The Korea Times

Justice in a hijacked state

By John Prendergast and Nathalia DukhanWASHINGTON, DC ― The Central African Republic (CAR), a former French colony based on an exploitative divide-and-rule system, is a textbook example of how a state can be captured, repurposed, and organized for looting, largely to the benefit of outsiders. In a country that has known only impunity, where the state is a murderous machine of plunder, is justice possible?The CAR boasts bountiful natural resources, including oil, uranium, precious timber, diamonds, and gold. But they are controlled by violent criminal networks, which are linked to local politicians, external governments, and commercial interests, and rely on desperate, heavily armed young people. This fuels territorial conflict and arms- and natural-resource trafficking.Beyond their ties to such criminal networks, the CAR's leaders enrich themselves directly through government structures, which they have fashioned solely to advance their own interests. They use the country's military ― as well as militia groups ― to protect their own power, even if it means using extreme violence.In t

Oct 22, 2020By Shim Jae-yun

Opinion

I held my nose and voted for Trump

By Richard PenningtonThere was no excuse whatsoever for my having failed to vote in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 presidential elections. The United States is a participatory democracy, and expats only have to take a few simple steps in order to cast a ballot. Thrice I did not, but it would be different in 2020. Four years ago, I was as amazed as anybody when Donald Trump won the Republican nomination for president. I assumed that he would lose badly to the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton. Surely he could not win, since he was a businessman with a sleazy reputation, and he had not held any sort of office ― never on a city council, never a governor, congressman or cabinet minister. Trump ascended to the White House due to the electoral college, having received 46.1 percent of the votes, against Clinton's 48.2 percent. Unlike some of my leftist friends, I was willing to give Trump the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he would grow into the job, I told them. A bare-bones assessment of his presidency follows. On the upside, he has slowed illegal immigration, he has confronted China over its dec

Oct 12, 2020By Shim Jae-yun

Opinion

Sanctions on North Korea ― Overused but underutilized

By Thomas BierstekerNo one likes sanctions. They restrict trade, violate human rights, complicate humanitarian relief, and often do not work. Yet sanctions are used with increasing frequency in international relations to change behavior, constrain actors, and send normative signals. While they are undoubtedly over-used as a policy tool, they are paradoxically underutilized as an instrument for strategic bargaining and negotiation.The United Nations sanctions currently being applied to North Korea are the most extensive set of restrictive measures applied by the organization since the comprehensive sanctions against Iraq in the 1990s. Other U.N. sanctions regimes are much more targeted, sanctioning only individuals, imposing arms embargoes, and restricting one or two sectors of the economy. The DPRK sanctions regime, by contrast, includes not only individual sanctions and arms embargoes, but sweeping restrictions on the country's major exports and imports. While there are a few areas that are not sanctioned, three of the U.N. sanctions ― on finance, petroleum imports, and shipping ― a

Oct 7, 2020By Shim Jae-yun

Opinion

Cuba Bar

Seen above is a basement club in southern Seoul called Cuba Bar.

Sep 29, 2020By Shim Jae-yun

Editorial

ED Moon's low-key response to NK

President should take stronger stance toward PyongyangPresident Moon Jae-in came up with an official response Monday to the death of a South Korean official who was killed by North Koreans in the North's territorial waters. Moon expressed sorrow for having failed to protect the official, but stopped short of criticizing the North for shooting him.He only asked North Korea to resume the operation of communications channels between the military authorities of the two sides. The President expressed his appreciation to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for offering an apology over the recent incident, saying it is of particular significance and calling it rare and unprecedented. He even said he could understand Kim's mind. This apparently means Moon was elated by Kim's apology and that his mindset sharply contrasts with the public uproar over the North's reckless act. He expressed hope that the tragic incident would rather result in a chance for dialogue and cooperation between the two Koreas. Moon's remarks are disappointing in that many people expected he would issue a stern warning to P

Sep 29, 2020By Shim Jae-yun

Editorial

ED Holiday health alert

Time to refrain from traveling around countryThe health authorities are on high alert over a possible resurgence of COVID-19 infections during the Sept. 30 to Oct. 4 Chuseok holiday. They cannot lower their guard against the pandemic as an increasing number of people are planning to visit tourist destinations across the country during the holiday, raising fears of another wave of coronavirus cases.The authorities plan to impose special quarantine measures across the country for two weeks from Tuesday. Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun released a statement Monday calling on people to refrain from visiting their hometowns during Chuseok. He even compared the current situation to wartime.The holiday will be a critical period that will determine the course of quarantine efforts against the coronavirus. The government has decided to control people's movements by not allowing cars to pass through highway tollgates free of charge during the holiday. It has also decided to restrict the number of train tickets available by half to reduce the number of travelers. Moreover, the administration is tr

Sep 28, 2020By Shim Jae-yun

Opinion

Wildfires and California policymaking

The influence of climate change on wildfire seasons can't be ignored, but California's leaders need to focus on more practical, near-term solutions to contain future wildfire outbreaks.As he surveyed the wreckage of a wildfire that has spread around the Northern California town of Oroville last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom warned the nation about the threat of global warming."Observe it with your own eyes," he said. "The debate is over, around climate change. This is a climate damn emergency."Climate change and one current product of it, last week's record-breaking heat wave, are certainly exacerbating California's fire problems, but there are simpler and more practical ways to deal with the latest scourge than to embrace a Green New Deal or other costly programs to address the climate of the entire Earth. In fact, many of the most promising solutions for the problems at hand are well within the purview of California officials."We keep doing overzealous fire suppression across California landscapes where the fire poses little risk to people and structures," according to a ProPublica story

Sep 17, 2020By Shim Jae-yun

Opinion

Russia poisons relations with the West

Alexei Navalny, Russia's top opposition politician who was poisoned on Aug. 20, is out of a coma.Navalny's case should prompt the U.S. and NATO nations to emerge from their own stupor regarding Russia, which is increasingly testing the West with its poisonous behavior.In the U.S., an intelligence consensus suggests that just as Russia targeted the 2016 election, it's doing the same in 2020 _ once again on behalf of President Donald Trump, who has refused to respond to the latest intelligence reports with any alacrity.He's also failed to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin over any number of provocations, including reports that Russia has placed bounties on U.S. troops serving in Afghanistan.In the Navalny case, the G-7 issued a statement on Tuesday that confirmed that he was poisoned with the Soviet-era chemical agent Novichok, which has been used on other Russian targets. While the G-7's call for a transparent investigation are appropriate, they're impossible in Putin's Russia. "This attack against opposition leader Navalny is another grave blow against democracy and political

Sep 16, 2020By Shim Jae-yun

Editorial

ED Controversy over digital prison

Tougher punishment needed for sex crimes Controversy is flaring over Digital Prison, a website disclosing the personal identities of alleged sex offenders. A recent apparent suicide of a university student whose identity was revealed on the website triggered concern over the legitimacy of such a name and shame system.Critics say the “vigilantism'' can result in victimizing people through false accusations. In fact, the student had been claiming his innocence since he was named on the website for allegedly placing a female student's photo on pornographic images. Police began investigating the site after he filed a complaint, but had difficulties because the server was based overseas.The operator launched the website in July allegedly out of frustration over the judiciary system's dealing leniently with heinous sex crimes. The site came under criticism in August when it falsely accused a man of a rape committed in 2004 in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province. Although the site deleted the post with an apology, the man was subjected to hateful comments and threats online. The site p

Sep 8, 2020By Shim Jae-yun

Opinion

No, US isn't 'winning' at coronavirus testing. But we could be

President Donald Trump likes to say no one is testing for COVID-19 like the United States. If by that he means no country has been as disorganized and scattershot when it comes to testing for the coronavirus that would be easy to believe.The president doesn't mean that, of course; he's saying we do more tests than any other country. But this country's testing record is nothing to be proud of. Depending on the state, there are between two and 13 times more people infected with COVID-19 than have been identified.The U.S. started off behind the curve, bungling the first rollout of COVID-19 tests. And five months into the pandemic, with cases, deaths and hospitalizations back on the upswing in several states, the U.S. is still far behind the level of testing needed to control the spread of the infection and safely reopen businesses and schools.Capacity for diagnostic tests varies wildly from state to state. Organized contact tracing and isolation of infected people isn't happening in a meaningful way. It's a mess.Winning is still an option _ if Congress and the president commit now to sp

Jul 29, 2020By Shim Jae-yun

Shim Jae-yun

Read more

Justice in a hijacked state

I held my nose and voted for Trump

Sanctions on North Korea ― Overused but underutilized

Cuba Bar

ED Moon's low-key response to NK

ED Holiday health alert

Wildfires and California policymaking

Russia poisons relations with the West

ED Controversy over digital prison

No, US isn't 'winning' at coronavirus testing. But we could be

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