The Korea Herald

[Adam Minter] Why China and Hollywood don’t mix

For movie moguls, it probably seemed like an irresistible idea: Pair a Hollywood star with China’s most famous director, add a preposterous story about monsters attacking the most recognizable Chinese landmark, and mix in $150 million to make the magic happen. The result was “The Great Wall,” the most expensive Hollywood-Chinese collaboration ever -- and a colossal cultural flop.　　Despite financial backing from China’s largest cinema operator, possibly the biggest marketing campaign in the count

Viewpoints Dec. 23, 2016

[Rex Huppke] Magic of Christmas grows as we age

Christmas, when you’re young, is the morning, the race down the stairs to the tree, the brief, stunned pause when eyes -- overwhelmed by blood-pumping excitement -- can’t quite process the presents and fattened stockings.　It’s unwrapping and unboxing and unfolding, putting batteries in and squeezing dolls and hardly believing that what you asked for -- written in a letter to the North Pole or whispered in the ear of a bearded elf at the mall -- materialized.　Christmas arrives, it departs, the da

Viewpoints Dec. 23, 2016

[Rex Huppke] Magic of Christmas grows as we age

Exxon’s inside man as secretary of state

Plenty of ink will be spilled in the coming days from critics anxious about Donald Trump’s secretary of state nominee’s ties with Russia — when ever-opportunistic Sen. Marco Rubio is on the list (a spot he reserved Sunday with the tweet, “Being a ‘friend of Vladimir’ is not an attribute I’m hoping for in a #SecretaryOfState”), you know it’s getting serious. But there’s another major reason for the US Senate to keep Exxon Mobil Corp. CEO Rex W. Tillerson out of Foggy Bottom.　　Exxon Mobil is curre

Viewpoints Dec. 16, 2016

[David Ignatius] US straddle in Syria was bound to fail

The fall of Aleppo is a human catastrophe. It’s also a demonstration of the perils of choosing the middle course in a military conflict. Sometimes it‘s possible to talk and fight at the same time. But in Syria, America’s decision to pursue a dual-track, halfway approach made the mayhem worse. 　A battered Secretary of State John Kerry made one more plea Thursday for a peaceful evacuation of what‘s left of Aleppo. At a State Department briefing, he used the strongest language to describe the situa

Viewpoints Dec. 16, 2016

[David Ignatius] US straddle in Syria was bound to fail

[David Ignatius] Be thankful for Trump’s insincerity

Perhaps we should be thankful this week for Donald Trump’s insincerity. In a breathtaking fortnight of flip-flopping, he has reversed many of his most reckless and damaging campaign positions. 　The new Trump professes sympathy for people and ideas he disdained during the “vicious” campaign. He now admires President Barack Obama, doesn’t want to harm (let alone lock up) Hillary Clinton, is waffling on climate change, and thinks waterboarding might not work. Maybe he’ll even decide that the Trans-

Viewpoints Nov. 25, 2016

[David Ignatius] Be thankful for Trump’s insincerity

[Solomon Jones] Troubling shift in coverage of white nationalism

In the wake of Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election, the battle for the soul of America has begun.　It is playing out in boardrooms high above New York City, in off-the-record conversations between the president-elect, news executives and prominent reporters and on-air personalities.　Two such meetings took place this week. The first was with broadcast news executives and reporters at Trump Tower, and the second was with executives, editors and reporters at the New York Times.　Trump

Viewpoints Nov. 25, 2016

Trump’s duty to the United States

Donald Trump has made history as the first man with no government experience to reach the highest office in the land -- and as the least popular and most divisive candidate ever to do so. The burden is now on him to leave a mean-spirited campaign behind and demonstrate that he can bring people together to move the country forward on important issues.　His victory speech hit the right notes. After showing a graciousness toward Hillary Clinton that was lacking throughout the campaign, he said it wa

Viewpoints Nov. 11, 2016

[Eric Frazier] No, it’s not end of the world

Dear progressive,　Like you, I couldn’t sleep much last night. My brain refused to shut down. It churned relentlessly, chewing on dark possibilities of what a President Trump will mean. A trade war with China that craters the US economy? An impulsive military strike in Syria? An economic crisis sparked by the Mexican wall? A secret Nixonian “enemies list” prosecuted by Attorney General Rudy Giuliani?　Much to worry about, yes. Hard not to be depressed and demoralized. But hold off on that Google s

Viewpoints Nov. 11, 2016

[Eric Frazier] No, it’s not end of the world

[Other view] Heathrow isn’t ready for takeoff

Because Brexit isn’t risky enough, apparently, Britain’s Conservative government has decided to embark on another project fraught with potential for failure. For many years, the country has been arguing furiously about a big expansion of London’s Heathrow airport. Having once opposed the idea, the Tories say they are now in favor.　Prime Minister Theresa May is right: Heathrow needs another runway. But the government’s announcement settles nothing. Even now, no sensible person would bet on this e

Viewpoints Oct. 28, 2016

[Rachel Marsden] Next US president and Vietnam War

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton may have opposed the Vietnam War in her youth, but her background should give serious pause to voters seeking to avoid another Vietnam.　Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump wants America out of the Middle East for essentially the same reason that John F. Kennedy wanted America out of Vietnam: In the long run, military intervention is a lost cause.　According to former US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara’s memoir, “In Retrospect: The Trag

Viewpoints Oct. 28, 2016

[Rachel Marsden] Next US president and Vietnam War

[Robert B. Reich] The trust destroyers don’t mind public rebuke　

Donald Trump’s warning that he might not accept the results of the presidential election exemplifies his approach to everything: Do whatever it takes to win, even if that means undermining the integrity of the entire system.　Trump isn’t alone. The same approach underlies Sen. John McCain’s recent warning that Senate Republicans will unite against any Supreme Court nominee Hillary Clinton might put up if she becomes president.　The Republican Party as a whole has embraced this philosophy for more

Viewpoints Oct. 28, 2016

[David Ignatius] Struggling to deal with NK danger　

When South Korean officials talk about the growing nuclear challenge from the North, they use red-alert phrases like “existential threat,” “imminent danger” and “dagger at the throat.” They want Americans to understand that this long-running story of brinksmanship has entered a new phase. 　One senior South Korean official told me starkly, “A nuclear missile from the North can land on this office in four to five minutes. We don’t have the luxury of thinking twice. ... This is no longer a dark clo

Viewpoints Oct. 14, 2016

[David Ignatius] Struggling to deal with NK danger

[Brent Skorup] Online media’s new taxing problem　

There is a troubling trend of cities putting new taxes — so-called Netflix taxes — on streaming music, online gaming, e-books, and online video distributors like Netflix, Hulu and Sling. Pennsylvania, Chicago and dozens of California cities have recently implemented or proposed taxes on online media. Yet there are several legal and economic problems with these taxes.　First, some of these taxes may violate the First Amendment since they single out certain types of media for taxation. Courts take

Viewpoints Oct. 14, 2016

[Kavi Chongkittavorn] Emerging nexus between Myanmar, Thailand, China

Aung San Suu Kyi’s five-day trip to China confirms the emergence of a new triangular strategic partnership involving Myanmar, Thailand and China. The three share a more than 4,605-kilometer border (Thailand-Myanmar 2,401 km; China-Myanmar 2,204 km).　Existing cross-border issues -- especially ethnic armed conflicts, drug and human trafficking -- used to be the major sources for violence and mistrust. However, today these vexing issues could potentially serve as catalysts for the next phase of the

Viewpoints Aug. 25, 2016

[Kavi Chongkittavorn] Emerging nexus between Myanmar, Thailand, China

[Gideon Lasco] Augmenting reality with ‘Pokemon Go’

News that “Pokemon Go” had reached Philippine shores came to me just as I finished hiking up Kuju Volcano, the highest mountain here on Kyushu island. Though the news came alongside reports on many other developments that day -- the opening of the Rio Games, the plan to bury Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, and Donald Trump’s latest gaffe -- it was the one that excited my peers the most, judging by my Facebook feed.　“Pokemon Go” is the latest iteration of a game that many in my ge

Viewpoints Aug. 25, 2016

Articles by Lee Hyun-joo