As unification euphoria builds, Pyongyang-watchers brace for ‘something really scary’

As unification euphoria builds, Pyongyang-watchers brace for ‘something really scary’

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk WASHINGTON – U.S. officials and so-called “Korea experts” look with clearly mixed feelings on the prospects of North Korea sending hundreds of performers, artists and officials to the upcoming PyeongChang Olympics. Conservative forces in Washington share the misgivings of Korean conservatives over athletes from the two Koreas parading together […]

Has it been 50 years? Remembering the Tet, the Blue House raid and North Korea’s capture of the Pueblo

Has it been 50 years? Remembering the Tet, the Blue House raid and North Korea’s capture of the Pueblo

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia ― How quickly we forget. Memories, dates and events fade away, only to be revived on anniversaries. A lot of historical events are barely recalled. I was in a country named “South” Vietnam 50 years ago when North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces attacked almost every […]

Who was most upset about the U.S. government shutdown? ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis

Who was most upset about the U.S. government shutdown? ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk WASHINGTON – Koreans may not believe it, but the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics are not uppermost on the minds of Americans. In fact, no one in the upper reaches of the U.S. government, including President Trump, is worrying about whether North Korea is using the Games to drive a […]

‘Nazi Olympics’: What South Korea risks in Winter Games diplomacy with the nuclear North

‘Nazi Olympics’: What South Korea risks in Winter Games diplomacy with the nuclear North

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk This article by WorldTribune.com columnist Donald Kirk was first published today at the South China Morning Post. The timing of the Winter Olympics, in the South Korean mountain district of Pyeongchang in February, could not be better – or worse. By hinting at sending a team, North Korea’s leader […]

No B1 bomber can touch North Korea’s elite geek squad

No B1 bomber can touch North Korea’s elite geek squad

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk WASHINGTON ― Here’s a target the deadliest, most accurate missile isn’t going to touch: the computers in North Korea that are responsible for wreaking havoc around the world. It’s all very well to talk about “the military option” or even a “pre-emptive attack” on a North Korean nuclear and […]

Turns out the U.S. may not be able to afford Korean War II

Turns out the U.S. may not be able to afford Korean War II

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk WASHINGTON ― A lot of people here, from right to left politically, think war on the Korean peninsula is imminent. Kim Jong-Un, they say, is eager to order a seventh nuclear test as well as test shots of intercontinental ballistic missiles. And would not President Trump love to stage […]

Has CIA report set the countdown clock for Korean War II?

Has CIA report set the countdown clock for Korean War II?

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk WASHINGTON – The CIA has struck alarm bells here with a top-secret report to President Trump telling him he has just three months to stop North Korea from having the ability to fire a nuclear warhead at the United States. The report has deepened the bitter divide between hawks […]

‘Rocket man’ gives everyone a break from tedious news cycles

‘Rocket man’ gives everyone a break from tedious news cycles

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk WASHINGTON ― He had to do it, didn’t he? Just when the optimists were saying, well, it’s been a few weeks since the last one, maybe he’s learned his lesson. What lesson? Kim Jong-Un (aka, “Rocket man”) sails on, oblivious to the fuming and fussing in capitals from Beijing […]

North Korea conducts most successful missile test yet; U.S. mum on how to ‘take care of it’

North Korea conducts most successful missile test yet; U.S. mum on how to  ‘take care of it’

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk WASHINGTON – America’s top leaders are clearly uncertain as to how to retaliate for North Korea’s latest long-range missile test without resorting to a military option. President Donald Trump pledged, “We will take care of it” but showed no sign of unleashing the “fire and fury” that he had […]

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