Week 2

Park Geun-hye becomes South Korea's first female president

CNN
By CNN Staff
February 26, 2013
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/24/world/asia/south-korea-female-president/index.html?iref=allsearch

Summary:

On Monday, Park Geun-hye became South Korea's first female president, pledging to secure South Korea against the threat of an increasingly hostile North Korea at the same time as improving relationships with Pyongyang. In her address, she called for the revival of an economic boom her father, Park Chung-hee, had once overseen and urged North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Opinion:

Park Geun-hye made history Monday by becoming South Korea's first female president. Two weeks before her inauguration, North Korea detonated an underground nuclear device, testing her campaign promise to reach out to the North to help end five years of diplomatic silence and high tension on the divided Korean Peninsula under her predecessor, Lee Myung-Bak. North Korea's recent nuclear test is a challenge for her to the survival and future of the Korean people. Ms. Park should manage this serious issue in order to improve the relationship between North and South. Furthermore, the relationship between the United States and South Korea will be important in the economy. I anticipate she will usher in a new era of hope whereby the happiness of each citizen becomes the bedrock of our nation's strength which in turn is shared by and benefits all Koreans.

Week 1

Obama pushes Congress to avoid forced spending cuts

CNN
February 19, 2013
By Jessica Yellin and Tom Cohen
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/19/politics/forced-budget-cuts/index.html

Summary:

On Tuesday, President Obama said that forced spending cuts set to take effect March 1 won't grow the economy or create jobs, which he called the top priorities of his administration. He also warned of diminished emergency services, longer airport security lines and other problems if Congress fails to reach agreement on avoiding the harshest impacts of automatic spending cuts. The purpose of the deep cuts to all discretionary programs and the military was to motivate Congress to reach a comprehensive deficit reduction agreement that would replace them. However, such a deal has proved impossible, leading to the imminent application of $85 billion in spending cuts for 2013 and almost $1 trillion over 10 years.

Opinion:

Even though the purpose of the spending cuts was to reach a deficit reduction, I think it is inappropriate. It may cause a lot of problems. If the budgets are cut forcefully, it would affect many business and workers in the US. If they cut budgets on education, teachers will be laid off. If they cut budgets on defense, soldiers won't get their pay. Accordingly, it will decrease the workplace and the economy won't grow. Therefore, spending cuts should be balanced to cope with those problems.