Donald Kirk is a veteran newspaper correspondent who has worked throughout East Asia and in the Middle East. A columnist for WorldTribune.com and a correspondent for East-Asia-Intel.com, he has also written for the International Herald Tribune, the New York Times, USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, CBS, Asian Wall Street Journal, National Review, Chicago Sun Times, South […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk It wasn’t exactly a declaration of war, but it did come close. What else to make of President Trump’s remark that the U.S. might “totally destroy North Korea”? It was one thing to belittle Kim Jong-Un as “rocket man” but quite another to threaten annihilation of a country torn […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk Everybody’s talking about overtures to Pyongyang. Informal talks, secret talks, talks about talks – then, somewhere in everyone’s pet solution, comes the killer line: Pyongyang has to “freeze” its missile-and-nuclear program before real talking begins. It’s unlikely Kim Jong-Un will “freeze” anything, but here’s an idea. Remember that enormous […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com Donald Trump may be running neck and neck with Hillary Clinton in the U.S. presidential sweepstakes if the polls are at all credible, but there’s one constituency in which he appears to be well ahead. That’s within the ruling circles in Pyongyang. He’s winning popularity there for two […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com WASHINGTON ― Talk about local boy making good, and then look at the case of Donald Trump. He’s a New Yorker through and through ― looks, talks and acts like one, arrogant, sneering and sure of himself. So what are the New York papers saying about him? Clearly, […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk TOKYO ― Korean and Japanese relations have plunged to their lowest depths since the Korean War, and there’s apparently no reconciliation in sight. The governments in Seoul and Tokyo are engaged in a game of dare and double-dare in which each tries to out-threaten the other with hurtful measures […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk LONDON — You’ve got to admire the Brits for one thing. They sure are proud of their ancient heritage as citizens of a “tight little island” that has always stood aloof from Europe. Historically they’ve fought against the Romans (Hadrian’s Wall), the Normans (1066 and all that), Spanish (Sir […]
by WorldTribune Staff, June 30, 2019 President Donald Trump on June 30 became the first sitting U.S. commander in chief to set foot in North Korea when he briefly crossed the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. Trump and Kim then walked into South Korean territory together and were joined by South […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk SEOUL — Summit fever is upon us. The mere idea of two leaders sitting down and talking suggests the ultimate panacea. Surely they can come to terms once they look each other in the eye and work out all those terrible differences. That’s the fantasy as Donald Trump wraps […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk Advocates of a “peace treaty” with North Korea believe, unanimously, that such a treaty would serve some real purpose other than provide the North with ammunition for withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Korea and closure of U.S. bases. The slightest scrutiny of history should make painfully clear that […]