KoreaTimes - Columnists

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Opinion

Columnists

Donald Kirk

America's global retreat

WASHINGTON - The United States is at a tipping point in terms of military power worldwide, nowhere more so than in Korea.

2020-07-23 15:56

Fighting China's wars

China is behaving like a caged beast growling, menacing, lashing out and baring its teeth at potential enemies on all sides. In the far northern reaches of India, Chinese forces have challenged Indian troops along what's called a “Line of Actual Control” established after the Chinese nipped off portions of Indian territory in a flare-up nearly 60 years ago.

2020-07-16 17:31

News for North Koreans

The insistence of a pair of brothers on scattering hundreds of thousands of leaflets from balloons fired over North Korea confronts the South with tough questions. Is it worth upsetting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his sister, Kim Yo-jong, knowing the negative effects the leaflets are having on North-South rapprochement? For sure, Kim is not going to agree on denuclearization, but how about just returning to talks?

2020-07-09 17:09

Celebrating July 4th

Most people hardly need reminders of their mortality. Mere mortals know there's a time to live and a time to die, but surely a statue should insure immortality in history if not in person. Not so, as Americans are reminded in assaults on statues of people seen as bad guys, traitors, villains to be dumped onto the ash heap of history, no longer venerated as heroes in stone or bronze.

2020-07-02 16:57

Trump's failed diplomacy

The timing of John Bolton's tell-all, “The Room Where It Happened,” was positively diabolic. Could it be mere coincidence that it hit the book stores in a month of significant anniversaries?

2020-06-25 17:20

Exploding dreams

One of the most quoted cliches among North Korean experts is that Kim Jong-un is really smart, that he knows what he's doing, all so shrewdly calculated for maximum impact. Just who qualifies as a North Korean expert and who doesn't is another matter. In a sense we're all experts. We all have opinions about North Korea, and much of what we say, write and think is unprovable, so who's to know who knows anything?

2020-06-18 17:55

Korean-style protests

Harvard professor Cornel West caught the divisions in American life when he warned of both the hopes and concerns of Americans after the funeral for George Floyd in Houston. “We got hope in the form of motion,” the renowned African-American philosopher told CNN's Anderson Cooper, “but we've gotta get ready for the backlash.”

2020-06-11 17:27

Truths about Gwangju

By Donald Kirk Details about what happened at Gwangju during those terrible days from May 18 through May 27, 1980, remain elusive four decades later. One of the greatest mysteries is who ordered helicopters to fire on demonstrators. Investigators will have trouble extracting confessions from aging army veterans or finding witnesses beyond those who have long since described what they saw, but hidden documents may be revealing.Chun Doo-hwan, the general who seized power in the months after the assassination of President Park Chung-hee nearly seven months earlier, has consistently denied helic...

2020-05-28 17:34

Gwangju's place in history

The memories never fade. The stories of the 10 days of defiance, of suffering and bloodshed, live on in a city that still seethes with resentment 40 years after the uprising that began with a student demonstration on May 18, 1980.

2020-05-21 17:17

Fighting the coronavirus is like advancing through a minefield in which explosions can kill and wound if not defeat the entire offensive. South Korean health experts would acknowledge the hazards after the bug spread through crowds in bars and clubs in Seoul's Itaewon district just as new cases had fallen to a few a day.

2020-05-14 18:21

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Top 10 Stories

1	30 people purchased 8,000 homes: data

2	National Assembly passes motion to arrest DPK chief

3	Gender equality minister nominee in hot seat over remarks on abortion

4	Seoul invites ambassadors to introduce new halal foods in Korea

5	S. Korea condemns Russia, seeks to mend ties with China

6	KG Mobility seeks breakthrough in Europe

7	Honey-dipped cookie to represent 'K-desserts' at global food expo in Germany

8	COVID-19 deaths hit record high in Korea for 2022

9	Civil servant mentor reappointed as labor ministry spokesman

10	Shilla hotel in Da Nang recognized at World Travel Awards

DARKROOM