North Korea closes down embassy in Uzbekistan
North Korea has closed down its embassy in Uzbekistan as part of a restructuring of its missions in the Commonwealth of Independent States, a diplomatic source in Uzbekistan said on August 20, Trend News reports. The source said that the North Korean embassy informed foreign embassies in Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, earlier this month of […]
Future of China-NK relations
Lee Seong-hyon – The Korea Times Most Western experts describe China’s North Korea policy as a failure. If that is the case, China has had many failures, not just one. Combing through Sino-North Korean history, we discover a series of intriguing relational hiccups between the two, with their relations fluctuating between ups and downs, often in […]
Apathy about North Korea
Casey Lartigue Jr. – The Korea Times I recently attended a United Nations conference in Seoul at which a couple of distinguished speakers asked: Why aren’t more of the almost 30,000 North Korean refugees directly involved in activism against North Korea? A few others at the conference asked: Why don’t South Koreans care more about […]
What! Not going down to ground zero at Panmunjong?
This was the sensitive spot where North and South Korean soldiers can be seen standing eye-ball to eye-ball, separated only by an imaginary line representing the 38th parallel that demarcates the two sides at the end of the Korean War (1950-1953). Instead of a potentially tense tour, we were ushered to the touristic DMZ Observation […]
Peace of Korean peninsula: The current state and challenges
A divided Korean peninsula is one of the last remaining geopolitical problems of the twentieth century, with two countries technically still at war. The countries, of course, are the two Koreas – one dynamic and modern, the other closed, impoverished, and belligerent. The peninsula they share represents one of the most vexing challenges facing the […]
The ticking Korean bomb
The ISIS and terrorist attacks in Europe grab regular headlines while a quiet bomb ticks in northeast Asia. The threat is not misplaced, considering nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles are at the command of a 33-year old authoritarian leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un. Korea is the last divided nation on the planet. Unification may […]
“Asia with Mr. Lee” #1: discussing North Korea and its threat
In the first broadcast of “Asia with Mr.Lee,” a segment where Lee Sang Ki, founder of AJA, answers some questions concerning current Asian issues. In the first episode, he talks about the North Korean warning of the missile launch and the lack of interest among most South Koreans as they were more interested in the […]
Seoul ceases on sending humanitarian aid to North Korea
The South Korean government is expected to stop sending humanitarian aid to North Korea soon, in the wake of the repeated provocations by Pyeongyang. The ministry of unification spokesperson “Jong Jung hye” revealed this plan during a press conference on Wednesday 17th February. Where he answered questions on the possibility of North Korea misusing the aid […]
Tension rises between South and North Korea over Gaesong complex
North Korea expelled South Korean workers from the Gaeseong Industrial Complex (GIC) and froze all South Korean-owned property there, Thursday, retaliating against the South’s decision to shut down the complex the previous day. Pyongyang also designated the area an off-limits military zone, and cut off communication lines between the two Koreas. “We ordered all South […]
South Korea call on North Korea to stop their attempted rocket launch
As North Korea revealed its plans for what it called a satellite launch, the South Korean government has warned that it would have to pay a severe price if it proceeds with the move. After a National Security Council(NSC) meeting Wednesday morning, First Deputy Director of the top office’s National Security Office Cho Tae-yong issued the warning. Cho urged the […]