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Thu, October 18, 2018 | 18:03

Opinion > Columnists > Andrew Salmon >

America's gift to Korea

A distinguished visitor lands in Seoul this week: US President Donald Trump’s most formidable appointment, newly minted Secretary of Defense James “Mad Dog” Mattis. Word is, Mattis is visiting Korea and Japan to reassure them about ongoing American defense commitment, in the wake of alarming statements his chief made on the campaign trail. Seoul and Tokyo will be seeking clarity on Trump’s security stance which has, thus far, been as clear as mud. But with Trump having made crystal clear that he wants allies to cough up more for the protective aegis US forces represent, there will likely be ...

Andrew Salmon | 2017-01-30 15:51

Korea's provocation, Japan's blunder

The placement of a comfort woman statue outside the Japanese consulate in Busan was, in a way - and from the perspective of those who did it - a brilliant tactic. Custom-designed by a minority interest group to humiliate and provoke Tokyo and to reignite a dying controversy, it did exactly that. Let’s backtrack. In December 2015, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, through his foreign minister, made a public apology about the Korean comfort women. It was unequivocal, and widely reported in global media. He also promised governmental compensation - which was subsequently paid, no strings atta...

Andrew Salmon | 2017-01-16 16:04

Punch-worthy plane passengers

After Choi Soon-sil and Park Geun-hye, he is probably the most despised person in Korea at present: I speak not of Kim Jong-un or Shinzo Abe, but of a nameless (though not faceless) Korean Air passenger. His filmed misbehavior has prompted citizens across the land to reflexively clench their fists and hiss, “Oh, you obnoxious, entitled little bastar…” under their breaths. Alas for the scumba…. er, miscreant, also aboard the flight was a dark angel of macho justice: Richard Marx. Formerly known as a warbler of dire 1980s cheese-pop with a ridiculous mullet, Marx unleashed his badass persona a...

Andrew Salmon | 2017-01-02 16:13

1 vs. millions: private president vs. public protesters

In a 2014 book, I characterized Korea as a “Land of Extremes.” Currently, we are witnessing an ironic spectacle that is extreme even by Korean standards.

Andrew Salmon | 2016-12-19 17:36

Candlelit protesters for Nobel Peace Prize?

Why 'Choi gate' doesn't matter

They came by the thousands, then by the millions. They occupied central Seoul to give voice to righteous indignation. They did it with a remarkable display of peaceful and orderly civic disobedience that has few precedents anywhere, ever. Their thunderous demand was simple: “Down with Park Geun-hye!”

Andrew Salmon | 2016-12-05 16:08

'Choi gate' furies, institutional failures

Korea is fuming. In fact, the country is hopping mad.

Andrew Salmon | 2016-11-07 16:30

Theseus in the shopping mall

It is the most nightmarish of the Greek myths. Theseus travels to Crete, where, for years, male and female youths have been sacrificed to a fearsome beast: the half-man, half-bull Minotaur. The Minotaur resides in a labyrinth - a dark, dank, subterranean maze through which the creature stalks, kills and consumes his victims. Nobody who enters returns alive.

Andrew Salmon | 2016-10-24 16:58

Anti-America, anti-Japan, anti-China?

The waters of the West Sea/Yellow Sea are dangerous - and I am not talking about North Korean gunboats. A South Korea Coast Guard vessel was just sunk after being rammed by Chinese fishing boats. This alarming news follows fatal clashes in 2011 and 2014.

Andrew Salmon | 2016-10-10 16:03

Corporate brainwashing

At the conclusion of the Korean War, 21 Americans and one Briton, all prisoners of war, or POWs, defected to communist China. The free world was shocked. Had Beijing “brainwashed” these young men? Alarm bells rang across America. The CIA instituted a research program blending Nazi and communist psychological torture, hallucinogenic drugs, hypnotism and even, allegedly, such sinister practices as demonology. A popular novel and film, “The Manchurian Candidate,” portrayed a former Korean War POW who is programmed to assassinate the U.S. president.

Andrew Salmon | 2016-09-26 15:59

Taekwondo's triumph in Rio

On Aug. 18, in Rio de Janeiro’s Carioca Arena 3, Ahmad Abughaush made sportive history. After a sizzling final bout against Russia's Alexey Denisenko, the fighter became the first Jordanian athlete to win an Olympic medal, in any discipline, at any Olympics, ever. The same evening, Iranian Kimia Alizadeh Zenoorin became the first female Iranian athlete to achieve that same feat.

Andrew Salmon | 2016-08-29 16:28

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Hurricane Michael