From right, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida pose during the 7th trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting in Seoul, South Korea, March 21, 2015. [Photo/IC] A trilateral summit between China, Japan and the Republic of Korea is due to be held this weekend in Seoul. This…
Category: Governance
The Iran accord is going to change everything (GlobalPost)
Stephen Kinzer spent more than 20 years working for the New York Times, most of it as a foreign correspondent. He made his first reporting trip to Iran in 1997 and has returned regularly. His books include All the Shah’s Men: A Middle East Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror, which tells the story…
Abaya railroading P4.25-B deal for Liberal Party-mate (Philippine Star)
For some queer reason, the Ombudsman has not dared touch him. So the transport chief goes on his merry dubious ways? Newsflash: Transport Sec. Joseph Abaya is soon to grant a P4.25-billion rehab of the MRT-3 to his very Liberal Party-mate who had wrecked the Metro Manila commuter rail to begin with. Abaya, the LP acting…
High-level exchanges between China and ROK (China Daily)
China and the Republic of Korea (ROK), the long-time partners in East Asia, have seen frequent high-level exchanges since South Korean President Park Geun-hye took office in 2013, which have lifted the bilateral relations to a new level. As Chinese Premier Li Keqiang prepares to pay an official visit to ROK to attend the sixth trilateral…
Zanzibar's presidential candidate declares himself winner (Daily Nation (Kenya))
An opposition candidate in Zanzibar on Monday declared himself the winner of the island’s presidential election as security agents arrested 191 people during a night raid on opposition tallying centres. One of those seized was Kenyan, one French and another a Korean. While Tanzania remained generally calm after the most competitive election since independence, these were…
Secrets Behind Ethiopia's Rise [column] (allAfrica.com)
Ethiopia has achieved a great deal of socio-economic success through state-led development: A development system seemingly shaped after the South Korean model of economic miracle. In its Markets report in November 2014, the top-rated Washington DC financial services firm, The Motley Fool, published an analytic article about “The 5 Fastest-Growing Countries in the World”. It ranked…
Reunion of families is a glimmer of hope in Korea (Al Jazeera)
In August, North and South Korea agreed to hold another meeting for the divided families. It is scheduled to happen in late October, at the special facility which was built for such family reunions at the Mount Kumgang resort on North Korean territory, but close to the border. Since the discontinuation of the meetings in 2010,…
Mnangagwa Cuts Lonely Figure [analysis] (allAfrica.com)
Café Nush, at Avondale Shopping Centre is a charming and wordly Harare lunchery. Our own version of Pur’ — Jean-Francois Rouquette restaurant in Paris, France, I suppose. Each time that I make extra cash, I wander to the place for an occasional treat. With prétentieux patrician étiquette, and self-taught debonairness, it seems the crowd never changes.…
Tough farewells for North and South Korean families, reunited for just three days (euronews)
For hundreds of North and South Korean families reunited for the first time in over 60 years, it was time on Thursday (October 22) to say goodbye. The emotional farewells marked the end of a three-day reunion organised by the governments of Pyongyang and Seoul, which have been at odds since the 1950-1953 Korean war. South…
William Watson: Hope and change-back (Financial Post)
Though without executive experience of any kind, a young, good-lucking, charismatic, first-time candidate with a young, good-looking, accomplished wife and young, telegenic kids runs for his nation’s highest office on a pledge to do politics differently-younger, gentler, politer, more positively, less partisanly, did I mention younger?-and to instill hope and deliver change in an electorate he…