Magic realism in North Korea Adam Johnson, the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Orphan Masters Son, recently raised eyebrows among North Korean watchers when he described his first and only visit to Pyongyang to conduct research for his book.
'Enter the Dragon' Last week, China and Russia jointly warned against any unilateral foreign military intervention in North Korea over its recent nuclear test in a statement clearly aimed at the United States. The two countries said that any action against North Kore..
Is North Korea a paper tiger? After North Korea conducted its third nuclear test this week following the recent launch of a long-range ballistic missile, it is perhaps appropriate to ask whether these provocative acts are signs of military weakness rather than strength. Is thei..
Park the peacemaker It was 99 years ago when Europe, at the height of its prosperity and global influence, suddenly plunged into a calamitous conflict. There were many reasons for the outbreak of World War I, although the main cause was that the rise of Germany posed ..
Korea's Japanese problem Just a few days before Park Geun-hye was elected as the new Korean president, Shinzo Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party won a landslide victory in Japan. That event could have a major impact on Parks administration over the next five years. The..
New president's economic challenges It is regrettable that the main candidates in the just-concluded presidential election did not spend more time talking about the structural challenges facing the Korean economy, such as low productivity rates, the high level of household debt or th..
Korea's 'soft power' quest The recent success of Psy and K-pop groups has boosted talk that Korea has gained the benefits of soft power in raising its international stature. But is hallyu, or the Korean wave, the best way to achieve this goal and does Korea want to be id..
Koreas weak currency strategy The value of the Korean won continues to fall and is soon likely to breach the threshold of 1,200 to the U.S. dollar. Hail to the almighty weak won.
Tackling problems in property market While the property markets in Hong Kong and Singapore are reaching eye-watering heights, Seoul has the opposite problem: housing prices have stagnated over the last two years, according to Kookmin Banks Seoul Price Index.
Shadow banking In 2007, Paul McCulley, then a managing director at PIMCO, a large U.S. investment firm, coined the term shadow banking in a speech at the famed annual U.S. Federal Reserve summer symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo. He defined shadow banking as th..
North Koreas choice There seems to be a general consensus that North Koreas new First Secretary Kim Jong-un utterly botched his first big test of leadership by going ahead with the launch of a new rocket despite international condemnation, only to see the missile..
Smooth path for Korean economy A veteran Hong Kong-based regional economist I know recently made his annual research trip to Korea and declared that he now found the country to be boring. He wasnt referring to the cultural scene or the nightlife, which he continues to enjoy..
