U.S. President Barack Obama has racked up a series of foreign-policy triumphs over the last 12 months. But one that has gained less attention than others was the passage last December of legislation to reform the International Monetary Fund, after five years of obstruction by the U.S. Congress. As the IMF convenes in Washington, D.C., for its annual spring meetings from April 15-17, we should pause to savor the importance of this achievement. After all, if the United States had let yet another y

There is a Korean saying: “To find water, concentrate on digging one well at a time.” It means we need to become professionals and specialists, not shallow amateurs. But times have changed. These days, we need people who can dig as many wells as possible in order to benefit many people. Indeed, the present age calls for open-minded men who have a global perspective rather than parochial views, and erudite men who have wide perception rather than men of narrow specialties.We need Renaissance men

Today marks the 20th time that Koreans have gone to the polls to vote for members of the National Assembly. Since the founding of the Republic of Korea in 1948, elections for the National Assembly have been the most regular of all elections. From 1971 to 1987, presidential elections were suspended and elections for local government offices were held for the first time in 1995. National Assembly elections, by contrast, have been held regularly every three to five years, though voter fraud and int

The Government Public Ethics Committee has launched its probe of senior prosecutor Jin Kyung-jun, who is facing questions over his stock trading gains worth more than 10 billion won ($8.6 million).It is a mercy that the state has not hushed up the allegation involving his possible exploitation of corporate insider information. At the same time, a concern is that the committee has no right to summon key figures of game developer Nexon, whose stocks were traded by the prosecutor.While some figures

Korean businesses are pinning their hopes on reaching some type of agreement at a meeting between the OPEC and non-OPEC members in Doha on April 17. If the oil producers reach a consensus on an output freeze, Korea may be a beneficiary, as the nation is an export powerhouse in petrochemical products.Although an increase in crude prices has many positive effects, some industries will also have to bear a heavier burden in procuring raw materials. This divided sentiment reflects the desperate situa

Ambition is the most consistent, yet variable, component of public life. Lincoln and FDR had it, and that was good. Benedict Arnold and Joseph McCarthy had it, too. And that turned out very bad.Bernie Sanders is not often described as an ambitious man. But you don’t run for mayor of your city without a dash of ego and drive. You don’t leverage that position into a congressional seat without wanting more. And no one ends up a U.S. senator without the gnawing, often insatiable, hunger peculiar to

From the rubble of two world wars, European countries came together to launch what would become the world’s largest experiment in unification and cooperative: shared sovereignty. But, despite its impressive achievements over the decades, the European project now risks disintegration.An unresolved financial crisis, a refugee crisis, a deteriorating security environment and a stalled integration process have created throughout Europe a toxic, unstable political environment in which populism and na

As Republicans head toward what could be a stalemated convention, they might recall how the party healed itself in 1952 in what was known as the “winter of discontent.” The Republicans drafted a military leader, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, as their presidential candidate.The looming showdown between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz is a potential “train wreck,” to quote my colleague Charles Krauthammer. Neither front-runner seems likely to have the 1,237 delegates needed for a first-ballot victory. If e

Duane Buck was convicted in 1997 of murdering his ex-girlfriend and a male friend. After a Texas jury determined that he was likely to pose a continuing danger to society, it sentenced him to death. How did the jury conclude that he posed a future threat (a finding that state law requires as a condition for imposing the death penalty)? Simple: Buck is black and, according to a psychologist who testified at the sentencing hearing, race is one of a number of “statistical factors” that can be used

In solving mysteries, the detective Sherlock Holmes used to say that “once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”We have been so used through our conventional training to look for keys under the light of the lamp at night that we often forget to look in the shadows.We live in an age when we base all decisions on what statisticians produce as “facts and numbers.” The trouble with statistics is that all measurements are subject to errors and o

As expected, South Korean tobacco-makers and retailers have expressed their opposition to the Health Ministry’s new antismoking policies, which require all firms to fix health warning illustrations on their cigarette products. However, the ministry is not being swayed by their arguments and has refused to stand down.The new measures, which will be implemented later this year, require health warnings consisting of text and images to be printed on the top 50 percent of the front panels of all ciga

The revelations about offshore accounts contained in the “Panama Papers” are sensational, but they are unlikely to put an end to these tax havens favored by the world’s rich and powerful.Rather, the disclosures are a reminder that these shelters have been around for close to a century, and have proved remarkably resilient even as they periodically aroused public outrage and calls for reform. In fact, an earlier scandal may have laid the foundation for the tax havens that are now under scrutiny.S

In an unprecedented move, research heads of more than 30 domestic securities companies released a joint statement Thursday to condemn Hana Tour for attempting to block research that was critical of its performance.The collective action was prompted by an official of Hana Tour, the nation’s largest travel agency, who threatened to freeze out an analyst at Kyobo Securities for writing a negative report on the company.In his March 30 report, the Kyobo analyst offered a sell rating on Hana Tour, low

Reports on chaebol scions and business owners accused of abusing their employees never cease, fueling anticorporate public sentiment and raising serious questions about the ethical standard of Korean business leaders.The latest case involves Chung Il-sun, president of Hyundai BNG Steel, an affiliate of Hyundai-Kia Motor Group that manufactures stainless steel products. He is one of the grandsons of the late Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung.On Friday, a local media outlet reported that he had

The largest data leak in history — 11.5 million documents, coined the “Panama Papers” — is providing a glimpse into the 1-percenters’ world of offshore banking. So far, data obtained from Mossack Fonseca, a Panamanian law firm that specializes in setting up offshore shell companies (more than 200,000 of them, allegedly), has been linked to heads of state, celebrities, business leaders and other wealthy individuals from all over the world — all hiding behind elaborate fronts.An anonymous source p

In February, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on the National Diet to amend Article 9 of the country’s constitution, which renounces war as a means of settling disputes. Drafted by the United States after World War II, the constitution contains “some parts (that) do not fit into the current period,” Abe said. He is particularly concerned with the constitutional provision that prohibits Japan from maintaining “land, sea, and air forces,” arguing that it seems to be in direct contradictio

Korea is undergoing such rapid demographic changes that many relevant statistics keep producing new records. Those on marriage are no exception.  　Latest figures show that in 2015, the number of marriages stood at 302,800, the lowest since 2003. The ratio of the number of marriages to every 1,000 people dropped to 5.9, marking the first time that it has gone below six.　The record-breaking spree continues: the average age of Korean men tying the knot for the first time reached a record high of 32

With the campaigns for Wednesday’s general election in the final stretch, voters should think about decisions they have already made or will make. Here are some of the points we suggest voters ponder over before they go to the polling stations. 　First, the quadrennial election should serve as a verdict on the administration of President Park Geun-hye. Her five-year single term of office has already passed its midway point, but an election like this is usually regarded as a sort of midterm evalua

European banks have lost their mojo. A toxic combination of negative interest rates, comatose economies and a regulatory backdrop that might euphemistically be described as challenging is wreaking havoc with bank business models. Their collective market value has dropped by a quarter so far this year.　The smoke signals emanating from the European Central Bank in recent weeks suggest regulators aren’t blind to this. Daniele Nouy, who chairs the ECB’s bank supervisory board, said earlier this week

There are important lessons to be learned from what went wrong with the NATO-led military intervention in Libya in 2011. U.S. President Barack Obama was right about that in his recent wonderfully frank interview in the Atlantic. But if we are not to compound the world’s misery, we have to take away the right lessons from that intervention.We can agree that Libya is now a mess, with Islamic State forces holding significant ground, the United Nations-facilitated peace process faltering, and atroci