Rep. Kim Cheol-min and 14 other members of The Minjoo Party of Korea have drafted a bill to restrict the power of the president to grant special amnesties. The bill should prompt the National Assembly to address the issue, which comes up whenever there is a presidential pardon.The bill aims, among other things, to exclude convicts from amnesty unless they have served a certain period of their prison terms. For instance, those facong the death penalty should have served at least 15 years; those w

The much awaited referendum is finally over, and Britain has decided to leave the European Union. In the months leading up to the referendum, the risks associated with a Brexit were repeatedly warned, while many foreign leaders, big businesses, and experts impassionedly urged Britain to stay in. As if those were not enough, a life was tragically taken away. Since the historic decision was reached, emergency meetings have convened around the world to discuss appropriate responses to Britain’s dec

Donald Trump has selected the perfect non-Trump as his running mate. Mike Pence, the phlegmatic Republican governor of Indiana, has strong credentials with the social right and mediocre political instincts.Pence passes an important test: He might help govern and could take over in an emergency situation.He won’t help much politically; he was in a struggle for reelection in his home state. But no vice presidential candidate really has made a political difference since Lyndon Johnson more than hal

When it comes to Western political leaders, we have definitely arrived at The Time of the Woman. Hillary Clinton is the first serious female candidate for U.S. president, Theresa May just took over as British prime minister and Germany’s Angela Merkel remains the most powerful European politician. Moreover, the nationalist Marine Le Pen will most likely make the final round for French president in 2017.So why not a woman to succeed Ban Ki-moon for secretary-general of the United Nations when he

When it comes to Palestine, one of the most likely images that comes to mind is a complex of violent territorial, political and religious disputes. The vicious cycle of those disputes has put Palestine into social and economic hardships. It, in turn, has made this country a significant recipient of international aid and donations to help it carry on. Konkuk University is part of this global community implementing international development cooperation projects in Palestine.As a higher educational

An old saying tells us that those who can’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. In China these days, a more relevant adage might be: Those who choose to learn only certain lessons from history are doomed.That’s the upshot of China’s reaction to a ruling from a tribunal at The Hague rejecting its claims to much of the South China Sea. Government officials and state news media unleashed a blistering torrent of vitriol in response, deriding the whole proceeding as a “farce” and a “brutal vi

After the horror in Nice, perhaps the most depressing comment came from France’s prime minister. Calling for unity in the face of terror, Manuel Valls observed, “Times have changed, and we should learn to live with terrorism. We have to show solidarity and collective calm.”If this sounds like resignation, it shouldn’t. Valls is no squish. After the Charlie Hebdo attack in January 2015, he told the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg that accusations of “Islamophobia” were too often used to silence legit

The nation’s minimum wage per hour for next year has been set at 6,470 won ($5.70), a growth of 7.3 percent from the current 6,030 won. The new minimum wage translates to 1.35 million won per month for employees who work full time.Opposition lawmakers expressed their regret over the decision. The main opposition said the increase should have been at least a two-digit percentage. The runner-up opposition claimed the increase is far short of the level that can narrow the current income gap and tha

Samsung Electronics is drawing close attention in the capital market as its stock prices have risen 8.4 percent over the past three weeks since the impact of the Brexit referendum hit the KOSPI. It closed at 1.518 million won ($1,337) last Friday, compared with 1.4 million won on June 24.Its share price growth over the past two months was more noteworthy, gaining 21.6 percent from 1.248 million won on May 16.Samsun Electronics shares have reached their highest point in three years, and the issue

After a landslide victory in Japan’s election on July 10, the Liberal Democratic Party now has a supermajority in both the upper and lower houses of the Diet. Essentially, there is no longer any effective political opposition in Japan. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has more power than any leader in decades -- even more than his famous grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, who served as prime minister in the 1950s. Most importantly, his twin supermajorities give him the ability to get constitutional reforms t

In recent years, Republicans have argued that Congress is a more responsible policymaker than the executive branch. But when it comes to regulation, Congress is often much worse, and for just one reason: Executive agencies almost always focus on both costs and benefits, and Congress usually doesn’t.As a case in point, consider the Senate’s recent vote, by a margin of 63-30, in favor of a new law to require national labels for foods containing genetically modified organisms. The House is expected

Deadly terrorist attacks in Istanbul, Dhaka, and Baghdad demonstrate the murderous reach of the Islamic State group in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Asia. The longer IS maintains its strongholds in Syria and Iraq, the longer its terrorist network will create such carnage. Yet IS is not especially difficult to defeat. The problem is that none of the states involved in Iraq and Syria, including the United States and its allies, has so far treated IS as its primary foe. It is

An international court rules that China broke the law by building islands in the South China Sea. China doesn’t care. Does that make international law a joke? The answer is yes and no.International law is not the command of a sovereign backed by the threat of force. It usually cannot force countries to obey its dictates and decisions. That makes it different from domestic law.But international law still matters. The decision against China by a Hague tribunal for violating a treaty, the United Na

The ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague against China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea is a watershed moment for international law and an unmistakable warning to China about its strategic assertiveness in Southeast Asia. China says that it does not recognize the PCA ruling; but that doesn’t mean it is undisturbed by it.The question now is how China will respond. Will it change its often-aggressive behavior in the region, or will it continue to view the South Chin

A year ago, the government publicized its plan to create more than 200,000 jobs for those aged between 15 and 34 by 2017 in collaboration with six major business associations.Besides that, over the past few years, Korea’s economic policymakers have come up with another set of countermeasures to tackle the lingering youth joblessness problem.So far, however, the measures have yet to put a big dent in youth unemployment.Last month, the nation’s youth unemployment rate has reached 10.3 percent. Thi

The issue surrounding the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system is becoming a serious bone of contention in East Asia as well as on the Korean Peninsula after Seongju, North Gyeongsang Province, was announced this week as the site that will host a THAAD battery.South Korea’s government has faced a dual task in resolving the backlash from domestic opponents, including Seongju residents, and neighboring countries such as China.The government should be aware that the problem has snowballe

The ruling on the Philippines’ case by the U.N.-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which is scheduled to be handed down today (July 12), has been rendered anticlimactic by the recent major policy announcement of President Rodrigo Duterte.Last week, the president said that whether the ruling of the Arbitral Tribunal would be favorable to the Philippines or not, his administration was willing to start bilateral negotiations with China on the conflict in the South China Sea that ha

This is the second in a new series of columns on global affairs which will be written by top editors from members of the Asia News Network and published in newspapers across the region. --Ed. This week and in the midst of news of far greater moment from around Asia, India is being asked to focus its energies on the latest instalment of a long-running soap opera that ought either to have ended or been taken off the air a few years ago. This episode has left hanging a question that those writing t

With the first Islamic State group-related terrorist attack in the country, brazen gun killings and brutal machete murders, we can no longer pretend that Malaysia is still as safe and secure as it used to be.We are beset by the twin perils of rising crimes and the looming threat of terrorism.So far, the authorities have done little to reassure us of our basic rights to safety, other than providing contrary statistics.The numbers provided by the Performance Management and Delivery Unit, for examp

Why have race relations in the United States so drastically disintegrated under a president who had set out to improve them? The answer lies in the leftist ideology of the president in question.Activist groups staged nationwide protests last week after two black men -- one in Louisiana and one in Minnesota, each reportedly carrying a gun -- were fatally shot by police. At a protest in Dallas, five law enforcement officers were killed by a man who, according to police, had “stated he wanted to ki