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Tue, July 17, 2018 | 05:33

Opinion > Columnists > Tong Kim >

Setting priorities for politics

South Korea has a unique parliamentary system under which two major competing parties prefer to agree to vote on any legislative bill or to approve cabinet nominations. Technically, the ruling Saenuri Party which has an absolute majority in the National Assembly, can endorse the president's controversial nominee Lee Wan-Koo for Prime Minister. However, such approval requires the convening of a plenary session of the national legislature, to which the opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) agreed. The opposition party has since changed its position, proposing to determine the f...

Tong Kim | 2015-02-15 16:48

Structural problems for peninsula

The month of January has gone by without making any progress toward the goal of inter-Korean dialogue that was pronounced by the highest leaders in Seoul and Pyongyang at the start of 2015. Even the next few following months do not look good for North-South relations or denuclearization talks.

Tong Kim | 2015-02-01 16:54

Signs of peace for the Peninsula

Careful reading of the New Year's statements by leaders of the two Koreas and the subsequent direction of inter-Korean relations, although appearing hesitant and tenuous, gives a rational basis for optimism that both sides would work together this year to reduce tension and to move toward mutual accommodation.

Tong Kim | 2015-01-18 17:20

A possible North-South summit

As 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, the leaders of the two Koreas have expressed their wishes, at least in rhetoric, to end outdated Cold War confrontation and resume dialogue and engagement to improve inter-Korean relations towards a durable peace and eventual unification.

Tong Kim | 2015-01-04 17:08

Cyber terror a new challenge

A few significant events developed last week, which will affect North Korea immediately or eventually. In Washington, the U.S. FBI identified North Korea as the culprit that conducted a cyber-attack on Sony causing it to cancel the release of a comedy film, "The Interview," which is the tale of a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Two days earlier, President Obama announced a decision to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Tong Kim | 2014-12-21 16:48

Six-party talks are futile

The six-party talks, aiming at a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, have been dormant for six years since December 2008. Pessimism prevails that the multilateral forum of six nations - China, the U.S., Russia, Japan and the two Koreas - is highly unlikely to resume any time soon. Even if it were resumed unexpectedly, it would not be able to achieve its stated goal.

Tong Kim | 2014-12-07 17:08

Human rights in N. Korea

The passage of a U.N. committee's human rights resolution on Nov. 18, recommending referral of the accountability of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged "crimes against humanity," has spurred a new wave of awareness and concern of the North Korean human rights situation as detailed in a powerful 400-page report that the U.N. Commission of Inquiry (COI) released last February.

Tong Kim | 2014-11-23 17:04

OPCON and peace for Korea

An agreement reached between the ROK and the U.S. to defer the transition of wartime operational control (OPCON) to South Korea indefinitely until "an appropriate date" in the future, by at least 10 years from now, reveals the extent of security and political problems on the peninsula to which there is no simple solution.

Tong Kim | 2014-11-09 16:23

Insecure path to peace

It appears that North Koreans will not attend a second round of “high-level contact” at Panmunjeom on Oct. 30, as proposed by Seoul. A delegation of three ranking DPRK officials agreed to do so, when they came to attend the closing ceremony of the Asian Games at Incheon on Oct. 4. Since their visit to the South, a series of portentous events has unfolded to impact inter-Korean relations as well as U.S.-DPRK relations. These include border clashes between the North and the South, release of an American detainee, a subtle semantic change in Washington's position on nuclear talks, and an indefi...

Tong Kim | 2014-10-26 16:55

Reading North Korean Intent

The surprise visit of the three most powerful officials serving North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to the South on Oct. 4 caught most people off guard.

Tong Kim | 2014-10-12 15:46

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