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, […]
by WorldTribune Staff, January 5, 2021 Kim Yo-Jong, the younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, is reportedly poised to become the first woman dictator in modern history. Some who watch the secretive nation even believe she may have already ascended to that position. “The star of the younger sister of North Korea’s leader […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk South Korean leadership, by banning defectors from launching balloons wafting leaflets over North Korea, has struck a devastating blow against free speech and freedom of information in both Koreas. The anti-leaflet legislation is inspiring an adverse reaction not only in Seoul but also at the United Nations and in […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk The North Korean economy is in such dire straits that none of the experts know quite what to do about it other than beg Kim Jong-Un, please, sir, reform the economy and do away with your nuclear program in return for sanctions relief and a lot of aid. If […]
Special to WorldTribune.com [Editor’s Note: Far East Correspondent Donald Kirk is back in the United States on leave.] By Donald Kirk WASHINGTON — The outbreak of protests in cities and even small communities across the U.S. reveals not only the extremes but also the confusion in American life. While the liberal media focuses on the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk China looms like an enormous bullying giant above its borders with India stretching more than 4,000 kilometers from the high Himalayas to the west to more mountains and lower level frontiers to the east. In between is Nepal, over which China wields increasing influence, and Bhutan, which is tied […]