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Hither and Yon

Surreal world: Ever notice how celebrity visitors to N. Korea have nothing to say about horrors there?

By World Tribune on June 9, 2016
Special to WorldTribune.com

DonKirk3By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com

North Korea, that is the people who run the place, likes nothing better than endorsements from foreign visitors.

The list of foreigners paying obeisance to the Kim regime, Kim Jong-Un and his father and grandfather before him, is quite  Read More 
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North Korea ‘experts’ agree on the certainty of uncertain outcomes

By World Tribune on June 2, 2016
Special to WorldTribune.com

By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com

JEJU ― Ask an expert analyst how to deal with North Korea, and the responses range from getting tough to massaging gently.

Nobody has the real answer ― though some people like to talk with absolute certainty ― and there’s no proof  Read More 
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The South Korean split over Gwangju revolt still festers, empowering the North

Special to WorldTribune.com
By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com

GWANGJU ― The ghosts of the uprising of May 18, 1980, hover over this old but new city in a restive spirit that shows the disunity, the factional splits and the regional hatreds that persist in undermining the ability of South Korea to stand effectively against challenges  Read More 
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Does China have more influence over South Korea than North Korea?

Special to WorldTribune.com
By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com

We keep hearing about all the influence the Chinese have over North Korea.
If only they'd exert their power, maybe cut off or slow down the flow of oil that's the lifeblood of the country, then the North Koreans would start talking seriously about giving  Read More 
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A filmmaker’s stealth coup: Zooming in on North Korean mind control

Special to WorldTribune.com
By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com
Russian documentary filmmaker Vitaly Mansky has managed to bamboozle his North Korean hosts in a confidence game that’s one of the greater journalistic coups ever scored against the regime.
Mansky, having given the North Koreans the clear impression that he wanted to collaborate fully  Read More 
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By ‘invitation’ only: North Korea’s blunt force approach to foreign language education

Special to WorldTribune.com
By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com
North Koreans some years ago had an unusual way of acquiring professional expertise in teaching people foreign languages.
Rather than advertise for teachers, they kidnapped native speakers. Most of them were Japanese, but they also captured likely candidates from Europe and the Middle East.
Robert  Read More 
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Do North Korean propaganda writers really want to channel Abraham Lincoln

Do North Korean propaganda writers really want to channel Abraham Lincoln
Special to WorldTribune.com
By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com
WASHINGTON – Credit someone in North Korea with a sense of historical irony. Who would have thought anyone up there would have dreamed of writing an imaginary letter from Abraham Lincoln to President Obama berating  Read More 
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Pop quiz: Is North Korea a terrorist state? Yes or no?

Special to WorldTribune.com
By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com
WASHINGTON ― Here’s a question people here keep asking: Is North Korea a terrorist state?
Forget about the missile shots. They’ve all landed in the sea and harmed no one. What about the nuclear tests? They dislocated some rocks deep underground but were otherwise  Read More 
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Conflict resolution 101: Here’s how the U.S. should talk with the North Koreans

Special to WorldTribune.com
By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com
Listen to people talking about the panacea of “dialogue” and “a peace treaty” with North Korea.
They make it seem so simple. We need to talk, they say. We’ll never come to terms with North Korea if we don’t talk.
One advocate of  Read More 
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Burma and North Korea? No comparison

Special to WorldTribune.com
By Donald Kirk, EastAsiaIntel.com
Comparisons between North Korea and Burma (also known as Myanmar) over the years have suggested that the two nations share some of the same problems.
However, even in the worst periods of military dictatorship, Burma never bore any similarity to North Korea. The contrast extends  Read More 
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