Christmas tree in N. Korea
The fuss made by North Korea over the Christmas lights on a steel tower at an observation post overlooking the demilitarized zone reminds me of a similarly lit tree far inside North Korea. It was on the shelf behind the bar of a hotel in the industrial east coast city of Hamheung. I saw this […]
Park Geun-hye must enforce affirmative action
President-elect Park Geun-hye has pledged to recruit highly qualified people for various government posts fairly. According to her, such impartial recruitment is necessary to end the vicious cycle of division and hatred that has haunted South Korea for the past half century. Park’s predecessors have reneged on their promises of fairness. They have installed cronies […]
Divided nation
A few days ago, I received a widely circulating Kakao Talk message from a friend who vehemently supported Park Geun-hye during the presidential election. It read as follows: “A totally new era seems to be in store for the nation given Park’s victory and numerous signs of good fortune.” It cited a series of numerical […]
Why I won’t go to North Korea
“Have you ever been to North Korea?” This is the question I am almost always asked here in South Korea when people learn that I have become an activist for North Korean escapees. My response is curt: “No.” “Do you plan on going?” they ask next. My answer remains the same: “No.” When they start […]
Northeast Asia in turbulence
Incoming 3 leaders share responsibility for peace Leadership changes in the three major countries in Northeast Asia wrapped up last week with the election of Park Geun-hye as South Korea’s first woman president. China’s Xi Jinping took over the fifth-generation leadership and will become the president of the world’s most populous country in March. Japan’s […]
Arab Spring comes to Kuwait
KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait ― Little more than a postage stamp in the Persian Gulf, Kuwait sits in a strategic position and offers a liberal model for other Gulf states. But it faces increasing internal political strife. Although an Islamic monarchy, Kuwait has the Gulf’s oldest elected parliament, most free media, and greatest religious liberty. However, […]
2 crucial months before inauguration
The election of Park Geun-hye as the country’s first female president opens a new horizon of democratic development in Korea. She received an undisputable mandate to lead the nation for the next five years with 51.6 percent of the vote with 15,773,128 votes, whereas her opponent Moon Jae-in gained 48 percent with 14,693,632 votes. However, […]
China’s high-risk plan
China’s dispatch of a marine surveillance plane into the airspace of islands administered by Japan appears to be part of a high-risk plan to create a situation whereby Japan’s claim to effectively control the Senkaku Islands is put in doubt. Chinese state newspaper the Global Times declared triumphantly, “This marks another important step for China […]
Intelligence test for leadership
This year’s presidential election, like the many previous ones, will be remembered for its many unprecedented phenomena. On Feb. 25, 2013, when the new president gets down to business after her inauguration ceremony, I hope to see a totally new chapter of political history open in our nation. Interestingly enough, Korea is probably an exception […]
A Rightful Place for the Indigenous People in the Heart of Borneo
IT could well have been a plot from Joseph Conrad’s novel, Heart of Darkness. Except that, instead of the African Congo, the clashes between the aboriginal inhabitants and timber tycoons were taking place in the Borneo jungles of South-east Asia. And what an unequal clash of cultures that was breaking out in the 80s and […]
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