Korean as second language (KSL)
I have decided to write a couple of columns regarding what I think should be the priority list for President-elect Park Geun-hye. Topping my list is the introduction of a Korean-language learning program a la ESL (English as a second language) or JSL (Japanese as a second language). I promised anonymity to a foreign diplomat […]
Korea vs. aging
Last year, I and several colleagues from the foreign correspondents’ community interviewed President Lee Myung-bak. A color photograph of the tableau ― the serious-looking president surrounded by several busily scribbling overseas reporters ― duly appeared in a vernacular daily. A friend pointed out something curious about this picture. Although he was a good 20–30 years […]
Nepali Gov’t officials divided over how to deal with killer elephant
killing Dhurbe, the elephant KATHMANDU – Three weeks after the local administration mobilized security personnel to kill a wild elephant named Dhurbe of the Chitwan National Park after it killed an old couple entering their home in a village on 14 December, the whereabouts of the elephant has not been ascertained for almost two weeks. The park […]
Launch of transition team
President-elect needs to polish up vetting process President-elect Park Geun-hye’s transition team was officially launched Sunday, setting in motion the full-fledged formation of the new administration and the solidification of major issues to be pursued over the next five years. A signboard hanging ceremony took place in front of the team’s headquarters in central Seoul […]
Tough lessons in dealing with North Korea
South Korea has elected a new president, Park Geun-hye. The vote was primarily about economics, but Park promised to reengage the North with a policy of “trust building.” Now the North’s leader has responded by calling for a reduction in tensions. Unfortunately, Pyongyang remains an impossible partner. A year ago North Korea’s “Dear Leader” Kim […]
Park’s foreign policy
President-elect Park Geun-hye has appointed former Defense Minister Kim Jang-su as foreign policy point man for her transition team that will prepare for next month’s inauguration of the new administration. Although foreign policy, including the North Korea issue, was not a dominant campaign issue, it is directly linked to most important national interests for survival, […]
Branding Korea by Psy
LONDON ― There was a time when Korea was best known overseas for Samsung gadgetry and Hyundai cars. Now Korea is permeating the global consciousness in ways that would have seemed unlikely if not impossible two or three years ago. The latest proof positive is a New Year’s eve feature in The Times ― that […]
Talking elegantly can be a New Year’s resolution
People make numerous resolutions at the start of the new year — to get rich, to lose weight, to be promoted, to learn English. Yet one crucial resolution seems to be missing on many people’s lists — to stop verbal abuse. Verbal abuse pervades many aspects of the Korean society, and has hurt so many […]
Message from North
Koreas should be ready to meet each other half-way The New Year message from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attracts our attention more for its style than substance, and for what’s been left unsaid rather than said. For the first time in 19 years, North Koreans watched their leader deliver the year-opening message on TV […]
South Korea’s global role
The election on Dec. 19 of Park Geun-hye as president of South Korea represents a milestone event in the remarkably rapid evolution of that country from wartime devastation to post-Cold War leadership. She is the first woman to be elected chief executive of her country, which alone represents significant forward movement in fairness, as well […]
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