If there is a reason famous people die in threes, imagine the lively debates Vaclav Havel, Kim Jong-il and Christopher Hitchens are having in eternity’s waiting room. Havel had long been on the Nobel Peace Prize short list for his role in bringing democracy to Czechoslovakia and central Europe. Were there an award for the opposite feat, destabilizing the world and playing a role in the deaths of millions, North Korean leader Kim would win easily. And the indefatigable Hitchens would be there to

Chinese hackers have redefined the concept of room service: In one recent attack, they infiltrated an Internet service provider to some of the world’s leading hotels, potentially gaining access to millions of confidential messages of traveling executives, as well as to the victims’ corporate networks. The electronic theft of proprietary information from U.S. companies has reached the level of grand larceny on a national scale. One declassified government estimate put the value of information sto

Any discussion of financial regulation and its chronic failures should start with a simple, jarring truth: It’s impossible to outregulate a banker. Each crisis in the financial sector brings calls for new rules, which take hold after much political jostling. Then we are supposed to sleep easier, certain that this time we are protected. We never are. Fresh rules are like antibodies, and banking ― much like viruses ― keeps evolving to outwit the regulations. Financial incentives tilt hugely in ban

I’ve had it with this useless, ongoing charade to “save Europe.” It’s time to get serious and consider jailing and impeaching some of these European Union member leaders for requisite incentive.Last week’s EU show was pathetic. It made me throw a pack of gummy bears at my television screen. You’d think these European leaders were actually in a position to save others when they can’t even save themselves as their own countries drown in debt.As every trained water rescuer knows, when faced with a

WASHINGTON ― It’s telling that nearly three years into the Obama presidency, so many conversations with administration officials still begin with a litany of how bad things were under George W. Bush, to wit: The Obama team faced two foreign wars, an aggressive al-Qaida, a deep mistrust among allies, a shaken U.S. economy. They inherited a world of woe. And now? Obama officials recite their catechism of successes. Osama bin Laden is dead and al-Qaida is on the run; the troops are back from Iraq a

Want to know why Japan’s earthquake recovery efforts are moving in slow motion? Ask the whales. Tokyoites have grown accustomed to shocking news items since the earth shook and the oceans rose: the nuclear meltdown has proven far worse than the government admitted; radioactive cesium made its way into baby food; more leaks were found in the damaged Fukushima reactor; warnings by seismologists still go unheeded. Yet the tale of the whales and the $30 million is what proved most disturbing ― and s

The world is closing in on Iran, but not aggressively enough. It’s time for Europe to deal the final blow.The Iranian attack on the British embassy in Tehran was close to an act of war ― as was the attempt to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington. Given the collection of recent provocations from this rogue state, the West’s extremely slow-motion campaign to end Iran’s nuclear-weapons program needs to be pushed to its denouement.In recent days, the United States and Europe have been impo

The government is rolling up its sleeves to stimulate start-up activities among young people as youth unemployment worsens.The November job data released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday put the unemployment rate among those aged 15-29 at 6.8 percent, more than double the general unemployment rate of 2.9 percent.While the overall jobless rate improved this year on the back of employment growth in the service sector, the rate among young people worsened.Korea’s youth unemployment figure may not l

Rep. Park Geun-hye has cleared the biggest hurdle to her comeback in more than five years as the leader of the embattled ruling Grand National Party.On Wednesday, she met a group of reformist GNP lawmakers who had vociferously called for dissolving the party to create a new one. They threatened to leave the party should Park reject their demands. Two hot-tempered lawmakers did declare their departure from the party on Monday.Park was in principle against disbanding the GNP. She regarded it as no

It has become even more difficult to implement visible steps that would lessen Okinawa Prefecture’s burdens as the host of many U.S. military bases. The government must recognize that this situation is extremely serious.The armed services committees of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives have agreed on revisions to a bill for the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2012, which includes a freeze on the entire $156 million budget for shifting U.S. marines stationed in Okinaw

Last week, my colleague Adeline Chia wrote a controversial article dissing K-pop. It resulted in more than 800 comments on her Facebook page from outraged fans and her name trending as the No.1 topic on Twitter for two days.Some friends jokingly asked me if I had signed an online petition demanding that she apologize to everyone she had offended. I’m not surprised they did.Those who know me know that I am crazy about K-pop. I could cite numerous examples of mad fangirl behavior (queuing five hou

CHONGQING ― A quiet revolution is happening in China’s hinterland.Breakneck growth spurred by government-led economic reforms has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and transformed a poor agrarian society into a global industrial powerhouse in one generation. Yet, the second-largest economy in the world is now at a crossroads. Its spectacular success has brought about byproducts such as a large wealth gap and widespread corruption that threaten the sustainability of its develop

Next year is likely to be another tough year for Korean economic policymakers as economic and political uncertainties are likely to mount at home and abroad. Globally, the eurozone sovereign debt crisis is expected to persist, adding fuel to turbulence in global financial markets and aggravating the vulnerability of the Korean economy.The year 2012 is also an election year not only in Korea but in many countries, including the United States, Russia, France and Spain. A leadership change is also

To scientists and environmental groups, the outcome of the recently ended U.N. climate talks in Durban is a big disappointment. Ostensibly, the two-week-long conference, which was attended by more than 190 countries, delivered results. It produced a package of agreements, including, among other things, the extension of the Kyoto Protocol for another five years.The delegates also agreed to launch negotiations next year to hammer out a new legally binding treaty by 2015. The envisioned pact is aim

When it comes to shining a light on the cozy relationships between Wall Street and Washington, and how the rich and powerful get access to things the rest of us don’t, there can never be too many juicy examples. Last month, thanks to Bloomberg Markets magazine, we were treated to the excellent story about how former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson met with a bunch of bankers and hedge fund managers in New York during the summer of 2008 and shared with them some of his early thinking on the futu

Listen carefully to the Republican debates and you get a view of the kind of society many Republicans seek. The last time we had it was in the Gilded Age of the late 19th century.It was an era when the nation was mesmerized by the doctrine of free enterprise. It was also a time when the ideas of William Graham Sumner, a professor of political and social science at Yale, dominated American social thought. Sumner brought Charles Darwin to America and twisted him into a theory to fit the times.Few

The public is in a foul mood over increasing college costs and student debt burdens. Talk of a “higher education bubble” is common on the contrarian right, while the Occupy Wall Street crowd is calling for a strike in which ex-students refuse to pay off their loans. This week, President Barack Obama held a summit with a dozen higher-education leaders “to discuss rising college costs and strategies to reduce these costs while improving quality.” The administration plans to introduce some policy p

Dramatic climate change in the Arctic is rapidly diminishing the polar ice cover, exposing serious environmental, economic and security issues across the top of the world.Ecological upheaval is producing a long coveted Northwest Passage for shipping, with all its opportunities and complications.U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., is working to focus congressional attention on giving the U.S. Coast Guard the ability to protect America’s interests. As the ranking member of the House Transportation sub

NEW DELHI ― U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent visit to Myanmar (Burma), noted largely for a memorable photo opportunity with a wan but smiling Aung San Suu Kyi, signaled a significant change in the geopolitics surrounding a land that has faced decades of isolation, sanctions, and widespread condemnation for its human-rights violations.Twenty-one years ago, after Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) swept a general election, the results were annulled, the party’s leaders a

The legacy of the late North Korean leader Kim Il-sung’s decision in the early 1990s to pursue a strategic partnership with the United States has run its course. In its place, the focus of Pyongyang’s policies has decisively shifted to Beijing. However wary the North Koreans may be of their neighbor, the fact is that from Pyongyang’s viewpoint, the Chinese have delivered and the United States did not.Any shards remaining from the North’s previous, decades-long effort to normalize ties with the U