Opinion - The Korea Times

Korea on knife edge

By Donald Kirk U.S.-China relations are at their worst in years, and North and South Korean are not getting along either. In fact, relations between those two are at such a low ebb that two-way trade, once about several hundred million dollars a year, has almost ceased. Curiously, however, North Korean coal does make its way into South Korea, which relies on coal for 40 percent of its electrical power. Russia imports coal across the 11-mile Russian-North Korean border formed by the Tumen River as it flows into the sea and then ships the black stuff southward. Just think how much simpler it would be if North Korea could ship coal directly to South Korea by train or by sea down the east or west coast. Sensible though North-South trade might seem, it’s not going to pick up in the foreseeable future. The shutdown by South Korea of the industrial zone at Gaeseong dashed hopes for South Korean capitalism in the North. Until then 50,000 workers were turning out light industrial products ranging from cosmetics to golf bags for more than 100 small- and medium-sized S

Aug 25, 2016By Donald Kirk

Donald Kirk

Missiles vs. missiles

By Donald Kirk The prospect of a missile war between North and South Korea poses a threat to regional stability that previously seemed unimaginable. Images of North and South Korean gunners firing ballistic missiles at one another from redoubts far north and south of the demilitarized zone are edging closer to reality while the North reinforces three tiers of short-, mid- and long-range missiles and the South acquires hundreds of its own. It’s as though the protagonists are moving these engines of modern warfare into place while the great powers surrounding them appear unwilling or unable to stop them. South Korean military planners, freed from constraints on missile production previously imposed by their American ally, are counting on a new missile with a range of 800 kilometers ― far enough to hit virtually anywhere in North Korea. They also are building up their inventory of short-range Hyunmoo missiles plus long-range cruise missiles that can go at least 1,000 kilometers but say they need many more in case North Korea unleashes a barrage of its 1,000 missiles all

Aug 18, 2016By Donald Kirk

Donald Kirk

Moving toward war

By Donald Kirk On the chessboard of Northeast, East and Southeast Asia, the players are inexorably arranging their pieces. A naval exercise, a warplane flyover, a flotilla of fishing boats, a missile launch ― all such gestures, bloodless today, evoke the image of great powers maneuvering for bloody moves tomorrow. It’s as though we’re in a “phony war,” not enough to send civilians scurrying for cover or for armies to go on full alert but worrisome nonetheless. The tensions build slowly. It’s possible for most of us to ignore them. What does it mean, exactly, if Chinese warships prowl the South China Sea, from the Spratly Islands in the south to the Scarborough Shoal off the Philippines to the Paracels, claimed by Vietnam? How concerned should we be if the U.S. sends a destroyer within striking distance of any of these morsels of land and rocks or if Chinese and U.S. warplanes dart through the skies? It may be dangerous to exaggerate the significance of each individual display of force, but two factors seem to be driving the region to the e

Aug 11, 2016By Donald Kirk

Donald Kirk

Traitor Trump?

By Donald Kirk Donald Trump should be thankful the Republican convention in Cleveland that nominated him for the presidency was held the week before Hillary Clinton’s shining moments at the Democratic conflab in Philadelphia. Just think what the fallout would have been if the Muslim parents of an army captain who was killed in Iraq had talked at the Democratic convention before the Republican convention. How would the Trumpster’s Republican advocates have responded on the convention floor knowing that he’d openly disparaged the mother and father of a fallen army officer? Would all those who were committed to him have really wanted to see him nominated? Maybe they couldn’t haven backed out of their commitment, but I’m betting Indiana Governor Mike Pence, father of a marine, would have had second thoughts about accepting the vice presidential nomination. Yo, guv’nor, it’s not too late. You can stop your campaign right now. Have your name withdrawn. Let the Trumpster find another patsy to take second place on the ticket.&nbsp

Aug 4, 2016By Donald Kirk

Donald Kirk

Nation divided against itself

By Don KirkWASHINGTON ― The two top American political parties are so badly fractured you wonder if they’ll ever come together again. And that’s to say nothing of the American public: that is, the vast majority who don’t participate in party politics at all. It’s difficult to know which party is more divided. The Democrats are split between the majority who see Hillary Clinton as their only hope and a vociferous minority rallying around the socialist Bernie Sanders. Most Republicans don’t care for Donald Trump even if he did overwhelm all his foes whom he insulted to death while campaigning for the nomination. Devotees of American-style democracy will rationalize the excesses by saying, yes, but in the end the American people always unite behind their government and way of life. Maybe, but maybe not this time. Look at all the trouble President Obama has had dealing with a Republican-dominated Congress determined to frustrate just about everything he’s proposed ranging from gun control to health. The animosity runs so deep there&rsquo

Jul 28, 2016By Don Kirk

Donald Kirk

Suffocating in hot air

By Donald KirkWASHINGTON ― The venom of opposing forces in the U.S. presidential campaign inspires comparison to the rhetoric of Kim Jong-un and his propaganda machine.Insults, accusations, and lies are common currency of the opposing candidates.  Having just watched the hyper speech-making that accompanied the nomination of Donald Trump at the Republican Party convention in Cleveland, I’m confident that Hillary Clinton and her acolytes will dream up equally mordant oratory at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia next week.All that’s really missing from the blasts and counter blasts are physical threats to annihilate one another, as North Korean propagandists are in the habit of making. As if to compensate for that shortcoming, both candidates have a lot to say about war, terrorism, America’s “enemies” and all they’re going to do to wipe them out. Fear, war and violence are dominant images even if they talk in such generalities that it’s impossible to know what they would do in a crisis.When it comes to big talk on foreign affa

Jul 21, 2016By Donald Kirk

Donald Kirk

Britain's new conservatism

By Donald Kirk LONDON ― Nobody does politics like the Brits. Just as Hillary and the Trumpster were turning into bores in the U.S., along came an unpredictable change in the leadership of the United Kingdom. While one conservative takes over from another as prime minister, confusion reigns. For the benefit of anyone thinking Japanese or Korean or Taiwanese political struggles are nasty, what could have been nastier than the quick dash for power that grabbed headlines here after a majority of Brits voted for Britain’s exit from the European Union? If the outcome of the Brexit vote came as a shock, the aftermath of dirty politics was a second act mingling still more surprise with moments of comic relief and silliness. The world’s conflict-ridden democracies should take note of the really good news: the power shift happened mercifully quickly with the ascent of the home secretary, Theresa May, to prime minister.  After May won an overwhelming majority of her party’s members in parliament, David Cameron decided to resign right away. Why put the

Jul 14, 2016By Donald Kirk

Donald Kirk

War of words over Brexit

By Donald Kirk LONDON  ―  Here in the eye of Typhoon Brexit, the airwaves, internet and print media reverberate with the shockwaves of what is seen as the End of Britain as we know it or a tempest in a teapot. The roar of the storm is such that it can only be compared to the ruckus of royal infidelities and rumors and rubbish that transfixed the British media in decades past. If one thing is missing from all the statements and counter statements, charges and counter-charges, claims and lies heard over here, it is a whiff of royal scandal that would really rivet attention. In the coffee shops and pubs of swinging London, the question of whether Britain “leaves” or “remains” in the European Union or tells Brussels and all the other exponents of Euro-trash to get stuffed has about as much traction and appeal as, oh, the North Korean nuclear issue at a typical Starbucks or Coffee Bean or Cafe Bene in Seoul.  I mean, okay, the pols and papers and talk-show yakkers can rant and rave as they wish, but most people really have more importa

Jul 7, 2016By Donald Kirk

Donald Kirk

Brexit and Britain's culture clash

By Donald KirkWASHINGTON ― We’ve been reading for so long about Britain’s economic troubles, the social system and the culture intertwined with the country’s slow, not always graceful, decline, that the British exit from the European Union comes as less than a shock. Or if it is a shock, that’s because most of us only talked to people in and around London, maybe at Oxford or Cambridge or some other academic center, when not looking at stately cathedrals and cute country villages. Certainly, we didn’t talk a lot to the Brits who voted yes to Brexit—and more than likely the beginning of the end of an awkward attempt at uniting the disparate countries of Europe into a cohesive whole.In a way you have to admire the desire of the Brits, that is, the ones we don’t generally talk to, to stand aside from the EU. What do all these non-elected Brussels bureaucrats mean, trying to tell us what to do, and why should we have to lose our beloved sterling currency, the way the French gave up the franc and the Germans the mark and the Italian the lire, in a

Jun 30, 2016By Donald Kirk

Donald Kirk

When your rifle's 'automatic'

By Donald Kirk TORONTO ― A drive across the American continent takes you through a strange land where the airwaves are full of personal invective mingled with expert analysis of what’s an automatic weapon or semi-automatic or plain old-fashioned pistol or rifle. Say what you want to learn about the political charges and counter-charges flung about in places like Korea and Japan. They’re tame by comparison to the name-calling, charges and counter-charges of the principal contenders for president of the U.S. As if the back-and-forth between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were not surprising enough, we also have the spectacle of amazing responses to the slaughter in Orlando, Florida, of 49 innocent victims plus the killing of the guy responsible for all those deaths. Every commentator or panelist goes through a ritual of deploring what happened, declaring the fervent need for doing something to keep such a tragedy from recurring ― and then proceeds to bicker over demands to ban what the media calls “assault” weapons and figure out who’s a t

Jun 23, 2016By Donald Kirk

Donald Kirk

Read more

Korea on knife edge

Missiles vs. missiles

Moving toward war

Traitor Trump?

Nation divided against itself

Suffocating in hot air

Britain's new conservatism

War of words over Brexit

Brexit and Britain's culture clash

When your rifle's 'automatic'

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