Most people will never glimpse the vast underwater mountains and canyons off Cape Cod that President Barack Obama designated as a national monument Thursday. The same goes for the hundreds of thousands of submerged square kilometers that the UK, Ecuador, Costa Rica and other countries have just protected, and for the million square kilometers near Hawaii that Obama recently set aside.But everyone benefits when underwater tracts are put off limits to commercial fishing and mining, because doing s

It has been a quarter-century since Japan’s asset bubble burst -- and a quarter-century of malaise as one “Lost Decade” has followed another. Some of the criticism of its economic policies is unwarranted.Growth is not an objective in itself. We should be concerned with standards of living. Japan is ahead of the curve in curbing population growth and productivity has been increasing. Growth in output per working-age person, especially since 2008, has been higher than in the United States, and muc

Hundreds of men and women were sweating in railroad repair work in a flooded area of North Korea’s northeastern Hamgyong Province. They were moving big rocks and wooden poles manually to repair a railway that was washed away last week in what was described as the heaviest rainfall in 60 years. An excavator standing idle with its scoop resting on the ground, apparently out of fuel, was the only machine shown in the Pyongyang TV footage relayed by South Korean networks.　Some in the crowd were in f

On Sept. 11, the Official Gazette of the Philippines decided to mark the 99th birth anniversary of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, by releasing a graphic. What could possibly go wrong? As it turns out: Almost everything.The graphic produced by the Gazette carried a photo, a quote, and a caption. Under sustained social media criticism, the caption went through three editions -- each one deeply problematic both because of what was included and what was left out.The first version stirred con

At last year’s United Nations General Assembly summit, world leaders promised to cooperate on ensuring safe, orderly, regular, and responsible migration. This year, they need to do more to realize that pledge.UN member states have acknowledged migration’s many benefits, including its role in stabilizing global labor markets, spreading knowledge and ideas, creating diasporas that spur increased trade and investment, and sustaining economies worldwide through remittances, which pay for family memb

With exports on a downward spiral, Korea’s economic growth is increasingly being led by the construction industry. Policymakers need to take action to correct this abnormal growth pattern.A report released by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade showed that the construction sector accounted for 51.5 percent of the country’s economic growth in the second quarter. Of the economy’s 3.3 percent expansion in the April-June period, 1.7 percentage points came from brisk construction i

The Ministry of Health and Welfare has recently finalized the third five-year National Cancer Management Plan, which is aimed at improving the quality of life of cancer patients and expanding the government’s role in fighting cancer.　The survival rate of cancer patients in Korea has dramatically improved in recent years thanks to increased efforts for early detection of cancer and advances in cancer treatment. 　The five-year survival rate for people diagnosed with cancer between 2009 and 2013 wa

The heavy-handed posture of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s administration appears to have led to the rise of “anti-China” forces in Hong Kong.Continuing progress in democratization and political reforms is essential to maintaining Hong Kong’s stability and prosperity, rather than reinforcing a clampdown.In the recent elections for Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, newly emerging, anti-Beijing forces making such radical calls as “independence” from China have made headway.For the 70-member legisla

While I was having my hair cut 20 years ago, my barber advised me to wash my hair with soap, not with shampoo. He told me, “You are losing your hair here and there. You’d better stop using shampoo because it’s full of chemicals. Try soap instead.” From that day on, I began washing my hair with a bar of soap. Strangely, however, I noticed a bunch of hair was clogging the sink every time I shampooed with soap. Recently, I switched back from soap to shampoo and I noticed I no longer lost my hair. O

While not well known in South Korea, the Our Ocean conference was held on Thursday and Friday in Washington where representatives from almost 90 counties presented a vivid account of the current status of the global marine environment. This was the largest meeting aimed at discussing conservation of the marine environment and the depleting fish stocks. It showed why global action is needed immediately. For the past several decades, numerous suggestions have been made and projects undertaken in o

 Faced with Russian nuclear threats during the Cold War, the strategist Herman Kahn calibrated a macabre ladder of escalation with 44 different rungs ranging from “Ostensible Crisis” to “Spasm or Insensate War.” In the era of cyberwarfare that is now dawning, the rules of the game have not yet been established with such coldblooded precision. That is why this period of Russian-American relations is so tricky. The strategic framework that could provide stability has not been set. Russian hackers

On the surface, China seems to be fulfilling its obligations as a member of the international community and a key player in dealing with North Korea’s latest nuclear and missile provocations. The Beijing government departed from its usual tepid attitude by joining the international community’s condemnation of the North after it detonated its fifth nuclear bomb Sept. 9.A permanent member of the UN Security Council, China agreed to a statement which called for the council to take “further signific

South Gyeongsang Gov. Hong Joon-pyo is well known for his self-righteousness and freewheeling style. He often draws public attention for his irreverent behavior and controversial remarks. So it hardly comes as a surprise that he refuses to resign as governor despite a court ruling earlier this month that found him guilty of taking illegal political funds. To make matters worse, while handing out an 18-month prison term, the court did not take him into custody, citing his status as a serving gove

Moms and dads have their special day. So do grandparents.It may seem a bit odd to some, but single people have their own week to celebrate, and it starts Sunday. The Buckeye Singles Council began National Singles Week in Ohio in the 1980s to celebrate single life and recognize singles and their contributions to society. The Census Bureau reports that the week is widely observed during the third full week of September as “Unmarried and Single Americans Week.” It is a recognition that many unmarri

Hong Kong’s latest election results suggest that her elites still do not quite get it. For over a century, Hong Kong has been largely an economic city, where politics was kept under colonial wraps and social development was left largely to the community as long as it did not conflict with the colonial agenda.  A very wise and perceptive friend reminded me that society is like a stool founded on three legs, where one unstable leg would tip the stool over. The three legs are economic, political an

Last month, 18 people in the Gopalganj district of India’s Bihar state died after consuming illicit alcohol, highlighting — once again — the peculiar relationship between morality and tragedy in India. The victims were poisoned because this April, in a fit of moralism, Bihar adopted a draconian law prohibiting the sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol. It is far from the first such ban that has ended badly.In a country where the national hero is the saintly Mahatma Gandhi, who considered

Consider two quotations, the first engraved in modern history and the other less than a week old, and ask yourself what they have in common: “This morning I had another talk with the German chancellor, Herr Hitler, and here is the paper which bears his name upon it as well as mine. ... I believe it is peace for our time.”And then: “I think I’d be able to get along with him. … If he says great things about me, I’m gonna say great things about him. I’ve already said he is really very much of a lea

With the cauldron at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro extinguished, fans and critics alike are revisiting the perennial Olympic question: To whom is this enormously oversized effort to host the games really worth? One beneficiary that was prominently featured in Rio is the world of global security and surveillance.Olympic delegations and high-profile guests clearly want to be assured that the host has control over security. The organizers are equally as eager to demonstrate that they have t

This year’s parliamentary audit, which will mark the first conducted under the 20th National Assembly, is scheduled to begin Sept. 26 for a three-week run.Wordy warfare between the ruling and opposition parties will likely intensify over the issue of the US and Korean governments’ accord to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense on the peninsula and North Korea’s fifth nuclear test earlier this month.Rival parties have also been at loggerheads over whether to question Woo Byung-woo, a pr

After the five-day Chuseok holiday, the local economy and financial markets will face significant external influence from the US in the form of a decision to be publicized here Sept. 22. If the US Federal Reserve keeps its base rate untouched again during the gathering of the Federal Open Market Committee, slated for Sept. 20-21, South Korea’s policymakers might be given more time to boost the economy in the fourth quarter.Some foreign investment banks even predict the Bank of Korea could choose