Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk SEOUL — The phrase has a certain drama, overtones of life-or-death struggle: “The last plane out of” a city under attack, under siege, on the brink of surrender. In my case, it was “the last plane out of Washington,” or, to be precise, the last non-stop flight from Washington […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has mounted a broad campaign warning against China’s infiltration of American life from university campuses to American companies, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. At just about every opportunity at which he’s asked to speak or comment, Pompeo accuses the Chinese of exploiting […]
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 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 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 HANOI — No matter what he does or says, Donald Trump is playing a losing game with his critics on North Korea and probably on just about everything else. If he had joined Kim Jong-Un last week in signing a piece of paper agreeing to give up sanctions while […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk Thae Yong-Ho, the former North Korean deputy chief of mission at their embassy in London, has come up with the term “doctrine” to describe Trump’s policy toward North Korea. He even compares the nascent “Trump doctrine” with the “Nixon doctrine.” That’s bad news. I was following President Richard Nixon […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk SEOUL — The ongoing scandal, in which the governor of South Gyeongsang Province, Kim Kyung-Soo — a top ally of President Moon Jae-In, was involved in a computer program that automatically generated millions of “likes” or “dislikes” for polls and postings on individuals and vital topics, may have been […]
Special to WorldTribune.com By Donald Kirk The revelation of another “undeclared” North Korean missile base should send shock waves through all those concerned about the safety and security of the region, notably South Korea. Actually, however, it’s hard to find ordinary people too worried about the latest report by esteemed experts at the Center for […]
