3 POLITICS VOL. XVI, ISSUE vii
POLITICS
North Korea Planning Terror Attack on South Korea By Daniel Baang
On February 18, 2016, a South Korean spy agency stated that North Korea is planning a “terror attack” on South Korea. It is even said that Kim Jong Un himself gave the orders to prepare the terror attacks. The causes of the beginning of the terror attacks preparations may vary from anti-North Korean activists to North Korean defectors. The NIS, National Intelligence Service, had a closed meeting with the Saenuri Party and the defense ministries. The NIS has discussed possible targets of the terror attacks. Targets may include subways, shopping malls, exhibitions, and power plants. Cyber attacks may occur as well. South Korea has been working on an anti-terrorism bill for a long time. The NIS reports of the recent news about the actions of North Korea will now highlight
the importance of the passing of the bill. Kim Sung-aoo, the senior secretary at the Blue House, or Presidential office, said that the law needs to be passed in order to keeps its own people and properties safe. On February 18, 2016, President Barack Obama signed new North Korean sanctions. The sanctions are an attempt to cut the money supply of North Korea that was needed to make nuclear warheads. The U.S and China are working together to create measures on the sanctions. China has even stated that some measures of the sanctions could cripple the North Korean economy. After so many violations of the rules set by the UN, North Korea will now face tough situations as sanctions are being imposed.
United States Primary Elections 2016 By Omar Espinosa
The people of the United States and the world are all watching the much discussed and unique 2016 presidential race. This election is like no other, but that’s a discussion for another day. The primaries kicked off on Monday, February 1st in Iowa, and will continue through half the year into June. This is when we’ll know which nominees will represent their political party. On the Republican side of the election, there are five nominees: Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Marco Rubio, and Donald Trump. Other candidates have dropped out of the race in the wake of the first four elections. The four states are: Iowa, where Ted Cruz won with a 27.65% of votes; New Hampshire, where Donald Trump won with a 35.34% of votes; Nevada, where Donald Trump won
with a 45.91% of votes; and South Carolina, where Mr. Trump won yet again with a 32.5% of votes. On the Democratic side, there are two nominees, Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton. Former nominee Martin O’Malley dropped out of the race shortly after the Iowa caucus. In Iowa, Hillary Clinton scraped out with a tight “win” with 49.86% of voters. In New Hampshire Bernie won a crucial victory with 60.4% of voters. In Nevada, Hillary Clinton won with a 52.62% of voters. Super Tuesday is right around the corner, March 1st to be exact. These results are only the start of the primaries, and of the election. These primaries are by no means near over, and although certain candidates appear in the lead, this can change very quickly.
MARCH 4, 2015
Trans Pacific Partnership: What is it and why should you care? By Adelmi Ysita
What is the TPP? The Trans Pacific Partnership is a multinational trade agreement that will rewrite international rules and extend restrictive intellectual property (IP) laws around the globe. The countries involved are the United States, Canada, Japan, Peru, Mexico, Chile, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, and New Zealand. In total, twelve countries are involved in this partnership. However, this excludes China, even though it is known to be one of the US’s largest sources for manufactured goods. Currently, TPP threatens to extend restrictive intellectual property (IP) laws across the globe and rewrite international rules on its enforcements. Most goods and services are involved and a few taxes on imports will be removed. What is in the TPP agreement? It contains laws that will allow tariffs (taxes on imports) to vanish with some manufactured products, expand copyright terms, heavy criminal sanctions, pose threats to journalists, and put restrictions on fair use. Copyright term protections can extend from the life of
the author plus seventy years for works created by individuals and seventy years after creation for corporate owned works. Certain countries, such as New Zealand, will have to rewrite copyright laws if digital locks are banned. The way digital movies, video games, and softwares, that restrict access to services, are made will also have to be modified. There are vague mentions of punishment sent upon those who reveal or access information through a computer system. Companies that use user friendly rules could risk lawsuits by content industry investors. Users could be jailed or fined over file sharing and may have their domains seized. One of the most worrisome “problems” it will bring are digital policies that benefit big corporations at the expense of the public. The IP section will have negative consequences on user’s privacy and will create difficulties for people’s innovation. It will encourage personal data to have limited protection. Supporters of the TPP agreement were happy
Source: tax.thomsonreuters.com
that a study from the Venerable Peterson Institute for International Economics projected that the TPP will boost exports and economic growth. According to their research, by 2030, the U.S economy would be 0.5% larger with the agreement than without it. However, the research did not investigate the question concerning U.S politicians and voters: Will the TPP bring cheap imports that will cost many to lose their jobs? An important aspect of the deal is the loner patents, especially for the U.S’s pharmaceutical industry, President Obama says this is an accomplishment, stating other countries will finally pay and recognize us for the research done by our pharmaceutical industry. Assuming the TPP will not change the trade balance, if the pharmaceutical industry starts getting more money for its drugs, then other companies will begin receiving less money for their products being sold overseas. This being said, the money foreigners may have spent on U.S manufactured goods will be used to pay the higher prices of drugs made by Americans.