TRISHA CURRY WRITES – An increasingly asked question these days: Whom do economic sanctions hurt the most? Take the case of North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – DPRK). This troubled nation of 25 million is dangerously close to a return to its dismal economic status of 1997 – one of…
SENAY EMMANUEL WRITES – On June 30th, 2019, US President Donald Trump met with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un at the Demilitarized Zone, which separates the two Koreas. With that, Trump became the first sitting US president to visit the isolated country. This symbolic gesture made for an incredible photo…
[Editor’s Note] – The rise of a new global power has often led to hegemonic wars. In the following essay, Prof. Graham Allison discusses how the rise of China might affect the Korean Peninsula and offers his insights on the possibility of a second Korea war. An earlier version of…
PATRICK POLESHUK WRITES- If the recent Trump-Kim summit has told us anything about North Korea’s relationship with the U.S, it is that the two leaders appear to be on separate wavelengths. The summit’s location in Hanoi, Vietnam, while comfortable and convenient for both Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un, was not…
(FROM THE EDITORS OF ASIA MEDIA: THIS COLUMN APPEARED ONE WEEK BEFORE THE SINGAPORE SUMMIT, IN THE SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST)– BY TOM PLATE: Next week, it now seems, the American President will be in Singapore, along with the North Korean leader. Both are famously quirky. Is Lee worried? We…
TABITHA THEARD WRITES — Rice, water bottles, and bicycle tubes are not usually seen as political statements, but in South Korea, activists are using these items to inspire hope and encourage more North Koreans to become defectors and flee their country. According to Fars Ghani from Aljazeera, approximately 31,000 North…
EMILY CARMAN WRITES – North Korea withdrew its participation from a pre-Olympic intercultural event set to take place on Monday, February 4. The event would have combined popular artists from the North and South, and was set to take place at the Mt. Kumgang Resort in North Korea, a location…
DIANA JABLONSKI WRITES – Malaysia’s high-profile trial on the murder of Kim Jong Nam, half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has resumed. Two women, 25-year-old Indonesian Siti Aisyah and 29-year-old Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, were charged with the alleged murder, caused by a chemical substance known as the…
TRUMAN DALY WRITES — The last time the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea appeared at the Olympics was after the end of the Korean War. Fast forward 54 years, the DPRK and the Republic of Korea have put forth a unified women’s ice hockey team for the 2018 Winter Olympics…
ELIZABETH SOELISTIO WRITES – To support or not to support, that is the question when it comes to U.S. President Donald Trump’s 12-day visit to Asia. Nowhere is that more true than in South Korea. As tensions between the United States and North Korea continue, many South Koreans have taken…
FOUNDER TOM PLATE WRITES — How can a fiery logjam be tamed by throwing more logs onto the fire? The Backstory: The Korean mess began brewing long before the current U.S. administration took power. It is true that since January President Donald Trump’s madman/rocket man pugnacity has unnerved just about…
SPENCER H. KIM WRITES – Generally speaking, for decades there have been basically two frames of reference in South Korea ― the conservative world view and the progressive world view. There was a certain tribalism mentality in that conservatives or progressives felt the need to subscribe to their “list” of…
JAY SEO WRITES – Everyone knows that the first amendment of the US constitution guarantees American citizens the freedom of religion, but that this right is anything but universal. In too many counties, innocent people are being arrested, abused or even killed because of their faith. Rather than ending in…
TOM PLATE WRITES IN THE KOREA TIMES OF SEOUL – The need for China and the United States to come together in a persistently adult geopolitical two-some has never been more urgent. Gamesmanship must be minimized. Statesmanship must be maximized. Just ask Mr. Ban Ki-moon, career diplomat. The other night…
MARY GRACE COSTA WRITES – It’s all fun and games until you’re charged with accessory to murder. A woman allegedly involved in the assassination of Kim Jong-Nam claims that she thought she was carrying out a harmless prank rather than someone’s deadly political agenda. On February 13, local South Korean…
