Lawmakers of the National Assembly Defense Committee suggested in a roundtable with Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin Monday that the government consider exchanging the five Somali pirates captured in the Navy commandos’ raid on the Samho Jewelry Friday with the crew of the Geummi 305 now in captivity in Somalia. Minister Kim said it was a good idea, but we do not think so. Ruling and opposition party

Last Friday’s rescue of the 21 crew members of Samho Jewelry in the Gulf of Aden was successfully completed against all odds. Korea’s swift action was rather unexpected given that it has preferred low-profile negotiations in previous hostage takings abroad. The Korean naval commando team is now holding five pirates in custody. The successful rescue operation will definitely force future pirates to

In his essay, “Work and Play,” George Santayana discusses the Western concept of work and play. He writes, “We may call everything play which is useless activity, exercise that springs from the physiological impulse to discharge the energy which the exigencies of life have not called out. Work will then be all action that is necessary or useful for life.” Although he proposes the importance of pla

Korea lost two great women writers in less than three years. Park Wan-suh, who died of cancer Friday at the age of 79, will be buried in a Catholic cemetery in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, today. We are doubly saddened by her death as it so quickly followed the departure of Park Kyung-ri in May 2008. The passing away of the two Parks who were loved by their contemporaries not only as the writers of

A group of opposition lawmakers left for Washington, D.C., Monday to stage a campaign against the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement which awaits ratification by the two countries’ legislatures. They are accompanied by some members of the radical Minjunochong (Korean Confederation of Trade Unions), a farmers’ association and a few other civic groups on the trip.These politicians include Rep. Chun Jun

The Diet opens its ordinary session today. The results will greatly influence the fate of Prime Minister Naoto Kan and his Cabinet. By his recent Cabinet reshuffle, Kan has made it clear that he will give priority to unified reform of the tax system ― which would include a consumption tax hike ― and the social welfare system as well as to Japan’s participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a r

When independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut announced Wednesday that he wouldn’t seek a fifth term, there was hardly a wet eye in the house. It’s hard to find anybody, conservative or liberal, who has nice things to say about Lieberman, who is so disliked in his home state that the threat of competition from a former pro-wrestling promoter was apparently enough to scare him away from the 20

If a corporation is a “person” under the law, does it get the kinds of “personal privacy” protections real people enjoy ― just because the adjective personal derives from the noun person?AT&T claims it does.But if that’s what federal law means, it will be one more way in which corporate interests trump those of ordinary Americans.Here’s why: Corporations will be able to use the federal Freedom of

TOKYO ― When a North Korean dove clutching an olive branch suddenly appears, the world should challenge it to reveal its hidden talons. This is only prudent because Kim Jong-il’s recent soothing words to America’s special envoy to North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, have been heard before.Indeed, what Kim is now offering is not peace, but a “peace offensive” ― a tactic used by the North repeatedly sinc

Amy Chua, a Yale law professor and mother of two, was unknown to most of the world until two weeks ago. On Jan. 8, the Wall Street Journal published an excerpt from her then-forthcoming, now-bestselling book, “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.” Part memoir and part manifesto, the excerpt was titled “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior” and led with a list of activities and behaviors that Chua’s two da

On the most important domestic issues of the day, our two political parties don’t merely lay out competing arguments; they inhabit alternative realities.The chasm was apparent over the last few days as the House of Representatives churned relentlessly toward its vote to repeal President Obama’s health-care law. The two-day debate, carried out in a marathon series of two-minute speeches, remained c

NEW YORK ― After watching the collapse of Lebanon’s government last week, it is hard not to think about efforts to build a stable Iraq. The two countries have so much in common. Both are volatile democracies where any political question can provoke not just intense debate, but also the threat of violence.Both countries have relative freedom of speech, at least relative to their Arab neighbors, and

The 1987 constitutional amendment was primarily aimed at putting an end to military-backed dictatorships. With democracy fully restored now, few would dispute that this aim has been attained.But the downside is what many regard as a flawed governance system. It is generally agreed that the president, banned from seeking a second term in office, has no more than three years in which to effectively

Is our political speech really more bitter and poisonous than it’s ever been?No, though it’s certainly more debased and lacerating than it was just a few short years ago. We’ve been through eras of bitterly expressed politics more often than we’d probably care to admit. The Federalists and anti-Federalists bickered ferociously. Contention over the Bank of the United States during the Jacksonian er

WASHINGTON ― It’s hard to imagine Rome giving a state dinner for the marauding Barbarians. Or ancient Athens feting a rising Sparta. So before you make any assumptions about inevitable conflict between America and China, consider the image of President Hu Jintao tapping his toe to the music of Herbie Hancock in the East Room of the White House. The social whirl of a state visit is as short-lived a

The situation on the Korean Peninsula is crucial to maintaining peace in Northeast Asia. It plays an important role in the security and economic development of the Asia-Pacific region, and has a great impact on overall global stability. Hence, the peninsula has a special place in Sino-U.S. ties. Though the Cold War ended two decades ago, people on the Korean Peninsula are still living in its shado

Behold the silence of the lambs. Naturally, I’m talking about the Democrats.One of their own House members has been plugged in the head by a nut job armed with a Glock and a high-capacity magazine, yet even now they can’t muster the courage to talk about sensible gun curbs. That issue is off the national agenda because Democrats have been rendered mute by their terror of the gun lobby.The timidity

Forget the symbolic vote to repeal health care. Republicans don’t have the votes to override Obama’s sure veto.The real move happens later, when Republicans try to cut the money needed to implement the law’s requirement that all Americans buy health insurance.On its face it’s a smart tactic. The individual mandate is the lynchpin of the heath-care law because it spreads the risks. Without the part

As expected, U.S. President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao addressed two issues concerning North Korea during their summit on Wednesday ― its hostility against South Korea and its nuclear weapons program. They made agreements in broad terms. But their post-summit remarks provided no indication that they agreed to take any concrete steps with regard to the two issues.At a joint

South Korea has recently started negotiations with the United States on extending the range of its ballistic missiles beyond the permitted 300 kilometers. The talks, though belated, should be welcomed. Still better, the United States is reportedly more receptive to South Korean demands than in the past.South Korea’s efforts to develop a new generation of ballistic missiles as a deterrent against N