• Obama faces key balancing act

    US President to visit Korea April 25-26 after Japan stopover U.S. President Barack Obama has his work cut out for him during his Asian tour later this month. At a time when the U.S. and Japan look tighter, Obama needs not to hurt the Korea-U.S. alliance, if he wants to…

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  • East Asia

    Guy Sorman’s Special Lecture on “Philanthropy and Welfare” for IGE

    On April 03, the distinguished French scholar delivered a special lecture on “Philanthropy and Welfare” as part of IGE’s Distinguished Lecture Forum. The following is an excerpt prepared by the Institute of Global Economy(IGE, Sakong Il). The Asia N postes the excerpt with some revisions. Thanks owed to IGE. -Editor’s…

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  • East Asia

    Can South Korea unify North Korea by absorption?

    Lessons to be learned from Crimean crisis The unrolling Ukrainian crisis has been in the news a lot of late. The recent succession of Crimea can be seen in various ways, but it seems that this dramatic event hints at one possible scenario of Korea’s future. Indeed, why did Crimea…

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  • East Asia

    Samsung, Microsoft restore relations

    Ultimately, there are no enemies or friends among businesses as they pursue partnerships to advance their own interests according to market situations. “Frenemies,” an urban term that describes people who are both friends and enemies, is a more appropriate word choice for companies’ relationships with each other. Backed by the…

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  • East Asia

    Crayon Pop’s new video appears on Billboard

    Crayon Pop’s new video “Uh-ee” has graced Billboard’s main page. In its article, posted on March 31, pop magazine Billboard said the K-pop girl group has unleashed “mind-bogging, non-stop dance routine” in the video. “Crayon Pop truly shines in the accompanying music video, performing a routine one could liken more…

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  • East Asia

    Lee Byung-hun to appear in ‘Terminator’ sequel

    Korean actor Lee Byung-hun will appear in Hollywood blockbuster “Terminator: Genesis,” in which he will act with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke and Emilia Clarke among others. This is the fifth sequel of the famous sci-fi action flick “The Terminator” released in 1984. Lee’s management agency said on Tuesday he recently…

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  • East Asia

    [Books] An Afghan Odyssey from Within

    A Fort of Nine Towers: An Afghan Family Story By Qais Akbar Omar | Farrar, Straus and Giroux | 2013 Unlike many books on Afghanistan written by foreigners and Afghan expatriates, A Fort of Nine Towers is a memoir of native Afghan Qais Akbar Omar. Omar presents a rare first…

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  • East Asia

    S. Korea blasts Japan for history distortion at UN debate

    South Korea blasted Japan’s distorted view of history at a U.N. Security Council open debate on “War, its lessons, and the search for a permanent peace,” on Jan 29. 2014. China and North Korea also voiced criticism over Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent visit to the Yasukuni Shrine. Below…

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  • East Asia

    Confederation or instant unification

    Over the last few months we have seen a number of signals which indicate that Marshall Kim Jong Un, the young North Korean dictator, is really serious about changing his country. Most likely, he wants to turn his country into a mini-China, where cutthroat capitalism will be practiced under the…

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  • Culture

    “See you in Pyeong Chang!” Russia closes costly Sochi Olympics

      The Mayor of PyeongChang Lee Seok-rae (2nd R) waves the Olympic flag at the closing ceremony for the 22nd Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. (Xinhua Flushed with pride after its athletes’ spectacular showing at the costliest Olympics ever, Russia celebrated Sunday night with a visually stunning finale that…

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