Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk SEOUL — Americans hardly know how to respond to all those American flags seen in central Seoul on Saturday afternoons and evenings. Initially, as Korean conservatives began flying the Stars and Stripes at conservative rallies after the impeachment, ouster and jailing of Park Geun-Hye in 2016 and 2017, Americans […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk LONDON ― Brexit, Britain’s exit from the European Union, is getting so tiresome, you wish the Brits would just get on with it and get out. That’s a lot easier said than done. Britain’s conservative prime minister, Boris Johnson, would love to do just that, but he’s about 40 […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump’s thinking on a deal with North Korea is difficult to figure out. He’s less transparent, actually, than Kim Jong-Un. We know perfectly well that Kim is not about to give up his nuclear weapons program, including the missiles to send them to distant targets. […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk TOKYO ― Kim Jong-Un must be happy now. What could have made him feel better than for his friend President Donald Trump to dump John Bolton as national security adviser? As Trump made clear, he and Bolton disagreed on many things, notably the Middle East, Iran and Afghanistan. Bolton’s […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk SEOUL — South Korea officially wants the U.S., officially, to stop complaining, officially, about the South Korea decision to pull out of GSOMIA, the General Security of Military Information Sharing Agreement with Japan under which these two U.S. allies shared vital intelligence info. That’s what South Korea’s first vice […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk SEOUL — South Korea President Moon Jae-In’s idea of a brave new world for Korea, North and South, dissipated in storm clouds soon after he presented his vision on Aug. 15, 74th anniversary of the Japanese surrender and the end of 35 years of Japanese rule. No sooner had […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk SEOUL — From Africa, through the Middle East, and on to Asia, the masses of much of the world have got to be amazed by the “sexual revolution” in the United States and where it’s leading American society. Homosexuality exists everywhere, in any culture or country, but the initials […]
JSpecial to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk [Editors’ Note: Cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort (psychological stress) experienced by a person who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values. When confronted with facts that contradict beliefs, ideals, and values, people will try to find a way to resolve the contradiction to reduce their discomfort. […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk SEOUL — Anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea is approaching the level of mass hysteria. President Moon Jae-In sees it as a unifying force that will draw Korea’s disparate political forces in common cause. How can rightists go on waving those Korean and American flags, calling for a hard line […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk TOKYO ― Korean and Japanese relations have plunged to their lowest depths since the Korean War, and there’s apparently no reconciliation in sight. The governments in Seoul and Tokyo are engaged in a game of dare and double-dare in which each tries to out-threaten the other with hurtful measures […]
