S. Korea urges Japan to resolve wartime sex slavery

Published : 2012-12-27 16:55
Updated : 2012-12-28 16:07

Responding to Japan's renewed denial of forcing Korean women into sex slavery during World War II, South Korea once again urged Japan Thursday to seek "satisfactory" solutions for the victims.

Tokyo's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga indicated earlier in the day that the newly launched Japanese government led by Shinzo Abe may review a 1993 statement issued by its then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono on the matter, saying it is "desirable for experts and historians to study" the issue, according to media reports.

The so-called "Kono statement," which acknowledged the forced recruitment of women into sexual servitude and apologized to the victims, has been considered a key element of the basis for relations between the two countries.

"The issue of the comfort women who suffered from Japan's imperial military should be resolved in accordance with the wish of the victims. It caused a tremendous amount of pain to them, and that is an undeniable historical fact," foreign ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young told reporters while answering a question about Seoul's stance on earlier remarks by the Japanese secretary.

"I call on Japan to remember such a fact and the indescribable suffering, and to find satisfactory solutions to meet their wishes," Cho said. 

In August, then Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and other senior officials made remarks that there is no documentary evidence showing Japan forced Korean women into sexual slavery during its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

Historians say up to 200,000 women, mostly Koreans, were coerced into sexual slavery at front-line Japanese military brothels during Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule. Moreover, former sex slaves, who are euphemistically called "comfort women," have long testified to the hardships they were forced to endure.

South Korea has pressed Japan to provide compensation and extend a formal apology to the victims, but Tokyo refuses to do so, claiming all issues regarding its colonial rule were settled by a 1965 package compensation deal under which the two countries normalized their relations.

NYSE bell tolls for exchange that fell behind

Published : 2012-12-24 19:54
Updated : 2012-12-24 19:54

The name on the building will remain and the opening bell will continue to ring every trading day. But an era is about to end, sadly, with the agreement by the New York Stock Exchange to sell itself to IntercontinentalExchange Inc.

The contrasts between buyer and seller are stark, and go a long way to explain the deal’s backstory: The NYSE is the world’s largest stock market where the trading floor and colonnaded structure in the heart of Wall Street are symbols of American-style capitalism.

ICE, as the buyer is known, offers mostly electronic futures trading and clearing. For better or worse, the NYSE and its focus on a shrinking equities market is the past, and ICE, which specializes in the booming derivatives business, is the future. The wonder isn’t why the NYSE is being acquired by an arriviste, but what took so long.

Even if ICE keeps the NYSE and its floor intact, as it has promised NYSE officials and New York’s congressional delegation, it is a bittersweet moment for the Big Board. Its roots go back to 1792, when merchants gathered under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street to trade Revolutionary War bonds.

The exchange clung to its trading-floor traditions for too long, although in recent years it bravely tried to transform itself. ICE, based in Atlanta and only 12 years old, is barely out of diapers. What it lacks in sophistication it makes up for with a willingness to throw out the rulebook and experiment with new technologies and trading instruments.

The NYSE’s reputation had faded over the last decade for many reasons, including a scandal in which floor traders were accused of collusion. Former Chairman Richard Grasso’s $140 million pay package in 2003 highlighted the old-boy atmospherics.

Once regulators in 2005 made it easier for low-cost electronic markets to compete, the NYSE bought its own electronic facility and became a public company. In spite of that, market share declined, and today the NYSE does only 21 percent of the trading in its own listed stocks.

ICE, at any rate, isn’t interested in trading stocks. Instead, it’s looking to build up a global derivatives trading operation. To that end, it is eager to get its hands on the NYSE’s London-based futures market, known as Liffe, which is a dominant player in interest-rate futures.

Meanwhile, seismic changes are about to hit markets around the world. Regulations to enforce the Dodd-Frank financial reform law will require trillions of dollars’ worth of derivatives trades to go through clearinghouses, which hold collateral from both parties to a trade to reduce the risk that a default will harm the entire financial system.

ICE, already a player in the clearinghouse business, wants a bigger piece of the pie. It will face many competitors, and the strongest will be the CME Group Inc., the Chicago powerhouse that controls 90 percent of the U.S. futures market and is itself the product of a merger.

Just as exchanges are preparing for all of this, regulators must, too. It won’t be long before traders are more interested in getting a slice of risk, such as exposure to fast-growth startup companies or the liquefied natural gas business, and agnostic about the venue or the specific type of instrument.

They may not care much whether they buy or sell a stock, a future, an option or an exchange-traded fund, so long as they are able to get the risk exposure, and with it the anticipated returns.

In this converging world, an exchange that can offer platforms to trade and clear all those instruments might be the big winner. The U.S.’s fragmented regulatory system, in which the Securities and Exchange Commission oversees equities and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulates commodities, will have to adapt ― perhaps even merge, as well.

While they are at it, regulators also must get a better handle on so-called dark pools, the trading that takes place off-exchange among Wall Street banks and brokerage firms. The shift in trading away from regulated exchanges is another reason for the NYSE’s decline.

The disaggregation of stock trading makes it less likely that buy and sell orders will meet, resulting in reduced efficiency, higher trading costs and lower returns.

With such a proliferation of players, regulators must be careful to maintain a level field. It’s crucial that all exchanges and clearinghouses meet the same standards of transparency. They should also be required to make market data accessible to all.

It’s widely known that the SEC is more of a micromanager of stock markets than the CFTC is of commodities exchanges. The bond market, meanwhile, barely gets any regulatory attention. The system of checks and balances should be the same no matter what instrument is traded, or where.

For all its drawbacks, the NYSE remains the iconic Big Board ― the forum where the giants of the corporate world are listed. ICE, lacking a global brand, is buying one of the world’s marquee names. It should be careful not to tarnish it.

(Bloomberg)

The price of war with Iran

Published : 2012-12-24 19:57
Updated : 2012-12-24 19:57

WASHINGTON, DC ― One of the greatest challenges that U.S. President Barack Obama will face in his second term is Iran’s pursuit of advanced nuclear technologies. While a nuclear Iran would damage America’s strategic position in the Middle East, action aimed at forestalling Iran’s nuclear progress also carries serious strategic and economic consequences.

Armed with nuclear weapons, Iran would be better able to project influence, intimidate its neighbors, and protect itself. As a result, the United States’ allies in the region would need new security guarantees. But an increased American presence could provoke radical groups, while requiring defense resources that are needed to support U.S. interests in East and Southeast Asia.

Some of Obama’s conservative critics believe that he will allow Iran to develop an advanced nuclear program, provided that it stops short of actually building a bomb. But no American president would want their legacy to include allowing so unfriendly a regime to acquire such a dangerous weapon ― even if doing so meant avoiding greater strategic costs.

Indeed, Obama has repeatedly avowed that he will stop Iran from acquiring nuclear-weapons capability, rather than allow the country to develop its nuclear program and then rely on deterrence, as has been done with other nuclear powers. But such tough rhetoric might create a dilemma for Obama.

If Iran continues on its path toward nuclear arms, war may well become inevitable, whether instigated by Israel or the U.S., or provoked by Iran’s erratic foreign policy. Although the costs of a containment strategy would be significant, the costs of fighting a war would be higher.

Iran has threatened to seal the Strait of Hormuz ― through which 20 percent of the world’s internationally traded oil passes ― if it is attacked. While it would be difficult for Iran to seal the strait for long, if it managed to do so at all, it could easily make passage unsafe with attacks by small boats, sea mines, and missiles launched from coastal mountains.

Furthermore, Iran would likely strike the pipelines in the Arabian Peninsula that would otherwise allow oil to bypass the strait. And several strategically crucial oil-processing facilities are within range of Iranian missiles and special forces, including the Saudi oil-stabilization facility at Abqaiq, which processes seven million barrels daily.

Such a response would immediately cause oil prices to spike ― possibly to $200 per barrel in the short run. A protracted conflict could mean sustained prices of roughly $150 per barrel.

Given that Americans consume roughly 18.5 million barrels of oil daily, a mere $8 increase in the price per barrel would sap $1 billion per week from the U.S. economy, jeopardizing its already-fragile recovery. America has already financed two wars on credit, contributing to a significant fiscal deficit. Another war would eliminate what little hope there is of achieving debt stability without drastic ― and harmful ― spending cuts (or tax increases).

Surging oil prices would also threaten Europe and other major oil-importing countries, including China, India, Japan, and South Korea, thereby lowering or reversing their economic growth. Iran’s own economy, which depends heavily on oil exports, would also suffer.

The conflict would likely drag on, given that the definition of victory in this scenario is ambiguous. Would America win by destroying Iran’s nuclear facilities, even if reconstruction began immediately? What if Iran incited unrest in its neighbors, jeopardizing U.S.-allied regimes in the region? Is a settlement with Iran’s leaders feasible, or is regime change crucial to an American victory? (And, in the latter case, would the U.S. follow its pattern of ousting a Middle Eastern government without a succession plan?)

Regardless of the goal, the end result would be more troops and ships in the region, more resources appropriated to fight new or revitalized terrorist organizations, and more arms for allied countries, many of which are themselves unstable. America’s stake in the Middle East would grow, undermining its attempts to free up assets for its professed “pivot” toward Asia, where it hopes to balance China’s growing influence.

Living with a nuclear Iran would require expensive countermeasures and create significant risks. But going to war to impede Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and containing the subsequent chaos ― including oil-price spikes, increased regional volatility, and reduced American strategic flexibility ― would be far more costly. If Obama stands behind his first-term declarations, the world will pay a very high price.

By Geoffrey Kemp and John Allen Gay

Geoffrey Kemp is director of the Regional Security Program at the Center for the National Interest. John Allen Gay is a program assistant for the Regional Security Program at the Center for the National Interest. They are co-authors of the forthcoming book “War with Iran: Political, Military, and Economic Consequences.” This commentary was provided in partnership with the Carnegie Corporation. ― Ed.

(Project Syndicate)

Park and gender gap

Published : 2012-12-24 19:57
Updated : 2012-12-24 19:57

In October each year, the World Economic Forum makes public its Global Gender Gap Report, a report on its survey of gender equality in 135 countries. In the 2012 report, Iceland topped the overall rankings for the fourth consecutive year. It was followed by Finland and Norway.

What was the ranking for Korea, a country which has a separate Cabinet member for the promotion of gender equality ― the minister of gender equality and family ― and elected a woman to the presidency last week? It was abysmally low.

Korea ranked 108th in the survey, one notch lower than last year. The ranking was surely a shame for the 11th-largest economy in the world.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family also announces the levels of gender equality in four categories in 16 metropolises and provinces each year. According to the 2012 report, made public earlier this month, the overall gender equality index stood at 49.5 on the 0-to-100 scale, with 100 indicating no presence of a gender gap.

The category that had the lowest gender-equality index, 14.7, was the “representation” of men and women in the decision-making processes in the public sector. That was understandable, given that no women occupied the position of metropolitan mayor or provincial governor.

The woeful gender gap was confirmed in another report ― one made public by the Asia Society in April. Among the findings by the nonprofit organization based in New York was a yawning pay gap. The pay for women was equal to 51 percent of that for men, the lowest in Asia. The corporate executive posts taken by women in Korea accounted for a mere 1.9 percent of the total, the second lowest in Asia after Japan with 0.9 percent.

During the run-up to the Dec. 19 presidential election, the ruling Saenuri Party appealed to members of women’s organizations to help make its nominee, Park Geun-hye, the first woman present in the nation. It claimed she was better positioned to promote gender equality than her male rival from the main opposition party.

One woman co-chair of the party’s election committee said, in a meeting with representatives of women’s groups, that the election of a woman as president should be a starting point for a “revolution” in gender equality.

Still, few would say Park had overwhelming support from women’s groups. On the contrary, she failed to elicit support from one of the largest women’s organizations in the nation, Korean Women’s Association United, not to mention diehard leftist feminist groups. The association’s pre-election remarks on Park were caustic.

It said in a statement: “What remarks did you make and what action did you take when women were forced out of work for no good reason, when the laws on family was being revised, when laws on sexual violence, violence in family were being written, when women were demanding maternity and child-care leave?”

Korean Women’s Association United denounced Park for making no efforts to advance the interests of women, saying she had submitted not a single bill to that effect.

Park overcame the boycott of the association and other women’s groups and succeeded in electing herself to the presidency. But this does not mean that she can afford to ignore the demand for gender equality. Instead, she needs to strive to reduce the gender gap in pay, recruitment and political representation.

Discrimination against women cannot be condoned not just from the perspective of human rights but also for a practical reason. That means wasting much of the national resources that have been channeled into the education of women at a time when a higher percentage of high-school girls are admitted to colleges and universities than that of high-school boys.

Reducing the gender gap and, by doing so, encouraging women to engage in economic activities will be a policy Park needs to pursue actively. By pushing for equal pay and equal job opportunities, she can help solve the long-term problem of labor shortage ― a serious problem for a nation saddled with a population that is graying at a fast pace and a woefully low birthrate that shows no sign of coming near the replacement level.

A good opportunity to demonstrate her commitment to the cause of gender equality will come when she announces her Cabinet lineup. She is urged to nominate as many women as possible for the ministerial posts.

Mayan temple damaged in ‘apocalypse’ frenzy

Published : 2012-12-24 19:53
Updated : 2012-12-24 19:53

GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) ―Tourists flocking to Guatemala for “end of the world” parties have damaged an ancient stone temple at Tikal, the largest archeological site and urban center of the Mayan civilization.

“Sadly, many tourists climbed Temple II and caused damage,” said Osvaldo Gomez, a technical adviser at the site, which is located some 550 kilometers north of Guatemala City.

“We are fine with the celebration, but (the tourists) should be more aware because this is a (UNESCO) World Heritage Site,” he told local media.

Gomez did not specify what was done, although he did say it was forbidden to climb the stairs at the site and indicated that the damage was irreparable.

Temple II, which is about 38 meters high and faces the central Tikal plaza, is one of the site’s best known structures.

Friday marked the end of an era that lasted 5,200 years, according to the Mayan “Long Count” calendar. Some believed the date also marked the end of the world as foretold by Mayan hieroglyphs.

More than 7,000 people visited Tikal on Friday to see native Mayan priests hold a colorful ceremony and light fires as the sun emerged to mark the new era.

Critics complained that the event was really for tourists and had little to do with the Mayans. About 42 percent of Guatemala’s 14.3 million residents are native Mayans, and most live in poverty and endure discrimination.

The ancient Mayans reached their peak of power in Central America between the years 250 and 900 A.D.

Latin Americans rank high in happiness index

Published : 2012-12-23 19:37
Updated : 2012-12-23 19:37

Material wealth may not equate to happiness.

Gallup recently released a poll measuring positive emotions across 148 countries that showed that people in Singapore, which has one of the highest GDPs per capita, were the least happy out of the list. Developed countries Germany and France jointly ranked 47th on the chart.

The nations with the most upbeat attitudes were Panama and Paraguay with 85 percent of respondents answering “yes” to five questions on what positive experiences they had the day before.

Along with the top two countries, the chart’s upper ranks were dominated by the Latin American region including Salvadaor, Venezuela, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Guatemala, which are all low down on the U.N.’s Human Development Index.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)

Japan’s trade deficit widens 37.9% in Nov.

Published : 2012-12-19 20:51
Updated : 2012-12-19 20:51

The Sinotrans Ningbo container ship sails out of a shipping terminal in Tokyo on Tuesday. (Bloomberg)

TOKYO (AFP) ― Japan’s trade deficit in November expanded 37.9 percent on-year to $11.3 billion, a record for the month, official data showed Wednesday, in a worrying sign for the world’s third-largest economy.

The trade shortfall came to 953.4 billion yen, marking the fifth straight month of deficit and a widening from a year-earlier deficit of 691.2 billion yen.

Overall, exports fell 4.1 percent while imports edged up 0.8 percent.

Shipments to key trader partner China tumbled 14.5 percent, marking another month where a Tokyo-Beijing territorial row that sparked a Chinese consumer boycott of Japanese goods appeared to weigh on trade.

Exports to Europe ― a key market for Japanese goods ― were off 19.9 percent as demand on the debt-strapped continent sagged.

The latest gloomy data for Japan’s economy comes just days after the conservative Liberal Democratic Party swept to an electoral victory at the weekend.

Hawkish LDP leader Shinzo Abe has pledged to boost infrastructure spending and pressure the Bank of Japan into more aggressive easing measures to reflate the economy.

The central bank starts a two-day policy meeting Wednesday with the yen tumbling in recent weeks on speculation that the BOJ will take some kind of policy action after it meets.

Last week, the bank’s quarterly Tankan survey showed confidence among Japanese manufacturers hit a near three-year low in the final months of 2012, adding to concerns about the already weak economy.

That came after separate data showed the economy contracted in the July-September quarter and possibly in the previous three months, signaling Japan may have slipped into a recession.

The Actual Vote Counting Hasn’t Started Yet in 2012 South Korean Presidential Election As Only the Electronic Counting Was Done

http://2012skpreselection.blogspot.kr/2012/12/the-actual-vote-counting-hasnt-started.htmlThe Actual Vote Counting Hasn’t Started Yet in 2012 South Korean Presidential Election As Only the Electronic Counting Was Done