Opinion - The Korea Times

Awakening from nuclear nightmares

By Donald Kirk Stephen King, author of global best-selling novels of horror and fantasy, has written about the craving for horror stories, books and films. He thinks all of us are more or less "mentally ill," but most of us hide or sublimate our worst instincts. From there he tries to answer why we sit through horror movies that frighten us.King digs deep into what motivates people. A horror movie, he says, has "a dirty job to do." It "appeals to all that is worst in us," "our nastiest fantasies." He sees tales of horror as devices to hold our cravings in check, satisfying inner desires, feeding evil spirits in fiction rather than real life. A master of hyperbole, King no doubt has a point. After watching horror on film, he believes we should get over it. Optimistically, he evokes the message of the Beatles song, "All you need is love."In the real world of conflict and confrontation on the Korean Peninsula, the threat posed by North Korean nukes and other weapons of mass destruction has seemed like the stuff of nightmares. Some day we hope to wake up, look around and see a society t

Sep 20, 2018By Donald Kirk

Donald Kirk

NY Times versus Trump

By Donald KirkWASHINGTON ― We hear so much speculation as to who wrote the infamous, anonymous New York Times op-ed, “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration,” it's surprising we hear not a word about whether the piece was actually an inside job.That is, could the author or authors have been one or more of those brilliant people who write columns and editorials for the Times, all dedicated to tearing him apart for just about any reason. So full of vitriolic venom are some of their commentaries, is it conceivable that some of them got together and said, Look, we've really got to get this guy where it hurts. They signal the rationale in that smarmy italicized introduction to the piece in which they, that is, the editorial “we,” state sanctimoniously, “We believe publishing this essay anonymously is the only way to deliver an important perspective to our readers.”Oh sure, after all “we,” that is “we journalists,” are taught “we” really should not use anonymous “informed sources”

Sep 13, 2018By Donald Kirk

Donald Kirk

No trusting Trump

By Donald KirkWASHINGTON ― Here in the swamp of the American capital, you appreciate how easy it is to forget about Korea when North Korea isn't firing missiles and testing warheads or, conversely, when no one's talking about another summit between President Trump and Kim Jong-un.That's not to say no one is raising the possibility, but it's not in the news. Nor, for that matter, is there much news about President Moon Jae-in's interaction with North Korea. Assuming Moon does go to Pyongyang for his third summit with Kim, you've also got to believe he'll be impressing on his host the need for another summit with Trump in the interest of getting around a few, shall we say, “misunderstandings.” The primary misunderstanding is there's no definition of “complete denuclearization,” as called for in the brief statement so ostentatiously signed by Trump and Kim in Singapore on June 12.Actually, while you see very little in the media about what's happening in Korea, you hear that some of Trump's top aides would prefer their boss not meet Kim again. That's because

Sep 6, 2018By Donald Kirk

Donald Kirk

Searching for peace

By Donald KirkThe U.S.-Korea alliance is at a crossroads, and the North Koreans think they know what to do to send Washington and Seoul in different directions. How about demanding, repeatedly, a “peace declaration” that President Moon Jae-in also thinks would be great? Everybody wants peace. Nobody wants Korean War II, so why not all the protagonists in the first Korean War, North and South Koreans, Americans, Chinese too, sign a paper declaring the war's over and let us now live in everlasting peace.The North Korean demand, however, is not intended to foster enduring peace. Rather, it is a pressure tactic artfully designed to deepen growing differences between Americans and South Koreans on how to get the North Koreans to give up their nuclear program. Moon, in his eagerness for reconciliation, has endorsed calls for a peace declaration, even a peace treaty, but may be overlooking considerations that stand in the way of that noble aim.Among the most obvious is the United Nations Command. North Korea for years has been calling for dissolution of the command, formed at th

Aug 30, 2018By Donald Kirk

Donald Kirk

Hosting reunions for power and influence

By Donald Kirk The bait of reunions of members of families divided by the Korean War has got to be about the most cynical ploy devised by the North Koreans to exploit human suffering for no reason other than to inflict cruel punishment on defenseless people.We all have heard many times why the North Koreans built up their nuclear strength. For “self-defense,” they say, to the applause of pro-northers and other useful idiots who think, sure, devices for wiping out millions are just the thing to ward off an enemy attack. We also know the stock answer for why the North Koreans have imprisoned millions over the years in a vast gulag system where they slave away unto death by starvation, disease, torture or execution. It's all fabrication, says the North Korean propaganda machine. “Prove it,” echoes the pro-north chorus.Okay, but can anyone come up with any rationale at all for why North Korea has countenanced only 21 reunions of divided families since South Korea's President Kim Dae-jung and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-il in their joint declaration of June 15, 2

Aug 23, 2018By Donald Kirk

Hosting reunions for power and influence

Donald Kirk

Sweltering with summit fever

By Donald Kirk Summit fever these days is as hot as the weather. We face weeks of heated debate in the run-up to a third summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korea's Kim Jong-un and maybe a second summit between President Donald Trump and Kim. The Moon-Kim summit is going to test Moon's willingness to stand up to Kim.The overriding North Korean demands are for the South to get the U.S. and the U.N. to do away with sanctions and for the U.S. to fall for a “peace declaration” before the North does a thing about “denuclearization,” however that word is defined. Moon has agreed to see Kim in Pyongyang in September, but he's avoided setting a date. His hesitation about when to go to Pyongyang adds to uncertainty about how to respond to the North's demands.Contrary to what his critics may say, Moon may not be a pushover for Kim. Yes, he would like nothing better than to go down in Korean history as the South Korean leader who brought about reconciliation with the North. No, he doesn't want to achieve that goal by betraying the U.S.-South Korean alliance, b

Aug 16, 2018By Donald Kirk

Donald Kirk

Trump's strategy for North Korea

By Donald KirkIs President Donald Trump offering a tutorial on how to negotiate with the North Koreans ― reminding them of the riches and rewards awaiting them the moment they enter his magic kingdom?John Bolton, Trump's national security adviser, came up with something like that in an interview on Fox, the conservative pro-Trump cable news network. “The president is giving Kim Jong Un a master class in how to hold a door open for somebody,” he said in all seriousness, “and if the North Koreans can't figure out how to walk through it, even the president's fiercest critics will not be able to say it's because he didn't open it wide enough.”It's odd that Bolton neglected to talk about the shrewdness of Trump's strategy in the immediate aftermath of the Singapore summit when the president was saying he had “solved” the North Korean problem. In the euphoria of the moment, Trump claimed that he had accomplished a mission that had eluded all his predecessors; that he trusted Kim and was sure Kim would tear down his nuclear facilities and get rid of

Aug 9, 2018By Donald Kirk

Donald Kirk

Challenging North Korea on human rights

By Donald Kirk Remember the “human rights” issue? Once upon a time, just about everyone was complaining about egregious human rights violations in North Korea.Interestingly, you don't hear a lot about that stuff anymore. President Donald Trump is so busy patting himself on the back for having resolved the North Korean problem, which he happily notes all his predecessors failed to do, that he won't go near it. Instead, he praises his new pal Kim Jong-un for having been so kind as to release 55 sets of remains that may or may not be among those of the 5,300 Americans missing from the Korean War.There are a couple of issues here. Trump, eschewing mention of human rights violations in North Korea, is going right to bed with all the leftists and liberals, pro-northers and defenders of the faith of Kim, Kim's father, Kim Jong-il and his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, for whom the North Korean human rights issue is taboo. The more rational among them acknowledge the issue but prefer to change the subject, blaming the U.S. for compelling the Kim dynasty to develop nukes and missiles

Aug 2, 2018By Donald Kirk

Donald Kirk

Happy 65th anniversary

By Donald KirkRemember those initials UNC/MAC and NNSC for United Nations Command/Military Armistice Commission and Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission? It's difficult to believe these terms still exist 65 years after the signing of the truce that ended the Korean War on July 27, 1953.Today, commanders of the UNC, the umbrella organization under which the South Koreans, Americans and troops from 15 other nations fought during the Korean war, will be at Panmunjom marking the anniversary. So will officers from what's left of the NNSC, formed when the armistice was signed to insure that everyone lived up to the deal, at least within the JSA, that is the Joint Security Area straddling the line at Panmunjom.These organizations have lost much of their real meaning. The UN Command was the cover under which the Americans stopped the North Koreans from taking over the South in 1950. The South Koreans, under the aegis of the UNC, provided many more troops than the U.S., suffered much heavier casualties and now have far more responsibility for defending the South than they ever did during th

Jul 26, 2018By Donald Kirk

Donald Kirk

Exploiting GI bones

By Donald Kirk The North Koreans are reluctant to talk about “denuclearization” but are winning easy points exploiting the bones of about 5,300 Americans still missing from the Korean War. At every stage of discussion on repatriating GI remains, the North is able to promote a peace declaration that's also endorsed by President Moon Jae-in. What could be a better time to get across the message than the 65th anniversary one week from now of the signing of the armistice that ended the Korean War? Wouldn't that be the moment, North Korean strategists are saying, to transfer the first batch of the 200 sets of remains, the same ones President Donald Trump mistakenly announced several weeks ago had already been returned?The North Koreans would love all sides declaring “peace” as a prelude to replacing the armistice with a full-fledged peace treaty. That's crucial to calling for withdrawal of the 28,500 U.S. troops now in South Korea. Moon has said he's not in favor of U.S. troops going home ― a move that would definitely jeopardize the longstanding ROK-U.S. alli

Jul 19, 2018By Donald Kirk

Donald Kirk

Read more

Awakening from nuclear nightmares

NY Times versus Trump

No trusting Trump

Searching for peace

Hosting reunions for power and influence

Sweltering with summit fever

Trump's strategy for North Korea

Challenging North Korea on human rights

Happy 65th anniversary

Exploiting GI bones

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