Last November, a group of Indians filed a petition in a British court asking for the return of the famous Kohinoor diamond that sits ensconced in a crown in the Tower of London. The gem was part of the British plunder of the subcontinent, they held, and justice demanded that it be returned.As happens with anything the Indians do, the Pakistanis were not to be left behind. Within a month, a Pakistani barrister filed a petition in a British court, asking for the return of the diamond to Pakistan.

What responsibility do we have for the world we inhabit? What do we owe one another, and what can we claim from others who share the planet with us? As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, the importance of such global-minded ethical considerations is becoming ever clearer. Indeed, it is imperative for us to begin thinking as global citizens, citizens of the world, even if our first allegiance is to a particular country.That shift in mindset is exactly what the so-called Global Citizen

Like a lot of Americans, President Barack Obama thinks cable TV costs too much. Unlike a lot of Americans, he is in a position to do something about it — and even if he fails, it’s still worth the effort.Last Friday, Obama took the unusual step of announcing his support for a proposal from the Federal Communications Commission intended to make it easier for customers to purchase their own set-top cable boxes. Whether the idea would actually save consumers money remains to be seen, but it could h

A month-long extraordinary parliamentary session kicks off Thursday as the three major parties have agreed to bring the 19th National Assembly to a fruitful conclusion.The agreement deserves praise, as there are many issues that cannot wait until the launch of the 20th National Assembly in early June.During the one-month session, the three parties should work productively, given that the 19th National Assembly is widely viewed as the least productive parliament in history.The public will closely

The government is shifting its focus to corporate restructuring, an issue that is of vital importance to the economy but has been put on the back burner due to the April 13 general election.Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho said during his visit to Washington last week that the government would speed up the long-delayed restructuring of such troubled industries as shipping and shipbuilding.Referring to Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., one of Korea’s largest shippers drowning in debt, Yoo said that if shipp

He is the kind of boy that all girls want to bring home. He is also the kind of young man that all moms want to see their girls bring home. Even President Park Geun-hye wanted him -- he was invited to play host to the president at the recent opening of K-Style Hub, a tourism center in Seoul. Actor Song Joong-ki, the latest Korean pop cultural heartthrob, is the most wanted guy in town. As Army Capt. Yoo Si-jin in the recently concluded KBS2 TV drama series “Descendants of the Sun,” the 30-year-o

The rumors ricocheting through Istanbul reached us on March 16, when a close Turkish friend urged us to leave the city for the weekend. The next day, my Turkish teacher, as well as the lifeguard at my gym, offered similar warnings. Three days later, at 9:30 a.m., the easygoing young man who delivers hefty plastic jugs of fresh water walked into my kitchen with a week‘s supply. “Will there be trouble in the city today?” I asked him. “Yes,” he instantly replied. “There will be bombs. Stay home.”Tw

“It’s China’s fault,” I hear every time smog and yellow dust envelop the Korean Peninsula, which happens all too frequently in spring. So I read Matthew Shapiro’s “Dust in the Wind, Solution in the Lab” (Opinion, April 19) with hopes that a new voice would counter this myopic chorus.Unfortunately, Shapiro fails to mention anything about Korea’s own direct contribution to this combined pollution even though numerous reports in 2015 illustrated the fact that Korea contributes to its own harmful ai

“There’s classified, and then there’s classified,” President Barack Obama said in a recent interview. Unfortunately, he’s right: The U.S. government classifies vast amounts of material as secret, top secret and the like, much of it with no relevance to national security.This isn’t just a bureaucratic waste of money and a blow to the democratic ideal of government transparency. Overclassification makes the U.S. less secure, in that it distracts intelligence agencies from protecting actual life-an

China’s critics are united on one point: The country’s central problem is that it’s moving too slowly to embrace free markets. For now, however, the bigger risk lies in moving too fast.It’s important to remember how China reached this point. For any big economy, coordination poses a steep challenge. The problem is particularly acute at early stages of development, when a combination of poverty and a past record of underperformance mean no one has an incentive to invest.What’s required is a big p

As President Obama travels this week to Saudi Arabia, here’s a surprising snapshot of what young Arabs think: They’re scared about the Islamic State and terrorism; they yearn for more freedom and gender equality; they fear that the Arab Spring has made life worse; and they’re increasingly skeptical about the role of traditional religious values. If these Arab reactions seem similar to what people would say in the West, maybe that’s the real takeaway. Despite all the violence and extremism that p

Every major election poses a challenge to law enforcement authorities: punishing candidates who violated laws in the fastest and fairest manner. The general election held last week is no exception. In this sense, the state prosecution and police appear to be doing a good job. Prosecutors have already arrested a close associate of a lawmaker-elect on suspicion of attempting to buy a parliamentary seat under the proportional representation system. Investigators armed with court-issued warrants hav

It is highly likely that the world will see a new nuclear test by North Korea. This calls on the international community to get ready to punish the rogue regime swiftly and forcefully.There have been so many signs from the North that South Korean authorities seem convinced that a fifth nuclear test by the North is all but a fait accompli. A Defense Ministry spokesman said he believed the North could conduct nuclear test at any time. Seoul officials note that recent satellite monitoring of the Pu

Across Europe, law enforcement authorities scramble to unravel Islamic State terror networks poised to strike against innocent civilians. Progress is fitful, and fear of another attack is high.But on the Iraqi and Syrian battlefields of Islamic State’s self-proclaimed caliphate, better news:-- A loose coalition of forces, backed to varying degrees by the U.S., have reclaimed a huge chunk of Islamic State real estate. The Pentagon now estimates Islamic State has lost at least 40 percent of its te

As part of its annual trade and aid package, Beijing purchases 90 percent of North Korea’s commercial exports and provides the Kim regime with 80 percent of its consumer goods, 90 percent of its energy, over $100 million in U.N. banned luxury goods and enough food to feed over a million people. The $1.2 billion trade deficit with China is considered foreign aid since it is inconceivable it will ever be paid back. However, most money is derived from trade itself.China’s exports to North Korea wer

When foreign cultures come to Korea, they seem to change to suit the Korean sentiment and the new environment. For example, TGI Fridays is just an ordinary family restaurant in the States. In Korea, however, it is a rather decent, expensive Western restaurant where you can bring valued guests without hesitation. Another example is hotels. Unlike in the States, Holiday Inn is a four-star hotel in Korea and the Marriot Hotel a five-star super luxury hotel. In the States, Chinese restaurants are kn

SAO PAULO -- Brazil’s political crisis appears to be coming to a head. Now that the lower house of the National Congress has voted in favor of President Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment for violating fiscal rules, the Senate’s 81 members will vote in the coming days on whether to try her. If 42 agree, she will be suspended for up to 180 days, during which time Vice President Michel Temer will assume the presidency. If the Senate does not produce a two-thirds vote for conviction during that period, R

The communique issued by the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers at the conclusion of talks in Washington this weekend had a somewhat unreal, and worryingly ironic, tone. Noting that global growth “remains modest and uneven,” the G20 warned the large advanced economies against continuing their prolonged, excessive reliance on unconventional monetary policy to power growth. Yet the communique, which was issued in the names of the specialized policy makers most closely involved in pe

Two ancient Buddhist statues were stolen by a group of Korean smugglers from two Japanese temples on Tsushima Island in October 2012. The statues were later found in Korea and confiscated by law enforcement agencies. Japan has been asking for the return of the statues. This issue has remained an outstanding item in bilateral relations.There is an international treaty to which both countries are parties, the 1972 UNESCO Convention, which obligates return of stolen cultural artifacts. Japan has be

Economic policymakers are poised to unveil a stimulus package after the weeks-long campaign for the 20th general election ended last Wednesday. Simultaneously, doubts in the market over the efficacy of the coming policy are also mounting, as the ruling Saenuri Party suffered a surprise rout in the election.As a result, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance is assumed to have become more prudent in fine-tuning its policy direction before unveiling it. An ineffective package or a stopgap measure to