment. We were listening to her boss at the time, U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, speak about the need for structural reforms to the Japanese economy, in a giant auditorium devoid of women. It was one of several male-dominated events that day. The author of “Lean In” leaned over and asked me half-

Viewpoints May 27, 2013

The government is planning to introduce a quota for the employment of young people to combat worsening youth joblessness. At the same time, it will promote part-time employment to create jobs for women and those approaching old age.These measures are part of an employment package the government is to announce soon to meet President Park Geun-hye’s key campaign promise of raising the nation’s employment rate from the present 64.2 percent to 70 percent by 2017. To tackle youth unemployment, the Na

Editorial May 24, 2013

North Korea has signaled a shift toward a peace offensive after three months of saber-rattling that increased tension on the Korean Peninsula.On Thursday, China’s state television quoted Choe Ryong-hae, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s envoy to China, as saying that North Korea “is willing to accept China’s suggestion to have talks with all parties” involved in tackling “the problems of the Korean Peninsula.”A day earlier, Pyongyang proposed to Seoul that the two sides jointly host an event in

Editorial May 24, 2013

PARIS ― Given that no one is officially denying it, it’s fairly safe to say that Russia’s domestic security service recently slammed America’s foreign spy service face-first into the Moscow pavement ― blond wig and all ― in the person of diplomatic staffer and unconfirmed CIA case officer Ryan Fogle.When you’re benefiting from official diplomatic cover and find yourself tucking your hair into a blond wig and heading out with your compass and a written cash-for-treason offer for your target, perh

Viewpoints May 24, 2013

Talk about India always begins with recognition that it’s one of Asia’s rising powers, a state with a fast-growing economy and burgeoning political influence on the world stage.But a closer look shows a dark underbelly that portends a sad time ahead.Put simply, the state is so badly neglecting its young, the next generation of the nation’s business and political leaders, that India is threatening its very future.“Why are the youth angry?” Rahul Ghandi pointedly asked a few weeks ago. He’s a prom

Viewpoints May 23, 2013

At a time when right-wing Japanese politicians are making reckless, history-distorting remarks on a daily basis, it is refreshing to hear that a group of Japanese intellectuals is visiting Korea to set history straight. The group, consisting of three retired history professors and a Buddhist monk, held a news conference in Busan on Tuesday to rebut Tokyo’s claim to Dokdo and urge conservative Japanese politicians to face history squarely.The four intellectuals are members of a volunteer group ca

Editorial May 22, 2013

Minister of Employment and Labor Phang Ha-nam has proposed tripartite talks among labor, management and the government to resolve the continuing controversy over the scope of “ordinary wages.”The controversy revolves around whether quarterly bonuses constitute part of workers’ ordinary wages.The ordinary wage matters because it is used to calculate various allowances, including those for extended, night or holiday work and retirement. Yet the relevant law does not clearly define it. According to

Editorial May 22, 2013