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President Moon on right track

Less than two weeks in office, newly elected President Moon Jae-in has taken a series of positive actions for the good of the country, even though he assumed the presidency without a normal transition period. Elected with 41 percent of the votes cast, his popularity soared up to 80 percent among the people who watched his fast-paced good performance, his considerate rhetoric, and his non-authoritarian, people-friendly behavior. At the outset, he declared himself a president of all people, including those who did not vote for him, willing and eager to cooperate with opposition parties which c...

2017-05-21 17:24

New hope begins tomorrow

Tomorrow on May 9, the Republic of Korea elects a new president. Looking at the polls and the dynamics of a five-way race, the front-runner Moon Jae-in appears to have clinched the presidency, unless an incredible miracle takes place. Even if some other candidate is elected, South Korea will restore its legitimate right and opportunity to end the dangerous course of military conflict and to open a new path to peace, stability, and prosperity on the peninsula. Most voters want security and prosperity. They support the alliance with the United States for the shared interest of deterrence again...

2017-05-07 17:21

'Madman strategy' on N. Korea

Tensions keep mounting on the Korean peninsula as the U.S. and North Korea ratchet up their mutual threats of a preemptive strike against each other through bellicose rhetoric and saber rattling. There is no question any preventive or preempt strike by one side would instantly lead to a renewed war in Korea, that could spread beyond the peninsula. It is not new that Pyongyang puts out provocative statements, sticking to itsnuclear andmissile development. It is new that Washington keeps Pyongyang on notice with the threat of military option, although measured. Pyongyang’s latest warning: the ...

2017-04-23 17:19

US, China to work on N. Korea

This column begins with a positive note about President Trump’s first meeting last week with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago, Florida. The summit was overshadowed by the U.S. strike on Syria in retribution against its use of chemical weapons. The attack was carried out Thursday night after Trump hosted a dinner for Xi and his delegation. However, the two-day meeting between the two big powers with the most powerful influence on the Korean Peninsula ended with an agreement to build a good working relationship to work together on North Korea, as well as on other vital issues of mutu...

2017-04-09 17:18

To abort military action

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s tough talk on March 17 of possible military action against North Korea’s nuclear threats raised concerns about the prospect of a second Korean War. He said Washington is not going to engage the North at this point. But neither is the U.S. going to take a military strike before it tries several other steps first. Recounting Tillerson’s main points should be useful in figuring out what decisions the Trump administration will make on North Korea at the end of its policy review. It is likely that a new policy will allow room for mid-course readjustment as ...

2017-03-26 17:24

Firing of Park and THAAD deployment

The implementation of THAAD deployment to South Korea casts a far-reaching impact on South Korea’s politics after the Constitution Court’s ruling to fire President Park Geun-hye. It creates difficulties for the next administration to reconsider the controversial deployment. It complicates Korea’s relations with its neighbors. It could be a beginning of change to the existing security order in the Northeast region of Asia. The rolling out of the deployment of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery is a first concrete step that the Trump administration has taken to strengthen the deterr...

2017-03-12 17:30

Concerns increase over N. Korea

News highlights flash and commentaries flood over the problems of North Korea, which on Feb. 12 tested an advanced type of solid fueled, intermediate range ballistic missile from a mobile launch vehicle, harder to detect: the North is squarely suspected of masterminding the assassination of its leader Kim Jong-un’s older half-brother at the Kuala Lumpur airport. On Feb. 20, China suspended all imports of coal from the economically struggling DPRK to punish its missile test in violation of multiple U.N. resolutions. Beijing’s relationship with Pyongyang has declined to the lowest ebb in a lon...

2017-02-26 16:59

Still hope in Pyongyang

North Korea has so far defied predictions that they would launch an ICBM test or carry out another nuclear test to demonstrate its capability of striking the homeland of the United States with a nuclear missile. Kim Jong-un may do it again anytime. The threat of North Korea’s capability is real: the North is nearing the perfection of its WMD program. The delay may be based on constraints on resources, timing for domestic events, unresolved problems from previous failures or a new strategic calculation. The DPRK leader may still be looking for a credible clue to what President Donald Trump mi...

2017-02-12 16:39

What Pyongyang should do

North Korea no longer needs to do something provocative to get attention. It is constantly being watched because of its nuclear and missile development programs, which are discussed in capitals in Asia, the United States, and Europe. Rex Tillerson, nominee for secretary of state, expressed the conventional hardline view of the DPRK at his Senate confirmation hearing last Tuesday.

2017-01-15 15:56

Seoul, Washington and Pyongyang

South Korea is besieged by a political vacuum resulting from the impeachment of its president, interrupting normal governance of state affairs. The unfolding of this bizarre drama coincides with the incoming of a Trump administration, whose Korea policy is still not clear even after the nominations of key cabinet members to carry out U.S. foreign policy, including Rex Tillerson for secretary of state.

2016-12-18 16:01

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