United States Forces Korea is acting promptly to establish facts following claims by American veterans that Agent Orange was buried at a U.S. Army camp in southern Korea. The U.S. command has issued press statements almost on a daily basis since the disclosure through a U.S. cable network last week and the Korean and U.S. authorities conducted a preliminary on-site investigation at Camp Carroll in

The Blue House staff are red-faced after the new floor leader of the ruling Grand National Party suddenly came up with a half-tuition offer for college students, one of President Lee Myung-bak’s major campaign pledges which an unfavorable economy had forced him to shelve for the past three years. Rep. Hwang Woo-yea picked it up aiming at the votes of two million college students and their struggli

My brother David and I have long supported the principles that help societies prosper. I have actively done so for nearly 50 years, as has my brother for more than 40.In recent years, we have stepped up our efforts to deal with the enormous threats to the future well-being of the people of this country. This has prompted some extreme criticism. From the White House to fringe bloggers, we are now b

Ordinary people in both the Muslim and non-Muslim world anticipated President Obama’s reaction toward the Arab revolutions fairly accurately, but they were a bit puzzled by Osama bin Laden’s reaction. It is ironic that their positions on the Arab revolutions were announced to the world back-to-back.According to bin Laden’s posthumously broadcast message, he fully supported the Arab people’s revolt

Since 2003, the California Chamber of Commerce has published an annual hit list of bills it labels job killers. The list has included legislation to protect consumers, workers and the environment and to raise revenue to fund public services or support middle- and working-class families.No politician ― Democrat or Republican ― wants to be known as someone who kills jobs, so many of them will avoid

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan ― As the war grinds toward its endgame, and administration officials debate how fast to draw down troops and whether to talk to the Taliban, I got a startling earful on both subjects ― from one of Afghanistan’s most powerful and controversial leaders, Ahmed Wali Karzai, President Hamid Karzai’s younger brother.I interviewed AWK, as he is known, in his two-story office behind

The wage levels of national public servants have been determined based on recommendations by the National Personnel Authority every year since 1948. The system makes up for the restrictions imposed on government workers’ basic labor rights, including the right to strike.Without the NPA’s recommendations, the Kan administration plans to reduce the wages of national public servants. It aims to use t

Northeast Asia, namely China, Japan and the two Koreas, has been engaged in brisk top-level meetings since last weekend to address the increasingly complex issues involving the region. While North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was touring China, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao discussed security, trade and disaster control in a sum

Forcible demolitions will not stop unless local government leaders are made to realize that they have to pay a price for exploiting land to earn revenue. The amended regulations on requisition and compensation for State-owned land took effect on Jan. 21, but only a few local land and resources officials have been punished. The central government, therefore, has to take some strict measures to ensu

It does not seem a very wise move that a group of South Korean lawmakers would visit one of the Kuril islands, the subject of a long-standing territorial dispute between Russia and Japan, as part of their campaign to manifest Korea’s sovereignty over Dokdo islands in the East Sea. First of all, there is little similarity between Dokdo and any of the four islands which have been under Russian juris

WASHINGTON ― The “Arab Spring” has analysts searching for the right historical comparison. Is it like 1848, and the wave of revolution that swept Europe? Or is it 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall? Or perhaps 1979, and the toppling of the Shah of Iran by Muslim radicals? The democratic uprising of 2011 has elements of all of the above, and the spirit of change mostly has been exhilarating. But

The newest slumlord in Los Angeles is a pillar of German capitalism. Earlier this month, the city attorney’s office filed suit against Deutsche Bank, the world’s fourth-largest bank, for letting many of the more than 2,000 L.A. homes it has foreclosed on descend into squalor and decay.A yearlong city investigation of the properties on which Deutsche Bank foreclosed turned up tenants compelled to l

The results are in: “Bridesmaids,” the much-hyped girl-raunch comedy touted as the long-awaited antidote to Judd Apatow’s “bromance” phenomenon, opened way bigger than expected at the box office, thereby proving that women can be just as funny ― and, moreover, sell as many tickets ― as men. (Apatow, it should be noted, is a producer on the film.)Billed in its tagline as evidence that “chick flicks

PARIS ― Twenty years ago, in the immediate aftermath of Germany’s reunification, French magazines were full of caricatures of Chancellor Helmut Kohl wearing the traditional pointed Prussian helmet. The new Germany was perceived as a threat to the European balance. Germany was simply “too much” again.German geopolitical ambitions, it was believed, would invariably seek greater proportionality with

Woohoo! Secularism has arrived. That was one reaction to the news that Pitzer College in Claremont, California, is launching a secular studies department.“Well, it’s about time!” wrote an eager academic in the Chronicle of Higher Education. The editor of CNN’s Belief blog didn’t know “whether to be surprised that it happened or surprised that it took so long.”The blog at the conservative journal F

GENEVA ― As the U.N. Conference on Disarmament begins a seven-week session in Geneva, its future is on the line. Whereas countries and civil-society initiatives are on the move, the conference has stagnated. Its credibility ― indeed, its very legitimacy ― is at risk.The “CD,” as it is informally known, has long served as the world’s only multilateral forum for negotiating disarmament. Its many imp

Back in October of 2003, I witnessed a remarkable spectacle at a San Diego rally for gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger. As I talked to people about allegations that Schwarzenegger had crudely groped women against their will, using his celebrity and power to have his way, they were outraged.Not at Schwarzenegger, but at the Los Angeles Times, for reporting the stories.Even after Schwarz

Chung Jin-suk, senior presidential secretary for political affairs, denies he did anything illegal when he was an outside director for Samhwa Savings Bank, which has recently slid into insolvency. He may not have breached the law but he may be criticized for negligence“Never did I attend a conference on bank management or engage in lobbying (on behalf of the savings bank),” says Chung, who took 2

As a recent survey indicates, almost eight in 10 Koreans support the Ministry of National Defense’s idea of giving favors in written employment tests to those who have completed active duty. Given this high approval rate, the ministry may be tempted to believe all it needs to do is request the legislature to pass the relevant bill awaiting action.But it is not as simple as it looks. A similar law

The government on May 13 decided on the overall framework of a scheme to help Tokyo Electric Power Co. compensate people who have suffered losses from the accidents at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.Compensation will be paid to those who were evacuated from their homes as well as to farmers, fishermen and others who have suffered financial losses due to the accidents.The government plans