• East Asia

    The American/Korean dream

    The durable tenant of American mythology is the American dream: lush lawns and well-kept homes, manicured landscaping and gated communities, a crimeless, painless life of upper-middle classdom, of children with good teeth and good schools, husbands (and wives) gainfully employed, and in general, prosperity overflowing with milk and honey. President…

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  • King or kingmaker?

    Tug-of-war has begun over unified candidacy On Monday, 102 celebrities called for the two major opposition presidential nominees to agree on a single candidate. Similar demands will follow until the liberal Moon Jae-in and centrist Ahn Cheol-soo give their consent. From the standpoint of opposition supporters, however, it should not…

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  • Overseas voting in doubt

    Parties must cooperate to introduce viable system  Korean citizens living abroad have been granted the vote in the Dec. 19 presidential election, following their inaugural ballot-casting in the April parliamentary elections. But the effectiveness of the overseas voting system is in doubt, because only a fraction of overseas Koreans are…

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  • South East Asia

    [Indonesia Report] Hallyu Wave in Indonesia seems to continue enjoying popularity

    Some music critics in Indonesia predicted the Hallyu Wave would be over soon, but it doesn’t seem to be correct. After Mblaq’s successful concert in their tour of “The Blaq” in Jakarta, capital of Indonesia, on June this year, Indonesian Hallyu fans were also entertained by another Korean Boy Band, Big…

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  • West Asia

    Time to test Iran

    NEW YORK ― Most of the debate about how to address Iran’s efforts to develop nuclear-weapons capacity focuses on two options. The first is to rely on deterrence and live with an Iran that has a small nuclear arsenal or the ability to assemble one with little advance notice. The…

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  • East Asia

    Those ‘guilty’ in innocent lady’s death

    A year ago, when I was working at a previous school, a female teacher’s death left me speechless. I was depressed all day at the sad news. How could she die suddenly with her marriage so close? She should have been walking on air, dreaming of a wonderful honeymoon with…

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  • NLL as political football

    Any further brawl is dirty old electioneering Analysts here have long worried the 18th presidential election would be a proxy war of ghosts: two deceased former leaders. Unfortunately, the premonition seems to be proving right, as ex-Presidents Park Chung-hee and Roh Moo-hyun are coming back in big ways. For nearly…

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  • East Asia

    Diplomatic procession as world heritage

    The initiatives to make the Joseon Diplomatic Procession a UNSECO World Cultural Heritage are about to begin in Korea and Japan. Korea has nine world cultural heritage sites and one natural heritage site, and Japan has twelve cultural and four natural heritage sites recognized by the internationally renowned organization as…

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  • East Asia

    Little justice in N. Korea

    One of the questions a Korean-speaking visitor to North Korea is likely to encounter in a private conversation with a local is “What happened to the Party and security functionaries of East Germany after reunification?” This question shows one of the most important, and perhaps the defining feature, of the…

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  • South Asia

    Pakistani Farmers Harvest Rice Amid Fear Of Drastic Crop Reduction Due To Heavy Monsoon Rains

    Need becomes ‘Mother of Invention’ The delayed but unprecedented heavy monsoon rains had played havoc in Sindh and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan in mid of September 2012. Several deaths, destruction of houses and damage to crops were reported from two provinces. The overall losses to growers are estimated to be…

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