-
West Asia
Syrian civil war
Syria now has a new government-in-exile that allegedly unites all the groups seeking the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad’s murderous regime. But if this is the best that they can do, Assad will still be in power next year, and perhaps for a long time afterwards. It took a week…
Read More » -
10-million tourist arrivals
Time to beef up infrastructure, service spirits Korea is expected to reach another industrial landmark Wednesday when this year’s 10-millionth foreign visitor enters the country. The doubling of inbound tourists in a decade, from 5 million in 2002, is meaningful as it shows the industry’s spectacular growth and the nation’s…
Read More » -
East Asia
‘Gender card’ makes little appeal to woman
Will the gender of the candidates have any effect on voting behavior in the upcoming presidential election? Most women answered “no” to this question. Rep. Park Geun-hye, the standard bearer of the ruling Saenuri Party, has played the gender card to woo female voters, saying the nation needs its first…
Read More » -
East Asia
Campaigns of convenience
No TV debate, political jockeying baffle voters With the presidential election just around the corner, Lee Ho-yeong, a 35-year-old college lecturer, remains confused. Although he thinks it would be one of the most important elections in his life, Lee like many others is still wondering whether Moon Jae-in and Ahn…
Read More » -
East Asia
No. of students studying overseas falls
Economic slump puts pressure to curtail education spending The number of South Korean students studying in foreign colleges for degrees decreased this year for the first time in seven years mainly due to the economic slump, according to a government report, Monday. Money remittance from parents in Korea to their…
Read More » -
East Asia
Eliminating discrimination key to multiculturalism
As Korea is becoming more multicultural and multiracial, the government is seeking to introduce an anti-discrimination law, arguing that racism should not be tolerated. Minister of Gender Equality and Family Kim Kum-lae pointed out that the country doesn’t have a law banning racial discrimination although it is seeing a growing…
Read More » -
East Asia
‘I’ll be a singer more famous than Michael Jackson’
GWANGJU ― Everybody recognized him. On his way back home from school on Nov. 12, eight-year-old Hwang Min-woo, the boy who appeared in Psy’s “Gangnam Style” music video, was surrounded by other students who kept following him, calling him “the Gangnam Style boy” and even asking for his autograph. He…
Read More » -
East Asia
From killing fields to healing fields
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia ― Kim Gi-dae, a missionary and principal of a vocational school in Cambodia, takes a lengthy pause when he is asked in which years his three children are at school. Koreans tend to ask ages indirectly. The person who asked the question teases him, “You are their…
Read More » -
Actress Lee Young-ae to open Korea souvenir shop in Seoul
Actress Lee Young-ae, best known for her title role in the MBC TV drama “Daejanggeum,” will open a souvenir shop in Seoul for foreigners drawn to visit the country by Asian-wide enthusiasm for Korean pop culture, her management agency said Monday. The shop will open in mid-December on Seoul’s Samcheong-dong…
Read More » -
East Asia
Kokdu Museum opens branch in Bukchon
“Kokdu,” traditional wooden figurines which were used to adorn a bier to drive out evil spirits for the deceased, can now be seen in Bukchon Hanok Village in Seoul. The Kokdu Museum, which is based in Dongsoong Art Center in Daehangno, opened a new branch in a “hanok” (traditional Korean…
Read More »