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Hither and Yon

North Korean ‘regime change’? Give dreamers a chance

March 15, 2018

Special to WorldTribune.com

By Donald Kirk

In the excitement over impending summits, we may have forgotten one other solution everyone was talking about, oh, just a month or two ago.

Whatever happened to all the enthusiasm for forcing Kim Jong-Un out of his job by internal upheaval, external attack, or maybe just  Read More 
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The Ivanka counter-charm offensive: Bracing for the Winter Olympics end game

By World Tribune on February 23, 2018

Special to WorldTribune.com

By Donald Kirk

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Ivanka Trump’s upcoming weekend in South Korea is sure to set off another round of intense speculation while the vice chairman of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party leads a delegation south at just about the same time.

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Trump’s ‘new American moment’: Paving the way to a ‘bloody nose’ for North Korea?

By World Tribune on February 1, 2018, Special to WorldTribune.com

By Donald Kirk

Don’t count on the Winter Olympics as the moment for rapprochement on the Korean peninsula. That message came through loud and clear in President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address. “Our new American moment,” as Trump called this  Read More 
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Let the games begin, but watch out for those N. Korean dancers

January 18, 2018, Special to WorldTribune.com

By Donald Kirk

WASHINGTON ― Ah, let the games begin! The fun and games, that is, of seeing how the clever North Koreans play the Winter Olympics for all they’re worth.

For sure, North Korean strategists are looking for a diplomatic and political triumph regardless of who wins what  Read More 
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No B1 bomber can touch North Korea’s elite geek squad

December 21, 2017

Special to WorldTribune.com

By Donald Kirk

WASHINGTON: Here’s a target the deadliest, most accurate missile isn’t going to touch: the computers in North Korea that are responsible for wreaking havoc around the world.

It’s all very well to talk about “the military option” or even a “preemptive attack” on  Read More 
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Has CIA report set the countdown clock for Korean War II?

December 7, 2017
Special to WorldTribune.com

By Donald Kirk

WASHINGTON – The CIA has struck alarm bells here with a top-secret report to President Trump telling him he has just three months to stop North Korea from having the ability to fire a nuclear warhead at the United States.

The report has deepened the bitter divide  Read More 
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‘Rocket man’ gives everyone a break from tedious news cycles

November 30, 2017
Special to WorldTribune.com

By Donald Kirk

WASHINGTON ― He had to do it, didn’t he? Just when the optimists were saying, well, it’s been a few weeks since the last one, maybe he’s learned his lesson.

What lesson?

Kim Jong-Un (aka, “Rocket man”) sails on, oblivious  Read More 
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Japan’s ‘peace constitution’ on the brink as NE Asia braces for war

October 27, 2017
Special to WorldTribune.com

By Donald Kirk

TOKYO -- The overwhelming success of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the latest elections for members of the Japanese “Diet” ― the peculiar word for Japan’s parliament or national assembly ― portends hardening of tensions and priorities in Northeast Asia.

Yes, Abe would dearly like to revise Japan’ Read More 
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South Korea’s pro-North Left can’t believe the leader they backed appears to collude with Trump

October 8, 2017
Special to WorldTribune.com

By Donald Kirk

SEOUL —South Korea’s outspoken radicals and leftists can hardly hide their dismay.

To the consternation of organizers of the candlelight crusade that brought down the government of the conservative Park Geun-Hye, ousted and jailed on a wide range of offenses, their one-time hero, Moon Jae-In,  Read More 
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north-korea's-200th-declaration-of-war-has-a-new-wrinkle

September 29, 2017
Special to WorldTribune.com

By Donald Kirk

North Korea has been crying wolf so often it’s hard to get too excited by the “declaration of war” North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-Ho made in New York this week.

Did not the North Koreans declare war after the release of the film “The  Read More 
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