Jan 14, 2013 | Writing
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Beat down by the sweltering Cambodian sun, a group of teenagers took a rest from peddling pirated books and newspapers to tourists. One merchant switched on his mobile phone, playing the usual hit “Gangnam Style.” But the reaction among his...
Jan 4, 2013 | Writing
SEOUL — So, we now know that Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt is heading to North Korea this month. As with virtually anything surrounding North Korea, the journey has triggered speculation and intrigue. Google says the trip is a personal humanitarian mission,...
Dec 18, 2012 | Writing
SEOUL, South Korea — South Koreans assumed that Lee Kun-hee was the equivalent of royalty, an untouchable oligarch at the helm of one of the world’s largest companies, the Samsung Group. So the shock came right after South Korea’s pro-business president, Lee Myung-bak...
Dec 18, 2012 | Writing
The heir of a controversial South Korean autocrat is now the country’s first female president. Can she emerge from his shadow? In mid-November, a prominent South Korean wood-cut artist displayed a painting depicting conservative presidential candidate...
Dec 17, 2012 | Writing
SEOUL, South Korea — It is an event that still shapes how North Korea approaches the outside world, one that will play into Kim Jong-un’s thinking when, on Wednesday, South Koreans vote for their next president. In June 2000, the South Korean president, Kim Dae-jung,...
Jul 11, 2012 | Writing
So much for the next Asian success story. HO CHI MINH CITY – In what was once one of Asia’s most exciting emerging markets, Nguyen Van Nguyen sees only gloom ahead. Since 2008, his business in southern Vietnam’s economic capital has suffered through two...
