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Fri, October 20, 2017 | 19:45

Opinion > Columnists > Donald Kirk >

Healing history's wounds

MANILA - No city suffered more in World War II than this sprawling metropolis of more than 10 million people. No enemy was more cruel, more hostile, more destructive than the Japanese after defeating U.S. forces in the Philippines at the outset of the war in the Pacific. Japanese commanders knew the Americans were returning and would soon regain control yet did nothing to halt the atrocities that resulted in the deaths of more than a million Filipinos. Under these circumstances, it seems almost beyond belief that the Japanese Emperor Akihito and his wife, Empress Michiko, could return to the...

Donald Kirk | 2016-02-04 16:44

Differing US views on N. Korea

Donald Gregg, U.S. ambassador to Korea as the country was making the transition to democracy in the early 1990s, did not take kindly to my column in which I quoted him, accurately, as praising Kim Jong-un “for improving the North Korean economy and downplaying nuclear threats and nuclear weapons development.”

Donald Kirk | 2016-01-28 18:49

Defending Kim Jong-un

Donald Gregg, former U.S. ambassador to Korea, makes an astounding statement in a piece published after North Korea’s fourth nuclear test. As “a very positive note,” he praises “the performance of Kim Jong-un in improving the North Korean economy and downplaying nuclear threats and nuclear weapons development.”

Donald Kirk | 2016-01-21 17:28

Talkfest on comfort women

WASHINGTON - Park Yu-ha, under fire in Korea for writing “Comfort Women of the Empire,” offers what she believes may be a way to reach an understanding with Japan on the whole controversy.

Donald Kirk | 2016-01-14 16:42

Bosworth, 'consummate diplomat'

American ambassadors to South Korea pursue a fine line between defense of the U.S.-Korean alliance and pursuit of North-South reconciliation. If they seem hell-bent on military goals, they’re accused of trying to push Korea into a war that nobody wants. And if they appear overly eager for talks, they appear unrealistic about the North’s intentions.

Donald Kirk | 2016-01-07 17:05

'Comfort woman' statues

The Koreans have a terrific device for upsetting the Japanese. That’s in the form of statues of innocent young girls - reminders of the suffering of Korean and other Asian women in the service of Japanese soldiers in World War II. They’ve got these statues in New Jersey, California and Michigan, much to the annoyance of the Japanese, but the one that bothers them most is on the sidewalk across a rather narrow street from the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.

Donald Kirk | 2015-12-31 15:19

Media freedom on trial

The zeal with which the Korean government pursued the case of Tatsuya Kato, charged with criminal libel, bears disturbing parallels to the records of other countries that prosecute critics. The charge of libel is a favorite weapon of authorities in Singapore and Malaysia, to name two notorious practitioners of that technique. They profess some measure of democracy, but in other countries, legal niceties are irrelevant. Censorship prevails _ and pity the miscreant who gets his adversarial views into print or on the air. In the Philippines, where there is no censorship, assassins simply gun do...

Donald Kirk | 2015-12-24 17:03

Putin's 'new cold war'

WASHINGTON - The term “new cold war” is gaining common currency. That’s because of Russia more than China. Russian President Vladimir Putin is talking like a latter-day Cold Warrior in nationalist, ethnocentric terms that alarm a new generation of Kremlin-watchers. Putin, they say, is appealing to deep instincts in the Russians as he talks in increasingly tough terms about Russian interests in eastern Europe and the middle east - and even mentions the N-word, nuclear warfare.

Donald Kirk | 2015-12-17 17:02

Waging war, at home and abroad

WASHINGTON - First he was talking about kicking out all 12 million “illegal immigrants” in the U.S., and now he wants to exclude all Muslims from the right to enter the U.S. You have to wonder from Donald Trump’s remarks whether he’s lost touch with the concept of the American “melting pot” and the Latin motto “e pluribus unum,” i.e., “from many, one.”

Donald Kirk | 2015-12-10 16:59

Power to the people

Freedom will ring on the streets of Seoul tomorrow, Saturday, when demonstrators denounce the government for numerous transgressions beginning with the scheme to impose state-edited, state-published school textbooks in place of those by independent scholars. People by now are so accustomed to the sounds of protests reverberating around the center of the capital that many will be tempted to ignore the shouting and move on. However, this may be a little too big to dismiss if the last such outpouring, in mid-November, is any guide.

Donald Kirk | 2015-12-03 16:46

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Lunch with Navy sailors