Art of the deal: How about a summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un at the Korean DMZ?

Art of the deal: How about a summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un at the Korean DMZ?

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 […]

The South Korean split over Gwangju revolt still festers, empowering the North

The South Korean split over Gwangju revolt still festers, empowering the North

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com GWANGJU ― The ghosts of the uprising of May 18, 1980, hover over this old but new city in a restive spirit that shows the disunity, the factional splits and the regional hatreds that persist in undermining the ability of South Korea to stand effectively against challenges from […]

Does China have more influence over South Korea than North Korea?

Does China have more influence over South Korea than North Korea?

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com We keep hearing about all the influence the Chinese have over North Korea. If only they’d exert their power, maybe cut off or slow down the flow of oil that’s the lifeblood of the country, then the North Koreans would start talking seriously about giving up their nukes. […]

South Korea’s Park rains on Kim Jong Un’s coronation parade

South Korea’s Park rains on Kim Jong Un’s coronation parade

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com Kim Jong-Un celebrates his “coronation” in Pyongyang Friday while forgetting about one unpleasant reality that deepens North Korea’s isolation in an already hostile world. He presides over North Korea’s biggest-ever party, the Seventh Workers’ Party Congress, while Iran, his longtime partner in nuclear crime, vastly improves its ties […]

A filmmaker’s stealth coup: Zooming in on North Korean mind control

A filmmaker’s stealth coup: Zooming in on North Korean mind control

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com Russian documentary filmmaker Vitaly Mansky has managed to bamboozle his North Korean hosts in a confidence game that’s one of the greater journalistic coups ever scored against the regime. Mansky, having given the North Koreans the clear impression that he wanted to collaborate fully with them, totally deceived […]

By ‘invitation’ only: North Korea’s blunt force approach to foreign language education

By ‘invitation’ only: North Korea’s blunt force approach to foreign language education

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com North Koreans some years ago had an unusual way of acquiring professional expertise in teaching people foreign languages. Rather than advertise for teachers, they kidnapped native speakers. Most of them were Japanese, but they also captured likely candidates from Europe and the Middle East. Robert Boynton, a professor […]

Do North Korean propaganda writers really want to channel Abraham Lincoln

Do North Korean propaganda writers really want to channel Abraham Lincoln

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com WASHINGTON – Credit someone in North Korea with a sense of historical irony. Who would have thought anyone up there would have dreamed of writing an imaginary letter from Abraham Lincoln to President Obama berating him for endorsing harsh UN sanctions and failing to halt the U.S. nuclear […]

Pop quiz: Is North Korea a terrorist state? Yes or no?

Pop quiz: Is North Korea a terrorist state? Yes or no?

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com WASHINGTON ― Here’s a question people here keep asking: Is North Korea a terrorist state? Forget about the missile shots. They’ve all landed in the sea and harmed no one. What about the nuclear tests? They dislocated some rocks deep underground but were otherwise harmless. So what does […]

The New York Times vs. consummate New Yorker Donald Trump

The New York Times vs. consummate New Yorker Donald Trump

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, […]

How the U.S. handles the baddest of bad actors: ISIL, Cuba and North Korea

How the U.S. handles the baddest of bad actors: ISIL, Cuba and North Korea

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com WASHINGTON – The hype surrounding President Obama’s visit to Cuba quickly gave way to fear and loathing as the world absorbed the news of the slaughter perpetrated in Brussels, for which ISIL, the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, immediately claimed “credit.” No sooner were we treated to […]