my timesThe Korea Times
Kim Won-soo
OpinionColumnsColumnists

Kim Won-soo

Kim Won-soo is the former Korean diplomat and the under-secretary-general of the United Nations for disarmament. He is now the chair of the international advisory board of the Taejae Future Consensus Institute and a chair professor at Kyung Hee University.

Read more

Kim Won-soo

2022: year of hyper-uncertainty in global security

By Kim Won-sooThe new year has started with the COVID-19 pandemic still hanging over our heads. On top of that, clouds of hyper-uncertainty are gathering over the global security horizon.I think three big trends are behind this hyper-uncertainty. The first is the great disruption. The pandemic has wreaked havoc on every aspect of human life, particularly economic and social. The pandemic's overall impact is estimated to be worse than that of the great recession caused by the 2007 global financial crisis. The longer the pandemic continues, the worse its repercussions will become, raising the specter of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The second is the great division. Competition is intensifying between the two most powerful states in the world, the United States and China. It started with trade and then moved to technology. Soon it is likely to spill over to finance and security. Furthermore, confrontation persists over China's human rights issues. The growing competition and confrontation will cause a structural disconnect between the two great powers. This great division will inc

Jan 16, 2022By Kim Won-soo
Kim Won-soo

Emerging global (dis)order: Quo vadis ordo?

By Kim Won-sooThe order among the nations, or more realistically the balance of power among major powers is undergoing tectonic shifts. At its heart lies the fast rise of China relative to the United States. While there has been much debate in the expert community on whether the current state of international relations will lead to a new Cold War between Washington and Beijing, no consensual view has emerged as yet.Between the post-World War II and present situations, similarities exist on the relative power distribution of the two most powerful states and their value divide. But differences also exist in terms of the gap in the strategic balance of power between the two and their economic interdependence. China has caught up close with the U.S. in aggregate national power. Accordingly, the U.S.-China competition is raging in all areas including trade, technology, security and finance. But the U.S. still maintains dominance in most key areas, in particular strategic military capabilities and global finance. China may need more time to catch up, perhaps longer than popularly assumed.

Dec 19, 2021By Kim Won-soo
Kim Won-soo

US-China virtual summit: welcome restart of bumpy journey ahead

By Kim Won-sooThe overdue summit between the two leaders of the two most powerful states, the United States and China, finally took place, though virtually. This was the first “in-person” meeting in 10 months following the inauguration of President Joe Biden in the U.S. In the meantime, almost all channels of dialogue between the two countries have been virtually frozen.The outcome of the summit was neither as exciting nor disappointing as expected. It was largely bland and business-like without much immediate tangible outcome. But in my view, it sets a welcome tone for the future of the U.S.-China relationship in the following three ways. First, the virtual summit this time was largely meant to restart the practically frozen bilateral dialogue. Sending out a top-down signal to working level entities is particularly important given the party-dominated decision-making process in China. Secondly, the summit set the minimum common denominator for a follow-up dialogue. The two leaders recognized differences on a number of critical issues. But they also agreed on the need to p

Nov 21, 2021By Kim Won-soo
Kim Won-soo

Uniting South Korea is key

By Kim Won-sooVolatility in the strategic equation of the Korean Peninsula has recently risen. From a short-term perspective, the volatility largely stems from the growing anxiety over a prolonged stalemate in North Korea's dialogue with the United States. It remains uncertain at this time whether the North will choose tension or rapprochement to break the stalemate. From a long-term perspective, the cycle of North Korean behavior needs to be understood in the context of the evolving strategic equation in and around the Korean Peninsula. The equation is complex as it involves the two Koreas as well as four other major powers, the United States, China, Japan and Russia. Each of these four is among the most powerful countries in the world and have direct but often conflicting stakes in Korean peninsula issues. The equation is also heavily loaded with a full agenda array spanning from politics to socioeconomics, including humanitarian and human rights issues and security.Recently, typical of its behavioral pattern, North Korea is sending two conflicting signals simultaneously. The alleg

Oct 24, 2021By Kim Won-soo
Kim Won-soo

The Olympics: triple salvation and agenda for peace

By Kim Won-sooThe Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics were finally held during this past summer. Under the cloud cast by the COVID-19 pandemic, there was uncertainty until the last minute. Eventually the decision was taken to proceed with the Games but without spectators, something that was unprecedented. Tokyo 2020 was held, both despite and in the midst of the pandemic. It overcame the double hazards of: 1) persistent safety concerns despite one year of postponement due to the pandemic; and 2) negative public opinion in Japan against holding the Games. Both of these were extremely tough to overcome. The hazards also led to low-profile publicity and an under-appreciation of the Games in Japan. It was unfortunate to see Tokyo 2020 treated like a bottle of wine ― half-empty, half-full ― despite the success of the Japanese national team.Overall, around the world, however, the Olympics and Paralympics worked as a triple salvation. First, for the world, Tokyo 2020 provided a kind of light of hope, beaming on a service area in the long tunnel of the pandemic. The ideals of the United Nati

Sep 26, 2021By Kim Won-soo
Kim Won-soo

Double deja vu of Afghanistan with volatile future

By Kim Won-sooAfghanistan fell again into the hands of the Taliban, “the day after” the withdrawal of the United States troops began in a manner so abrupt and fast. The speed of the government collapse and ensuing shocks betrayed not only popular expectations of the outside world but also the analysis by the U.S. intelligence community. But from a longer perspective, it does not look like anything new to Afghanistan. It comes as a double deja vu. The modern history of Afghanistan repeats itself as a graveyard of empires. It started from the United Kingdom during the imperial era to be followed by the former Soviet Union during the Cold War and the U.S. over the last two decades.Afghanistan is also back to square one before former U.S. President Bush launched the war against terror following 9/11 in 2001.But this double deja vu does not mean any certainty for the future of Afghanistan. This time it is highly likely to get more volatile than before. “The day after” is still unfolding with great confusion on the grounds including the Kabul airport and huge anxiet

Aug 29, 2021By Kim Won-soo
Kim Won-soo

Untying Gordian knot on Korean Peninsula

By Kim Won-sooLast week South and North Korea resumed operation of cross-border hot lines. The move came as a pleasant surprise after the North unilaterally severed them over a year ago. It was likely intended by Pyongyang as an initial response to the policy review performed by the Biden administration in the United States as well as the following summit between the presidents of the U.S. and South Korea.This is good news. But whether and how it will be followed up with further dialogue remains to be seen. Given the complex array of challenges facing North Korea, its leadership may have spent sleepless nights agonizing over what steps should be taken. Their silence for the last couple of months was seen by some experts as a calm before the storm, which may have culminated in provocative actions by the North, as has been the case in the past. The past couple of years have arguably been the toughest period North Korea has ever faced. The unprecedentedly harsh self-imposed restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic seriously aggravated the already growing pains caused by international s

Aug 1, 2021By Kim Won-soo
Kim Won-soo

Getting Multilateralism 4.0 right

By Kim Won-sooThe allied powers victorious in World War II, led by the United States, created the United Nations as a universal institution with three objectives: stable peace, sustainable development and universal human rights. The inter-linkage of these objectives, as well as the scale and intensity of the tasks they involve, make clear that they cannot be met by any single country no matter how powerful it is. For this very reason, multilateralism has been carefully nurtured at both the global and regional levels, since the end of World War II. This path was previously exceptional in international politics, as multilateralism, rather than unilateralism or bilateralism was chosen by the new hegemon of the world. Ever since then, I would argue that multilateralism has gone through three phases: 1) “Multilateralism 1.0,” under the bipolarity of the U.S. and the former Soviet Union during the Cold War period (1945-1991); 2) “Multilateralism 2.0,” under the uni-polarity of the U.S. in the initial post-Cold War period (the 1990s); and 3) “Multilateralism 3.

Jul 13, 2021By Kim Won-soo
Kim Won-soo

BTS moment for Korea-US alliance and tasks ahead

By Kim Won-sooThe recent summit between the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States produced a communique, akin to the thrilling moment when BTS, one of the world's most idolized pop groups from Korea, grabbed multiple Grammy awards. Of course, this summit BTS moment was different from the real BTS saga but it sets the tone of continuity for forthcoming presidencies in Korea for the foreseeable future.Here are the three reasons why I think it was a diplomatic BTS moment. The first, B, stands for “bold.” The communique represents a bold move by the current ROK presidency, which has entered the last year of its five-year single term due to a constitutional ban on re-election. Korean presidencies in their final year, without exception, have faced political lame duck status due to plummeting popularity. So the conventional wisdom is not to take any steps in the lame duck year that are politically sensitive and diplomatically controversial. The communique this time takes such steps on multiple diplomatic fronts.The second, T, stands for “tough.” The communiqu

Jun 6, 2021By Kim Won-soo
Kim Won-soo

Sustainability: agenda for human renewal

By Kim Won-sooApril 22 marked the 51st Earth Day, and on that day United States President Joseph Biden hosted his first summit on climate change in line with this year's theme, “Restore Our Earth.” This reflects the mounting concern over the global unsustainability crisis facing humanity. The Earth is suffering from the unprecedented level of abuse by humanity of its natural ecosystems, going beyond renewable natural limits. Each year the gap between the abuses and sustainable limits is widening.Over the last 200 years since the Industrial Revolution began, the human population has exploded in a way that has mutually reinforced phenomenal economic growth with improvements in the quality of life including, in particular, health. As a result, the population has increased almost 8-fold, from 1 billion to close to 8 billion. This rapid increase, coupled with excessive mass production and consumption, has created increasingly unbearable pressure on natural ecosystems and the environment. Now the pressure is moving dangerously close to the point of no return.The Global Footprin

May 9, 2021By Kim Won-soo
previous page
12345
next page

Top 5 stories