hankyoreh

Wendy Sherman, nominated to become the State Department’s third highest-ranking official, said Wednesday she still believes that Washington should use both “carrots and sticks” in dealing with North Korea, a task that requires “enormous persistence.”
In her confirmation hearing at the Senate, she faced questions on her role in the Clinton administration in formulating policy on the communist nation, a policy that conservative lawmakers view as a failure.
“I think we learned what every administration since has learned -- working with North Korea is very frustrating, extremely difficult,” she said. “They are elusive, they do not keep their commitments, they are often hostile, they are oppressive to their people.”
Sherman said she recognizes that solving the North Korea problem is “very, very tough, takes enormous persistence and that there are no good choices.”
Sherman, who was adviser to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign, worked from 1997 to 2001 as then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright‘s counselor and doubled as President Clinton’s policy coordinator on North Korea.
Her policy on Pyongyang remains politically controversial as Republican lawmakers claim that it was much too focused on granting “carrots” to the recalcitrant North.
(Yonhap News)
　　
Arrest Warrant Sought for Seoul Education Chief
After two days of intense questioning, prosecutors filed an arrest warrant for Seoul education chief Kwak No-hyun on charges of bribing a rival candidate to drop out of last year‘s election.
Kwak returned home early Wednesday after a second day of interrogation that lasted for more than 14 hours over allegations that he gave 200 million won, about 190-thousand US dollars, to Park Myoung-gee, a candidate from the same liberal bloc in exchange for him withdrawing.
A court is expected to hear the prosecution’s request before this weekend.
Kwak consistently denied prosecutors; accusations that he had a secret agreement with Park to provide a financial reward for his withdrawal.
The charges against Kwak could lead to a maximum seven-year prison term or a fine of up to 28-thousand dollars.
(Arirang News)