Column - THE AsiaN

Prompt apology

Handcuffing case should be good lesson for allies The handcuffing of three Korean civilians by U.S. military policemen last week was an illegal act in violation of SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) regulations that prohibit such action. A prompt apology offered by the commander of U.S. Forces Korea is seen…
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Column

McCarthyism

The Communist Party of the Soviet Union seized power through the 1917 revolution in Russia with the slogan of creating a perfectly equal society without classes. It meant the abolition of private ownership of property and, unlike socialism, not only the state’s ownership of the means of production but also…
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Column

Best service ready for media at Phnom Penh meeting

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia’s Ministry of Information has tried its best to serve both national and international media people to access to computer and internet during their work at the Council of Ministers during the meetings of the 45th AMM/ PMC/ 19th ARF/ 2nd EAS FMM being held on 6-13 July,…
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Column

Hand-held fans still popular in Pakistan

In most parts of Pakistan where the sizzling summer continues for about eight months coupled with prolonged power outages of up to 22 hours as a daily routine, the hand-held fans are a great source of relief from the hot weather, as they are used to induce airflow for the…
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Column

Kuwaiti poetess to be given Manhae literature award

Last year, in January, Al-Arabi magazine Forum “The Arabs Go East” invited thoughtful elite of the Far East, consisting of very active figures in the fields of culture, arts, and literature. Among those was Lee Sang-ki, founder of Asian Journalist Association (AJA), and publisher of The AsiaN. He is an…
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Let whales live safely

Seoul should retract whaling plan immediately Korea’s proposal to resume hunting whales for scientific research has provoked strong protests both at home and abroad. After most countries reacted angrily to the plan unveiled last week at the annual conference of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Panama, the government stepped…
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Senior citizens’ poverty woes

Senior citizens, who spearheaded the country’s economic miracle from the ashes of the 1950-53 Korean War, are now struggling with financial hardships in their later years. With the approaching retirement en masse of the country’s baby boomers ― those born between 1955 and 1963, the poverty problem of the elderly…
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Building Blogs of ASEAN Social Bonding

Abroad, my sentimental friend Abdul Razak, a fair-skinned Indonesian, liked to quip that he is an Asean Man. He says: “When I am in Singapore I passed for a Chinese; in Vietnam as a Vietnamese, in Philippines as a Filipino, in Laos as a Laotian; in Thailand as a Thai…
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Korea-India business ties get strengthen

Few countries can match the Republic of Korea’s grit when it comes to the show of the will to win over what it would normally appear to be insurmountable odds. If the history of the country’s successive war defeats against neighbours in the last century, the split of the nation…
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Column

Seoul-Tokyo chicken game

Seoul-Tokyo relations are at a historic low. Both governments have become hostages to the past. Things might even become worse before getting better unless they take remedial steps. The latest episode is a condensation of the deep-rooted simmering blind nationalism engulfing the two countries. South Korea cancelled its signing of…
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