Run-up to 2012 elections The month of July saw the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) undergo a leadership change at its biennial national convention and President Lee Myung-bak replace his chief of staff and senior secretaries.
Lee should take the job Few would thank Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee if he were to take the job as chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), the big business lobby.
Symbolism vs. substance There is a lot happening in the country this week. Both U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates were in town for the first-ever ``2+2 meeting. The talks place Clinton and Gates at the table with their respect..
Cheer up Dr. Sakong! Last week, Sakong Il, chief organizer of the G20 Seoul Summit in November, gave a progress briefing to business editors of media organizations.
Mayor Ohs 2nd term Mayor Oh Se-hoon started his second four-year term on July 1. It's one month after he won the mayoral election in what is seen as one of the most dramatic upsets in the history of domestic polls.
Lady Hyundais catfight Will Hyundai Group Chair-woman Hyun Jung-eun be able to win this battle?
Constitutional change There have been many forums recently in the country on constitutional change. Those forums, organized by lawmakers' groups and sometimes jointly held by academic organizations and government offices, provided an opportunity to see the campaign to m..
Death of print media? Nope The head of a major vernacular newspaper recently observed, "If we enter the broadcasting business, we will go bankrupt in 10 years. If we stay away and just continue what we have been doing, we will be able to survive for 20 years."
June party The monsoon season arrived just-in-time. The rain falls as if to quell the early summer heat and to tone down our turbo-charged football fever. The wildly popular Taeguk Warriors, the South Korean national football team, returned home Tuesday from ..
Euh Yoon-dae paradox Perhaps, Euh Yoon-dae is about to land the wrong job at the wrong time. Not that he had coveted the job as the governor of the Bank of Korea and didn't get it.
Red Devils still hungry There is nothing like football to drive South Koreans into such a wild, collective frenzy. The chant "Dae~hanminguk" (Republic of Korea) is a commanding spell that lets loose the "Red Devils" en masse.
It is only a game, isnt it? On one hand, I love football. On the other, I hate it.
Malpractice Political regionalism was the sole voting pattern in previous elections. But this changed to some extent by region in the fifth local elections on June 2.
Its time to talk Red, the color of the Red Devils fan squad for the Korean football team is replacing the verdant green nationwide. The national squad plays its first match Saturday against Greece in South Africa.
Barking up the wrong tree Professor Kim Min-jun of Kyunghee University raised an interesting point during a late-night television panel discussion, Saturday, on the upset for the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) in the June 2 local elections.
Caught in Catch-22 Did North Korea really attack the warship Cheonan? To steer clear of this uncomfortable but haunting question, the government and military should leave no stone unturned in their inquiry into the sinking.
End of brotherhood We South Koreans should learn a couple of lessons from North Korea's fatal assault on our navy corvette Cheonan with a twist on the Talmudic approach that allows ourselves to neither forget nor forgive.
