South Korea’s president offers terms for resignation as protests rock nation

South Korea’s president offers terms for resignation as protests rock nation

by WorldTribune Staff, November 29, 2016 South Korean President Park Geun-Hye, in a live address to the nation  on Nov. 29, said she would resign if lawmakers develop a plan for the safe transfer of power after an influence scandal involving her closest friend brought thousands of protesters into the streets of Seoul and other […]

Memo to President-elect Trump: Beware of the experts on East Asia’s chessboard

Memo to President-elect Trump: Beware of the experts on East Asia’s chessboard

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk The process of “making America great again” is filled with perils and pitfalls, nowhere more so than in Asia. The intricacies and subtleties of the Great Game for Asia often are about as incomprehensible to the experts as they are to amateurs and know-nothings. As President-elect Donald Trump and […]

Facebook’s Zuckerberg is a team player with the CCP on censorship policies

Facebook’s Zuckerberg is a team player with the CCP on censorship policies

by WorldTribune Staff, November 23, 2016 Facebook’s core mission statement is “to make the world more open and connected.” When it comes to the Far East, the “more open” world takes a back seat as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appears to be more in line with the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) core interests. Long blocked […]

Trump skips media filter, delivers transition update direct to the public

Trump skips media filter, delivers transition update direct to the public

by WorldTribune Staff, November 22, 2016 One of Donald Trump’s first acts as president will be to withdraw the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the president-elect said in an announcement made directly to the public. “Today, I would like to provide the American people with an update on the White House transition and our […]

UN resolution damns ‘inhuman’ and ‘alarming’ North Korean rights abuses

UN resolution damns ‘inhuman’ and ‘alarming’ North Korean rights abuses

Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — A powerful UN committee has scathingly criticized the systematic human rights abuses in communist North Korea.  In a damning ten-page resolution, the Third Committee has offered a detailed and precise indictment of a deteriorating human rights situation in the quaintly titled Democratic People’s Republic of […]

President-elect Trump to meet Japan’s Prime Minister Abe

President-elect Trump to meet Japan’s Prime Minister Abe

by WorldTribune Staff, November 17, 2016 President-elect Donald Trump was scheduled to hold an “informal” meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in New York on Nov. 17. Kellyanne Conway, a current member of Trump’s transition team, said the nature of the meeting would be “informal” since President Barack Obama is still in the White […]

Chinese spyware found on 700 million Android phones

Chinese spyware found on 700 million Android phones

by WorldTribune Staff, November 17, 2016 Chinese-authored spyware that can be used to track a user’s movements and communications has been found on some 700 million Android smartphones, security researchers said. The spyware, discovered by Virginia-based Kryptowire, was reportedly authored by Chinese startup Shanghai Adups Technology Company. “The Department of Homeland Security was recently made […]

China’s Xi Jinping prescribes global standards for Internet governance

China’s Xi Jinping prescribes global standards for Internet governance

by WorldTribune Staff, November 16, 2016 Chinese President Xi Jinping sees the need for global Internet standards – as long as they don’t infringe on any country’s “cyber sovereignty.” “The development of the Internet knows no international boundaries. The sound use, development and governance of the Internet thus calls for closer cooperation,” Xi said in […]

Make believe war games south of the DMZ, but what if the North is for real?

Make believe war games south of the DMZ, but what if the North is for real?

Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk An air of unreality pervaded the atmosphere if not the skies over Osan Air Base this week as three of the niftiest warplanes on the planet zoomed off the runway for war games intended to strengthen their ability to work together to defeat a common foe. Circumspectly, officers of […]

World leaders hail Trump win; foreign policy elites in denial

World leaders hail Trump win; foreign policy elites in denial

by WorldTribune Staff, November 9, 2016 While world leaders were quick to congratulate Donald Trump for his historic victory on Nov. 8, shell-shocked foreign policy types were not so sure the sun would come up on Nov. 9 as President Barack Obama had assured. Egyptian President Abdul Fatah Sisi was the first leaders to phone […]