South Korea

North Korea: WHY CHAIRMAN KIM THINKS THE WAY HE DOES

(The following is the most recent analysis of the North Korean impasse by the special advisor on this issue to the president of South Korea)…

Hong Kong: WHEN THE ‘PRINCIPLE’ OF THE THING IS THE PROBLEM OF THE THING

TOM PLATE WRITES — There’s often little more than a thin line between admirable principle and annoying stubbornness, and that line is not always easy to…

NORTH KOREA: THE DEPORT OF LAST RESORT

DANIELA GUEVARA WRITES – In an unusual case this month, South Korea has deported two North Koreans back to their home country. The ruling came…

WITH OR WITHOUT GLASSES, ASIA’S WOMEN HAVE THEIR OWN VISION

TALIN DEROHANESSIANS WRITES — It’s no surprise that women in Japan are held to strict beauty and dress standards. Now they have been banned from…

South Korea: REMEMBERING SULLI AND WHAT SHE STOOD FOR

DANIELA GUEVARA WRITES — Known as an ultra-competitive and highly technologically advanced society, South Korea has one of the highest suicide rates in developed nations. And this…

K-POP INSIDER: HOW STALKER SASAENGS MAKE LIFE MISERABLE

JOANNE PANG WRITES — It used to be the case that becoming a singer or an actress was a chance of a lifetime: you either got it…

TRADE TANTRUMS: JAPAN AND South Korea, SUCH GOOD FRIENDS …

TIA CARR WRITES– In recent times, the frequency of interstate armed conflicts has greatly decreased. However, we are seeing the rapid creation of alternative means…

THINK OF IT AS ‘HONG KONG ‘ GWANGJU: HISTORY SEEMS TO BE REPEATING ITSELF

HYUNG JUN YOU WRITES — Men and women of all ages, from high school students to retired grandmothers, took to the streets to demand democratic…

South Korea: the curfew question and American Soldiers in Seoul

ANDREA PLATE WRITES — “We are Ambassadors who represent our country on and off duty,” General Robert Abrams, Commander of US Forces South Korea (USFK), tweeted…

MOVIE REVIEW: GOLDEN PALM AWARD WINNER ‘PARASITE’ ECHOES THE DARK TRAGEDY OF A DISUNITED Korean Peninsula

WEI WU WRITES — The South Korean movie “Parasite”, 2019 Golden Palm Award winner and recently released in East Asia after its 2018 debut, has…

TRUMP DIPLOMACY: HOW UNREAL IS THIS LATEST ‘DIPLOMATIC’ REALITY SHOW?

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…

U.S. POLITICS: BOMB-DROPPING WOMEN FLYING HIGH IN AMERICA’S GENDER WARS

ANDREA PLATE WRITES – Retired Lieutenant Colonel Amy McGrath served 20 years in the Marines, flew 89 combat missions and dropped bombs on Al Qaeda…

KOREAN CONUNDRUM: IS IT TIME FOR XI JINPING TO UP HIS GAME?

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR LEE HONG-KOO WRITES – Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to North Korea is cleverly timed. World leaders attending the Group of 20 (G-20)…

SHADOWS OF WAR: ARE THE TWO KOREAS THE CORINTH AND KORCYA OF OUR TIME?

[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…

VETERANS OF ASIAN WARS: THE TERRIBLY SAD STORY THAT NEVER ENDS

ANDREA PLATE WRITES – For 15 years, I was a senior staff social worker at the United States federal government’s Department of Veterans Affairs—the country’s…