• East Asia

    South Korean National Assembly Speaker Kang Chang-hee Meets With His Vietnamese Counterpart In Hanoi

    Chairman of Vietnam’s National Assembly Nguyen Sinh Hung (R) shakes hands with visiting Speaker of the Republic of Korea’s National Assembly Kang Chang Hee in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam, on Jan. 14, 2013. Nguyen Sinh Hung held talks with Kang Chang Hee Monday to boost bilateral legislative ties. Chairman of…

    Read More »
  • Central Asia

    Russian solution

    It’s as if Paul Newman and Jane Fonda had fled the U.S. in protest at something or other ― they were always protesting ― and sought Russian citizenship instead. Americans would be surprised, but would they really care? It’s a free country, as they say. Whereas the French are quite…

    Read More »
  • East Asia

    Lawmakers pressured to forgo privileges

    Lawmakers in Korea were given various privileges to fight an authoritarian president and effectively execute people’s demands. But as democracy has matured, those privileges are under public scrutiny. The National Assembly has come under fire lately for passing the legislators’ pension budget for this year which they previously pledged to…

    Read More »
  • East Asia

    QR codes help tourists

    Gangnam install 8 on-pavement markers for visitors to get around Gangnam has installed quick response (QR) codes on the sidewalks of major tourist destinations to “help” visitors navigate the upscale southern district of Seoul referred to in Psy’s international hit “Gangnam Style.” It is the first time that QR codes…

    Read More »
  • East Asia

    Xi’s image as ‘reformer’ under dispute

    BEIJING – The well-observed vociferous clamoring for press freedom in China, ignited by protests at the country’s most prominent weekly newspaper Southern Weekend, was a vignette shot of how new leader Xi Jinping is seen by both reformists and conservative factions, thinking that he belongs to them. Some see Xi…

    Read More »

  • NK calls for dissolution of United Nations Command

    North Korea’s foreign ministry renewed its call for the dissolution of the United Nations Command (UNC) Monday, saying that the cease-fire agreement that concluded the 1950-1953 Korean War needs to be replaced by a peace treaty. According to the North Korean Central News Agency, the ministry said, in its “diplomatic…

    Read More »
  • East Asia

    Nurturing Asia’s female leaders

    When Jack Meyer first asked Korean-American lawyer Kim Young-joon in 2011 if he could succeed Meyer as the chairman of Asian University for Women (AUW) Support Foundation, Kim declined. The chairman’s job is to raise funds, and Meyer is a legendary former manager of Harvard University’s endowment who started with…

    Read More »
  • East Asia

    Rare photos of past Korean society to be shown in Japan

    Two old men, dressed in traditional Korean garb, face the camera, one performing what seems like a traditional dance move, are seen against the sea off Jindo, South Jeolla Province. Japanese photographer Takumi Fujimoto captured during the 1970s and ’80s what he saw as exotic and rare scenes that revealed…

    Read More »

  • NHN’s Line rises; Kakao Talk stalls

    Line, a smartphone messenger application created by NHN is emerging as Asia’s leading SMS tool as a growing number of people in the region are using it for instant communication. The free call or message service now boasts 100 million users, according to NHN officials, Monday. The growth is partly…

    Read More »
  • East Asia

    Pervasion of mobile phone in NK will eventually change it to a new country

    In recent weeks, North Korea has frequently been in the headlines. Of course, the successful launch of a satellite attracted much attention. The large-scale purges of the military, the pregnancy of Kim Jong-un’s wife, Kim Jong-un’s New Year address and other news were widely discussed in the international media. However,…

    Read More »