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 WASHINGTON ― Koreans have innumerable reasons to resent Japan’s sense of superiority and also every reason to get over it. Astonishingly, apologists for North Korea deride U.S. attempts at persuading South Korean and Japanese leaders to get along with each other. It’s as though they really think South Korea […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk Editors’ Note: North Korea is demanding demolition by South Korea of the entire resort area at the base of Mount Geumgang (Diamond). The tourist facilities were built with investment, mostly from Hyundai, of more than $2 billion. South Korea closed tours from the South in 2008 after a South Korean woman […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk SEOUL — Americans hardly know how to respond to all those American flags seen in central Seoul on Saturday afternoons and evenings. Initially, as Korean conservatives began flying the Stars and Stripes at conservative rallies after the impeachment, ouster and jailing of Park Geun-Hye in 2016 and 2017, Americans […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk LONDON ― Brexit, Britain’s exit from the European Union, is getting so tiresome, you wish the Brits would just get on with it and get out. That’s a lot easier said than done. Britain’s conservative prime minister, Boris Johnson, would love to do just that, but he’s about 40 […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump’s thinking on a deal with North Korea is difficult to figure out. He’s less transparent, actually, than Kim Jong-Un. We know perfectly well that Kim is not about to give up his nuclear weapons program, including the missiles to send them to distant targets. […]