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East Asia
Holiday reading
Last month, I went on a beach vacation. I am a compulsively light packer. Before my daughter was born, I was known to take a single purse on a two-week getaway. When I went away to college, I arrived with a backpack and a suitcase, and was shocked to see…
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East Asia
Open door to N. Koreans
Last Dec. 12, I fired off an opinion piece of about 1,500 words to the Washington Post. It easily could have been 1,600 words, but I deleted all of the curse words. The day before, I had learned that the United States government had rejected visa applications by three of…
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East Asia
Pro sports – children’s dream job
Kim Tae-yoon, an elementary school student living in Seoul, changes what he wishes to become when he grows up almost every month. Kim doesn’t switch from wanting to be a medical doctor to a teacher but from soccer player to baseball player. In other words, he wants to be a…
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East Asia
Park puts economy, safety first
President-elect Park Geun-hye’s government restructuring plan, unveiled Tuesday, calls for empowering ministries overseeing the economy while emphasizing public safety amid a rising number of sex crimes. Under the proposal, the team scrapped the Ministry of Special Affairs in charge of facilitating dialogue with opposition parties. Analysts widely agreed that the…
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East Asia
Global Korea, global education
Dear Madam President-Elect, On behalf of the Korean Association of Private University Presidents (KPU), I offer sincere congratulations for your success in the presidential election. The nation, I believe, made the decision based on your respect for trust and promises, in addition to your political leadership and experience. As the…
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East Asia
Prolonged Fog In Chinese Cities Causes Inconvenience On People’s Livelihood
Women wearing masks ride on road in fog-enveloped Zhengzhou, capital of central China’s Henan Province, Jan. 14, 2013. Thick smog pushed the sales of protection masks as the foggy weather expanded to many parts of northern and eastern China. <Xinhua/Li Bo> Motorcars run on the Bayi Bridge amid heavy fog…
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East Asia
Japanese Youths Walk In The Snow After Attending Coming Of Age Ceremony At A Park In Tokyo
Dressed in Japanese kimonos, Japanese youths who have turned or will turn 20-year-old this year, the traditional age of adulthood in Japan, walk in the snow following a Coming of Age ceremony at an amusement park in Tokyo Monday, Jan. 14, 2013. <AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi> Young girls dressed in traditional…
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East Asia
More Than 100 Million Galaxy Smartphones Have Been Sold Since The Release Of Its First Model Three Years Ago
In this a, Monday, Nov. 5, 2012, file photo, a man windowshop at a mobile phone shop near advertisement of Samsung’s Galaxy S III smartphone in Seoul, South Korea. Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday, Jan. 14, 2013, it has sold more than 100 million Galaxy S smartphones since the first…
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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…
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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…
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