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Who will speak for Rohingyas?
The military junta in Myanmar has been courted by the West in its quest to encourage the democratization process in this bastion of tyranny. However, it is primordial that respect of human rights, especially the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya minority should remain high on the international agenda. The Rohingyas…
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Ominous rumblings in North Korea
Strange things are happening in North Korea, which is nothing new. This time, however, developments apparently reflect divisions within the leadership of the isolated totalitarian regime. Conceivably, this could spark a renewed Korean War. Ri Yong-ho, a powerful military figure and until recently a close ally of young North Korea…
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Column
What’s unknowable about N. Korea
As the inner group of the new North Korean leadership is inaccessible, it is impossible to know how and what decisions are made in the North. We only learn about them after they are officially announced. We struggle to understand what led to the decisions and to figure out what…
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Society
SNU hires University of Tokyo professor
Seoul National University (SNU) has hired a professor from the University of Tokyo as a full-time faculty member. The hiring is expected to strengthen the two top schools’ exchanges but, at a more fundamental level, serve as another small but necessary step to help overcome the two countries’ unhappy chapter…
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Column
Arab Spring: good news
The good news about last weekend’s election in Libya, as relayed by the Western media, was that the “Islamists” were defeated and the Good Guys won. The real good news was that democracy in the Arab world is still making progress, regardless of whether the voters choose to support secular…
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Small firms urged to hire Koreans over foreigners
The Ministry of Employment and Labor said Sunday that it will encourage small- and medium-sized firms to hire Koreans rather than foreigners in order to provide more jobs for local jobseekers. A ministry official said that firms with a staff of 50 to 300 will not be allowed to recruit…
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Korea-bashing in China sparks soul-searching
Bloggers here blamed some Koreans for their alleged double standards on foreigners, arguing their immaturity could trigger anti-Korean sentiment in China. “Koreans tend to be nice to Americans or Europeans and try to help them when they are in trouble here. But those who are from Asia, Africa or China…
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Escalating suspicion
FTC should uncover truth of CD rate scandal Ripples from the suspected certificates of deposit (CD) rate-rigging scandal are spreading. Consumer groups are poised to lodge class-action lawsuits, saying many of the allegations revealed so far are suspicious enough to believe that banks and brokerage houses colluded to fix three-month…
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NK leader ready to push his agenda
Pyongyang’s recent military reshuffle gives leader Kim Jong-un the stability to implement his own governing style, which has shown hints of balancing security and the economy, analysts said Sunday. The replacement last week of army chief of staff Ri Yong-ho with Kim’s own man, Hyon Yong-chol, has raised questions over…
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Society
S-N team eyed for 2018 Olympics
Contacts will be made soon, says PyeongChang organizer The chief organizer of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics said Sunday that he intends to involve North Korea in the games as much as possible. “We will try to have North Korean athletes train together with our athletes and form a unified…
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