by WorldTribune Staff, May 11, 2017 Suh Hoon, named as South Korean President-elect Moon Jae-In’s intelligence chief, played a key role in arranging summit talks with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il in 2000 and 2007. Suh “is widely seen as aimed at backing up the new leader’s bid to improve long-strained inter-Korean ties,” Yonhap news […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk The drama of South Korean history opens a tumultuous new act with the election of a liberal labor lawyer who has promised both to bring about detente with North Korea and satisfy the demands of restive masses fed up with alleged rightist abuses. Whether Moon Jae-In will be able […]
by WorldTribune Staff, May 9, 2017 North Korea’s state-run media called on South Koreans voting on May 9 to ban conservatives from ever taking power again as leftist candidate Moon Jae-In claimed victory at the end of the day. “South Koreans should judge the puppet group of conservatives as accomplices” with impeached President Park Geun-Hye, […]
by WorldTribune Staff, May 8, 2017 The conservative candidate is making a last-minute comeback in a bitter presidential election showdown in South Korea. The latest polls show conservative candidate Hong Joon-Pyo surging, according to media reports in Seoul and the Wall Street Journal. “About 20 percent of the electorate is still undecided, and an upset […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — Two significant geopolitical issues dominate East Asia; the North Korean nuclear showdown and China’s maritime claims and expansion in the disputed South China Sea. Given the dangerous brinksmanship on the Korean peninsula, the UN Security Council held a landmark meeting to refocus global attention on […]
by WorldTribune Staff, May 5, 2017 Claiming an alleged plot by U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies to assassinate Kim Jong-Un, North Korea vowed to “ferret out” and destroy “CIA terrorists”. North Korea’s Ministry of State Security said “terrorists” supported by the CIA and South Korea’s intelligence agency infiltrated North Korea to stage an attack […]
by WorldTribune Staff, May 4, 2017 Driven into a corner by its over dependence on a frustrated China and a tough, hard-charging leader in Washington, the nuclear power and “Hermit Kingdom” North Korea is reviewing its options which do exist. Neither China nor the U.S.-Japan-South Korea alliance wants to risk triggering a disastrous war on […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk TOKYO ― The shadows of war lengthen over Japanese society in thrall to Article 9 of a “peace constitution” foisted under the “occupation” led by the victorious World War II Pacific commander, Gen. Douglas MacArthur. Much as the “rightist” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe might want to do away with […]
by WorldTribune Staff, April 28, 2017 The United States and South Korea on April 28 pledged to maintain an “ironclad defense posture” against the threat from North Korea and pressed China to accept the need for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. Meanwhile, in an interview with Reuters on April 27, U.S. President […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk An interviewer for a radio station in Boston, winding up one of those Q&A’s to which journalists are subjected, asked, What would you do to resolve the North Korean “problem?” I answered, “I have no solution, no idea, no clue.” While that response might seem like an abject display […]
