Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk The U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Korea, Harry Harris, has one of the world’s more sensitive diplomatic missions. He’s got to defend the U.S.-Korean alliance while getting along with a government that’s dedicated to appeasing a North Korean regime that’s hostile to the U.S. and South Korea. The […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk A detail generally overlooked in all we’ve been reading about the misfired Iranian missile that brought down the Ukraine airliner with 176 people aboard: It was almost certainly made in North Korea and sold to Iran or made in Iran from a North Korean design and technology. The relationship […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk The killing of Qasem Soleimani by an American drone aircraft on orders from U.S. President Donald Trump as the Iranian general arrived in Baghdad to spur on Iran-backed Iraqi militia against the U.S. confronts Kim Jong-Un with serious problems. The first is that North Korea cannot publicize the episode […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk People who split hairs over semantics ask if decapitation is the same as assassination. The debate assumes relevance in the wake of the killing of the Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. No, he wasn’t exactly decapitated, meaning his head wasn’t literally cut off from the rest of his body though […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk From the viewpoint of a foreigner, one common denominator marks South Korea’s seismic shifts from left to right, liberal to conservative, socialist to capitalist. That is the level of authoritarianism, the threat of dictatorial rule, the demands for complete loyalty if not subservience to one particular viewpoint or another. […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk In the first annual “Transactions” published by the venerable Korea Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1900, James S. Gale, one of the early missionaries, wrote, “The more we read, the more we are forced to the conclusion that Korea was under a mesmeric spell at the hands […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk Japanese conservatism is like a seething volcano, spewing smoke and ash but not quite ready to erupt. The reluctance reflects the great ambivalence in Japanese society. Japanese are fundamentally conservative, united in a culture dedicated to hard work and formal relationships but otherwise undecided about where they are going […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk BUSAN ― Rodrigo Duterte, the president of the Philippines, had his hands in his pockets and a bored expression on his rugged face as President Moon Jae-In extolled high-tech Korean manufacturers on the big day of his summit with the leaders of 10 Southeast Asian countries. Having sat or […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk WASHINGTON ― Koreans have innumerable reasons to resent Japan’s sense of superiority and also every reason to get over it. Astonishingly, apologists for North Korea deride U.S. attempts at persuading South Korean and Japanese leaders to get along with each other. It’s as though they really think South Korea […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk Editors’ Note: North Korea is demanding demolition by South Korea of the entire resort area at the base of Mount Geumgang (Diamond). The tourist facilities were built with investment, mostly from Hyundai, of more than $2 billion. South Korea closed tours from the South in 2008 after a South Korean woman […]
