Analyze this for Dec. 19 poll
As usual at this time of the year, the outbreak of the three-year Korean War is being remembered. The war was started by a surprise attack by North Korea on the morning of June 25, 1950, and killed millions of civilians and soldiers. Sixty two years later today, the Korean conflict remains unresolved, with millions […]
Pro-N. Korea lawmakers in Assembly
Korean politics seem to have reached a contentious limit. It seems just yesterday that people were criticizing the backwardness of Korean politics for dragging down the Korean economy, but now it has become a problem not just for the economy, but a crisis that threatens the national identity. This crisis is caused by political establishments […]
Truth about Rwanda
KILGALI ― Ongoing unrest between rival military factions in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has triggered a predictable barrage of innuendo, fabricated leaks, and outright lies regarding Rwanda’s role. It began 10 days ago, with a single BBC story on a leaked United Nations report that was said to prove Rwanda’s involvement, but […]
Romney on North Korea
Despite U.S. concerns of proliferation and security threats, North Korea is not a critical issue that will affect the outcome of the American presidential election in November. The North is not likely to provoke military trouble serious enough to make a difference during the rest of this presidential election year for either the United States […]
Russia to write off North Korean debt
Russia’s finance ministry said Saturday it has agreed to a plan to write off 90 percent of North Korea’s debt of $11 billion, underscoring what observers say is an interest to boost economic ties with the Stalinist state. The remaining 10 percent will be invested in joint projects in the impoverished North in education as […]
Koreans in US ham-handed on racial issues
NEW YORK ― The recent death of Rodney King, the face of the brutal 1992 Los Angeles riots, has people looking back to what’s remembered as America’s worst urban disturbance that turned into an attack against Koreans. The buildup of racial tension exploded into violent mayhem, triggering angry blacks to burn, loot and rob businesses […]
War against rough drunks
Treatment should go together with punishment “To go beyond is as wrong as to fall short.” ― Confucius (B.C. 551-B.C. 479) Since it declared a war against violent drunkards a month ago, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) has arrested more than 100 violators. That is an impressive performance, even considering the Korean police’s reputation […]
Beautiful island, sad history
JEJU – Schoolchildren here sing a mournful song about a gigantic rock about 90 miles southwest of the island where the souls of fishermen lost at sea find their final repose. The rock cannot really be called an outcropping since it’s actually submerged several meters, but South Korea has set up a meteorological station with […]
‘Taegeuk spirit’ for next president
Few know the hidden meaning and symbolism in Korea’s national flag Taegeukgi. Is it a tennis ball? Does the red and blue in the center circle reflect the division of the Koreas? Does the red in the upper half of the circle mean the Communist North; the blue in the bottom half, the capitalist South […]
Idle National Assembly
Was ‘politics for the people’ just campaign rhetoric? The 19th National Assembly, which began its official term on May 30, was supposed to open for business by June 5. Yet the 300 elected lawmakers hadn’t even taken their oaths of office Wednesday, 15 days after the legal deadline, because rival parties remain locked in a […]
Media in Tie-up with The AsiaN 
Trump, Kim, and the Three P’s of Summit Diplomacy: 
