Opinion - The Korea Times

Putting down markers

By John BurtonNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un made his opening bid in dealing with the new administration of President Joe Biden at the eighth congress of the ruling Workers' Party, which ended last week. The congress was deliberately held before Biden's inauguration this week to send a message on how Pyongyang views the situation.It was not a reassuring one for Washington. Kim declared that the U.S. was North Korea's “foremost principal enemy” and added that North Korea would only negotiate from a position of strength as he outlined new nuclear and missile programs. These included the development of tactical nuclear weapons suitable for local conflicts on the Korean Peninsula, long-range strategic missiles with multiple warheads that could reach most of the U.S. mainland, and nuclear submarines. This point was underscored when a new submarine-launched ballistic missile, described as “the world's most powerful weapon,” was displayed in a military parade afterwards to celebrate the end of the congress.This tough stance apparently anticipates that the Biden admi

Jan 18, 2021By John Burton

John Burton

Un-American

By John BurtonWhen is an American film not an American film? That is the controversy surrounding the critically acclaimed, mainly Korean-language movie, “Minari,” directed by a Yale-educated Korean American filmmaker, Lee Isaac Chung.The film is named after the water dropwort plant that comes to symbolize adaptability in different environments. It tells the story of a young Korean father who moves his family to the United States then decides to start a farm in Arkansas in the 1980s after spending several unhappy years working at a poultry plant in California. It is a classic tale of immigrants to America who must overcome obstacles to survive in a new country. The film is based on Chung's own experiences of growing up on a farm in Arkansas and is told largely from his perspective as a young boy already getting used to American ways.The controversy arose after the organizers of the Hollywood Golden Globe Awards ruled that “Minari” must compete in the category of Best Foreign Language Film rather than the higher-profile Best Drama because the film's dialogue was

Jan 4, 2021By John Burton

John Burton

Arms control

By John BurtonU.S. President-elect Joe Biden has the opportunity to forge a new path in terms of U.S. policy toward North Korea by embracing the idea that an arms control agreement with Pyongyang rather than denuclearization should be Washington's immediate primary goal. It is abundantly clear that Washington's quest of 30 years to force North Korea to end its nuclear and long-range missile program has failed. The genie cannot be put back into the bottle. The only reasonable alternative is for the U.S. and North Korea to sign an arms control agreement that would put limits on North Korea's future development of nuclear and missile technology, similar to the agreements that the U.S. signed with the Soviet Union in the 1980s and 1990s. There are concerns that a Biden administration might revert to the policy of “strategic patience” of the Obama administration, during which there was little engagement with North Korea as Washington relied on sanctions and other pressure tactics in a futile attempt to bend Pyongyang to its will. But there appears to be a growing consensus amo

Dec 21, 2020By John Burton

John Burton

Korean-Americans in Congress

By John BurtonSeveral months before the U.S. elections in November, I was talking with a Korean Embassy official in Washington, D.C. He was bemoaning the fact that there was only one Korean-American in the U.S. Congress and wished that more would be elected to reflect accurately their presence in American society.His wish has been granted. Four Korean-Americans will take their congressional seats in January. They will make up 0.7 percent of the 538 legislators in Congress. That is almost precisely representative of the Korean-American share of the U.S. population at 0.6 percent or an estimated 1.8 million people.The Korean-American congressional delegation is representative in another sense. Reflecting the polarized nature of U.S. politics, with a nearly 50-50 split between the two main parties, two of the lawmakers are Democrats and two Republican.That ideological division reveals that most minority groups in the U.S. are less monolithic in terms of their political attitudes than is often thought. It is commonly assumed that minorities ― blacks, Latinos, Asian-Americans and Native A

Dec 7, 2020By John Burton

John Burton

Korea and China in Biden era

By John BurtonIf there was one overarching theme about President Donald Trump's policy toward Asia, it was growing power competition with China. This was reflected not only in an escalating trade war, but also in Washington strengthening relations with Japan, India and Australia, members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or the so-called Quad bloc, to counter China's increasing influence in Asia. The Quad initiative was a rare example of multilateralism in the Trump administration. However, it was undermined to some extent by trade disputes with these countries that reflected the unilateral “America First” policy that dominated the Trump administration.The Trump policy toward Asia created a diplomatic dilemma for Korea. Although Korea shares the democratic values of the Quad countries and has a military pact with the U.S., it is also aware that Beijing regards the grouping as an anti-Chinese alliance and Seoul does not want to alienate its biggest trading partner. Korea is likely to come under increased U.S. pressure to join the Quad, even with the arrival of the adm

Nov 23, 2020By John Burton

John Burton

Biden's Korea policy

By John BurtonIt is pretty clear what President-elect Joe Biden's Korea policy will be. He will restore the battered alliance with South Korea, including a quick resolution of differences over defense burden sharing raised by President Donald Trump. He will also take a tougher line on North Korea than Trump.But how events will develop over the coming months is less clear. Will Biden, for example, resume full-scale U.S.-South Korean military exercises this spring, which North Korea views as a “hostile act” by Washington? Will Pyongyang respond by resuming the testing of long-range missiles, more than three years after it suspended them? If North Korea takes that step, will the U.S. then push for additional tougher international sanctions? Events could quickly spiral out of control.Biden might want to avoid any immediate confrontation with North Korea. His administration would prefer to focus on domestic problems, including battling the COVID-19 pandemic, restoring economic growth and healing the racial divide in the U.S. Moreover, it usually takes about six months for any

Nov 9, 2020By John Burton

John Burton

Moon's troubled green energy policy

By John BurtonWhile President Moon Jae-in has been praised for his handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, his efforts to address another global issue ― climate change ― appear to be sputtering.In the launch of his Green New Deal this year. Moon repeated his promise first made in 2017 that non-hydro renewables would provide 60 gigawatts (GW) of energy, accounting for about a fifth of total energy production, by the end of the decade. But there is increased skepticism around whether Korea's ability will reach that target. Renewables now account for only 4 percent of electricity generation in Korea compared to 10 percent in the U.S., according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2019.Fitch Solutions, a financial research group, estimates that renewables will only generate 31.9GW by 2029 because it will be more expensive than alternative energy sources, such as nuclear or fossil fuels, and thus will be economically unviable without sufficient subsidies despite the falling costs of solar and wind energy.Pressure is growing on the government to deal with climate change. The National A

Oct 26, 2020By John Burton

John Burton

Election rigging

By John BurtonU.S. President Donald Trump has claimed he can only lose the presidential election on Nov. 3 if it is rigged against him. Similar claims about the conservative opposition's landslide defeat in Korea's April parliamentary elections have already been made by some of its supporters in both Korea and the United States.The “rigged election” conspiracy theory is being exploited by hardline right-wing national security groups in the U.S. to undermine support for President Moon Jae-in and his engagement policy with North Korea.There have been previous allegations of election rigging in Korea, particularly during the democratic transition when the military-backed ruling party of Roh Tae-woo won the 1987 presidential election and 1988 National Assembly elections. Progressive groups cried foul, noting discrepancies in the vote counts. The latest controversy was triggered when Walter Mebane, a well-respected expert on election fraud at the University of Michigan, issued a paper in May that claimed a statistical analysis of the election results “strongly suggest ..

Oct 12, 2020By John Burton

John Burton

Topsy-turvy ties

By John BurtonAs the 2020 U.S. presidential elections approach, it is extraordinary to see how the Trump administration has transformed America's relations with the Korean Peninsula over the past four years.Since 1948, when Korea regained its independence, the U.S. has traditionally been a steadfast defense ally of South Korea while it has cautiously kept North Korea at arm's length and often treated the country with contempt.In many ways, President Trump has turned America's relations with the two Koreas topsy-turvy. Trump has apparently established genuine personal rapport with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, according to Bob Woodward's new book, “Rage.” You are my friend and always will be," Trump told Kim at one point, while Kim spoke of a “deep and special friendship between us.”Meanwhile Trump keeps criticizing South Korea for growing rich on “terrible” trade deals with the U.S. and for not paying its “fair share” of defense costs to support U.S. troops in the country, even threatening to withdraw them.Whether Trump wins or loses

Sep 28, 2020By John Burton

John Burton

No need to worry

By John BurtonThe Seoul stock market has been the world's third-best performing bourse so far this year, just behind China and the U.S. One reason is that like China, Korea is seen as getting COVID-19 under control despite occasional renewed outbreaks. Another reason is that like the U.S., Korea has invested lots of financial resources to stabilize the economy. At the beginning of September, the government said it would increase budget spending by 8.5 percent next year to $468.5 billion from $431 billion this year despite little growth in revenue. This comes on top of three major stimulus packages it has introduced this year to support the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, which pushed Korea into a technical recession. Most of that money is expected to go to healthcare, welfare and employment programs and to support struggling industries in the auto, airline and shipbuilding sectors as well as small- and medium-sized companies.Increased government spending is likely to continue if the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in Seoul poses a risk to the robust economic recovery tha

Sep 14, 2020By John Burton

John Burton

Read more

Putting down markers

Un-American

Arms control

Korean-Americans in Congress

Korea and China in Biden era

Biden's Korea policy

Moon's troubled green energy policy

Election rigging

Topsy-turvy ties

No need to worry

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