The way for Democratic Party to survive he National Assembly approved the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement with 151 votes. As the leadership of the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) ran out of patience, it went ahead with a vote on the FTA ratification bill to rush it through the Assembly..
The way for ruling party to survive As Seoul is the capital of South Korea and the home of over half its population, its natural that the city is the primary symbol that people think of when they think of the nation. The mayor of Seoul, then, can be considered second on the scale o..
Protests by angry young Americans On Sept. 17, 700 highly-educated but unemployed young people gathered at Liberty Square, at the center of Wall Street in New York City. They proclaimed that they were going to occupy Wall Street, where big banks and investment firms enjoy their bon..
Thoughts from travel around Baltic Sea I recently visited seven countries around the Baltic Sea over 13 days. This trip is an annual event of the United States Association of Former Members of Congress. I traveled on a big cruise ship, the Holland America Line, which consists of three l..
Disgust against political establishment The Ahn Cheol-soo sensation that broke out before the mayoral by-election in Seoul made the Korean political establishment think about a lot of things. The approval rating for Professor Ahn, over 50 percent in a poll, surprised the nation.
Failure in free-lunch referendum Watching the referendum on the free lunch program held in Seoul last month was like watching an episode of a detective program. In the United States a referendum is usually initiated by citizens reacting against incapable politicians, and almost ne..
Ideological conflict Americas two-party political system is the most successful of its kind in the world. The two parties are the conservative Republicans and the liberal Democrats. For the past 200 years, several rival political parties have been founded and collaps..
Floods in Seoul The recent floods in Seoul have caused the biggest casualties and property damage of the past few decades.
Half-price tuition American colleges give full tuition exemption to academically excellent students from poor households. They not only pay tuition, but they also give stipends for room and board as well. Many Korean students have attended prestigious U.S. colleges i..
Corporate social responsibility Corporate social responsibility still might not be a familiar term in Korea. I think the time has come for Korea to think seriously about the social responsibility of corporations.
Severe economic polarization I think that anyone who has recently visited Seoul would agree that Seouls nightlife is truly amazing. The Gangnam district, located on the southern side of Han River, is all ablaze with lights long past midnight, the streets are full of people, ..
Current status of North Korea policy It is said that Kim Jong-il, the chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea, has been receiving such luxurious treatment during his visit to China that one wonders if the purpose of his visit is trying to get food aid or going on a ..
Problem of Korea-US FTA On April 15, in a subcommittee conference room of the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee, located on the fourth floor of the main building of the National Assembly, a lawmaker from the main opposition Democratic Party took away the ga..
Difference in budget process The top news in the United States early this month was the nation-straining threat of a government shutdown. The media coverage focused both on the possibility of a shutdown and its negative impact on the economy and the lower classes, which made t..
Democracy in Korea that went too far While the foreign press often praises Koreas advancement in areas like education, culture and economy, they tend to have a low opinion of Korean politics, which is an assessment that I agree with.
Who pays it, and who gets the benefit? Americans often use the expression who pays, who benefits for cases where someone gets the benefit of money that somebody else paid, even though the payer should receive a benefit proportional to what they paid.
Once I lost my will to live I was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives three times; as the first Korean to accomplish this, I made headlines both in America and Korea. However, my fall came suddenly.
