Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk What is this disturbing nonsense we sometimes hear about a “Vietnam model” for permanent peace on the Korean peninsula? Whoever’s talking about that either has to be joking or is totally unaware of the tragedy that befell South Vietnam after the signing of the “Paris peace accords” that were […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk Forget about the U.S. pulling troops from Korea any time soon. It’s not going to happen, at least to judge by the denials from the White House and President Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton. “Utter nonsense,” was all Bolton had to say about a report that Trump had […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk John Bolton, U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, may be hawkish and conservative, but at least you had to credit him with sophistication and having insights on the issues and the people whom he was confronting. In the course of many visits to Korea, he often displayed understanding […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk Here’s a hard truth that’s certifiable by any rudimentary review of modern Korean history: the real news about Korea catches almost everyone by surprise. Who, for instance, would have predicted the outbreak of the Korean War nearly seven decades ago? Who knew, in the depths of South Korea’s economic […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk SEOUL — The U.S. is pursuing a careful policy of appearing to support South Korea’s drive for reconciliation and dialogue with the North but holding out the option of refusing to go along with anything short of complete certainty that Kim Jong-Un is dismantling his nuclear program The carefully […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk China remains the darling of western, particularly American, intellectuals and academicians even though under President Xi Jinping it’s reverting to the dictatorial habits of the era of Mao Zedung. The system is not only incredibly corrupt but also authoritarian. We hear constantly about suppression of free speech, of the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk There is a certain inevitability about China’s need for North Korea and the North’s need for China. The two may intuitively hate one another, but they can hardly stay apart in the regional tug of war. It’s been that way ever since Chinese forces poured into North Korea to […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk The appointment of John Bolton as President Trump’s national security adviser portends a tough U.S. policy toward the North even as South Korea’s President Moon Jae-In is planning to meet North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un in late April and Trump is to see Kim in May. Conservatives in the U.S. […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk U.S. President Donald Trump is in such hot water in Washington that his summit with Kim Jong-Un, if it actually happens, will be either a distraction or a welcome relief from the pressure-cooker atmosphere at home. The only problem is, he may be so busy fending off the investigation […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk The fate of three American citizens still imprisoned in North Korea is on the line in a flurry of talks between North Korean and Swedish diplomats in the run-up to next month’s summit between North Korea’s leader KimJong-Un and South Korea’s President Moon Jae-In and then the summit in […]
