icon caret-left icon caret-right instagram pinterest linkedin facebook twitter goodreads question-circle facebook circle twitter circle linkedin circle instagram circle goodreads circle pinterest circle

Hither and Yon

Vise tightens on North Korea crisis as Americans focus elsewhere

July 28, 2017
Special to WorldTribune.com
By Donald Kirk

WASHINGTON — Americans are so fixated on the issues of healthcare and Russia that tightening sanctions on North Korea almost escapes notice.

One minute the networks are vying with one another on what passes as “analysis” on President Trump’s efforts to replace Obamacare with Trumpcare, and  Read More 
Be the first to comment

South Korea’s Park rains on Kim Jong Un’s coronation parade

Special to WorldTribune.com
By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com
Kim Jong-Un celebrates his “coronation” in Pyongyang Friday while forgetting about one unpleasant reality that deepens North Korea’s isolation in an already hostile world.
He presides over North Korea’s biggest-ever party, the Seventh Workers’ Party Congress, while Iran, his longtime partner in nuclear  Read More 
Be the first to comment

Stephen Bosworth, ‘consummate diplomat’ brought his values to the table

Special to WorldTribune.com
By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com
American ambassadors to South Korea pursue a fine line between defense of the U.S.-Korean alliance and pursuit of North-South reconciliation.
If they seem hell-bent on military goals, they’re accused of trying to push Korea into a war that nobody wants. And if  Read More 
Be the first to comment

Obama may be tempted to leave the budgeting of a credible U.S. Asian presence to his successor

Special to WorldTribune.com
By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com
The temptation to slash defense spending is overwhelming. Why worry about huge standing forces overseas when they’re not deployed much except on military exercises and war games that are repetitious and boring?
Easy to say, but the U.S. had only 500 advisers in South  Read More 
Be the first to comment

Dealing with Iran: Give diplomacy a shot

Special to WorldTribune.com
By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com
WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s exhortations to the U.S. Congress to forget about a “bad deal” with Iran avoids one problem. Absent a deal, who believes Iran will scale down its nuclear program? Is Iran likely to give up on the whole idea  Read More 
5 Comments
Post a comment

With all the angst over Netanyahu’s visit and Iran, why no mention of North Korea?

Special to WorldTribune.com
By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com
President Obama faces a foreign policy predicament of gigantic proportions.
The leader of Israel is coming to Washington, doing an end run around the White House, taking his case to a Republican-controlled Congress that’s eager for just about any excuse to pillory the President.
 Read More 
Be the first to comment

U.S. continues to tolerate N. Korean WMD, but can Pyongyang handle satire?

Special to WorldTribune.com
By Donald Kirk, East-Asia-Intel.com
The rapid-fire sequence of events surrounding the film “The Interview” raises a familiar question: When will the world lose patience with the North Korean regime and toss out the “supreme leader” along with the flunkies and toadies and cronies surrounding him? Or do we need  Read More 
Be the first to comment