The government’s plan to raise a 1 trillion won ($864 million) fund from businesses to support farmers and fishermen following ratification of a free trade agreement (FTA) with China in the National Assembly, Monday, is drawing a huge backlash from the private sector. The ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy…
Category: Governance
Vacuum in economic leadership emerges as big risk (The Korea Times)
With just one month to go before the New Year, the Korean economy is facing enormous uncertainty at home and abroad, the resolution of which will determine Korea Inc.’s performance in 2016, experts say. The biggest uncertainty is who will take economic helm. Minister of Strategy and Finance Choi Kyung-hwan is all but certain to leave…
Cambodia's 'beating heart' and climate change disaster (Al Jazeera)
Chong Kneas, Cambodia – No celebrations took place this year. For the fourth time since 2010, the Cambodian government cancelled this November’s water festival – a hallowed three-day event marking the change in direction of the river feeding Southeast Asia’s largest lake, the Tonle Sap. Low water levels and persistent drought, officials claimed, ruled out squandering…
Alarm about Muslim immigrants sounds familiar (The Sacramento Bee)
The reports, according to CNS, the conservative Cybercast News Service, came from border county Texas sheriffs: “Arabic-speaking individuals are learning Spanish and integrating into Mexican culture before paying smugglers to sneak them into the United States. “Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez of Zapata County told Cybercast News Service that Iranian currency, military badges in Arabic and other items…
Naguib Sawiris Pays a Heavy Price Investing in North Korea (allAfrica.com)
In 2011 telecom magnate Naguib Sawiris grabbed the world’s attention with his friendly meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, three years after he pumped huge investments into the DPRK’s virgin mobile services industry. His meeting with Jong-il coincided with Sawiris’s founding of an Egyptian political party, joining the fray of new faces that entered the…
Daily Press Briefing November 23, 2015 [document] (allAfrica.com)
Index for Today’s Briefing ISIL BURUNDI ARGENTINA RUSSIA/IRAN SYRIA/ISIL SOUTH KOREA ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS IRAQ MALI NIGERIA TURKEY BURUNDI SAUDI ARABIA BELGIUM IRAN TERRORISM TRANSCRIPT: 2:09 p.m. EST MR TONER: Chill in the air today. Anyway, happy Monday, everyone, on this, the last few days before Thanksgiving. Welcome to the State Department. A few things at the top…
Seoul plans stronger anti-terrorism measures after Paris attacks (dpa German Press Agency)
Seoul (dpa) – South Korea has announced a series of anti-terrorism measures in the wake of the Paris attacks, news reports said. An additional 100 billion won (85 million dollars) would be spent on improving its navy with five armed high-speed boats, as well as strengthening measures against biological and chemical attacks, Yonhap News Agency reported…
Girls only have eyes for Trudeau, Nieto (Philippines Daily Inquirer)
THE MAN dubbed as the sexiest leader in the free world Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau drew raves when he arrived Tuesday to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit. In contrast, the acknowledged leader of that free world, US President Barack Obama, dispensed with any red carpet welcome when he arrived. After resting in his…
On Okinawa, clash over war and peace began with US victory in WWII (McClatchy Washington Bureau)
NAGO, Japan — As two U.S. Marine Corps aircraft soar above a pristine Pacific beach, a Japanese environmentalist on the shore below worries that she may see many more of them very soon. “I feel the vibration” when Marine aircraft pass overhead, says Anna Shimabukuro, 37. “I feel uncomfortable.” She’s spent more than half her life…
Quirino House, aka Syquia Mansion-the original Malacanang of the North (Philippines Daily Inquirer)
TODAY is the 125th birth anniversary of Elpidio Quirino. But who among the millennials knows about him now? Indeed, who heard of that name except Quirino province, Quirino Avenue and Quirino Grandstand? Quirino was Manuel Quezon’s secretary of finance and of interior, Senate president during Sergio Osmena’s administration, Manuel Roxas’ vice president, before becoming the country’s…