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Hither and Yon

South Korea’s new leadership has a record of promoting summitry with North Korea

May 11, 2017
Special to WorldTribune.com

By Donald Kirk

The drama of South Korean history opens a tumultuous new act with the election of a liberal labor lawyer who has promised both to bring about detente with North Korea and satisfy the demands of restive masses fed up with alleged rightist abuses.

Whether Moon Jae-In  Read More 
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Talking North Korea peace has paid off for the talkers, but not for peace

April 27, 2017
Special to WorldTribune.com

By Donald Kirk

An interviewer for a radio station in Boston, winding up one of those Q&A’s to which journalists are subjected, asked, What would you do to resolve the North Korean “problem?”

I answered, “I have no solution, no idea, no clue.” While that response might  Read More 
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Amid the Korean nuclear showdown, don’t forget the trade gap that threatens the western alliance

April 20, 2017
Special to WorldTribune.com

By Donald Kirk

All the talk over what to do with North Korea overlooks one problem to which people are not paying that much attention. That’s the yawning gap in trade between the U.S. and all its leading trade partners.

It’s a lot easier to grasp  Read More 
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Fake news and false flags: According to Kim Jong-Un, the CIA killed his brother

February 22, 2017
Special to WorldTribune.com

By Donald Kirk

The assassination of Kim Jong-Nam promises to go down as one of those weird acts of terrorism that North Korea, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, will forever deny having perpetrated.

The prevarication and obfuscation in this case would appear a little more  Read More 
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Trump’s world: How to distinguish between allies, friendly rogue states and bad actors? added by World Tribune on December 29, 2016

World Tribune on December 29, 2016
Special to WorldTribune.com

By Donald Kirk

WASHINGTON – The U.S. refusal to veto the UN Security Council resolution attacking Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory as “a flagrant violation” of international law has triggered cries of outrage worthy of full-scale hostilities.

You might think, from the responses of Israeli Prime  Read More 
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Growing political crisis in South Korea could impact critical security ties with U.S.

By World Tribune on December 15, 2016
Special to WorldTribune.com

By Donald Kirk

The populist revolt against President Park Geun-Hye has grave implications for governance amid economic unease and high youth unemployment.

In this uncertain transition period, Korea’s relationship with the United States is sure to undergo strains if not change while foes of  Read More 
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Russia’s stake in Korea: How U.S.-backed unification could work for Moscow

By World Tribune on October 20, 2016
Special to WorldTribune.com

By Donald Kirk

We hear so much about China and Japan competing on and for the Korean peninsula, now and historically, that we overlook one other great Northeast Asian power.

That would be Russia, which has a 17-kilometer border with North Korea as the Tumen  Read More 
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The brilliant Samantha Power’s two problems: China and her ‘monster’ comment about another powerful woman

By World Tribune on October 13, 2016
Special to WorldTribune.com

By Donald Kirk

Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is on a fast track, and that’s not just in terms of her hot-shot career. She’s up against a tight deadline. She’s got until Jan. 20 to persuade the U. Read More 
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North Korea curses the world yet again and with more venom than ever

By World Tribune on September 8, 2016
Special to WorldTribune.com

By Donald Kirk

You have to credit the North Koreans with chutzpah ― the Yiddish word for “nerve,” brazen arrogance or insolence, all in untranslatable exclamation.

The leaders of the world’s 20 strongest, most powerful nations were gathered in a solemn conclave in China, and  Read More 
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A loyal son’s lonely crusade

By World Tribune on September 1, 2016

By Donald Kirk

Time slowly erases the traces of those held in North Korea. The longer they’re there, the easier it is to forget them. Their families, reluctant to invest more psychic energy on those for whom they know the North Koreans have no mercy, give up the  Read More 
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